More Concrete, Berlin-style

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 Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherazade

I keep coming back to the idea of an Urban Flute Project quiz to do with lesser known, quirky facts about Toronto…for instance, speaking of  concrete in the previous post, do you happen to know:

     a) What is pictured above?

     b) Where it’s located?

     c) What year this concrete got turned into rubble?

     d) Why was this brought from Berlin to Toronto? (that’s a clue!)

     e) How did these chunks of concrete come to be put on display along Bloor Street?

Okay, so actually let’s just call this the first second Urban Flute Project pop quiz. For some good clues and complete answers, please come out to L’Espresso Bar Mercurio – if you drop by for Sunday Brunch between 11.30 am and 2 pm, I’d be more than happy to point you in the right direction in person!

Drop by L’Espresso later today, in fact, and you will be treated to some live flute and ‘cello music as I will be playing duos with cellist Erika Nielsen between 11.30am - 2pm. In a week’s time, on Sunday, March 29th, I will be joined by violinist Max Scheinin, a student from the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School. And at the first opportunity, once the weather finally warms up, the plan is to open the patio doors and see how the three of us sound together as a trio!  

So good luck with the quiz, and perhaps you will get to enjoy some fine live music while you’re at it! L’Espresso brunch is delicious, and the music is 11.30 – 2 every Sunday. Here is a recording of Erika and I the first day we played together at L’Espresso, with a read-through of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade , which turns out to be an appropriate piece, perhaps: Urban Flute Project - or any half-decent blog for that matter – could be seen as a contemporary reworking of the famed tales of the Arabian Nights…come to think of it the floor-to-ceiling curtains at Bar Mercurio are reminiscent of a luxurious sultan’s tent!

And for twelve hundred musical tales, plus a wealth of resources, be sure to check out this impressive recent post on my friend Chris Foley’s Collaborative Piano site. As colleagues at the RCM, Chris and I find ourselves to be blogging partners-in-crime!