What follows is a Q&A Interview with Page Graham, co-founder of The Inside Outside, a popular recurring series of “salons” that brings together the music and visual art communities in a common setting.
The Interview was conducted by The Beat Magazine’s Publisher & Content Manager, Richard Young.
(Pictured: Page Graham and Tami Kegley, co-founders of The Inside Outside.)
Q. When was The Inside Outside founded, by whom, and why?
The Inside Outside was formed in 2025 by husband-and-wife team Page Graham and Tami Kegley. We saw a need to bring the music and visual art communities together in a common setting. A “salon,” if you will. Our shows consist of live music performances and arts discussion (interviews)
Q. What do each of you bring to the project?
Page takes care of the technical and production aspects. Since she is an artist herself, Tami acts as host and interviewer. Both collaborate to develop ideas and people to invite to participate in the show.
Q. What demographic does The Inside Outside serve?
Although unintentional, our events tend to attract a more mature audience, and all ages are certainly welcome. Not only do music and art find themselves siloed in terms of disciplines, age also plays a factor. For example, there are old-school punk bands in London as well as younger acts, and they aren’t at all integrated.
Q. In what venues do you hold your events?
Our events are held at the Richmond Tavern, London’s finest dive bar. People who would like to come to our events should be aware that it’s clean, well-run, and safe. Oh, and the drink prices are quite fair! We don’t charge a cover, but we do pass the hat. Pay What You Can (PWYC).
Q. How often do you hold events?
We are currently holding our events quarterly, on the 3rd Thursday of March, June, September, and December. I guess we’re roughly tracking the solstices.
(Pictured: Carol MacQuarrie. Photo by Jim Capel.)
Q. What can attendees expect from your Thursday, June 18th event at the Richmond Tavern?
Our musical guests are Carol MacQuarrie and Chris Mittleholtz, who represent one half of folk group Myrtle Earle. Chris is also a renowned punk guitarist, but this will be an acoustic show. Local artist and gallery owner Jim Telfer will be our interview guest. He runs Splash Fine Art and Jewelry Gallery on Richmond Street, just south of the CN railroad tracks. There will be a visual display of his artworks; he specializes in larger-format abstract representations of animals, primarily sea creatures, and he uses mostly found objects such as driftwood. In September, our musical guest will be Allison Brown, who will likely bring another performer to join her. Our arts guest is still TBA.
(Pictured: Jim Telfer’s “Toulouse Peacock”. Photo by Page Graham.)
Q. How can our readers learn more about The Inside Outside?
Currently, the best option is to follow our Facebook page (insideoutsidelondon.ca). We have a website of the same name, but it is currently dormant.
Q. Do you have any general thoughts about London’s arts and culture scene/community you would like to share?
That’s an easy and difficult question to answer all at the same time. Since I’m a Western grad from decades ago and then went abroad for many years before returning, I find that Londoners tend to be overly negative about our city, and that includes the arts.
That simply isn’t true. This is a fine city. People should take pride in it. How many other cities have a Music Week with awards shows, for example? On the other hand, the music community gets much more attention than the visual arts because it’s out of balance. Our music situation is just fine, but instead of continuing to focus on it constantly, the spotlight needs to be shared with the visual arts and literature. In addition to being known as a “City of Music”, we should also be known as a “City of Arts”.
In one world, a band was looking for a new lead singer. In the other, a singer was looking for somewhere to sing.
Specifically, ten years ago, a band called Backline Revival was hosting a YouTube series to audition a new singer. Behind it was Rickie-Lee Houle of Loveless, who organized the series and the search.
“We asked ladies to try out and had two or three rounds of auditions. Long story short, Megan was one of the contestants,” explains Houle.
“And I will not forget when she showed up because we were all searching for our singer and had similar but different ideas of what we were looking for. When Megan sang, we were all thinking ‘this is who we want’.”
In the other world, Megan Schroder was unsure of her abilities, confessing, “I wasn’t very hopeful because I had not sung in a rock and roll band before. The only singing I had really ever done was like in my room as a kid, a bit of musical theater, and karaoke. That was really it.”
“I never fronted a band before, and didn’t really have a lot of confidence in my own rock and roll front woman ability, but I thought, you know, why not give it a shot?”
In Houle’s world, she already knew who she wanted, but life threw both young women a curveball.
Despite having Schroder top of mind, Rickie Lee had to continue with the competition to be true to the goal of the contest. Meanwhile, Schroder got an offer to audition on Broadway.
“I made it through a couple rounds of the competition and then, funny enough, I got a call to audition on Broadway for the show Hedwig and the Angry Inch, which I had recently done as part of the London Fringe Festival”, she explains.
Schroder did get a call back about the play, so she called Houle and told him she had to drop out of the auditions.
“I told them all my focus was going into preparing for this Broadway audition, and in the off chance that I happened to get it, I didn’t want to leave them high and dry,” says Schroder.
“I was certain that they weren’t even really gonna care because I thought I was the weakest link,” Schroder says flatly. “Everyone else had experience. I didn’t know what I was really capable of and thought I was probably in last place anyway, and they’re not even really gonna care.”
As for Houle, “We were devastated” when she got the call from Schroder. But the competition continued, and a winner was chosen.”
“We took a couple of weeks off after we had finished the process, and then everyone got pregnant,” she laughs. “The winning singer got pregnant. The drummer’s girlfriend got pregnant, so we kind of went on hiatus.”
At the time, Houle’s guitar-slinging, soon-to-be husband Nick, was in a band with guitarist Ian Hebert called Bender. They put Backline Revival on the back burner but kept in touch with Megan.
Back in Schroder’s world, “Rickie Lee got in touch with me and asked to meet up. I didn’t end up getting that part on Broadway, so I was intrigued.”
One meeting later, the core of Loveless was born.
Both Houle and Hebert were looking to leave Bender and wanted a lead singer.
“Ian is super talented, but one thing that he doesn’t love to do is front a band,” Schroder explains. “It’s just not really his thing. So, they wanted to create a band where Ian sings a little but not as the lead singer.”
After a skinsman shuffle, the newly named Loveless ended up with their forever drummer, Warren Stinson, and got down to work.
Having eschewed original material ala Backline Revival, the idea behind Loveless was basically 70s and 80s rock music. What made Loveless stand out among an endless list of similar-themed cover bands was their youth. They were young and played these songs not with a rote note-by-note recitation of de facto classics but rather with the raging wonder of young guns trying out these gems for the first time.
They sounded fresh, a rarity among cover bands. And they came by their freshness honestly. They all grew up with these songs.
“Much Music was always on when I was a kid,” recalls Schroder. “I remember being in kindergarten and my mom took out her old record player and 45s and as a super young kid, I would go through that box full of British Invasion stuff.”
“I was always really into the oldies, and then I just continued to really love it, you know.”
As the Schroder household went, also went the Houle abode.
“My dad always says he plays a mean radio,” chuckles Houle.
“We had sort of a thing where every weekend we would go up to the third floor, and I would get to pick out an album that I wanted to listen to, and he would tell me about it, and I’d hear about when it first came out, when he waited in line, to pick it up at Sam’s and just getting little mini music lessons.
“We would get into like a whole bunch of bands, even Loveless doesn’t play because they’re like a little more obscure, like The MC5 or Frigid Pink, Michael Jackson, the old Chess Records stuff, and Little Feat’s Waiting for Columbus album.”
As for what’s next for Loveless, it’s truly up to the band. They all have side projects and other musical outlets, and because of that, the band remains excited and vital.
“We all support each other,” says Houle. “It’s also good that we come back to the band with renewed energy, too. We are always so appreciative of what we have when we come back.”
“We’re all really good friends. Like, we all really genuinely like each other,” Schroder enthuses.
“So, like when we’re having fun and goofing off on stage, it’s all real. None of it is fake, because we’re just like five friends who are hanging out and having a good time together. And just, yeah, loving it.”
You can catch Loveless at the Pierside Pub in Port Stanley: Sunday, August 2 and September 6.
Bob Klanac is a London-based music journalist who has penned hundreds of reviews and interviews. He was a juror for the Polaris Music Prize, a member of the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Jury, and a Juno Awards juror. Bob has also penned two books, Promo Man about London’s late music legend Nick Panaseiko and Shooting Stars, Telling Tales, about photographer to the stars photo-journalist John Rowlands.
What follows is a Q&A Interview with Toni Wilson, Director of Mamma Mia playing at the Palace Theatre from May 28 to June 7 . The Interview was conducted by The Beat Magazine’s Publisher & Content Manager, Richard Young.
Q. Tell me about Mamma Mia! – backstory, author, performance history, etc.
Mamma Mia is a story of love, family, and friendship built around the musical hits of ABBA. It takes us to a beautiful Greek island where we can escape the complicated world in which we live – we all need a little glitter and joy once in a while.
Mamma Mia is based on the songs of ABBA, a Swedish pop/dance group active from 1971 to 1982 and one of the most popular international pop groups of all time.
Mamma Mia is a jukebox musical written by British playwright Catherine Johnson, based on songs recorded by Swedish group ABBA and composed by members Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus.
In 1997, Judy Craymer commissioned Catherine Johnson to write the book for the musical. In 1998, Phyllida Lloyd became the director of the show, with choreography by Anthony Van Laast.
Mamma Mia premiered at the Prince Edward Theatre in the London West End on April 6, 1999 then staged at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto on May 23, 2000, followed by a Broadway production on October 18, 2001
(Photo: Ross Davidson.)
Q. What prompted LPL to select Mamma Mia! for its Spring production?
LCP was looking for a big-name show to complete their 2025/2026 season, and both Jeff Holbrough, Music Director, and I have been waiting for the opportunity to bring Mamma Mia to community theatre. It has great music, engaging characters and lots of dancing, and we knew it would be a whole lot of fun.
(Pictured: Keyboards Annette Gilbert, Music Director Jeff Holbrough, and Director Toni Wilson.)
Q. Could you provide a brief plot synopsis?
Sophie is preparing to marry her fiancé, Sky, on a beautiful Greek island where her mother, Donna, runs a small hotel. Wanting her father to walk her down the aisle but unsure who he is, Sophie secretly reads her mother’s diary from the summer she was conceived 20 years ago and invites her possible dads to her wedding. The men, Sam, Harry and Bill, arrive, unaware of the real reason they were invited to the wedding. At the same time, Donna’s former 1970’s rock bandmates, Tanya and Rosie, arrive to support their friend Donna and her daughter Sophie. Donna is thrown into a state of panic when she discovers that her old flames have arrived for the wedding, and Sophie begins to question her marriage to Sky. In the end, all is resolved, and the play ends with a wonderful Greek island wedding.
Q. Mamma Mia! Is an obvious crowd favourite and it has been staged several times by different troupes in the London area in recent years. What sets this production apart from the others?
Mamma Mia has been a crowd favourite for many years.
The cast of 35 is comprised of two generations of people from the ages of 20 to 75. They offer so many different perspectives on an age-old story of love and marriage. After spending so much time together, we have become our own family and are loving every minute of it.
This production incorporates a large ensemble that provides a backdrop to the story with their wonderful vocals, their creative movement throughout the story and their ongoing interest in the lives of the main characters. The cast will have a hard time saying goodbye on closing night.
(Photo: Ross Davidson.)
Q. I understand the show is officially SOLD OUT before it begins. How do you account for this?
Mamma Mia sold out well before the run of the show, and this is why.
People want to be entertained, people want to hear good music that they recognize, people want to be part of a big cast that has fun, people want to suspend their disbelief and dream of a world like the one we create in Mamma Mia – full of smiles, glitter, dance and music. People want to dream…….so ABBA, thank you for the music.
(Pictured: Director Toni Wilson and Choreographer Laura Wood.)
Q. Can you comment on the Cast – Leads and Ensemble?
I am the luckiest director – over 100 people from our London Community and beyond auditioned for this show. They all wanted to be part of the magic of Mamma Mia.
All of my leads are very strong and perfect for the parts they play. They came to rehearsal with a very professional attitude, knowing their lines and music early in the process and have set a precedent for all of the cast members. They are also kind and generous in their work with each other and with the ensemble, and appreciate the crew that makes them look so very good.
I love them all very much.
Q. How would you describe the sets, props and costumes of the play?
David Long is my set designer, and he is a gift to the Palace Theatre. He is creative, hard-working and has brought my vision of Mamma Mia to life with a beautiful set. You will feel as if you are on a Greek Island and part of the story.
Both my costumes and properties teams have collaborated and worked together with our artistic team to elevate the vision of Mamma Mia – a bright, colourful summertime feel. Sending heartfelt thanks your way.
Lighting and sound are also an integral part of the success of a big musical production. I have listened to their suggestions and trust their expertise to bring Mamma Mia to life. The technical pieces of the show add so much depth to the performances.
(Photo: Ross Davidson.)
Q. What can audiences expect from Mamma Mia?
Mamma Mia is going to grab you from the moment the curtain opens until the end when you join in with the singing and dancing during the encore. Be ready to be entertained and leave the theatre feeling like a dancing queen.
Q. Is there anything else you think readers should know about the show?
Mamma Mia has been a wonderful experience from beginning to end. Having my vision come to life depends upon the collaboration of both the cast and crew so that everyone respects the contributions we all make in the creation of a musical theatre production. The people I have brought together for this project, both cast and crew, have been outstanding in developing positive relationships with one another. Their collective effort to do their very best for the good of the show amazes me, and I am grateful.
I think we have created a once-in-a-lifetime experience for both the cast and crew of Mamma Mia and for our sold-out audiences. We are living the dream together.
(Photo: Ross Davidson.)
ARTISTIC TEAM: MAMMA MIA!
Director: Toni Wilson
Producers: Cathy Weaver and Mike Jewison
Music Director: Jeff Holbrough
Choreographer: Laura Wood
Stage Manager: Anita Goodfellow
CAST: MAMMA MIA!
Melissa Metler: Donna Sheridan
Sophie Sheridan: Jordyn Taylor
Rosie Mulligan: Angela Southern
Tanya Cresham-Leigh: Bronwyn Powell
Sam Carmichael: Jim Noonan
Harry Bright: David Bogaert
Bill Austen: Sam Shoebottom
Sky: A. J. MacDonald
Ali: Kate Deman
Lisa: Emma Vanderkuyl
Pepper: Ethan Couchman
Eddie: Tate Stadnisky
Father Alexandrios: Jim Brock
ENSEMBLE: MAMMA MIA!
Michelle Brock
Lisa Shelton
Sue Bruyns
Karen MacDonald
Janice Van Dasler
Megan Dow
Janet Bueckert
Hayley Kell
Lauren Brooks
Megan Gilliland
Isabel Dalimore
Kaity Adam
Jesse Grant
Rob Carver
Basil Gracious
Frank Delle Donne
Liam Sweezey
Gabriel Sizeland
Iain Guild
IF YOU GO:
What: London Community Players present Mamma Mia!
When: May 28 to June 7, 2026.
Where: Main Stage, The Palace Theatre, 710 Dundas St., London, ON.
Tickets: SOLD OUT
Interview conducted by Richard Young, Publisher and Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025.
(Pictured: Members of the Guys and Dolls company. Photo: David Hou.)
Full Disclosure: I’ve always been a sucker for full-scale Broadway musicals. And, before the “Drama Police” show up in my Facebook Comments, I appreciate drama and “serious issues plays” just as much as the next guy. But there’s something about musicals that attracts me to them every time.
From the opening chords of its first production number to the final bows of its outstanding Cast, the Tony Award-winning production of Guys and Dolls, now playing in previews at the Stratford Festival, is a spectacle that theatre-goers do not want to miss, if for no other reason than to allow them to escape the harrowing front-page news of 2026.
Let’s start with the stellar veteran Cast.
I would gladly pay to hear Stratford veteran actor Dan Chameroy read a phone book. His portrayal of Sky Masterson, a notoriously lucky gambler willing to bet on just about anything, is brilliant. Add to that Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane, the focus of his unrequited love, as the pious and beautiful Sergeant Sarah Brown of the Save-a-Soul Mission, and you have a winning combination.
The play’s other love story between small-time gambler Nathan Detroit, played masterfully by Mark Urhe, who runs a floating craps game in need of a location, and his long-suffering fiancée of fourteen years, Miss Adelaide, played by Jennifer Ryder-Shaw, is equally appealing.
(Pictured: Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane and Jennifer Ryder-Shaw. Photo: Dan Hou.)
The supporting cast of stereotypical small-time grifters adds an extra dimension to the story and further encourages the audience to suspend their disbelief. Characters with names like Nicely-Nicely Johnson (Steve Ross), Benny Southstreet (Gabriel Antonacci), Rusty Charlie (Devon Michael-Brown), Harry the Horse (Henry Firmston) and Big Julie (Juan Chioran) come and go on the stage with great aplomb.
(Pictured: Members of the company. Photo: David Hou.)
The ensemble actors shine in the show’s outstanding production numbers, choreographed by Stratford veteran, director Donna Feore. Stunning dance moves, accentuated by impossible gymnastic feats, leave the audience gasping for air.
The play’s costumes and sets are a joy to behold, as is expected of Stratford Festival productions. The men are dressed in garish vintage 1940s pinstripe suits, while the women look like they walked off the screen of a classic Hollywood film noir.
Sets range from a dingy New York City streetscape, a Havana nightclub, a lively cabaret, a mission, and a NYC sewer! Set changes are done quickly and seamlessly.
(Pictured: Members of the company. Photo: David Hou.)
And the music!
Under the baton of Music Director, Franklin Brasz, the cast and pit orchestra perform songs that have become part of the Great American Songbook, including If I Were a Bell, A Bushel and A Peck, Guys and Dolls, and, of course, Luck Be A Lady.
At the preview performance I attended on Saturday, May 23, audience members could hardly wait to jump to their feet to give the cast a well-deserved standing ovation amidst shouts of Bravo.
(Pictured: Devon Michael Brown with members of the company. Photo: Ann Baggley.)
To be sure, if you are a fan of musical theatre (and even if you aren’t), you don’t want to miss this outstanding production.
As a rule, the Stratford Festival presents two major musical productions each season. Last season’s box office smash, Something Rotten, returns to the Festival stage for a command performance. Featuring many of the cast members of Guys and Dolls, it’s definitely a show you want to see if you missed it last year.
Reviewed by Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager of The Beat Magazine 2025.
(Betamaxx Members, Left to Right: Jaq Inglis, drums, Sookie Mei, bass, backing vocals, Mark Ordas, guitar, backing vocals, Kathy Quayle, vocals, Simon Goodwin, keyboard, vocals.)
About six years ago, a friend of Simon Goodwin gave him a nudge with the idea of starting a Velvet Underground cover band.
Fresh out of the London theatre scene, Goodwin shrugged and started putting together what became Venus in Furs. It was fun, but after a few jam sessions, they put the band on hold. Soon after, an invitation to play at a friend’s summer party brought them back together.
A funny thing happened at the party. The crowd loved them. And the band was wowed by the response.
“I was surprised,” Goodwin laughs. “We just played some private parties, but we were just goofing around.”
It was all just goofing around until Goodwin and others in the band realized they had something.
Bassist Sookie Mei recalls that at some point, “We were just like, jamming in someone’s basement and then decided to try and make it go as a band. And we ended up expanding the repertoire to be more 70s and 80s stuff.”
Goodwin adds that “It’s a lot of work to go through from pulling together some songs for a party to being able to do a full night’s material in a bar.”
(Photo Credit: Paul Latorre.)
But work they did, going from a year as a four-piece to a five-piece before adding trained theatre performer Kathy Quayle as their frontwoman. As a singer, Quayle is incandescent, her limbs flying in time to the music with every moment rehearsed and every moment real. She is the visual lynchpin that, to borrow a quip from The Big Lebowski, ties the band together.
Before Quayle grabbed the lead microphone, Goodwin admits, “It was kind of difficult for me to be the only singer to carry out the whole thing.”
“So, having Kathy come and take a bit of a share of the vocals? It’s awesome, she’s awesome. And everyone loves her.”
Mei doubles down on what Quayle brought to the band. “It’s great to have a front woman who’s not behind an instrument, you know, who’s engaged more with the audience. And she’s dynamic, and great to look at, you know?”
So now they had a band, but given that their repertoire had drifted from its Velvets roots, they had to come up with a different name. They had started with Venus in Furs as their nom de plume, but the focus had shifted, and they needed to find another name to hang on their shingle.
Mei recalls they came up with a ton of band names, and all of them were taken already.
“We were trying to think of something that conveyed the 80s, with a nostalgic feel, but also cool. So, we decided on Betamaxx with the extra X.”
“That was one of the ones we thought wasn’t taken, but then it turned out there’s actually a DJ out of Poland and a band in Southern California that had the same name!”
Mei laughs and adds, “So we’re just not original, which is fitting for a cover band!”
Betamaxx’s focus on 80’s music wasn’t accidental. Not entirely.
Goodwin admits, “I kind of pushed it that way.”
“Well, because we were doing, like, late 70s, early 80s songs, I kind of said, well, let’s, let’s do a new wave thing because there’s no one else really doing it. I looked around, and there was only one other band covering that niche.”
“Besides, it was the music of our youth for the most part. And the band very happily went along with it.”
So, with a set list of three, the newly dubbed Betamaxx set out to do some gigging around town.
“I think the first was the Richmond Hotel about three or four years ago,” recalls Goodwin, “and we’ve just kind of grown since then.”
Goodwin understates things a tad. Betamaxx shows at the Richmond are wonderfully intimate, with a roiling crowd of dancers pushing the edge of the dance floor until even those at the crowded tables are bouncing along with the relentless beat.
“Yeah, I am surprised,” admits Goodwin. “It’s lovely, you know. We just kind of, you know, found a niche as I suggested, and uh, you know, there’s a lot of people that are in our kind of age range.”
Betamaxx is a generational rallying call, a gathering of the tribes, people who have their lives back after some years of establishing a career or family.
The band explores big hits by The Cure, the B-52s, and obscure one-hit wonders by Alphaville (Forever Young) and Peter Schilling (Major Tom), former 80s earworms that hit the nostalgia note before they hit the cerebellum. You all know these songs, whether as an obsessive fan or just having been an 80s kid.
Mei agrees, adding, “I believe people love the music of their youth, and the 80s were a huge decade for music. People of all ages seem to enjoy 80s music.”
“We’ve got people our age and older who love it. We’ve even got young 20-somethings who are into Betamaxx, and it’s the 80s music that is the key. The second thing is, we’ve got a really great band.”
According to Goodwin, it’s not just a coincidence that they’ve grown as a band. It’s also an attention to detail that he’s pushed on the band.
“We work really hard to sound like the recordings, the original recordings, because I think people really respond to that quality. I think that helps.”
Mei notes that their success has been recognized in a somewhat tangible fashion, given that Betamaxx snapped up the Best Cover Band honours at last year’s Forest City London Music Awards.
“Yeah,” she says sheepishly, “we’ve definitely risen up to London greatness!”
Mei muses, “You know, it’s wonderful to look out into the audience and see people from all different walks of life. You know, we’ve got young people, we’ve got various people identifying with different genders, and you know, working class, white collar workers, or whatever.”
As for what’s next, Goodwin concedes that with the band all having day jobs, it’s really more about the fun than the money.
“People have asked us if we’d like to go to Windsor or wherever, but we’re not really interested,” he says flatly.
“We just kind of take gigs of convenience or anything we feel like we want to play.”
This summer, those gigs include Pride London’s mainstage, Ribfest and an upcoming slot at Old South’s Wortley Roadhouse.
“We’re also doing a Hamilton Road block party and something for the Forest City Music London awards as well,” Goodwin explains. “So, we’ve got a lot of little kind of showcase shows like that over the summer. And that’s right up our alley. That’s exactly the kind of stuff we want to do.”
Upcoming Betamaxx Shows:
July 4: Wortley Roadhouse, 9pm-1am
July 18: Hamilton Rd Block Party, 2-3pm
July 19: Pride Festival, Victoria Park, (Date and time TBD)
Bob Klanac is a London-based music journalist who has penned hundreds of reviews and interviews. He was a juror for the Polaris Music Prize, a member of the Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Jury and a Juno Awards juror. Bob has also penned two books, Promo Man about London’s late music legend Nick Panaseiko and Shooting Stars, Telling Tales, about photographer to the stars photo-journalist John Rowlands.
On Wednesday, May 21, 2026, the 24th annual Forest City London Music Awards (FCLMA) announced this year’s inductees into the non-profit organization’s Hall of Fame and Lifetime Achievement categories.
(Pictured: Fred Smith, Ted Leonard, and Don Jones. Photo Credit: Jack Sutton/CBC.)
This year’s honourees are blues guitarist Ted Leonard, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, long-time CHRW-FM Hardcore Country host Fred Smith, and the Jones Family, London entertainment pioneers and entrepreneurs, who received Lifetime Achievement Awards.
FCLMA Hall of Fame recognition is granted to individuals who have a long-standing connection to London and area, and who have demonstrated an outstanding career in music and have made a significant impact on the local, national, and/or international community. To be considered, the nominees must have started in the music industry at least 20 years ago.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to an individual (or individuals) who has been an outstanding contributor to the London and area music community over many years and who has inspired others to contribute to the London area’s music community in an impactful manner.
The Jones Family received a Lifetime Achievement Award for their long-time contributions to the London Music scene, which began with the building of Wonderland (Summer) Gardens, London’s famed entertainment venue, in 1935, and continues today with the Jones Entertainment Group, which continues to build on that legacy through touring productions, festivals, and large-scale live experiences.
To be sure, it is an honour well-deserved and long overdue.
Coming on the heels of the Lifetime Achievement Award is the unveiling of commemorative Interpretive Signage recognizing and celebrating Wonderland Gardens’ contribution to London’s music scene on Sunday, June 21, at 1:30 pm, at Springbank Gardens, before the first Springbank Gardens Summer concert at 2:00 pm.
The Interpretive Signage unveiling is a joint project of the London Public Library’s Historic Sites Committee (of which the author is a member) and the City of London Culture Office.
In the following article, brothers Chuck Jr. and Don Jones share their memories of operating Wonderland Gardens during its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s. (Source: Interview with brothers Chuck and Don Jones, December 11, 2023.)
Younger brother Don Jones was tasked with booking the entertainment at age 14. He remembers booking an up-and-coming artist named Alice Cooper for $500 in 1967.
“I took care of booking Bob Seger one time, who came with his band, equipment and all, in a cube van and slept in the parking lot,” recalls Don.
Don had a talent for this and continued booking the entertainment there until the mid-1970s, getting to know and becoming friends with musicians from across the country and the U.S. He has kept many of them as long-time friends to this day.
Prominent local musical groups, including Johnny Downs, Ted Pudney, Lionel Thornton, and Neil McKay, performed at Wonderland Gardens in the venue’s early years. Later, local acts included the Hawthorne Good Times Band, led by John Hotson, which participated in twenty-five consecutive New Year’s Eve celebrations. Other local acts included The Bluesmen Revue, A Small Experience, The New Set, and many others.
(Pictured: The Bluesmen Revue.)
As musical preferences shifted over time, Wonderland stood as one of the few local vestiges of the big band era. By 1956, the once-gravel driveway leading to the attraction from Springbank Drive had transformed into Wonderland Side Road. The venue continued to host headline acts such as Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, and Sly and the Family Stone. The Jones brothers remember when Wonderland hosted a two-day Pop Festival featuring Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in August 1969.
(Pictured: Frank Zappa performs at Wonderland Gardens, August 1969.)
Chuck can finally put to rest the rumour that Zappa engaged in water skiing on the polluted Thames River.
“This did happen, I was the one driving the boat!” he jokes.
In 1982, Don met CBC children’s icon Mr. Dressup (Ernie Coombs), and together they embarked on a twenty-year journey of touring success. Don and Ernie developed a steadfast friendship that continued long after their touring stopped. Following Ernie’s retirement, these two best friends could still be found on the golf course each year, raising funds for Peter Gzowski’s Literacy Foundation.
(Pictured: Ernie “Mr. Dressup” Coombs.)
From 1999 onwards, Don’s primary focus was on the late Stuart McLean, CBC Radio host and best-selling author. Together, they covered Canada coast to coast and the northern United States, playing over 50 live shows each year with The Vinyl Cafe.
(Pictured: Stuart McLean.)
The talent kept pouring in, and Wonderland Gardens, in its heyday, was the venue where bands wanted to play.
“I would often reach out to entertainers who were playing in Detroit and catch them on their way to Toronto,” recalls Don.
Sadly, Charles Sr passed away in 1971. In the mid-1970s, Don left to continue with his music promotion business and started Don Jones Entertainment, which remains a powerhouse in the industry to this day.
By 1974, Chuck realized that to keep up with the times, the facility needed to get into the food business. He decided to open up the facility with its 1000-person capacity for company conferences, proms, parties, and fundraising events. He carefully vetted the companies that wanted to rent out the space to ensure that they were solid, upstanding businesses.
Initially, local catering companies would provide the food for these events until Chuck realized that he wanted to expand and offer the food directly.
(Pictured: Riverview Restaurant.)
“I also realized that to remain competitive, we needed to license the facility,” says Chuck. “In 1984, we opened the fully licensed Riverview Restaurant with a one-hundred-person capacity inside and one-hundred-person capacity outside. The restaurant was renowned for its great food, great service, and stunning backdrop looking over the Thames River.”
Wonderland Gardens and the Riverview Restaurant were closed in January 2004 after the City of London failed to negotiate a reasonable new lease for the property. The last evening was a New Year’s Eve celebration with the local band, Hawthorne, playing to a sold-out crowd.
Unfortunately, Wonderland Gardens burned down in 2005, and the empty hall remained empty until June 8, 2008, when the City of London opened Springbank Gardens, featuring a renovated bandshell and the Guy Lombardo Pavilion, an arched pine and cedar building resembling the original ballroom. Today, the venue hosts summer music events and private functions.
(Pictured: The Guy Lombardo Pavilion, Sprigbank Gardens.)
Today, the two Jones brothers are mostly retired and enjoy family time. Chuck and his wife, Bea, are avid birders and house sixteen colonies of the endangered Purple Martin birds. Don and his wife Linda enjoy spending time with their four kids and eleven grandchildren. Don enjoys cooking and is known to make delicious soups and roasts that he generously drops off to family and neighbours.
Don’s sons, Brad and Greg, are successfully running the Jones Entertainment Group, offering a one-stop service to the entertainment business. Locally, they have successfully filled Harris Park with 50,000 fans each year for the past nineteen years for the local charity fundraiser, Rock The Park.
Don and Chuck Jones have vivid memories of Wonderland Gardens and the bands that performed there.
One such memory includes the time that the popular British band The Crazy World of Arthur Brown was booked to play one evening at Wonderland Gardens in 1969. The day before Brown was scheduled to perform, Don received a phone call from the band’s manager informing him that the whole band had quit, and the eccentric and outlandish band leader was on his own. Don flew him in from New York and chartered a plane from Toronto to London to get him to the venue on time.
(Pictured: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.)
“He was without his band, his stage gear, and his signature flaming head costume. I quickly improvised. The opening band knew all the songs and agreed to step in for Arthur,” Don recalls. “I found a lampshade, stuffed it full of cotton balls, soaked it in lighter fluid, and duct-taped it to his head. As he stepped onstage, the cotton balls were lit, and Arthur’s outlandish entrance was restored. Unfortunately, the flaming head didn’t have protection for his head, and it was quickly doused after singeing his hair. There was a burn on the stage floor after that concert!”
By Richard Young, Publisher & Content Manager, The Beat Magazine 2025
Richard Young is a retired History teacher who taught with the Thames Valley District School Board for thirty years. Richard published The Beat Magazine, an independent print arts magazine, from 2009 to 2013. In 2025, he revived the magazine as an online publication. He is currently a member of the London Public Library Historic Sites Committee.
His band, The Comic Opera, played at Wonderland Gardens numerous times in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He has many fond memories of the venue.
Chor Amica is partnering with London Pro Musica at First-St. Andrew’s Church for its largest ever production — the London premiere (and second-only orchestral performance) of Canadian composer Stephanie Martin’s Water: An environmental oratorio on Saturday, May 23, at 7:00 pm.
(Pictured: Paul Ciufo.)
Written in collaboration with playwright and librettist Paul Ciufo and Anishinaabe scholar Vicki Monague, Water tells the story of a fictional Northern Ontario town and its pivotal decisions to protect its local freshwater resources for future generations.
(Pictured: Vicki Monague)
Performed by four exceptional vocal soloists — Katy Clark, soprano, Hillary Tufford, mezzo-soprano, Chris Fischer, tenor, and Paul Grambo, baritone — full orchestra, and the combined forces of three local adult choirs and a children’s choir under the baton of Chor Amica’s music director, Patrick Murray, this is a community musical collaboration not to be missed.
Synopsis:
Canadian composer Stephanie Martin’s new oratorio receives its London premiere with the combined forces of London Pro Musica, First-St. Andrew’s Senior Choir, Chor Amica, St. Mary School Children’s Choir, orchestra, and professional soloists.
It is the story of the importance of this precious resource (water) and a community’s efforts to protect it. In this modern-day oratorio, the Mayor of a small Canadian town must choose between an ambitious developer whose questionable plans for a clothing factory will endanger a pristine water source, and her environmentalist son who pleads for her to take a stand and protect Water. The Mayor is troubled by dreams in which WATER appears as a woman and is finally brought to her senses by the spectre of her future grandchild.
The composer Stephanie Martin’s wish is, “I hope ‘WATER: An Environmental Oratorio’ will bring people together to start a conversation about this very precious resource that sustains life on our planet but that we take for granted.”
This work disrupts stagnant modes of thinking and complacency around the importance of water by considering this Anishinaabe teaching: it is our sacred duty to protect water, as human existence depends on it. The music in this oratorio utilizes several styles to embrace all listeners. Some styles include opera, folk, jazz, classical choral, and orchestral music.
Soloists:
(Pictured: Katy Clark.)
Renowned for her versatility and captivating stage presence, Canadian soprano Katy Clark has appeared across North America as a soloist, chorister, teacher, lecturer, and director. She has appeared as a soloist with many groups, including the Amici Chamber Ensemble, the K-W and Windsor Symphonies, and Michigan Opera Theatre. She is a member of the Elora Singers and of Opus 8, and has sung with the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir and the Canadian Opera Company Chorus. An active teacher, lecturer, and clinician, Katy holds a DMA from the University of Toronto. She operates an active teaching studio in London, Ontario.
Canadian mezzo soprano Hillary Tufford is a versatile and engaging performer, a Graduate of Western University (M.Mus. Voice Performance) and Alumna of the Yulanda M. Faris Young Artist Program at Vancouver Opera. In 2024, Hillary debuted as Carmen with Toronto City Opera. She has performed as a soloist in Messiah with the Elmer Iseler Singers and Hamilton Philharmonic, and in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with Kingston. This summer, Hillary will perform with Festival d’opéra de Saint-Eustache in Quebec.
(Pictured: Chris Fischer.)
Tenor Chris Fischer has appeared as a soloist in more than two dozen major works for choir and orchestra. Operatic credits include the title role in Bernstein’s Candide, Nanki-Poo in Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado, and Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. Chris has sung with the Grammy and JUNO-nominated Elora Singers since 2012. They are also the collaborative pianist for the Rainbow Chorus of Waterloo-Wellington, and the Minister of Music at London’s First-St. Andrew’s United Church.
(Pictured: Paul Grambo.)
Baritone Paul Grambo is an active member of the local music and theatre community, having performed works at the London Fringe Festival and with local theatre companies, jazz and classical musicians, London Symphonia, and as a chorister and soloist with the Grammy and JUNO-nominated Elora Singers. Additionally, Paul is the artistic director of London Pro Musica Choir, conductor of the Canadian Celtic Choir, and assistant director of St. James Westminster Church choir. As a teacher, clinician and conductor, Paul maintains a vibrant private studio, regularly holding workshops in and around Southwestern Ontario. Paul holds a Masters of Music degree in Performance and Literature from Western University.
Tickets: $40 general admission | $10 students/children with ID
American singer-songwriter and musician Judy Collins brings her “Sweet Judy Blue Eyes” Farewell Tour to The Aeolian on Monday, May 25.
With a career spanning nearly seven decades, the Academy Award-nominated documentary director and Grammy Award-winning recording artist is known for her eclectic taste in the material she records, which has included folk music, country, show tunes, pop music, rock and roll, and standards.
Collins has inspired audiences for more than five decades with her luminous voice, deeply personal songwriting, and lifelong commitment to social activism. Emerging during the folk revival of the 1960s, she became a defining voice of a generation confronting social and environmental injustice. Today, her legacy spans more than 55 albums and continues to influence new audiences.
Collins is celebrated for her imaginative interpretations of traditional and contemporary folk songs as well as her own poetic compositions. Her recording of “Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell from the 1967 album Wildflowers was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, while her rendition of “Send in the Clowns” from A Little Night Music by Stephen Sondheim won Song of the Year at the 1975 Grammy Awards. Over the years, she has earned multiple top-ten hits and gold- and platinum-selling albums, and her influence has been celebrated by artists including Rufus Wainwright, Dolly Parton, Joan Baez, and Leonard Cohen.
Originally a classical piano prodigy performing works such as the “Concerto for Two Pianos”, Collins shifted toward folk music after discovering the songs of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger. Her 1961 debut album, A Maid of Constant Sorrow, launched a long partnership with Elektra Records and helped establish her as a key tastemaker in the Greenwich Village folk scene, where she championed emerging songwriters including Cohen, Mitchell, and Randy Newman.
Still prolific, Collins continues to record and tour internationally. Recent projects include the collaborative albums Silver Skies Blue with Ari Hest and Winter Stories with Jonas Fjeld and Chatham County Line. An author, filmmaker, and activist for organizations such as UNICEF, she also speaks widely on mental health and recovery.
A true Renaissance artist, Judy Collins continues to create music of hope and healing while mentoring new talent and inspiring audiences around the world.
Judy Collins has inspired audiences with sublime vocals, boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to social activism. In the 1960s, she evoked both the idealism and steely determination of a generation united against social and environmental injustices.
Five decades later, her luminescent presence shines brightly as new generations bask in the glow of her iconic 55-album body of work, and heed inspiration from her spiritual discipline to thrive in the music industry for half a century.
Author’s Note: Since this story was published in The Byron Villager a few years back, I was commissioned by the City of London Culture Office to prepare an Interpretive Sign that visually tells the history of Wonderland Gardens from 1935 to its rebirth as Springbank Gardens. The plaque will be unveiled on Sunday, June 21, at 1:30 pm at The Guy Lombardo Pavilion in Springbank Gardens.
Mention the name Wonderland Gardens today, and most Londoners will probably respond, “Wonderland what”?
The site of the legendary dance hall, which burned down in 2005, is now called Springbank Gardens, and all that remains of the original venue is the outdoor bandshell.
(Original Outdoor Bandstand)
The story of Wonderland Gardens begins in the early 1930s, when Charles Jones signed a long-term lease for a small lot in Westminster Township, adjacent to the Thames River. His plan was to build a series of gardens, fountains, woods, ponds, and footpaths, including a luxurious swimming pool, all surrounding a 550-square-metre, open-air dance floor with a bandstand and Spanish Colonial-style pavilion.
(Wonderland Pool.)
Wonderland Summer Gardens opened on May 24, 1935, featuring Mickey McDougall and His 10-Piece Orchestra. It quickly became one of the city’s hot spots. Big Bands like Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians and those led by Glenn Miller, the Dorsey brothers, and local musicians like Johnny Downs and Lionel Thornton all graced the venue’s bandshell. Generations of Londoners danced and canoodled under the stars on the venue’s open-air dance floor.
A covered pavilion was built in 1941, and in 1959 it was fully enclosed and insulated to serve as a ballroom, enabling the venue to remain open year-round.
(Mickey McDougall and His 10-Piece Band opened Wonderland on May 24, 1935.)
As the decades passed and musical tastes changed, the venerable dance hall changed with the times. By the 1960s, Wonderland was London’s favourite concert/dance hall for the thousands of London area Boomers who flocked there to see major acts like Sly and the Family Stone, Deep Purple, The Mandala, Grant Smith and the Power, and many others too numerous to list.
(Grant Smith.)
Wonderland was also a jumping-off point for local bands like The Bluesmen Revue, A Small Experience, The New Set, and The Comic Opera, who mostly opened for the headliners.
For the late John Sharpe, The New Set’s former drummer, Wonderland held a special place in his musical career.
“A group could play any number of teen towns or private events, but everyone knew you had not really ‘made it’ until you played Wonderland,” recalled John. “It was a magical place that attracted hundreds of teens to its weekly rock ‘n’ roll shows, so every group in the area wanted in on the action.”
Jim Chapman, former bassist for The Bluesmen Revue, a very popular London R&B group, remembers headlining at Wonderland many times.
“The room had excellent acoustics both on the stage and in the hall. In those days, that was the exception rather than the norm,” Jim recalls. “And it had one of the smallest dressing rooms I ever saw in a venue that size. How the multi-person big bands ever managed to get their people dressed for a gig I cannot imagine!”
Ken Thorne, of A Small Experience, another London band that regularly played Wonderland, remembers the venue’s dressing rooms, too.
“The original dressing room walls were scrawled with the signatures of many of the artists who performed there. Whenever we played there, we used to try and find the new additions while waiting to go on stage,” says Ken.
On August 13 – 14, 1969, Wonderland hosted a two-day Pop Festival featuring Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Alice Cooper, Cat Mother & The All Night News Boys, George Olliver & The Natural Gas, and others for the whopping price of $7.00! The event preceded the much larger Woodstock Music Festival that took place in New York State, August 15 – 18.
Apparently, Zappa was asked why he wasn’t playing Woodstock. His reply? “Because we don’t want to.”
Rumour had it that after his set, Zappa waterskied on the heavily polluted Thames River, which flowed behind Wonderland! The rumour was recently confirmed during an interview I did with Chuck Jones.
As the years progressed, touring acts moved to other venues in town, and Wonderland became more of a location for special events like company parties, conventions, rallies, and receptions.
“In its final days, the City of London had an active interest in Wonderland, but the council would not invest the money needed to refurbish it and keep it a top live performance venue,” Jim laments. “When Wonderland burned down, there was a lot of talk that something political and fishy had gone on, though I have no way of knowing if that was the case. Like many people, when I heard news of the fire, I shed a tear for all the great days and memories gone by.”
So next time you pedal or walk through Springbank Gardens, take a pause to see if you can hear some of the strains of great music that was once played on the site.
by Richard Young
Richard Young is a retired History teacher who taught with the Thames Valley District School Board for thirty years. Richard published The Beat Magazine, an independent print arts magazine, from 2009 to 2013. In 2025, he revived the magazine as an online publication. He is currently a member of the London Public Library Historic Sites Committee.
The Beat Magazine 2025 is thrilled to introduce its newest volunteer contributor, Renée Silberman, founder and director of London’s Serenata Music. Alongside Daina Janitis, who previews coming concerts, Renée will be reviewing selected Classical Music events. Renée offers a roundup of recent Classical Music concerts in her first story for The Beat Magazine.
Dear music-loving friends and those who wish to join this august circle of the concert-going public. I offer you a report on the final three events of the 2025-26 season and hope it will give cause to rejoice in the kind of offerings now regularly available here in London.
In quick succession, London Symphonia presented a pair of concerts showcasing the artistry of their musicians, who performed cleverly curated programs.
On April 18, Graham Lord, principal clarinet and London Symphonia’s String Quartet, explored works from the clarinet repertoire that represent the gamut of expressive language and technical complexity inherent in the instrument’s nature. Without question, musician, raconteur, CBC broadcaster Tom Allen, enriched the experience, having first of all helped shape the evening’s format, and then enlarged upon the historical development of the clarinet in its many aspects – discussing many of its uses, as an orchestral voice, as a solo instrument in art music and jazz, and more.
(Pictured: Tom Allen.)
The first half of the program took us on a tour of the musical magic the clarinet produces with samplings from works by four composers: Gerald Finzi (1901-1956), Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), Mozart (1756-1791), and Steve Reich (b. 1936). Tom Allen elucidated the characteristics of each piece with his unique combination of knowledge and storytelling skill, always engaging, never didactic. Graham Lord’s consummate musicianship drew the audience in – his sensitivity to style, especially in the tenderness of the second movement, Larghetto of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet and in the exhilarating New York Counterpoint multi-voiced tape plus live line – prepared us for the emotional heart of the concert, the Brahms Quintet for Clarinet and Strings in B Minor Op. 115. The Quintet, Brahms’ valedictory work written for Richard Mühlfeld, in Brahms’ opinion, the most outstanding wind player he had ever heard, traverses a grand range of feeling, mood, tones and textures.
There is an elegiac quality, a sense of retrospection, and yet, in this remarkable gift to the generations, the artist’s creative drive evidently had lost none of its energy. On hearing the Quintet, Clara Schumann wrote to Brahms, “The joy that I had survives in my heart, and for that I am grateful.” And so it is that we, too, find renewal in this epic, Protean composition.
On May 2, London Symphonia wrapped up its season with “Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Marsh,” a program of disparate compositional traditions and voices.
Under the leadership of Conductor Tania Miller, the orchestra produced a stimulating journey through time and spirit, a reflection of the type of programming that presents a combination of the contemporary with the tried and true. Moreover, London Symphonia provides a generous opportunity for its members to savour the limelight. This was notable in singling out Laura Chambers, Principal Flute, to take a solo turn in a World Premiere commissioned by the orchestra, with funding support from SOCAN Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council. Composer Alexis Dyan Marsh and flautist Laura Chambers became colleagues at the University of California and have continued a working relationship over the years.
(Pictured: Laura Chambers.)
View of a Cartwheel From An Ascending Plane for Flute Solo and Orchestra is written in six parts, “as a collage of lived experience. The work is woven from three distinct threads: the vastness of the Canadian West grounded in the Manitoban landscape, the evolution of human connection, and the vertical trajectory of personal ambition.” The composition is atmospheric, depicting landscapes and human connections. The element of friendship sets humans in the vast landscape, and may describe the friendship between Marsh and Chambers, linking people to place; furthermore, Marsh acknowledges her personal motivation in developing her artistry as a composer. Laura Chambers plays with great warmth and vitality, a strong personality within the wind section and in the orchestra.
(Pictured: Alexis Marsh.)
The Chamber Symphony in C Minor, Op. 110a (after String Quartet No. 8), orchestrated by Rudolf Barshai, inevitably reminds citizens of the 21st century of the tragic circumstances in which Dmitri Shostakovich lived. The tale of Shostakovich, and indeed of Rudolf Barshai, who was eventually declared persona non grata in the Soviet Union, is a cautionary one – to endure the horrors of authoritarianism is a problem not strictly relegated to the past. Tania Miller fielded this powerful work with deep understanding – her intellectual energy is supported by kinetic energy which pulsated through her body, a driving force that animated the orchestra. Maestra Miller spoke of the composer’s view that the Eighth String Quartet, the point of departure for Barshai’s orchestration, was in fact a requiem for himself. 1960, the year of the Quartet’s publication, was a time of distress and depression for Shostakovich, for although he believed he had betrayed his principles in joining the Communist Party, he lived in continuing fear of arrest or execution, incessantly hounded by the director of cultural policy, Andrei Zhdanov. No amount of abasement was enough for the Soviet authorities. Shostakovich was trapped in the Soviet Union, and his music conveys his pain. But in the devoted hands of Tania Miller, the music becomes the instrument for vindicating Shostakovich’s suffering.
Every good performance of a work by Shostakovich is an almost sacred act that validates yet again all those who were or are caught in a vortex of evil. By contrast, a performance of Beethoven’s Seventh, which he referred to as “a grand symphony in A Major (one of my most excellent works),” is essential life affirmation! Rhythmic intensity is written into the score, but still, there is a requirement that the conductor will truly sustain the orchestra’s propulsive momentum. Wagner identified the symphony as “the apotheosis of the dance.” Tania Miller danced in joy as she partnered with the buoyant musicians of London Symphonia! The dynamic range, the sophisticated play of key signatures, and the studied wildness of the Finale animated the finale of the orchestra’s 2025-26 season!
On Monday, May 4, The Jeffery Concerts brought its season to a remarkable conclusion with a recital by James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong.
(Pictured: James Ehnes and Andrew Armstrong.)
Mr. Ehnes is billing the programs this year as a “50th Canada Birthday Tour,” and what a celebration it is! James Ehnes is Canada’s foremost violinist, a peerless artist, dedicated to his profession and a musical ambassador who is renowned for performing on major stages internationally and with a particular commitment to bringing music to communities across Canada.
Ehnes brought his wonderful vitality to a full house at the Wolf Performance Hall with works by Christian August Sinding (1856-1941), Johannes Brahms (1833-1897), Carmen Braden (b. 1985), and Bela Bartók (1881-1945). Each of these pieces is close to Ehnes’ heart, and each speaks in a distinctive voice.
The first movement of Sinding’s Suite for Violin in A Minor, op. 10, set the pace and tone for the recital, beginning as it did with a dizzyingly swiftly moving Presto. For an audience member who began studying the violin at an advanced age, it was both daunting and instructive to watch Ehnes’ bow glide efficiently across the strings. But there was more to the playing than mere technique – The Brahms Violin Sonata No. 3 in D Minor, op. 108, intense and dramatic, reveals a powerful side of Ehnes’ playing style. Two years ago, Mr. Ehnes performed the Brahms Violin Concerto with London Symphonia, and on that occasion, showed, as he did the other night, that these big works with significant content are well suited to his musical personality. The playing is both dazzling and refined.
And there is always an interest in the new, as evidenced in Carmen Braden’s Imaginal. Braden composed this piece in honour of James Ehnes’ fiftieth birthday, to celebrate “…anything that held us together in this crazy world, it’s music, friends, curiosity and caterpillars.” (“Imaginal” cells are the catalysts for the transformation of caterpillar cells into butterflies, according to Carmen Braden). And Bartók’s Rhapsody No. 1 for Violin and Piano, Sz. 86 makes full use of traditional Hungarian verbunkos dances, transforming folk music into high art.
Mssrs. Ehnes and Armstrong finished the program with three encores, which they announced from the stage. Scherzo-Tarentelle by Henryk Wieniawski; La Guitar by Moritz Moszkowski, arranged by Pablo de Sarasate; and La Ronde des Putins (The Dance of the Goblins) byAntonio Bazzini.
This scintillating, thrilling recital rounded out a remarkable season of music making!
I encourage one and all to discover the profound satisfaction of hearing extraordinary live performances here in London! There is first-class music to be enjoyed in our city! Come out to some of the wonderful concerts London offers! Support our city’s art scene!
The Beat Magazine 2025 