The VSO's Day of Music harnesses the power of the arts to connect us
The ambitious May 15 livestream event brings together diverse musical acts from all over B.C.
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra maestro Otto Tausk. Photo by Ronald Knapp
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra presents Day Of Music on May 15, with a hosted livestream starting at 10 am PDT and concluding with a performance by the VSO and maestro Otto Tausk direct from the Orpheum Theatre starting at 2:40 pm PDT. DayOfMusic.ca goes live at 12:01 am PDT and and will remain accessible for a year.
TEAPOT IN THE Tuba is one of B.C.’s more colourful musical projects, with Mike Allen on clarinet and Katheryn Petersen on accordion, toy piano, and drums making up a miniature circus-jazz orchestra. What does the act have in common with Azalea Chinese Music Ensemble, local organist Michael Dirk, Vancouver Opera, jazz saxophonist Cory Weeds, and Elektra Women's Choir? They’re all performing in Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s Day Of Music on May 15.
From the Royal Academy of Bhangra to the Baroque Ensemble of Salt Spring Island, the virtual celebration features more than 100 free performances by artists from all over the province. DayOfMusic.ca will launch as a Netflix-style hub where people can take in a five-hour livestream with highlights like interviews with guest artists and interactive Q&As, culminating in performance by the VSO led by maestro Otto Tausk. The website will stay up for a full year with free access to 12 hours worth of shows by the province’s most diverse and dynamic artists.
After the last year we’ve all had, we need music more than ever.
“I think we can all admit that in some ways we’ve all felt the isolation during this pandemic, we’ve all felt he in lack of human contact,” VSO president and CEO Angela Elster said in an interview with Stir alongside VSO board chair Etienne Bruson. “How do we elevate our spirits? That’s what music does. We saw that first-hand as the pandemic began, with the seven o’clock tribute to frontline workers: it was all music around the world. There is this power of playing together and singing together, and that’s what we live by at the VSO. I think Day of Music is a beautiful demonstration of that power to bring us all together, in this case as a province.”
Teapot in a Tuba is one of some 100 musical acts from throughout B.C. performing at the VSO’s second annual Day of Music.
The upcoming event grew out of the inaugural Day Of Music in 2019, celebrating the VSO’s centennial anniversary and drawing more than 14,000 people. Although plans for 2020—which included a big outdoor celebration—were obliterated by COVID-19, the organization ahs spent the last year releasing online concerts through its virtual home at TheconcertHall.ca. It is leveraging its technology and knowledge gained from the pivot to bring Day Of Music to life. The event has at its heart the answer to the question the team at VSO asked itself during a past strategic-planning session to create a mission statement: why do we exist?
“Music is a connector to ourselves, is a connector with our families, is a connector with our backgrounds; it’s an intergenerational connector,” Bruson says. “We came up with the purpose to create, curate, and connect irresistible music experiences….The power of music is that it connects us. The beauty of it is so important especially in the world today, with a lot of uncertainty; it’s wonderful to have the arts and music in our lives. Having the Day of Music at this time, in spring, while people are becoming a little more optimistic, cautiously optimistic, is of such importance for all of us in our communities. All through the pandemic, the VSO has tried to be a connector.”
It was crucial to have musical acts from all over the province to bring the community together and, Elster says, as a way to show thanks to bodies such as Government of British Columbia that have supported the VSO throughout the pandemic. She notes that affordability and accessibility have always been pillars of the organization. “I always think of the VSO as BC’s orchestra,” she says.
For the Day Of Music 2021 lineup, the organization invited all of those who participated in 2019 and who were invited for 2020, then sent out a provincewide call for submissions.
Vancouver Chamber Choir, Vetta Chamber Music, Early Music Vancouver, Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, St. James Music Academy, and VSO School of Music and Sinfonietta are among the larger organizations taking part. Then there are acts as divergent as BabyFace Brass, a street jazz and party band; West Vancouver Youth Band Symphonic Strings; seasoned harpist Elizabeth Volpé Bligh; rising pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko; sitarist Mohamed Assani; high-energy dance group Queer As Funk; and many more.
The free event is as much about celebrating local music as it is about recognizing resilience and the role the arts play in people’s daily lives. Since the onset of the pandemic, the VSO has recorded 40 concerts.
“We decided to be ambitious and bold, and we didn’t want the music to stop,” Elster says. “Our musicians wanted to play, and we didn’t want to lose our connection with the community.
“With this event, it really feels like it’s a time to celebrate all the arts, all creativity, and that we’ve made it; we’re here,” Elster says. “This is a celebration of resilience for everybody. The counterpoint between the very strange an unbelievable year we’ve all experienced and the creativity of our sector coming right up and emerging is so absolutely remarkable. We believe there’s room for all creativity.”
Adds Bruson: “What we need to remember is that the arts are still in a tough position….Music and the arts have proven in the last 14, 15 months how important they are, and we need to continue to cherish that and make sure we can continue to thrive. Supporting the arts is very important. The arts are the centre of all great communities.”
For more information, see the VSO.
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