Bach Walk 2019

When I started posting about the Bach Walk, I thought it might be a one-time thing.
Well, here we are, four years later, and it's an annual tradition now, and one I look forward to every spring.

This year, the locations were quite handy to me, being along the Danforth, literally about a half-hour walk from my home. If you know the area, you may have observed that there are several churches between Broadview and Pape, and these three were literally across the street from each other.

So, on a beautiful, clear (though cold) March 23, I got to the first location, Eastminster United, a place where I've enjoyed many classical music concerts.

The sanctuary here is spacious, and has very good acoustics, which I'm sure is what draws many musicians to it.

I've learned that a balcony seat here gives the best view, and the best sound!

I always get a good picture of the organ at every location, and this is Eastminster's Moeller organ. I couldn't find out its exact age, but it was dedicated in the 1950s. It's a more modest instrument than some I've seen, but it still produced a good sound.

The organist was Stefani Bedin, who had performed at a previous Bach Walk in the Kingsway area. She herself presented a program of "Bach the borrower (Organ Concerto after Vivaldi), Bach the teacher (chorale from the Orgelbuechlein), and Bach the master composer (Prelude and Fugue in C)"


Next, it was across the street to the simply-named Danforth Church.

Here, we were treated to some instrumental and vocal music, from various Cantatas and Oratorios.

This is a quite small space, and many chairs had to be brought in to accommodate the crowd, somewhere between 150 and 200 people by this time.

In this picture, you can see the players performing a piece from the Du wahrer Gott und Davids Sohn cantata.

At left is Daniel Bickle, another frequent performer at the Bach Walks. He is usually an organ soloist, but here is playing an electronic "harpsichord."
The young cellist, Julia Kim, whom you may be able to make out seated about centre, dazzled the crowd with a rendition of the prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 6 later on.


The final stop was St. Barnabas Anglican Church, just a short walk along the Danforth.

It's a lovely space inside, with a large nave, and lots of organ pipes. This is a view of the choir and altar.

There is also lots of beautiful stained glass here, mostly from the 1920s.
This enormous window at the narthex, for instance, depicts the ascencion of Jesus Christ, with the Apostles below and angels above.

And, naturally, I got a couple of shots of the (larger) organ here. It's a 1938 Casavant Freres instrument, and certainly produced a glorious sound.

Konrad Harley was the organist here, and expertly played a chorale, two preludes and fugues, and a Toccata and Fugue in D minor (no, not the "Phantom of the Opera" one - the other one!)

Then as usual, it was to the narthex for birthday cake and punch. One of the things I also enjoy about the Bach Walks is talking to other attendees, some of whom have been, like me, going to these since the beginning, and some for whom it's the first time. Whatever their experience, they always come away enthusiastic and eager for more - just like me!


I'm not a trained classical musician, but listening closely, especially to these fugues, I'm getting better at hearing how the opening themes repeat in different intervals, and even in inversions, and it's a lesson in composition and invention every time. My appreciation for this master musician grows with every hearing.

I look forward to the next year's celebration of Bach's birthday more and more each time.

TO Light Fest 2019

And so, it was on to the Distillery District for this year's edition of TO Light Fest. As before, there were some amazing pieces, and some familiar ones, too!

Unfortunately, this year, there were no maps given out with the names of the pieces; there were boards at each site with the title, artist and description, but I didn't photograph any of them, thinking I'd be able to get a map. I even e-mailed the organizers afterwards to see if there was a way I could get the titles, but never heard back. So, these pictures and videos will have to be shown with only my descriptions. I don't think it'll detract any from their beauty and inventiveness, though!

So, let's get to it. Pictures first...


This is a short tunnel of lighted tubes that changed colours as you walked up a shallow ramp and through it, in either direction:

Here was a cavern-like construction, again with ever-changing colours inside and out:

As people went inside and through the piece, the colours would change, according to their movements!

Here's a fun reminder of last year's show, the piece called Perspective, though it was mounted differently this year, for a slightly different...um...perspective.

This gigantic sculpture of a polar bear was in the main square of the Distillery District.
Different texts were being projected on to it, I believe ruminating on natural and indigenous aspects of Canada.

This "floating" sculpture of a grandmotherly face was at once comforting and somewhat unsettling...

This was pretty cool - a four-paneled screen, with a camera at each corner, reflecting the viewer back on themselves. You could be playful and demonstrative, or simply get a very unique selfie, as I did.

And, on to the videos...


Here's another fun piece from last year, Electric Dandelions.
It was moved to the west entrance/streetcar loop this time:

This was an interactive one; a person could step into this "cage," and the operator would spin the lighted tubes around as they stood inside it. I didn't try it myself (there was a lineup), but it must have been fun (and maybe a little disorienting?) in there!

Another interactive piece; there were two rods hanging down from either end of it, and people could tug on them to get a wave effect, as the colours changed and shifted:

This one was cool too, giving a kind of "mirrorball" effect, with lights reflecting on the walls on either side, as I tried to capture with my camera:

More fun for kids, as they trotted through this tunnel while the lights changed colour constantly.
You can see some of the reflections from the previous piece on the walls at right!

This was just gorgeous, a fascinating piece made from a twisted material, and featuring shifting colours at different areas. Almost hypnotic.

This was also spectacular, a brilliant rainbow of lit tubes, with colours shifting and flowing:

Here was another piece that many people wanted to pose with, a kind of "pulsing" heart-shaped piece, which featured recordings of Michael Buble singing (hence the "MB" at right).

This is my own composition, of several pieces through this square frame; you can see the "tunnel" that is in the first picture above, the "rainbow" sculpture, and a bit of the tubal one that is shown in the next video:

And, finally, the piece that you got a glimpse of in the last video; a really spectacular sculpture of brilliantly bright fluorescent-type tubes that really light up the whole area.

And so it ends for another year. I was able to score a seat and hot coffee at Balzac's again, and got well-warmed up before making my way home.

It was also cold and windy this day, but it's so worth braving it to see what amazing sights artists from here, and around the world, contribute to our city.


My next post should be about the upcoming Bach Walk; I see it's on March 23, and is along the Danforth - almost in my neighbourhood!
Stay tuned!

Ice Breakers 2019

Hello!
Apologies for not making an entry for so long. Looking back, I see that it's been since last fall that I posted anything.
So, Happy 2019, everyone, and at a couple of months into the year, let's get started with some winter attractions that come up every year in this great city.

First, the Ice Breakers exhibit along Queen's Quay...

This first piece is called Connector. It is a mass of orange tubes that collect on either side of this white disc, resembling nothing so much as a junction in a network of telephone or computer cables.

I liked how the artist left the many terminals on either side open. Do they connect to nothing? Do they connect to you, the viewer? Are you tempted to look into them, to blow into them? Why not?

The next piece is Tripix, so named because of its overall tripedal structure.
Remarkable-enough looking from the outside, stepping under the arches is where the real fun begins...

...because, under each of the triangular sections of the "legs" is a collection of angled mirrors that reflect the surroundings in startling ways, including one of yourself! Can you see me with my grey hooded coat and blue camera (almost centre of pic)?

Another section of the sculpture has a similar effect.
You can also see my right arm and blue camera, just below centre left. The fact that I was standing directly underneath that section gives an idea of the slightly disorienting nature of the piece!

I wasn't able to find the name of this next piece, but it may be Stellar Spectra. Don't quote me on that, but it kind of makes sense; from the outside, it's an interesting, though rather unremarkable, grouping of white tubes. But when you step inside...

BOOM! This stunning array (spectrum?) of coloured openings really hits you.

About 30 feet on, there is another one, and the effect inside...

 ...is equally spectacular. Thankfully, it was a pretty sunny day, so the colours really stood out.
What a beautiful piece of work!

The next piece is called Tweeta-Gate. The artist encourages the viewer to take as many pics as they like, and post them to social media.
The nice lady in the pic is Laura, who had just finished getting her adorable little poodle to pose under the first arch. You never know who you'll meet at these places!

On one side of each arch was a tiny bell like this one. It did give a charming little tinkle if you tapped it - which I did, of course!

The artist included as many shapes as possible in the piece, so there's Roman and Gothic arches; circular and square shapes; and "house" and "stair" shapes as well - all representing an entrance, or "gate" of some kind.

The possibilities for pictures were manifold, so I thought I'd try an "artistic" shot from outside the circular frame. The "house" shape intersects nicely here with the square opening, and matches the angle of the stair shape as well.

And, here's the view of the entire piece, looking in the opposite direction, north towards Queen's Quay.

I might have stayed longer here, but the solid ice everywhere made for pretty tricky walking!

The final piece is called Chroma Key Protest. It is a series of wooden buoys set in the harbour, with green chroma-key (yep, the colour they use in green-screen effects in the movies) rectangles on long poles.

The artist also thought they looked similar to a group of protesters holding placards and signs - hence, the second part of the title.

And, that was it for the Ice Breakers exhibit!

There was a restaurant right next to this piece called Loch and Quay (cute!), where I enjoyed a dinner of butter chicken poutine - only in Canada!
It was getting dark when I finished, so it was off to my next destination, which will be the next posting...