The latest in a number of enterprising moves by young Toronto musicians is Pocket Concerts, which bring classical music directly into people’s living rooms, live and in person. The “pre-season sneak preview” concert took place on Sunday afternoon in a Bloor West Village home.
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
There’s nothing new about house concerts, especially among the well-to-do. But charging admission for a recital in a modest middle-class home is unusual.
Pocket Concerts’ 20-something founder and artistic director, violist Rory McLeod, had no trouble filling every seat in the house simply by word-of-mouth and a Facebook invitation.
The 30 chairs, stools and four-seater sofa held an audience that was a true cross-section of ages and backgrounds. People were invited to pour themselves a glass of wine, punch or water and to grab some snack food before the concert started.
Until McLeod came downstairs to welcome everyone, introduce Pocket Concerts and play the first piece, the gathering felt like a typical neighbourhood block party: friendly, chatty and informal.
Primed this way, the light mood rolled on through close to an hour of music — much of it very serious.
McLeod had invited violinist Rebecca MacLeod and cellist Bryan Holt to join him in a programme that ranged from J.S. Bach to John Corigliano.
The violist focused everyone with the Prelude from Bach’s third Partita for solo cello. The Bach theme returned later when Holt performed the Fancy on a Bach Air by John Corigliano, and the trio presented arrangements of five Bach Three-Part Inventions.
Rebecca MacLeod’s solo turn was late Quebec composer Jacques Hétu’s Rondo Varié.
The concert also included the opening and closing movements of Beethoven’s Op. 3 String Trio and, as an encore, an arrangement of the Aria from Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
All three musicians performed beautifully, and spent a few moments introducing each piece. But the real appeal of this concert came from proximity: each performer was an arm’s length or perhaps only a step or two away. This made it easy to catch the infinitesimal variations in how the hairs on a bow made contact with strings, and one could practically breathe in unison with each performer.
Few homes have the acoustics to make music like this sound its best — most of it needs space in which to bloom before hitting our ears. But the payback of close quarters is in the openness and directness of this experience, which is bound to be far more memorable than the majority of traditional classical concerts.
Rory McLeod says he has three concerts booked for the 2013-14 season, and has interested parties to host five more. He also has a list of 15 musicians to draw from, including National Ballet Orchestra concertmaster Benjamin Bowman and cellist Rachel Mercer.
Hosting something like this is a significant responsibility, but judging from the quality of the musicmaking and the beaming faces at Sunday’s event, it also comes with rewards.
This is a very labour-intensive way to present live music, with the artistic director having to coordinate hosts, venues, performers and programmes. It is also a grassroots effort in every sense of the word which could light many more fires for the future of art music in Toronto.
Pocket Concerts expects to soon have a working website here.
John Terauds
- Classical Music 101: What Does A Conductor Do? - June 17, 2019
- Classical Music 101 | What Does Period Instrument Mean? - May 6, 2019
- CLASSICAL MUSIC 101 | What Does It Mean To Be In Tune? - April 23, 2019
