Larry and Charlene McDonald are supporters and fans of Vancouver's renowned Elektra Women's Choir, co-conducted by Morna Edmundson and Diane Loomer, C.M. Their daughter Kari sings in the choir, but that isn't the only reason they attend concerts.
"There is excellence there," says Mr. McDonald about Elektra, "And excellence deserves excellence." For that reason McDonald approached Morna Edmundson at the choir's fundraising gala last May with an amazing proposition: Would Elektra like to have his nine foot Steinway piano? The piano had been in the McDonald home for ten years but for various reasons had not been played much in recent years.
"It's a fabulous musical instrument," adds McDonald, "Not a piece of furniture. Every car likes to be driven, and every piano likes to be played, especially when it's a Steinway!"
Morna immediately accepted this generous offer and thought that its obvious home should be at Vancouver's Ryerson United Church, which was in the process of renovating their space to become more acoustically friendly. After discussions with Ryerson's music director, Bryn Nixon, and the Ryerson administration, an agreement was enthusiastically reached. Elektra's new Steinway would live at Ryerson, where it would be available not only for church use but for the use of all the arts groups that perform there.
The piano was appraised, installed, registered and tuned in time for Vancouver pianist/organist John Mitchell's recital with cellist Paul Westwick in July. Diane Loomer, C.M., recalls the first time she heard the new instrument.
"Sometimes wonderful, unexpected gifts fall gently into our lives - and we are reaffirmed in the genuine goodness of human beings," she says. "One beautifully tender summer evening I happened to walk past Ryerson. Wafting out of the windows and doors was piano music - sweet and sonorous on the night's warm air. I then remembered that the gift of a new piano was to have been delivered that very day. Poking my head in the church, I saw John Mitchell, totally absorbed, discovering and exploring the gorgeous sound of this new Steinway grand. What a remarkable gift has been given to our communal world of music."
This Steinway will be featured in the upcoming
ReSounding Ryerson concert on September 21 at 3 pm, Ryerson United Church, 2195 W. 45th Ave., Vancouver. All tickets are $30 and available through
ticketmaster.ca, 604.280.3311 or at the door. A benefit concert with net proceeds going toward the ongoing refurbishment of the church,
ReSounding Ryerson includes performances by Elektra Women's Choir, Vancouver Chamber Choir, musica intima, Chor Leoni Men's Choir, EnChor, and the Ryerson Church Choir, with the afternoon hosted by Christopher Gaze.
"How a choir sounds - and indeed how it creates a relationship with its audience - are all tied so closely to the venue," says Morna Edmundson. "Elektra has been proud to call Ryerson United Church home for over a decade, and is delighted to support the church's decision to improve its acoustics by singing as part of ReSounding Ryerson."
Mr. McDonald is thrilled that his piano has found such a suitable home. As for his own music-making, he is in the midst of recording a three CD set of fully orchestrated jazz piano standards. True to his generous spirit, proceeds of their sales will go to the Canadian Cancer Society.
