Bishop Terry Finlay's Funeral

Today was a sad day.

Mom and I went to St. James Cathedral to say farewell to Bishop Terry Finlay.

We knew him as Terry and he was a cool person to sit down and have a cup of tea with.
The first time we went to All Saints Kingsway for service, he was the first person to greet us. He was very friendly and he explained the service to us. Afterwards he invited us to tea and it became a regular part of our week.

One week he sang the song "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho" to me in front of everybody in the Wilkinson Room at ASK.

He loved hearing me play the piano and he always asked me to play the piano or the violin. He also asked me to play organ on the day I was baptized. He loved that I was able to play that day. I am still very thankful for that opportunity.

Our topics of conversation varied widely. We spoke about the big questions of the day, tea, life, twtitter, music... just about anything.

The last conversation we had we spoke about the bishop's rochet as compared to the cassock. He said "rochet" would be a good word to know for crosswords and scrabble.

Both Mom and I will miss him dearly.
Our deepest condolences to A.J., his children, grandchildren, and other family and friends.

Dmitry Masleev at Koerner Hall

Last night, Dad and I saw Dmitry Masleev at Koerner Hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

He played:

D. Scarlatti 
Sonata in B minor, K. 27
Sonata in F minor, K. 466
Sonata in D minor, K. 1
Sonata in D minor, K. 141

Beethoven
Piano Sonata No. 26 in E flat major, Opus 81a, "Les Adieux"
Das Lebewohl (Les Adieux): Adagio - Allegro
Abwesenheit (L'Absence): Andante espressivo
Das Wiedersehen (Le Retour): Vivacissimamente

Prokofiev
Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Opus 14
Allegro, ma non troppo - Piu mosso - Tempo primo (in D. minor)
Scherzo, Allegro marcato (in A minor)
Andante (in G sharp minor)
Vivace - Moderato - Vivace (in D minor)

Rachmaninoff
Elegie in E flat minor, Op. 3 No. 2 from Morceaux de fantaisie
Prelude in C sharp minor, Op.  No. 2 from Morceaux de fantasie
Fragments
Etude-Tableau in E flat major, Op. 33 No. 4
Etude-Tableau in B minor, Op. 39 No. 4
Etude-Tableau in D major, Op 39, No. 9

Liszt
Totentanz

It was a long and very satisfying program... A treat for any piano lover.
It was just Dmitry Masleev and the piano, and he carried us away with his beautiful interpretations of music from the Baroque era to the 20th century.  It is not everyday that I get to see a performer play such a wide range of music solo on the piano.

He won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Russia in 2015 and since then he has been touring Europe, Asia and now North America. This visit to Toronto marks his Canadian debut. I am sure that audiences everywhere appreciate his talent and we will be seeing a lot more of him.
It will be exciting to see how his career progresses. By the start of the concert, almost every seat was filled at Koerner Hall, so it seems like people are already excited to see such an exceptional pianist.

Bach's Birthday Recital

Today, Mom and I went to Bach's Birthday Recital at Trinity College Chapel.

The music was amazing.

John Tuttle played:

• Toccata in F Major, BWV 678
• Sonata No.  in C Minor, BWV 526
• These are the Holy Ten Commandments, BWV 678
• Passacaglia in C Minor, BWV 582

There were at least 150 people in attendance, maybe even more. All of the pews and chairs were filled and people were sitting on stairs and standing in the back.

The organ is up in the balcony at the back of the chapel.
It must be be very nice for the organist there because the congregation can't see you.

I took these pictures after the concert.

I wanted to get a picture of the crowd because I was really happy to see such a large group, but a lady told Mom to put away the cell phone/camera. She made it seem like cell phones weren't allowed at all. But, she didn't stop other people from taking pictures with their phones. It made us very uncomfortable and even though it was beautiful music the overall atmosphere wasn't very welcoming. It's never nice when you feel like you're being constantly watched.

Back at the Make Den

Mom and I are back at the Make Den for classes.
Mom is taking the Leather Fundamentals and I am doing Sewing Fundamentals 2.

I worked on a tea cozy.
In this picture I was picking out something... Mistakes happen but the seam ripper is your friend.

Mom was working on a belt.
When I went up to see her she was dying the belt.

The really exciting thing that happened though was Jack finished his dress!
And we all got to see it.
I think almost everyone in the studio went to see the dress.

It's amazing that he made it all on his own.
It looks really complicated.
It is nice and pouffy!

 He must be so proud!

There is a short documentary about Jack on the CBC.
I'm so happy that I got to see the finished product!

First trip to the ER

When I got home from piano class today, I hurt my hand.
It bled a lot. We knew to put pressure on it to control the bleeding and Mom took me straight to the doctor. My doctor had already left for the day so we went to the Emergency room.
When we got in it said there would be about a 2 hour wait and there were 40 patients in the department.

When I first saw the doctor, Mom took this picture to send to Dad.
The doctor examined me and sent me for an X ray to make sure there was nothing left behind inside.

The X Ray came back fine and then the doctor numbed it, cleaned it, and closed a part of it with a steri-strip. She left a part of it open so that if it becomes infected it will be able to drain.
I also got a tetanus shot and a prescription for antibiotics.

I have to keep it dry for a few days and I need to rest it.
Of course, we need to watch it for signs of infection.

We got to the hospital at 1:18 pm and we were on our way back home at 4:14 pm. It didn't feel like a long wait because we ended up seeing the doctor a couple times, got X rays done and the nurse gave me a vaccine. I wish I didn't need it but I am thankful for the hospital  and the people who work there.



Edit: I just wanted to add that my Mom is really good at handling emergencies. She doesn't freak out at blood. She bandaged me up and even picked up my Immunization records before we left for the doctor. I didn't even see when she got them.  She told me stories about growing up in Jamaica and kept me calm and distracted.

Poor Dad saw the picture of the cut and didn't expect so much blood on the floor at home. We didn't even try to clean it up before we left.

I'm happy that Mom made me and Dad do a First Aid Course. Since that First Aid Course, we knew what to do when a guy on our subway car had an epileptic seizure, we helped our neighbour with a head wound while they waited for the ambulance and knew what to do when Dad got a burn.

Pedals, Pipes and Pizza - March Break 2017

I had a wonderful afternoon today!
I went to the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church for "Pipes, Pedals and Pizza" put on by RCCO Toronto.
It was a special program during March Break where they introduce the organ to lots of kids.

It was -17C with windchill but I still managed to drag my Mom along with me.

Stephen Boda played Paul Halley's Outer Hebrides and an excerpt from Widor's Toccata.
He is just excellent.
He is the organist at the TEMC.

He also did a little talk where he explained all about stops, manuals and pedals.

It was a pretty large group so we split up into 3 smaller groups and we got to learn more about the different types of pipes from Thomas Fitches.

He talked about reeds, flues and string pipes and he also explained what the different parts of the pipes are called.

The spot where he is touching in this picture is called a "beard".

We all got to try out the spectacular 5 manual Casavant organ which has over 6000 pipes!
Here is a short video of me playing on the organ.

https://youtu.be/kVEYQtKhk9k

We also got to see where the pipes are installed in the church.
It was my first time getting to see the pipes like that!

I spliced together 2 short videos so you can have an idea of what it was like. The first part was taped by my Mom and the 2nd part I shot. This was in one of the rooms.

https://youtu.be/G9WJ3DvC0eI

Thank you to Stephen Boda, Stephen from the RCCO, Thomas Fitches and everyone who made this day possible!

I loved it and had a wonderful time.
I hope to see you all again soon!

Karnival for Kidz with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

I noticed that I didn't do any blog posts in February.
I had a couple performances so I didn't get the chance to work on my blog.

I play viola in the Kingsway Conservatory Orchestra and we had a performance with the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra called a Karnival for Kidz.

Photo credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: The Kingsway Conservatory of Music

 Our program included:

Camille Saint-Saens' Carnival of the Animals (abridged) arranged by S. L. Rosenhaus
Narrated by Sati MacLean
Etobocoke Philharmonic Orchestra

George Bizet's Entr'acte (Aragonaise) IV from Carmen
Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Danny Elfman's Theme from The Simpson's arranged by E. James
EPO Woodwind Ensemble

Robert Nagel's This Old Man
EPO Brass Ensemble

Bob Martin and Don McKellar's Show Off from The Drowsy Chaperone
Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, orchestrated by Larry Blank
EPO Brass and Woodwinds

Leopold Mozart's 1st Movement from Toy Symphony, arranged by Richard L. Rigg
Kingsway Conservatory Junior and Senior Orchestras

Carlo Farina's Capriccio Stravagante
Kingsway Conservatory Intermediate and Senior Orchestra

Klaus Baldelt Pirates of the Caribbean, arranged by T. Ricketts
Kingsway Conservatory Intermediate & Senior Orchestras and the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra


It was a wonderful experience being able to play alongside a professional orchestra. Normally, I play with string ensembles but it was incredible having the full sound with brass, woodwinds and percussion!
I loved it!

 Here are some pictures from the day.

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra 

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: The Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra

Photo Credit: snapd Etobicoke

Thank you so much to the Etobicoke Philharmonic Orchestra for allowing us to have the experience of sharing the stage with you!

And thank you to my teachers at the Kingsway Conservatory - Rezan, Valerie, Michelle and Sharon for organizing this with the EPO.

Thank you to Kingsway Conservatory, The EPO and snapd Etobicoke for the pictures. I hope you don't mind that I posted them on my blog.

Scarborough Model Railway Club Open House 2017

Today, Dad and I went to the Scarborough Model Railway Club's Open House. It has been a long time since I was able to make it. I almost always have a concert to perform at when the Open House is on.

Both Dad and I took lots of pictures.
Here are some of them.