Elevator Music

I just came across this concert listing – one of the Canadian Music Centre‘s New Music in New Places presentations:

The Viola Project will take place on Wednesday, October 25th, 10 AM at the World Trade and Convention Centre (1800 Argyle Street), Halifax. Performed by Susan Sayle and Ensemble, this continues the new and exciting trend in music presentation in compositions by Sandy Moore. A viola ensemble of 7 players explore the idea of moving music in and around elevators.

This brings to mind one Christmas Eve a number of years ago when I lived in Toronto. I and some of my brass-playing friends (Herb and Gary Poole, Bob Nicholson, and others) went carolling around the neighbourhood late at night with our instruments. After the hot mulled wine wore off, we decided to head to horn player friend Vince Barbee’s apartment for a visit. After Vince buzzed us in, we began playing a carol in the elevator on the way up to his apartment – no mean feat, considering the size of the elevator and the instruments involved. I remember Vince commenting on how he became aware of the faint sounds of our music, and how it gradually became more and more audible until the moment when the doors opened and the sound of brass erupted as we tumbled into the hallway. I can just picture the other tenants diving under their beds, wondering what the heck was happening!

I hope the viola players will have as much fun with their performance as we did that night!

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