Dr. Colin Eatock, composer
  • Home
  • About Colin Eatock
  • Composing
  • Catalogue of works
  • Writing about music
  • Eatock Daily (blog)
  • New and upcoming
  • Contact me

Toronto Consort creates new leadership model

12/16/2017

19 Comments

 
PictureTHe nine-member Toronto Consort.
I originally wrote this article for Early Music America magazine.

The Toronto Consort has been run so smoothly for so many years that the organization has tended to fly under the media’s radar. But in October, the organization made itself noticed when it announced that long-serving artistic director and tenor vocalist David Fallis would be stepping down at the end of the 2017-18 season (sort of). The directorship will be assumed by an eight-member group of artistic associates, including Fallis and many of the musicians who perform regularly with the nine-member ensemble. The Consort is set to become a consortium.


However, Fallis is quick to point out that in assuming this new model, the group is in fact returning to its roots. “The Toronto Consort was founded in 1972 by Timothy McGee,” he says, “who was a professor of musicology at the University of Toronto. It was a bold gesture, because there was nothing like it going in Toronto. It was before Tafelmusik, and early music was pretty spare in Canada. At that time, the group was run as it will be in the future — as an artistic collective.
 
“When I joined in 1979,” Fallis continues, “I was the ‘new boy,’ and I hardly knew anything about Medieval and Renaissance music. I wasn’t called ‘artistic director’ until 1990. In fact, I think it was the marketing people who came up with the designation.”
 
Now in his 60s, Fallis is a strikingly unpretentious man. Yet his modesty belies his accomplishments: in addition to his 38 years with the Consort, he is also music director of Toronto’s Opera Atelier, conducting the “period” opera company’s performances from the pit. He’s also conductor of Choir 21, a Toronto-based ensemble that specializes in contemporary music. And on top of all that, he’s an administrator, teacher, musicological researcher, and editor.
 
In his decades as artistic director of the Toronto Consort, Fallis has overseen an impressive expansion of the TC’s concert season. “When I joined,” he says, “we were doing three concerts a season, and we thought if we got 200 people in the audience we were doing well. Now we do five different programs, and each program is done two or three times. We also devote one of our programs to a guest ensemble. Our current hall seats 700, and sometimes we sell out.” Today, the Consort has an annual budget of about $500,000.
 
Fallis gives two explanations for this growth. First, he points out that the Consort has presented an astonishingly broad body of repertoire. The ensemble’s “wheelhouse” is the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, but selections range from Gregorian chant to early baroque opera, as well as non-Western musics and even a few contemporary works.
 
“We’ve done music from the Codex Calixtinas,” he says, “from the 11th century — one of the first manuscripts that has two parts. Then we go up to about the middle of the 17th century. Cavalli’s Helen of Troy was first performed in 1651.”
 
The ensemble’s engagement with music outside Europe has led to collaborations with a Chinese pipa player, an Arabic oud performer, and singers and dancers from India. As for contemporary repertoire, Fallis is clearly proud of the Consort’s presentation, in February, of Wendake/Huronia by Toronto composer John Beckwith. (The piece is based on the French explorer Samuel de Champlain’s travels in what is now Ontario, in the 17th century, and his contact with native peoples.)
 
The other explanation Fallis offers for the Toronto Consort’s success has to do with the ensemble’s approach to audience-building. He notes that, unlike many other small early-music ensembles, the Consort’s business model is not founded on touring. There have been some tours, over the years — to New York’s Music Before 1800 series, the Madison Early Music Festival, and venues in Oregon and Washington State — but mostly, the group has stayed close to home, in Toronto, to build a loyal audience. “This leads to people feeling like they’re part of the ‘Toronto Consort family’ — and then they’ll give us money,” Fallis says with a laugh. “It sounds rather mercenary, but it’s true!”
 
Alison Melville, the Consort’s recorder and early-flute specialist, has noticed a strong sense of loyalty develop over the years. “People stop you in the street,” she says, “and say ‘I really enjoyed that concert you played in.’ And you’re going through your mental Rolodex to figure out which concert they’re talking about. It’s a real family feeling.”
 
So if things are going so well, why adopt a new model of artistic decision-making at this time? Is the Toronto Consort fixing something that isn’t broken? As Fallis explains, the decision to make a change in the artistic leadership was his own.
 
“I don’t feel that I’m quite as vocally reliable as I once was,” he says. “There are easy madrigals, and there are hard ones. I don’t want to just choose pieces that I can fit into. So I’ve decided I should step aside. We don’t need an artistic director who just sits in the hall during rehearsals and tells people what to do. It has to be someone who is part of the group. The artistic director has to be a performer as well.
 
“And I’m going out on a high note. This is our 45th anniversary. It’s going to be a wonderful year. We have a modest surplus, and the finances are in great shape. The board is strong, and the subscriber base is growing, and donations are growing. I’m going to stay as part of the team for a couple of years at least and see how it goes. I’ll put together a program or two a year, as seems appropriate.”
 
How, exactly, will the new model work? According to Melville, one of the new artistic associates, everyone will bring forward programming ideas. “But, she adds, “some people have more ideas than others. Sometimes two or more people will come together to plan a program. The idea of the group of us carrying on collaboratively can work, because we have strong people in the group who have skills besides singing and playing.
 
“We have library research skills, program-note writing, editing skills. It seems to me that this is something that can really work here. Sometimes if you have a group, you’ll have a couple who come forward with all the ideas. But this is a group where everyone is committed to doing things this way, and working things out.”
 
As for Fallis’ “retirement,” he doesn’t see himself slowing down much at all. “I’m still doing projects with Opera Atelier and Choir 21. In theory, there might even be a little more time for myself — if I learn now to say no.”


© Colin Eatock 2017
19 Comments
correct helper discount- essay corrector org link
1/29/2018 06:29:43 am

This is a very interesting and correct approach that has proved to be very good and useful for the work of the whole organization, so it is worth trying to do so.

Reply
academic essay writing big pape rwriter com link
2/4/2018 02:23:27 am

It is great that the renewed team continues to work on the implementation of the projects. Their success is directly related to the peculiarities of their creativity.

Reply
Write My Paper link
4/4/2018 06:18:48 am

The Toronto Consort’s success has something to do with the group's approach to audience-building.

Reply
http://onlinefreerobux.com/ link
10/3/2018 08:52:30 am

Very nice post.

Reply
about us link
6/3/2020 08:42:46 am

The company’s original members were tenors Frank Nakashima and David Walker, counter-tenor Garry Crighton, baritone David Klausner, and bass Timothy McGee, who was its director until 1978. Several personnel changes occurred in the 1970s, including a succession of sopranos: Katharine Pimenoff (1974-5), Penelope Tibbles (1976-7), and Emily Van Evera (1977-9). The membership from 1979 to 1983 consisted of Crighton, Klausner, mezzo-soprano and instrumentalist Alison Mackay, soprano Jean Edwards, and tenor David Fallis. From 1987 to 1991 members were Klausner, Mackay, Fallis, lutenist Terry McKenna, soprano Danièle Forget, and mezzo-soprano Laura Pudwell.

Reply
contact us link
6/30/2020 04:29:49 am

However, Fallis is quick to point out that in assuming this new model, the group is in fact returning to its roots.

Reply
TREE REMOVAL SERVICE YONKERS link
8/8/2020 08:00:53 am

Thank you for this post. Found it very informative.

https://www.treeremovalserviceyonkers.com

Reply
YONKERS LANDSCAPERS link
8/8/2020 08:02:31 am

Great article. Thanks for sharing.
https://www.yonkerslandscapers.com

Reply
GaryDellabiti link
10/29/2020 06:28:54 am

Thank you for this post. Found it very informative.
<a href="https://www.attorneysyonkers.com/real-estate">Attorney Westchester</a>

Reply
Lloydminster hot shot hauling link
4/26/2021 03:02:54 am

Bitumen is considered a sticky, black, tar-like form of crude oil which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow.

Reply
divorceattorneyfederalway.com/ link
7/3/2021 02:17:58 am

This marks the end of a 27-year tenure at the forefront of one of Canada’s leading early music chamber ensembles.

Reply
Marygal link
10/9/2021 04:40:21 am

Thanks for sharing this great content keep it rolling in,great job.<a href="http://www.google com"> Lagos <a/>

Reply
Bill Johnson link
12/10/2021 08:34:44 am

The newly formalize leadership model will be run by a group of “Artistic Associates”.

Reply
Lawn Seeding link
12/15/2021 10:05:27 pm

Thanks for the added knowledge about leadership model.

Reply
Concrete Driveway Columbia MD link
1/24/2023 11:42:35 pm

Nice post, I love your style in writing this blog, very creative and informative, looking forward to more posts from you.

Reply
Tree Service of Charlottesville link
1/26/2023 01:49:10 am

Finally I see something different and new, I am looking for tis kind of topic everywhere and I am glad I found it here, thanks!

Reply
wallpaper installation phoenix link
2/22/2023 12:39:26 pm

This seems like a really interesting Consort, I've never heard medieval music before so I'm thinking about attending one of their concerts to see how they fare up under the new direction. I'll also invite the people from my favorite wallpaper installation in phoenix to see how they like it as well

Reply
https://www.albanystumpgrinding.com link
3/5/2023 07:18:14 pm

the group's members are amongst Canada's leading early music specialists

Reply
buick dealer near me link
3/26/2023 11:28:06 am

This is great. I think they perform really well.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Eatock Daily

    I'm a composer based in Toronto – and this is my classical music blog, Eatock Daily.

    When I first started blogging, Eatock Daily was a place to re-post the articles I wrote for Toronto’s Globe and Mail and National Post newspapers, the Houston Chronicle, the Kansas City Star and other publications.

    But now I have stepped back from professional music journalism, and I'm spending more time composing.

    These days, my blog posts are infrequent, and are mostly concerned with my own music. However, I do still occasionally post comments on musical topics, including works I've discovered, enjoyed, and wish to share with others.


    – CE

    Archives

    March 2022
    July 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    September 2019
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011

    Index

    Click here for an alphabetical list of blog entries.

    RSS Feed

    Follow colineatock on Twitter
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.