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November 22, 2012
A joyful noise
One of the factors that attracts many new residents to Uxbridge is our vibrant arts community. We have numerous visual artists in every medium, many of them with a reputation far beyond our borders, resulting every September in one of the finest annual studio tours in the province. We have several community theatre companies, producing entertaining and high-quality productions; this past summer we even hosted our first-ever season of professional theatre at the Lucy Maud Montgomery National Historic Site (to be reprised in the summer of 2013). We are fortunate to have our own beautiful multi-plex cinema, which just this week took a major step forward in the quality of its on-screen product (see page 6).
On the literary side, we are home to Canada’s finest independent bookstore, as well as dozens of book clubs and hordes of excellent writers (many of whom contribute to this newspaper). We have several dance schools putting on first-rate public recitals, and numerous private music teachers whose students are encouraged in their development by the Uxbridge Music Scholarship Trust.
Amid this cornucopia, this feast for the soul and the senses, perhaps the most accessible art form, particularly at this time of the year, is the rich variety of vocal music we are treated to in our little community. There are fine singers on stage, as we will hear this month in Aladdin, next month in My Fair Lady, and in February in Oliver. It’s doubtful if there is another town our size on the planet that has four musical theatre companies. We have the chance to hear a variety of individuals or vocal groups all summer long in the breathtaking acoustics of the Foster Memorial. But we also have an abundance of choirs, for all ages and singers at all levels of experience. Just within the last few weeks, local music lovers have had (or shortly will have) the opportunity to hear some glorious choral sounds.
On Remembrance Day, Thomas Baker’s Uxbridge Chamber Choir presented Karl Jenkins’ Mass for Peace at St. Paul’s Church in Leaskdale. A powerful experience. On Dec. 1, Mrs. Baker, Anne Mizen, showcased her own choir, the all-female Monday Morning Singers, with Vivaldi’s Gloria, demonstrating how far she has brought her troupe in a very short time.
This weekend, Charles White treats us to a rich tapestry of seasonal music with Uxbridge’s largest community choir, One Voice. Or at least it’s the biggest in odd-numbered years; every other year the Messiah Singers come together for Handel’s great masterpiece, featuring professional musicians and soloists and a hundred majestic voices in the beautiful venue of Trinity United Church. If you’ve never experienced this grand finale of the Uxbridge choral season, it happens this coming Monday and Tuesday night. Don’t miss it.
One of the Messiah soloists is voice teacher Jennifer Neveu-Cook, with whose studio the Cosmos has the good fortune to share its premises on Toronto Street North. Every day we get to listen to Jennifer and her students, aged 5 to 75, and are reminded of the great artistic bounty we experience in our town. Thanks to Jennifer, and all her fellow teachers and conductors, for making it so.
July 14, 2011
