The Canadian League of Composers has named the Music in the Afternoon April artist as this year’s “Friend of Canadian Music” citing her as “a driving force for truth and reconciliation within the context of classical music, helping lead colleagues and audiences through long overdue discussions about the very nature of what it means to call something ‘Canadian music.’”
Marion Newman Honoured Read More »
In News & Notes 54, Bonnie O’Dacre profiled her remarkable biography, from a happy childhood in Czechoslovakia, through refugee status in Canada, to university degrees and a rewarding career and family life. The title of her autobiography is the sum of her possessions when she escaped Soviet Czechoslovakia in 1949. Dagmar joined the WMCT in 1990 – her old friend Esther McNeil would soon become President. By 1992, according to Counterpoint to a City, the Club’s “financial affairs were getting to be too complex for a person without extensive financial and investment experience to manage…. In 1992 the position of secretary-treasurer was changed to treasurer,” and Dagmar Stafl, who had retired as Chief Economist of the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations, took over this job and set a new professional standard of fiscal responsibility for the WMCT.
In Memoriam: Dagmar Stafl Read More »
A long-time member, former board member, concert sponsor, and staunch supporter of the WMCT, Marlene Preiss passed away on Saturday, October 15, 2022, in her 84th year, at the home of her sister, Wilma Preiss Boughtflower, in Woodstock, Ontario. Marlene had been living there since the start of the covid pandemic in March 2020.
After successful careers with the Institute of Canadian Bankers and the York Region Board of Education, Marlene focused her attention to the pursuit of retirement excellence, travelling widely as a passionate patron of classical music. She was the voice of the Club as supreme chair of the Telephone Committee for many years. Marlene also supported the Toronto Wagner Society, the Canadian Opera Company, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet of Canada, the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, Aldeburgh Connection, Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Toronto Blue Jays.
There will be a Celebration of Life in Toronto from 1-4 pm on Friday, November 4, 2022, at the HotHouse Restaurant, 35 Church Street, Toronto. Condolences may be forwarded through www.cremationandcelebrations.com
In Memoriam: Marlene Preiss Read More »
Alex Hetherington (2019 U of T Scholarship) and Vlad Soloviev (2021 U of T Graduate Fellowship) have joined this year’s edition of the Studio. Joseph So reviewed their first concert, which re-opened the Free Concert Series at the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.
COC Ensemble Studio includes 2 recent WMCT winners Read More »
Six years after his triumphant Toronto debut at Music in the Afternoon, the young American tenor returns to sing Beethoven’s 9th with the Toronto Symphony next week.
Joseph So interviewed him in Ludwig van, with a link to his enthusiastic review of his recital in Walter Hall.
Issachah Savage returns Read More »
Congratulations to our winners in two of the four “Classical” categories.
JUNO Awards to WMCT “Alumni” Read More »
Back to the Future!
Artistic Director Simon Fryer has created a 125th Season of five Concerts: a celebration of past, present, and future, with generations of diverse artists, mentors and “mentees.”
Come back to Walter Hall to enjoy “Connection and Continuity:” chamber music repertoire highlights from the last 125 years, and the next.
125th Season | The Return to Walter Hall Read More »
If you are attending a concert in-person, please note the following COVID-related precautions:
