Arts support funds honour David Leighton

leighton_david.jpgLondon Free Press: “Ottawa’s National Arts Centre is helping ensure the David Leighton show goes on. To honour the Kilworth business professor and arts supporter’s term as chair of its board of trustees, the NAC has announced two new funds supporting emerging Canadian artists and arts professionals…. Leighton served 13 years as president of the Banff Centre in Alberta, during which the Centre was transformed from a six-week summer school to a year-round arts and management centre of international stature.”

Canadian music teacher’s violin fetches $1.4M at auction

fenyves.jpgCBC: “The Stradivarius violin owned by a musician who lived and worked in Canada for 40 years sold over the weekend for over $1.4 million US at a Boston auction. The violin was the property of the great Hungarian-born musician Lorand Fenyves, who taught at the University of Toronto, the University of Western Ontario and the Banff Centre for the Arts. He moved to Toronto in 1966 after teaching and working in Israel and Switzerland.”

St. Lawrence String Quartet’s new violinist shines in debut

scott_st_john.jpgSan Jose Mercury News: “The St. Lawrence String Quartet has been around since 1989. It has a couple of Grammy nominations under its belt, maintains a loyal international audience and is respected by its peers. And Sunday was a big day for the group. It marked the concert debut of its new member, second violinist Scott St. John, who has replaced Barry Shiffman, a cornerstone of the quartet for 17 seasons”

Isn’t this supposed to be the Canadian Opera Company?

Globe and Mail: Article critical of the COC for lack of Canadian content.

Calgary Opera, a smaller company with a budget to match, did a big new work ( Filumena, by John Estacio and John Murrell) three years ago, and has another ( Frobisher) by the same authors coming up in January. The company has forged an alliance with the Banff Centre, which provides support for the same kind of gestational work that the COC’s composer-in-residence program was set up to do.