10/02/2023
Thanks Ella! 🙏🥰🙏
Over lunch one day at the local café of Boyd McDonald, the two of us came up with the idea of organizing a concert that would tell the fascinating life story of Boyd, one of Canada's finest composers. I am excited to relay that the 'From the City of Bridges to the City of Lights' concert is now a reality and will take place later this month at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener. I'll be filming the concert and it will form an integral part of the music documentary I am making about Boyd's life.
Boyd's story began on a farm in rural Saskatchewan 90 years ago. He entered two of his early compositions into a provincial contest organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of Saskatchewan and he won. Boyd wisely used the prize money to study for the summer with Nadia Boulanger, one of the most influential figures in 20th century music. Boyd would return in the late 1950s to study with Boulanger for 3 years. She had a profound impact on his music, as did Darius Milhaud who used to host summer workshops in Aspen, Colorado.
The French Neo Classical Music scene had a profound impact on Boyd's music. The programme will include works by two key figures in this movement, Poulenc and Milhaud. You will also hear the prize-winning piano duet written in Saskatoon that kickstarted Boyd's career, which will performed by the composer and the pianist Carolyn Arnason. Last, but not least this is a rare opportunity to hear the music of Nadia Boulanger, which has not achieved the attention it deserves.
The concert will also celebrate the 100th birthday of Eli Bornstein, the celebrated Saskatoon-based artist, whose etching is featured in the concert poster. The two have been friends for over 70 years and got together in Paris on many occasions.
I hope to see you at the concert. If you can't make it, you'll be able to hear and see excerpts of the concert when I release the documentary.