Josh is a young Jamaican-Canadian and this blog is about his music & travel adventures and anything that takes his interest. He sings bass, and studies organ, piano, violin & viola.
(This blog was last updated in April 2019, and will no longer updated in the future.)
Last Tuesday, I did the "Music at Midday" recital at St. James' Cathedral. I was asked to fill in just a week before, and I was really excited to help out.
I repeated the program for my last recital (in February) as I am still working on new pieces. My new pieces are really close to being ready, but I want to work on them some more with my teacher first.
My past performances have been arranged weeks or months in advance, so this was a new experience for me.
On Tuesday, I had a recital at the Cathedral Church of St. James in Toronto.
I only just stopped having organ lessons here last month. I will miss going there each week but, I hope that I will be able to do more recitals in the future.
Stephen Boda, my new organ teacher, came to help me out for this recital. He is the Organist at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. He is excellent!
Thank you to Stephen Boda for coming out to help; thank you to Philip Eliot for recording my recital;
And a HUGE thank you to Robert Busiakiewicz for your continuing support!
And of course, thank you to everyone who came out to listen!
On January 24th, I had my last organ lesson at the Cathedral Church of St. James' with Ian Sadler. He is no longer the organist there, and I can't travel to Stratford.
I had my first lesson with him at St. James on October 30, 2016. It seems like it was too short a time. He's been compared to the Mary Poppins of the organ world, as he shows up just when he's needed.
I am certain that it is not the last time I'll be playing organ with him. ;-)
Here are some pictures:
At our last class:
When I got my RCCO Service Playing Certificate last year:
Here we are with Robert at one of my recitals:
And this was the day Robert first introduced me to Ian.
Thank you so much, Ian, for being a fantastic teacher!
And Thank you to Robert, for introducing me to Ian and for allowing me to have my lessons and my first recitals at St. James' Cathedral!
Thank you both for sharing your love of music with me!
I am so sorry for neglecting my blog for so long!
I have been super busy!
I became the Junior Organ Scholar at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church. I have especially been involved with the Tone Chimes. I still sing with the choir, and I also played the piano for a couple pieces.
I have also been involved with Orchestra and I started substitute teaching piano at a Music School.
I did a few RCM exams too.... Organ Grade 8, History Grade 10, and Viola Grade 7.
On October 30, 2018, I did an Organ Recital at The Cathedral Church of St. James.
(My Dad had to be the videographer as my Mom started back classes at University of Toronto and couldn't make it.)
Last Tuesday, I did a recital at The Cathedral Church of St. James for "Music at Midday".
Philip Elliot recorded it for me and I uploaded the full recital to SoundCloud:
It was a lot more relaxed than my first two recitals and I felt better prepared, mainly because I had done it before.
Thomas Fitches came to hear me play!
The first time I met him was just a couple days before I started doing organ lessons. I heard him play at "Music at Midday" and so it is really a big deal to me that he came to hear my recital. Thank you so much for coming!
The biggest surprise was that Chrissy Quigley came to my recital! She helps to organize the Leahy Music Camp and she mentioned that she might come but it was wonderful seeing her!
I made sure to upload both Choral Song and Folk Tune since I know you loved them! Thank you for coming all the way to Toronto to hear me play!
One of the highlights of the recital is showing people the Pipe Organ afterwards... I'm hoping that some of the kids will be interested in learning organ in the future!
A huge "Thank you" to my teacher, Ian Sadler and to Robert Busiakiewicz, the Director of Music at The Cathedral Church of St. James for allowing me to perform and do lessons there. And of course, thank you to Philip Elliot for the audio-recording and to my Mom for the videos!
Last week, I went to the Leahy Music Camp.
It was at the beautiful Lakefield College School just outside Peterborough.
This year, I focussed on piano so each morning, I would go to workshops for piano where I learnt how to vary bass lines and chords when accompanying fiddle.
Each afternoon they had electives where you could choose to learn fiddle, guitar, piano, accordion, bagpipes, banjo, step dancing, composition, improvisation, arranging, computer lab or even recording!
It's really difficult to choose what to do in the electives.
I chose:
Beginner Step Dancing with Jacqueline Enright
Beginner Accordion with Timi Turmel
Improvising on Fiddle with Shane Cook
Intro to Bagpipes with Liam McGlashon
Composing with Erin Leahy
And Mac Lab with Gary Atkins.
(Sorry, I don't have a pic from this elective.)
Each evening they had lots of fun stuff planned for us.... You can choose to do as many or as little of the activities as you like.
Monday Evening, the Instructors put on a performance.
I put together a little montage of clips from their performance.
They were awesome!
So much talent in one room and to think they are the ones who would be teaching us for the week!
On Tuesday, we had a Dance.
It was so much fun and my legs were sore the following day. :-)
On Wednesday afternoon, we had a special Slow Fast Jam. In between some of the songs that we were all playing together, we got to see some of the campers perform.
I didn't do the evening activity on the Wednesday though.... We decided to stay in and rest for the busy Thursday ahead.
On the Thursday, we recorded the Camp Chorus.
For the Camp Chorus, I played in the piano section this year. (Last year, I did the fiddle.)
Each section learns their own part separately, and the first time we hear the full thing is when we get together to record it.
It is really exciting!
After the camp edits it and send it out this year, I will make a post about it here on my blog.
On the Thursday afternoon, we had our group challenge performance.
The group challenge is my favourite part of camp.
For the Group Challenge, we get together with other campers who we don't normally see or work with throughout the year and work together on something to perform for everyone.
This year, I worked with Olivia Werden and Gail Poulsen. Olivia wrote a beautiful song called Leia's Lullaby and we arranged and performed it for the group challenge.
We also performed it in the evening at the Grand Jam.
The Grand Jam is the final performance at the camp... It is a lot of fun but it also means that the camp is over. We all get to share the stage with the Instructors and play the tunes that we've learnt throughout the week.
Thank you so much to the Leahys for having such a wonderful camp. It is so nice to be around a family which really seems to like each other and take care of each other.
And of course, a special thanks to Frank Callaghan for opening doors once again for us!
And thanks to Mom for being my chaperone and taking such good videos throughout the camp!
~~
Update:
This blog post has been edited to include a link to a video of the performance of "Leia's Lullaby".
On Sunday, I sang with the Northdale Concert Band, the Grace Church-on-the-Hill Choir, the Christ Church Deer Park Choir, and the Timothy Eaton Memorial Church Choir, at their Last Night of the Proms.
May and June are always super busy because of all of the auditions, examinations, competitions and performances.
On Saturday, I performed at the Adagio Music Festival. It's a very small festival and I have been doing it on and off for years. They have pictures of me from 2011 and 2012 in their gallery.
Here is one of the pieces I did at the festival - Sonatina for Piano, 3rd Movement (1959) by Aram Khatchaturian.
The last time I did the festival was in 2015 when I played "Two Gossiping Old Women" by Aram Khatchaturian.... I guess I really like Khatchaturian.
Practicing music keeps me inside a lot. I decided to join the Toronto Orienteering Club, so I have a regular way to get outside and enjoy the sunshine (or rain) in the warmer months.
I did my first workshop with them to learn map reading and compass skills.
I had an audition just before I went Orienteering, and because of the time, I had to make a decision of getting something to eat or going somewhere to change my clothes. I was hungry, so I ended up a bit overdressed for the workshop. I did change my shoes though.
Here are a couple pictures of me at G. Ross Lord Park.
On May 22nd, I did my Service Playing Exam through the Royal Canadian College of Organists. It was my first exam with them.
I attended a Hymn Playing Workshop with Thomas Fitches in preparation for the exam and I think it really helped.
My exam was at St. Clement's Anglican Church and I was allowed some practice time before.
Here are a few pictures from inside the church.
The RCCO exam was different from RCM (Royal Conservatory of Music) exams.
The RCCO examiner was behind a screen, so I wasn't able to see him or her and the examiner never spoke directly to me. Someone meets you before the exam and takes you to the organ and he was the person who gave me the sight reading and told me which hymn I would be playing.
I also didn't need to provide copies of my music for the examiner. I guess the examiner might see my name on the music if I had to provide copies.
Here are some videos of some of the pieces I prepared for the exam.
The hymn that the examiner selected was "Forth In Thy Name O Christ We Go"
I accidentally hit an extra note at the end of this video, but that didn't happen in the exam.
Holy, Holy, Holy (Nicaea) was on the list of hymns that we could play. I had no idea that this was my Grandma's favourite. My Mom didn't tell me until after the exam as she didn't want to influence my choice of hymns. She also didn't want me to get emotional considering how much this piece meant to Grandma.
I did my second ever solo recital earlier this month. It was on May 8th at the Cathedral Church of St. James.
It wasn't as nerve-racking as the first time.
Normally when I do concerts or rehearsals, my parents record some of it, but this time, they sat and enjoyed it.
We arranged with Philip Elliot to do an audio recording of the concert for us.
I'm so happy that we could get such a wonderful recording!
My program included:
Rigaudon by Andre Campra (166 - 1744)
Trio in C Minor, BWV 585 by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 - 1750)
Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 533 by J. S. Bach
Fantasia in C Minor, BWV 562 by J. S. Bach
Sonata de 1o Tono by Jose Lidon (1748 - 1827)
Folk Tune by Percy Whitlock (1903 - 1946)
Choral Song by Samuel Wesley (1810 - 1876)
Berceuse by Louis Vierne (1870 - 1937)
Gaelic Fantasy by Hans-Andre Stamm (b. 1958)
I finally had time to sit down and listen to the performance.
It is very different listening to the concert and comparing it to how I experienced it while playing. The Rigaudon and the Bach pieces all went really well. I stumbled in the Sonata; the stumble was only about a split second, but it seemed so much longer while playing. I approached the Gaelic Fantasy a little too fast..It would have sounded better if I had just gone a little slower. Everything else was good. :-)
Lots of homeschoolers came out to listen. Thank you so much for coming, it was great having so much support from other homeschoolers! I really hope you all enjoyed it!
me with Robert Busiakiewicz (left) and Ian Sadler (right)
A special thank you to my teacher - Ian Sadler, Robert Busiakiewicz - the Director of Music at St. James, and to Philip for recording the concert. :-)
May has been a very exciting month for me. I have so much to blog about! I'll split them up into a series of blog posts so it's not one huge, rambling piece.
On May 5th, the Royal Canadian College of Organists (Toronto Chapter) had a workshop about how to play hymns. Thomas Fitches led the workshop at St. Clement's Church.
The description of the workshop said:
I had my first RCCO exam coming up - The Service Playing exam and, of course, I went.
Playing a hymn is different from doing a piece for a recital.
You have to think about where the congregation will breathe when they are singing.
You need to think about the introduction - The congregants need to know when to sing
Rhythm is important - it needs to be steady or the people singing might get confused
The tempo needs to be at a speed where the congregation can sing a line in one breath
You have to think about the meaning of the words and this should be reflected in your choice of registration.
At the hymn playing workshop we worked on all of these and more!
Here was the first time I played through the hymn, Lord Jesus Think on Me (Southwell)
I needed to play just a bit faster, and I needed to extend the introduction so that the last notes I'd play would be in the same key that the congregation would sing.
Here is how it sounded after and with people singing.
It is so different going from practicing alone to playing with people singing. I don't usually play for a congregation, so this was really good for me.
I think it is really helpful that the RCCO offers this kind of workshop and it's free!
Tom even brought tim-bits, pastries and coffee to share!
Thank you so much Tom, and thank you to the RCCO for putting on the workshop!
David Briggs had a private Masterclass at St. James' Cathedral with me, Manuel Piazza and Gerald Loo on Saturday, April 28th.
Manuel Piazza is an organ student at the University of Toronto and he is the Bevan Organ Scholar and the Organ Scholar at St. James' Cathedral. Gerald Loo is working towards his Fellowship Diploma of the Royal College of Organists. He also plays at St. Paul's Bloor.
I was the most junior person there! But, I was invited because I take lessons at St. James with Ian Sadler.
We all worked on different things.
I worked on two pieces that I will be doing in my upcoming recital on Tuesday, May 8th at 1pm at St. James.
For Choral Song, David recommended that I change some fingering and registration to make it more stylistically appropriate for a mid 19th century piece.
Gaelic Fantasy is a contemporary piece. It doesn't have dynamic markings or suggestions for registration so he recommended making the whole piece a giant crescendo. It is a piece that makes you want to dance and you will love the celtic themes and the crescendo just works.
David suggested ways to make Manuel's piece more expressive. One way was by using rubato in a slightly different way. He also changed the registration to reflect the composer's intentions.
David is extraordinarily good at showing us such small things that make a huge difference. It is these details that make him such a good organist!
For Gerald's improvisation, David pointed out that you need to have a plan. You need to think about are the implied harmony and the variations that you might do. One specific thing he mentioned was that using thirds and sixths can help make it easier for the actual improvisation.
A special thank you to Robert Busiakiewicz, who organized the Masterclass and to David Briggs for being so patient!
Thank you!
This weekend we had a horrible ice storm but I recorded my Grade 9 Piano Royal Conservatory Examination pieces. What you can't see is that I spent lots of time shovelling the snow/ice mix outside and we have a blower drying the basement downstairs from the flooding.
My exam was last week, on a much nicer day than what we had this weekend.
In the exam, I made a mistake with one of my scales. I started playing the harmonic scale instead of the melodic, but I switched when I noticed. And I fumbled in one of my Etudes... I continued playing but I stopped playing the left hand for a short while while I recovered from the fumble. I hope they don't mark me down too hard for that.
My sight reading went really well, and everything else seemed fine.
I love orchestra, but I also like having Saturdays free. Yesterday was the 4th Annual Toronto Bach Walk celebrating Johann Sebastian Bach's 333rd Birthday and because I had the day off, I was able to go!
We went to a series of churches and listened as people performed Bach compositions.
Church of the Redeemer at 1pm
Trinity College Chapel at 2pm
St. Thomas' Anglican Church at 3pm
The program is designed so you can easily walk from one church to the next.
It's cool being able to get up and switch locations in the middle of a performance!
~~~~~
At Church of the Redeemer, Daniel Norman played:
Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582
~~~~~
At Trinity College Chapel, John Tuttle played:
Prelude and Fugue in E minor (The "Wedge") BWV 548
and John Tuttle was joined by The Rev'd Andrea Budgey on Recorder for:
Sonata in F major, BWV 1035
Adagio ma non tanto
Allegro
Siciliano
Allegro assai
~~~~~
At St. Thomas' Anglican Church Elizabeth Anderson played:
Chorale Prelude: ' An Wasserflussen Babylon' BQV 653b (a 2 Clav. e Pedale doppio)
Chorale Prelude: 'Herr Gott, nun schleuss den Himmel auf', BWV 617
Chorale Prelude: 'Liebster Jesu', BWV 731
Prelude and Fugue in C minor, BWV 546
Dad came along with me for this event even though he isn't the biggest fan of Bach. I was able to bribe him with the Birthday cake they have at the end.
I just love the music, the performances and the churches!
On Pi Day, we usually do something Pi/Pie related or go to the Science Centre. But, this year, Pi Day is smack in the middle of March Break and that means the Science Centre would be packed. So, instead, we decided to head downtown and visit one of our favourite museums.
We finally got to see the exhibit "Eaton's Goes to War: Family, Memory and Meaning" at Mackenzie House. It is about the people who went to fight in the First World War who worked at Eaton's Department Store.
I was at Timothy Eaton Memorial Church for Remembrance Day last year and they did a wonderful service with beautiful music paying special tribute to the members there who served in both of the World Wars. (The whole service is available online at https://www.temc.ca/sermon/decisions-nightfall.) It got me wondering about the people who served and so, I really wanted to see this exhibition.
I didn't expect to see something about someone younger than me going to war. He was 13, working at Eaton's and he enlisted in the army along with his older brother, Fred.
Fred Gledhill received a Distinguished Conduct Medal, and became the youngest Regimental Sergeant Major in the British Army.
One thing that is special about this exhibit is that it looks at how these men who served are remembered by their families and what happened after.
I always hear stories about my Grandfather (Mom's Dad) and my Great Grandfather and Great Uncle (Dad's Grandfather and grand-uncle) and I know that being in the army in World War II was a part of their lives, but they were so much more.
Eaton's Goes to War is on at Mackenzie House until April 30th this year.
Ryerson Interior Design Students also have an exhibit up at Mackenzie House.
Can you see the silhouettes of Mackenzie and his daughters?
There is also a display of objects made from human hair.
And of course, we spent some time in the Print Shop.
Thanks to Alex and Jared for the wonderful afternoon!
And a special thank you for having the well thought out exhibit on Eaton's Goes to War. You always have such great exhibits!
