It’s June 1, a day in musical history when the Beatles released their Sgt Pepper album, a creation that some feel has been the best album in the history of rock. Today, 53 years later, despite the anxieties of the isolation that keeps us safe, there still are creative people making music to reflect life’s situation.  Check out this music video, created especially for Huron Waves, here.

Clearly, being isolated at their neighbourly cottages in Muskoka has brought out the creative juices in Doogie & Dun (aka Douglas John Cameron & Duncan Fremlin of Whiskey Jack).  Thanks, gentlemen, for your contribution. I agree heartily with the sentiment of your song.

We’ve something else that’s new to unveil for your further viewing pleasure: the revised Huron Waves website, designed by Tony Scott’s Akira Studio team in Bayfield and supported by the southwestern Ontario regional tourism office of the Ministry of Culture. The site is ready for the information we hope to download in the autumn with full details of our delayed 2020 season now re-scheduled to get underway on Thursday, December 3. But for now, we’re mighty proud of the site which our General Manager, Heather Boa, has guided to this point. Check it out here.

And who, you ask, will be featured when Huron Waves presents its concerts in December? One of the important artists is Julie Nesrallahwhose spoken voice many know from her role as the broadcast host of Tempo, the highly rated classical program each weekday morning on CBC Music/Radio Two. But Julie is also celebrated as an accomplished mezzo-soprano, sometimes in an operatic role like Carmen, the fiery vixen from George Bizet’s great opera, and other times as the versatile star of her own cabarets, accompanied by Canadian pianist, Robert Kortgaard.  It’s in the cabaret role that I look forward to welcoming Ms. Julie to Huron Waves for a sparkling evening of show tunes, popular ballads and perhaps just a touch of Carmen’s passion.

Sometimes I’m asked how I’m keeping up my spirits while, like most people, I’m dealing with Quarantine Frustration.  I must admit that I’m not spending much time watching three-hour reruns of music or theatre performances, as originally outstanding as these may have been.  Rather, I’m enjoying shorter presentations that are fresh, unique and often quite imaginative in their performances.  Here are three videos that I enthusiastically recommend; all are on YouTube with the titles I’ve highlighted here:

Bach to The Barre! Guillaume Côté and his wife, Heather Ogden, two principals from the National Ballet of Canada, dance their housecleaning and parental chores as five musicians from the Toronto Symphony play the music from their own homes in their own pj’s.Unmatched for its creativity…if only staying at home could be this much fun.

Bolero Julliard Introduced by pianist Jon Batiste (whom you’ll recognise as the band leader for the Stephen Colbert Late-Night TV Show, but who is an amazing Julliard alumnus himself), 100+ students and alumni from New York’s Julliard School of Music come together for a stunning interpretation of Ravel’s score.

Russell Braun Wish Concert From their music room at home, Russell, the great Canadian baritone, and his wife, pianist Carolyn Maule, have been presenting requests submitted by their friends and fans, one per day.  The number, I believe, has passed sixty songs for 60 days of isolation, so far.

On a purely personal note, allow me to acknowledge a few more Huron County pleasures that have delighted my taste buds while I’m listening to my collection of CDs which, of course, includes The Kingdom Choir.  I’m a new fan of date squares from Cait’s Café and oat bread from Red Cat Bakery in Goderich…several varieties from the Blyth Farm Cheese….and my new favourite beer, Navigating Lieutenant Light Lager, from the Bayfield Brewing Co.  These are among the sensual pleasures of Huron County while one awaits the return of live music!

Finally, I’m wondering if you’ve had fun with the musical graphics between the paragraphs.  Did you sing the lines to yourself and come up with the title?  Eine kleine Nacht Musik (A Little Night Music) is one of Mozart’s memorable tunes, certainly among the most frequently performed and iconic of all classical compositions.

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Keeping in touch through Music does indeed connect us all as Huron Waves boosters.

John A. Miller, Artistic Director