{"id":788,"date":"2013-02-08T19:43:12","date_gmt":"2013-02-08T19:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/?page_id=788"},"modified":"2013-03-28T15:05:36","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T15:05:36","slug":"multiculturalism-and-outreach","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/?page_id=788","title":{"rendered":"Multiculturalism and Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra has always reflected Windsor\u2019s rich multicultural history in its programming, outreach and artists. This began with founding conductor Matti Holli, who often demonstrated pride in his native Finland in his music.<\/p>\n

Holli often drew on other talented new Windsorites to perform with the WSO, such as baritone Petro Boyan Bolechiwksy who shared Ukrainian folk songs during a 1950 WSO concert.\u00a0Twenty years later, the St. Vladimir Orthodox Cathedral\u2019s Ukrainian Bandurist\u00a0 Ensemble launched the 1971 WSO Young People\u2019s Concert season.\u00a0 (A bandura is a traditional Ukrainian 56-stringed-instrument, producing a sound similar to a harp and lute.)\u00a0 Then, as today, Windsor\u2019s ethnic communities had rich musical programs of their own, and often shared these with the orchestra.<\/p>\n

Through the years, most ethnic communities in the city have been represented on stage with the WSO.\u00a0In 1967, tenor Jacob Barkin delighted audiences with Yiddish ballads. A concerto for tabla and orchestra, \u201cTrade Winds\u201d was debuted in by composer Christien Ledroit, with tabla soloist Shawn Mativetsky in 2008. Reviewer Harry Van Vugt praised one 1971 concert in as a \u201cmeeting at the UN\u201d when the WSO welcomed Italian\/Canadian Sergio Pezzetti, husband of Emilia Cundari[1]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> and Holli received an award from the Finnish Consul honouring his effort to promote the work of Jean Sibelius.<\/p>\n

Conductor Laszlo Gati staged an ambitious series of partnerships with various communities in the early 1980s.\u00a0 In the 1979-80 season, committees were formed with members of the Chinese, Italian and Hungarian communities to seek sponsorship and to host appropriately themed concerts, with music and guest artists representing each community.\u00a0 Gati was able to celebrate his Hungarian roots with the popular pianist B\u00e9la Siki in a programme that included the Canadian and Hungarian anthems, Erkel\u2019s Hunyadi-Laszlo Overture and Liszt\u2019s 2nd<\/sup> Hungarian Rhapsody. The WSO outreach committee prepared kits about the orchestra for communities to translate and distribute to members.<\/p>\n

Multicultural partnerships continued under the direction of Susan Haig and John Morris Russell. Haig reached out to the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Region and honoured the Windsor festival known as the Carrousel of Nations dance groups in a pops concert in May, 1991.<\/p>\n

\"Multicultural-Wezzoowaad-Anang-2-by-Barbara-Croall-1812\"<\/a>The WSO remain committed to the heritage of the Windsor community with a focus on African-Canadian works and artists.\u00a0 In 1998 and 1999, Freedom Festival concerts celebrated this region\u2019s rich history as a terminus of the Underground Railroad.\u00a0 A 1998 \u201cMusic of Freedom\u201d concert featured Canadian baritone and opera singer Marcus Nance and the world premier of an original piece by composer Stewart Goodyear, Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra<\/i>.\u00a0 In May 1999, Howard McCurdy, a former professor and the first African Canadian New Democrat Party representative, was the WSO\u2019s guest narrator, and music selections included Copeland\u2019s Fanfare for the Common Man <\/i>and Lincoln Portrait.\u00a0 <\/i><\/p>\n

The tradition continued with Russell and Assistant Conductor Peter Weibe producing the \u201cWild and Wacky Woodwinds,\u201d a children\u2019s concert series which featured a composer from Amherstburg, Shelton Brooks (1886-1975).<\/p>\n

Scottish heritage was celebrated in the Fall of 2002, with a themed programme featuring New Brunswick violinist Jasper Wood, and music which included Macmillan\u2019s Fantasy on Scottish Melodies,<\/i> Bruch\u2019s Scottish Fantasy<\/i>, and traditionally, Mendelssohn\u2019s Symphony No. 3 (Scottish)<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The 2009-2010 WSO season honoured Windsor\u2019s international sister cities with concerts designed to highlight the music and dance of each city and culture.\u00a0 Saltillo, Mexico, for example, was represented with a \u201cDia de los Muertos\u201d-themed evening including Join Hands Puppeteers and Windsor Dance Experience, with greetings from Saltillo brought by Leamington\u2019s Mexican consulate.<\/p>\n

The Windsor Symphony Orchestra has, of course, always celebrated the francophone heritage of Canada and Windsor in particular.\u00a0 As well as French or Quebecois-based music programmes, such as the March, 2010 \u201dla musique sublime\u201d<\/i> with guest soprano, Suzie Le Blanc, and the University of Windsor Chorus, the WSO also offers concerts and events in French for local francophone families.\u00a0Marcel Beneteau was a featured guest artist presenting his arrangements of French folksongs of the Detroit River in 2004.<\/p>\n

Francophone<\/i> programming includes work with students in French Immersion schools in the region, and the popular French-language children\u2019s concerts, Tartines et Jam,<\/i> held in Belle River and at la Place Concorde, one of Windsor\u2019s French cultural centres.<\/p>\n

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The Windsor Symphony Orchestra has always reflected Windsor\u2019s rich multicultural history in its programming, outreach and artists. This began with founding conductor Matti Holli, who often demonstrated pride in his native Finland in his music. Holli often drew on other talented new Windsorites to perform with the WSO, such as baritone Petro Boyan Bolechiwksy who shared Ukrainian folk songs during Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/788"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=788"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/788\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379,"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/788\/revisions\/2379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.windsorpubliclibrary.com\/engine\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}