Two Key Choral Players
by Larry Beckwith
In preparing for this special choral
issue of WholeNote, I thought it would be interesting to check in with
two leading figures in the presentation of choral music in Southern Ontario.
Though I can’t recall ever hearing either one of them sing a note before,
Howard Dyck and Lawrence Cherney have been responsible for organizing and
hosting major choral events in this area for well over 25 years.
Known to long-time CBC Radio
listeners as the founding host of Mostly Music and, in more recent
times, as the voice of Choral Concert and Saturday Afternoon at the
Opera Howard Dyck has simultaneously maintained a busy career as a
choral “conductor” in the true sense of that word. He has a wonderful energy
about him that attracts people from all walks of life who are interested in,
and passionate about, singing.
One of my first questions during a very pleasant,
recent phone conversation, was how he found the time to keep up as both a
broadcaster and busy musician.
“Well, I’ve always found them mutually reinforcing”,
came the reply. “From the beginning, for me, I felt that I needed to be
involved in music-making. It brings a certain authenticity to me as a
broadcaster … that I’m not simply coming from the sidelines. Plus, conducting
keeps me up-to-date with what’s going on in the musical community.”
As a conductor, Howard’s home base has been the Kitchener-Waterloo
Philharmonic Choir, with its pristine concert hall, Kitchener’s Centre in
the Square.
“I’m in my 33rd season in Kitchener, with the choir in
its 83rd season. We have a total of 350 singers in the organization, with the
children’s choirs and a youth choir in a couple of different groupings.”
While “The Phil”, as they’re known, has a core
repertoire of the large choral works of Bach, Verdi, Mendelssohn, Brahms and
Handel, they are also known for premiering more modern, populist works such as
the Liverpool Oratorio by Paul McCartney and contemporary Canadian pieces by
the likes of Christos Hatzis and Glenn Buhr. They’re at it again at the
beginning of June, presenting the Canadian premiere of Howard Shore’s Lord of
the Rings “choral symphony” in Toronto and Kitchener.
“It’s atmospheric music. The choir has a lot of elvish
stuff to sing! We look at it as a fun way to build audiences.”
It is indeed this relaxed approach that I’ve always
admired in Howard. He has very high standards, make no mistake, but likes
everyone to enjoy themselves while making music.
One of the last topics we discussed is why the
Kitchener area has been able to sustain a choral organization of the magnitude
of The Phil for so long.
“Well, in the late 19th century, when Kitchener was
known as Berlin, there was Berlin Philharmonic and they would sponsor a Singers
Festival. Singers would come from all over and it was a real centre for choral
music-making. In more recent times, we’ve benefited from the Mennonite presence
– of course singing is a big part of their culture – and the confluence of
other European traditions in the city. Plus, we are now a leading centre for
the high tech companies, who bring bright, sophisticated young people to the
area, and a lot of them are joining the choir.”
With his other project, Consort Caritatis,
Howard has been busy touring the world and organizing musical efforts that will
raise money for charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. He is
indeed a busy man, with a powerful desire to use choral music to effect change
in his community.
I have fond memories of exceptional
choral programs that Lawrence Cherney used to present at the Sharon
Festival in the 1980s. For over 10 years, the Festival explored Canadian
heritage, other significant, historical choral repertoire and new works in a
magical setting: the Sharon Temple, the 19th century home of the Quaker
Children of Peace, for whom music was a central part of worship and everyday
life.
More recently, Lawrence has been artistic director of Soundstreams
Canada, known for their “Encounters” series, which in each concert pairs a
Canadian composer with an international figure in music-making. And, increasingly,
Soundstreams has been actively engaged in helping realize choral extravaganza
events, such as the biennial University Voices gathering of Canadian University
choirs, and last year’s phenomenal coming-together of 6 of Canada’s
professional choirs in the Atrium of the CBC for a significant premiere of a
mesmerizing piece by Canada’s R Murray Schafer.
This June, Lawrence is organizing a conference and
festival whose inspiration is the arts and culture of “northern countries”:
Canada, Scandinavia, Iceland, etc. Like any good impresario, he is most excited
with the “here and now”, sounding almost giddy as he outlines the fascinating
array of guest choirs and conductors.
“I’m very impressed with a young conductor, Peter
Dijkstra, the winner of the 2003 Eric Ericson Prize. He’s not yet 30 years old,
but he’s one of the big stars of choral music to watch. He’s already conducted
the RIAS Chamber Choir, and is the permanent guest conductor of the Netherlands
Chamber Choir. He will conduct the gala closing concert of the festival, with
three great choirs participating.”
The festival will invigorate the city for nine days in
early June. With visiting composers, including Sir John Tavener, and exciting
conductors and choirs, such as Frieder Bernius (conducting the Tafelmusik
Chamber Choir), “The Screaming Men” from Finland and the six-voice Nordic
Voices, Cherney has assembled a knock-out line-up of choral talent.
Howard Dyck and Lawrence Cherney: two choral players
at the absolute top of their games, as far as impresario work goes. We need
more of their kind of vision and vigour.
