Busted in the Crystal Ballroom

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Duo for Cello and Walkie-Talkie

On the occasion of the last full moon, the haunted Crystal ballroom beckoned the brave of heart. As described in Classical Music Rave, a number of us returned after-hours to this evocative for another rather renegade music-adventure.The basic idea had been to increase the ensemble one player at a time and return to the same venue until we got busted. Sounds like a plan, right? We even had visions of eventually having a chamber orchestra in formal attire, perhaps even some ballroom dancing in the darkness. I guess we’re looking for a new venue now!

As we set up to play and took turns sounding the magical acoustics in the shadows of the massive space, we were once again a little on edge in case we might be interrupted. Max played some Bach on his violin, and, his first time in the space, was blown away by the incredible acoustics: Bach suddenly made a new kind of sense! I followed suit by playing a couple of movements from Bach’s cello Suites arranged for solo flute, and was equally delighted by how the notes melded together and the harmonies took on a liquid, fresh quality.

Next was Lucas taking a turn with selections from the same Suites before we perhaps settled into some duos and trios. Or at least that was the plan. Little did we know what was about to unfold!

As the wonderfully rich, full tone of the cello filled the space, I spotted the beam of a flashlight at the far end of the ballroom, up in the darkened balcony: busted! Some quick thinking on my part, and I realized that we had a few minutes to play with, so I encouraged Lucas to keep playing as I headed off to intercept the security guard who was likely making his way down to have a little chat with us.

The resulting soundfile is intriguing on a number of levels, not the least of which is the amazing sound of Lucas’ playing. Of particular note is the way that the sound of the music plays in counterpoint to the walkie-talkie of our intrepid security guard as he radios for back-up support! “We have a situation in the ballroom!” you can almost hear him say. Note:  The evening wasn’t over for us yet, as we were determined to play through some Bach and Quantz trios, preferably not in a jail cell!

On a more serious note, urban explorers beware: today’s front page story in the Toronto papers about a ghost-hunter falling to her death off of one University of Toronto’s historic buildings late last night is enough to give anyone pause. Sincere condolences to family and friends of Leah Kubik in this unfortunate and tragic mishap.

Oops, I inserted the wrong soundfile at first, so here is as a musical epilogue to our recent Crystal Ballroom adventure, and thanks once again to everyone who attended!

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Quantz Trio Sonata (Allegro) This is the sound of the full trio reading through the music of Quantz recently at Toronto’s historic St.Annes Church.