Last week I received an email from Patricia Eton-Neufeld, the wife of Gerald Neufeld who is the longtime conductor and Artistic Director of the Guelph Chamber Choir. I've known Patricia and Gerry for some time now, and they often send me reminders about their upcoming concerts in Guelph.
In my younger days I would think nothing of hopping in the car and driving up for an evening concert, even after working all day, but with age (supposedly) comes wisdom, so I don't do that as much any more. But I do love to hear the choir, so have promised myself to catch the choir again soon, perhaps the next concert which is on a Sunday afternoon in May.
For those of you up in Guelph or willing to make the drive, tonight the Guelph Chamber Choir presents a concert entitled Virtuoso Baroque at St. George's Anglican Church in downtown Guelph at 7:30 pm.
The concert features the choir along with the Musica Viva Orchestra playing on period instruments, along with soloists Sheila Dietrich, soprano; Carolynne Davy, mezzo-soprano; Janice Coles, mezzo-soprano; Chris Fischer, tenor; Lanny Fleming, tenor; and bass Gordon Burnett.
The music will range from Vivaldi's wonderful Gloria to Handel's Dixit Dominus (Psalm 110), and will sound perfectly at home in the glorious and spacious confines of St. George's, truly one of the area's finest churches.
If you want tickets they should be available at the door tonight, or call in advance at 1-519-763-3000. And allow me to live it vicariously through you tonight!
Now as I thought about the concert this evening the last few days, I got to thinking about my long association with the City of Guelph, and how much I love that part of the province. So allow me to reminisce a little bit about my connection with the city and what could have been.
Probably my first regular contact with Guelph came in the early 80s when I started attending concerts during the heyday of the late, lamented Guelph Spring Festival. I recall attending many concerts either at a school auditorium or the venerable War Memorial Hall on the Guelph University campus.
The school's name escapes me now, but I was always fascinated by the fact in was very close to the Bullfrog Mall. You cannot help but love a city that calls a mall by the name bullfrog! I think it was 1985 I attended a memorable performance in the school auditorium there of the one-act opera The Lighthouse, featuring among other people, a very young and much slimmer Ben Heppner.
War Memorial Hall was home to many wonderful musical events in those days, most involving the Guelph Spring Festival as well. Natalie McMaster was one, and Canadian mouth-organ virtuoso and Guelph native Tommy Reilly was another. I recall in his performance he actually stopped a piece of music and asked to start again as it was not sounding right - it raised a few eyebrows in the audience.
Probably my most memorable visit to War Memorial Hall was for a recital featuring the inimitable Anne Russell, who by that time was living in semi-retirement in Unionville, and gave a textbook recital of her famous routines to a sold-out audience. Afterwards I had the great good fortune to go backstage and interview her for a radio show I did at the time, and she remains one of my all-time favourite interview subjects.
My last visit to the hall and indeed, my last Guelph Spring Festival visit I think was in 2003 and a recital by soprano Suzie LeBlanc. It was a great show, and little did we know at the time the Festival itself would not survive much longer.
My connection to Guelph is not entirely musical, however. My sister attended the University of Guelph in the late 80s and I often went up to visit her or give her a ride home or back again. It was in those days we would often visit the Stone Road Mall and I marvelled at the fact it was open to 9 pm on Saturday nights year-round at a time most others were not.
It was also at that time you would not hit any residential development south of the city core much beyond the University of Guelph campus, but now the city extends south almost to Aberfoyle.
In the late 80s and early 90s I also frequented the Carden Street Music Shop in downtown Guelph whenever I was in the city, and eventually when the owner decided to put the store up for sale and retire, I made the trip up there to talk to her as I was very seriously considering buying the shop at the time.
It would have been a big move for me, leaving my Niagara home of many years, but I was so intrigued by the musical culture in the area I thought the shop would almost last forever. I ultimately decided against the purchase, however, as I was working part-time at a music store here in St. Catharines at the time along with my full-time duties at CKTB Radio, so I decided to stay put.
Eventually, though, my old friend Paul Gellatly purchased the store and renamed it Twelfth Night Music Shoppe. Funny how things turn out though, as I was tapped to help out in the store on Saturdays back around the winter of 2003/2004 for several months, so I made the commute up from Niagara early every Saturday morning.
I soon learned to leave extra time before the store opened at 10 to park and walk down to the Guelph Farmer's Market, delightfully cramped and brimming with character. I still think of the guy I used to see every week who had the biggest, baddest cinnamon buns you can imagine!
On one of those working trips to Guelph, I was faced with a long, slow drive home in the eye of a tremendous snow-storm that moved in late morning. The afternoon was pretty quiet in the store as a result, so when I closed up shop at 5, I was already pretty tense from the knowledge this would not be a pleasant drive. It wasn't. About 20 kil. per hour all the way down to Niagara with very treacherous road conditions, but I made it, totally exhausted, about two-and-a-half hours later.
A couple of summers ago on our way back from a concert at the Elora Festival, my wife and I stopped in Guelph for a bite to eat and enjoyed the new civic square, marvelling that we could not do the same here in St. Catharines. It remains a delightful addition to a downtown that already sports many delights.
Other memories of Guelph? Oh, there's the late, lamented Guelph Mercury I always picked up on my way through town, with the masthead that read "The only newspaper on earth dedicated to the news of Guelph and Wellington County" or words to that effect. I loved that.
Butter tarts at the restaurant next door to the music store. Wimpy's diner downtown. Budd's department store. The shops on Quebec Street. The Paisley Food Shop. Our Lady Immaculate Catholic Church up on the hill. Curry in a Hurry. The list goes on and on.
More recently, there is the innovative My Kitty Cafe, where you can grab a coffee or snack and curl up in the cat-room with a new purr-pal, all of them up for adoption so you can take a loving kitty home with you. What could be better than that? I have to visit the cafe on my next trip up that way.
If I sound like I'm writing a love letter to Guelph, well, I guess I am. I have such great memories of visiting the city over the years, and you owe it to yourself to do the same if you have not been in some time or - heaven forbid - ever.
After all, you have to love a city that can laugh at itself, as they did during a radio broadcast of the Royal Canadian Air Farce in the city years ago when they made fun of the city's name, likening it to what one does when one expels involuntarily whilst sick. Or the fact people like to go "Guelph-ing" on the weekend...
Yes, I have such fond memories of the Royal City. I must get back to hear the Guelph Chamber Choir again sometime soon.
I'm due to go Guelph-ing again this year...
Have a great weekend!
April 9th, 2016.
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