The “A Toronto Symphony” project is receiving some nice media attention! The CBC’s popular morning radio program, Metro Morning, aired an interview with composer and project mastermind Tod Machover on the morning of June 14. Click here to listen.
The Toronto Star has invited its readers to send in their “sounds of Toronto” and plans to report on the results. The Toronto Standard writes:
A preliminary experiment with some TSO musicians has already yielded unexpected results. Machover sent the eight musicians some chords and they responded with their own musical ideas. “Honestly I can tell you I didn’t expect the kind of craziness, I didn’t expect it to be as inventive,” said Machover. “Once I got the material I had to kind of change what I was going to do, so I really hope that I’m surprised a lot.” The resulting composition, performed at the official launch at the ideacity conference, built from a scattered, wandering mélange of textures into a series of playful melodies and phases with each instrument taking brief solos. It’s an unexpected, yet pleasing tune that evokes the diverse bustle of a metropolis.
And here’s a terrific, thoughtful blog post by John Terauds for Musical Toronto. We love this quote:
Machover’s Ideacity audience had a chance to hear the results, which may or may not be part of the much, much larger finished work. But along the way, the composer was able to prove to himself, as well as key witnesses, that weaving other people’s ideas into a meaningful whole is possible.
Do you have questions or want to learn how to participate? Visit the A Toronto Symphony blog to get involved!
Opera of the Future 