Toronto Mike'd: The Official Toronto Mike Podcast - Remembering Sir Andrew Davis: Toronto Mike'd Podcast Episode 1483

Episode Date: May 7, 2024

In this 1483rd episode of Toronto Mike'd, Mike leaves his comfort zone and endeavours to learn more about Sir Andrew Davis who passed away on April 20, 2024, at the age of 80. Calls were placed to Andrew Ward and Toronto Symphony Orchestra members James Wallenberg and Leslie Dawn Knowles. Thank you Emily Burnham for helping with the TSO guests! Toronto Mike'd is proudly brought to you by Great Lakes Brewery, Palma Pasta, Ridley Funeral Home, The Advantaged Investor podcast from Raymond James Canada, The Yes, We Are Open podcast from Moneris, The Toronto Maple Leafs Baseball Team and RecycleMyElectronics.ca. If you would like to support the show, we do have partner opportunities available. Please email Toronto Mike at [e-mail]

Hallelujah! Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! For the Lord God in people's sense reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! For the Lord God in people's sense reigneth. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah! is Sir Andrew Davis Who was Sir Andrew Davis? When he passed away on April 20th at the age of 80. It was the first time I had heard his name. I knew he had led the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 13 years, but I needed to know more. My first call was to FOTM Andrew Ward

because Andrew is a much more cultured guy than I am. And I knew he would give me the 411 on Andrew Davis. Andrew, you there buddy? Can you hear me now? Okay, yeah, much better now. How you doing? Is that okay? You're wearing a tie. Sorry, Mike. I'm just, uh, I snuck out of something for work just to do this. I don't want to get you in trouble here. I've never seen you. Don't worry. I, I, I, I'm muted everything, but I'm just going

to go to another room with you quick. And then whenever you're ready, the only thing I'm ready now, I'm recording now. What's your concern? Okay. So I just don't want to repeat myself. So, um, whenever you're ready, just go. Well, we're already begun, as I say. I got to just tell you, you look sharp. You have to wear a tie for work. Is that right? You need to wear collared shirts. Yeah. I do these things called arbitrations. So I'm not a lawyer, but I fight with lawyers all the time. Shout out to Lauren Honigman. Yeah, right. And Ron Davis. I feel like lately I've been giving Lauren all the credit for being the TMDS lawyer, but actually the guy

who's helped me out just as much is wonderful jazz musician Ron Davis. And it's funny, his last name is Davis. And Andrew, you're like the official culture reporter. Like when it gets to like smart people, rich people, culture, I lose my like confidence and I need to bring in Andrew Ward to tell me about Sir Andrew Davis. Sir Andrew Davis. We're still in mourning, it's been almost a week. He passed away last week at 80.

80 years old, that was April 20th, right? We lost Andrew Davis. That's right, yeah. Anyhow, what makes him special to the city, you just have to take your mind back to 1974, the year Toronto Mike was born. Love that year. That year, there was an opportunity for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. They had existed in Toronto and they were a cultural institution for a very, very, very long time. What made the 1970s special was that there was an opportunity that the orchestra would have to bring in someone who would be able to encourage and

enthuse music lovers all over the city. And that was definitely something Andrew Davis did with aplomb. And he also was one hell of a leader. So he basically took what was considered a middling major orchestra, and he helped transform them into a powerhouse, not only through musicianship, but also the more frequently you can have any group practice, they get better. Also, other ways that orchestras get better would be through touring in other cities. And Andrew Davis actually took the TSO to China in 1978, which was not

considered a popular thing at the time to be able to do, but he also took them to places that we all take for granted just outside, as far as the Northwest Territories. And audiences there were completely mesmerized by the sound. Okay, I have some questions. It's like a symphony for dummies or something here. Okay, so TSO, Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Yeah. Now, TSO, just like a lot of things that have endured name changes, they've either been

referred to as the Toronto Symphony or the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and that's just marketing. It's no different than the Hummingbird Center to the O'Keefe Center to the whatever center. Right, Meridian, whatever it is now, absolutely. Okay, so. And just also to show what gifts he left the city.

A lot of conductors, they don't stay with an orchestra. They'll usually be there and then they'll be building on their own careers and they'll improve as their careers continue. Andrew Davis made the leap from the Toronto Symphony to the Lyric Opera of Chicago, which is considered one of the most well endowed and in terms of quality, as close to the Metropolitan Opera as you'd ever get. So he was the perfect musician. He also, whenever they would do concerts, rather than just conduct, he would actually get in with the musicians and play. He was a very versatile musician. So I was reading quotes about him and I came across a quote from Art Egleton.

And Art wrote, or he said back in like 1984 he said that he was recognizing you know the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra of course Andrew Davis and he said he was being recognized in salute to the genius and artistic insight of a great maestro. So please tell me what makes him a great maestro so he's a great leader. Like I'm literally like, I'm actually thinking this is what I'm thinking, Andrew. So this is not going to be dropped into the typical Ridley funeral home memorial episode. Like I'm actually going to build an episode about Sir Andrew Davis. Cause I believe I've heard from enough people I know and trust like yourself that this is

a big deal. And I didn't know the name until I read his obituary. Okay? And I'm actually like personally like disappointed and sick of learning about these Toronto legends when they die. So I'm trying to understand. He was the conductor. He's a British guy because he's got the Sir there. So a British conductor who leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for 13 years. And you're telling me he was a great leader who, you know, took the TSO and made it what we know of it today. Like, just a little more detail. You know what Roy Thompson Hall looks like?

Of course. If it weren't for him, it probably wouldn't have looked like that. He was the cultural force that pushed and he wasn't, you know what? I'll use this analogy. What made him such a great musician? He was a trained organist. So organists, they play not only with their hands but with their feet. So he would be very versatile, not only as a musician but also as a human being.

Because one of the things that he brought to Toronto was the ability to basically share music with all audiences alike, be they small, be they large and from what he brought was a true cosmopolitan and internationalist perspective. The growth of the Toronto Symphony was based on, when you look back, you could say it was based on a decade of enthusiasm, so younger conductors, remember we talked about Sergio Zal when his enthusiasm got a month ago. That's why you got the call. Should have driven to the funeral home. Absolutely.

Right. And then, so what happened was after he passed away, then the board of the Toronto Symphony decided to hire like one of those old school 60 to 70 year old or something conductors that have had this in their blood and will come to this country and will just shake the symphony awake. That's basically been the history of the Toronto Symphony. So, when Davis arrived, he was about 30 years old. When Davis left, I believe he was replaced by someone who was double his age. And then when that person left, they brought in someone young.

It's just, it's been a formula, I think, that they've used that's either succeeded or not. They've had some conductors who have been absolutely marvelous and others who would put anyone to sleep. Well, I'm learning a great deal here. So what do you think of this, Andrew? What do you think? You're giving me the basis now.

Now I'm starting to appreciate Andrew Davis and what he meant to the city, what he meant to the TSO. He was here, I guess it was for 13 years he led the TSO, but he'd come back. Is that right? Like he'd come back and lead the TSO for like these one officer? That's right. Okay. That's right.

And often, often conductors will have more than one post. So imagine the luxury of being able to have multiple jobs. Getting, getting... I do have multiple jobs. Come on. I know. But where one responsibility, you'll be in Melbourne, Australia, and then the next day, you'll be in Chicago, and then the day at Weeksend, you might be in Montreal. Did you know he... Like, it's a charm life. It's a charm life. Okay. And did you know he it's a it's a it's a charmed life. It's a charmed life. Okay, and did you know he wanted, you know?

Three of them. Yeah, and and the thing about Davis and part of the reason why you'll you're probably hearing from a lot of people Yeah, similar to popular music can con rules apply to classical music And so it's one of the reasons why you won't probably go more than a day if you ever listen to classical music radio without hearing one of his recordings. Really? Or recording by a Canadian orchestra. Well, I wish we had had this conversation like a year ago and I could actually talk to the man and find out where he keeps his Junos.

I need to know where everybody's got their Junos. Like, is it in a box? You know, it's funny you mention, I know there used to be a Juno case that included other awards in the ADTREM at CBC. They're probably there. If they're still there, I don't know if they're still there. Wow. All right, my friend, what do you think of this idea? Now, this is me leaving my comfort zone because again, I didn't know the name Andrew Davis. I've been catching up. I'm talking to good FOTMs like you who are educating me. You're my culture critic.

All right. What if I talked to members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and asked them about what it was like being led by Andrew Davis and what he meant to the TSO? What do you think about that? You got to get that on tape. That's audio gold because you'll hear the enthusiasm out of their voices. They will explain things that you can't draw. You know what I mean? They'll explain emotions, they'll explain memories, they'll explain the joy

that he brought when he came and performed to audiences. Also, in terms of best recording, another thing that Davis did, Davis made a number of recordings with the Toronto Symphony. They're not all great, but one of the great ones was Handel's Messiah. And the reason why it was, was because he managed to find, he managed to find a recording space that was actually superior to Roy Thompson Hall in Kitchener Waterloo. And he somehow managed to bring in, at the time,

the most expensive group of soloists that you would ever see. Famous names would include Kathleen Ballot or Samuel Raimi. Anyway, that recording, I would highly recommend that recording to anyone to listen to. Hey, will you send me a link? It includes all the hits like the Hallelujah Chorus. Yeah, I'll send it to you, no problem.

Send me the link, I will absolutely append it to this episode of Toronto Mic'd. And here's a couple of names, I'm just gonna tease this. Because it's deaf, I'll suggest maybe the Amen chorus and then just kind of like drop it and then so that once you're done the O bit you'll hear that final cadence at the end it'd be awesome I'm getting chills just thinking about it okay we're gonna we're paying proper tribute to sir Andrew Davis who died at the age of 80 on 420 on April 20th 2024. Here are two names of people I'm going to connect with and collect their stories about. Andrew Davis. One, her name is Leslie Dawn Knowles. She's a member

of the TSO. Leslie Dawn Knowles. And then I'm also going to speak to a gentleman named James Wallenberg. So I'm just going to see. And if everything goes according to plan, we'll literally be hearing those conversations in mere seconds on this recording. So, so Andrew, you're getting to read. And if you want to rerecorder, if I said anything awkwardly or you want like, just tell me, I don't sound good. Are you new to Toronto mic'd?

Do you think I would ask? I know, I know. Seriously. I'm sorry. No, please. That, that almost hurts my feelings. Uh, it's like, you don't would ask you? I know, I know. Seriously. I'm sorry. No, please. That almost hurts my feelings. It's like you don't know who you're talking to here.

I love the authenticity of you. Literally you're in a suit, or not a suit, I don't know if you're in a suit, but you got a collared shirt, which I haven't, except for Cam Gordon's wedding, I haven't worn a collared shirt since my wedding, I think. But it's a collared shirt. You got a tie on. You left some important meeting to have a quick zoom with me about Andrew Davis. I am honored you did that. And if you were at all awkward, that's even

even better. Like that was an authentic moment that happened. And now I'm going to go speak to a couple of members of the orchestra and I'm going to act like I know what I'm talking about because I've had this conversation with you. We need you to know why we appreciate this, okay? You know the state of the newspaper industry, the years of them ever having arts reporters who would typically report on these sorts of things, they're not coming back, man.

So the fact that you're doing this and in conjunction with Ridley, it's the best. And you know what? We can make these better than what you'd see in the Globe and Mail. We know your listeners know stuff that journalists don't. That's the magic. That's the magic. That's the magic and I couldn't do it without you. So get back to that meeting, Andrew. You were

wonderful and please listen in because you're not only going to hear Andrew Ward, but you're going to hear a couple of members of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra talking about Andrew Davis. Thanks for doing this, buddy. We bring the lost to the highest high, Who is in power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing. in me. But he is the love that was saved, We've come to call, to call by His blood. There is no power, and riches, and wisdom, There's fame, and honor, and glory, and blessing.

Hey Ted. It's actually not Ted, it's Mike. I mean Mike. I saw that, uh, hi Ted. I'm like, Oh, I'll tell them later. Oh, I said hi Ted. Okay. I don't know why I said Ted.

Ted's a good name. I like the name Ted. Welcome James Wallenberg to Toronto Mike. My pleasure. It's a pleasure to be here and speak about the man who hired me way back in 1978. Oh my goodness, sir. Andrew. He wasn't a sir back then. He was just Andrew. Okay, James. So 1978, you're hired for the Toronto Symphony Orchestra by Sir Andrew Davis pre sir Andrew Davis hires you

So just before we dive into Andrew Davis, I'm very interested to hear you speak about Andrew Davis Can you just give me a little taste of how do you James Wallenberg end up joining the Toronto Symphony Orchestra? Well, okay. So I come from a musical family. I'm originally from Binghamton, New York, for anybody who's heard of Binghamton. My mother was a violinist. My father was a pianist, cellist, conductor, and mechanical engineer. By day, he earned his money as mechanical engineer. They were both from Germany. They left before You Know Who destroyed all the Jews. But they met in New York City playing string quartets. My dad was working at that time at General Aniline Film Corporation, GAF Ansco Film, and then he got transferred to Binghamton, and my mother, who had lived in all many top cities

like Munich and London and Paris, and New York City, she was like, Binghamton, what's that? So he was transferred, they moved to Binghamton, and the rest is history. They were synonymous with music in that town, which was a desert culturally. My dad eventually founded an orchestra there, which started out as the community symphony and then it became the Binghamton Symphony. My mother was a violinist and taught, and she taught me. Then I got my undergraduate degree in music education from Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York.

Then I decided, you know what? I want to be in an orchestra. I'd been playing in orchestras, community orchestras, semi-professional orchestras ever since I was a kid. And I decided to get a master's in violin performance from Yale Graduate School of Music in New Haven, Connecticut. And then I, among some of my other interesting gigs,

I landed a job playing in an orchestra backing up Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Wow. Yeah, yeah, that was really cool. And that was in 1977 when they were trying a resurgence to blend classical music with their pop style of playing, you know, and they're famous for pictures at an exhibition. And so it was, I auditioned in New York, I got in, I didn't tell my parents and until after I was I was accepted. And they were like, Really, you want to do this? And I was like, yeah, because it included the East

and West Coast touring and Europe. So I was really excited and we rehearsed in Montreal at the Big O and then we started in May going on tour and we were playing all these different stadiums but we weren't selling out and making pretty good money. A 60-piece orchestra with singers and I would see Greg Blake and Keith Emerson and Carl Palmer, but I didn't hang with them. We started hearing rumblings in July that they were losing money They weren't selling out the stadiums and they were gonna have to break the contract and and call it quits and we were all disappointed

But it was a blessing in disguise because it was really loud and I was wearing earplugs So we did one more album at the big O we did it We made a vinyl an album and then I was like, okay, what am I going to do now? I know what I want to do. I'm going to move to Boston because I want to play in the great Boston Symphony under Seiji Ozawa with Joe Silverstein as the concert master and I had a couple of friends already in the orchestra. so I moved to Boston, actually Cambridge, the Harvard University town, and I took some auditions, didn't get too far there. Then I saw an opening in the Toronto Symphony, and my mother actually had played in a

chamber orchestra that toured all throughout the US and Canada. She knew about Toronto. She said it was a nice town, it was quiet, but you can get a really great deal on a fur coat. In the 40s, Magdar furs and all that. But she also happened to know, I had a little bit of an in because she knew the general manager at the time, Walter Hamburger, and actually was very indirectly related to him. So I went to Massey Hall, auditioned, got in, but my heart was still playing in Boston.

So I came back to Boston and did not sign the contract because I knew there was one more audition that I was going to take in Boston in April and I had gotten into Toronto in February of 1978. I took the audition, didn't get in, immediately signed the Toronto contract, and the rest as they say is history. However, I returned to Boston two or three times and I became a finalist twice for that orchestra, but each time, always the bridesmaid, not the bride kind of thing. So I started getting my roots in Toronto, and Sir Andrew Davis in Massey Hall was in the hall listening to me play along with other members of the committee, and they accepted me.

I ended up playing initially in the second desk of the second violins, which was new for them to do. Usually people who got into the Toronto Symphony started out in the back of the seconds, but the principal second at the time, Julian Kulkowski, wanted me in the stand behind. And then two years later, I said, I want to play in the firsts. So I auditioned for Andrew and he put me in the first violins. And I've been there ever since, although I do rotate into the second since Peter Ungin came in to play 14 years ago, 15 years ago, ago, actually more 16 years ago, I've been rotating into the into the seconds. So Andrew and I go way back.

Wow. Wow. Before I want to learn as much as you'll share about your relationship with Andrew Davis and what he was like as a conductor. But I need to ask you, what's it like for a nine year old to play the violin? Like I mean, I know it's in your blood and your mom is teaching you, but that sounds like tough sledding for a nine year old.

Well, you know, nine is late, by standards. And my mother offered, my mother, my family said, well, let's try it. When I was six and I was like, I don't wanna do, I wanna go out, be out playing with my friends. I want to be clowning around because I always had a propensity for comedy and clowning and actually did stand up, which we can get into.

But so there was a very good violin teacher in my elementary school that had a string orchestra. They said, ìOkay, weíll wait until youíre nine and you take it in school.î So, I started there, and I didnít want to practice. I wanted to be out playing with my friends, but I practiced because my mother was my teacher. So I had her as my violin teacher for nine long years. My dad was my German teacher and piano teacher, but then he had no patience to teach me piano. So, when I was like 12 or 13, I went to a different teacher in town who said I was talented,

but I had to pick an instrument when I went to Ithaca College and I picked the violin to pursue. I didn't think I was going to be a pianist and I wanted to play in an orchestra. And what a better instrument than the violin to land a job in an orchestra because there's 20, 25, 30 violins in an orchestra. So that's how it started. I could have practiced more when I was a teenager. I should have practiced more, who knows where I would have been, whether I would have gotten

into that Boston Symphony. But I relied on my talent until I was in my early 20s when I said, uh oh, I better buckle down and practice a lot.î So, thereís this program in Maine called Metal Mount, and it was started by a famous pedagogue named Ivan Galamian, who taught at Juilliard, and itís for violinists who want to become not only serious, but soloists, like the famous Itzhak Perlman and Zik Pankaj Sukumar went there in the 60s. So I went to Meadowmount and we had to practice five hours a day. So I did it, and then eventually I got to the point where it was time to audition for

an orchestra and Toronto became the home. Now Boston's loss is Toronto's gain. We've had you since 78. Yes exactly. That's exactly what somebody said to me once when I was telling them that story. They said well Boston's loss is Toronto's gain. So exactly.

Well I'm glad we we got you now please tell me about Andrew Davis well you know when I joined the orchestra I was it was my first full-time professional orchestra my I mean I played another professional in the New Haven Symphony under Eric Kunzel and other orchestras here and there, but Toronto was the first full time, first and only full time serious great orchestra I played in. So I was green in that respect and Andrew was this young 30 something year old lad up

there bouncing around and we had incredible guest conductors. And so just a whole life was new to me, touring. But as the years went on, we got to know Andrew and his sense of humor and his incredible talent. The one thing I learned about Andrew early on, aside from his personality, was that he was able to take any score, whether it was classical or contemporary, and get the orchestra to play it very well in a short period of time. That was one of his many strengths.

Didn't matter what the piece was, he was able to get the orchestra, to get the Toronto Symphony, to play it so well in those few rehearsals. So it didn't matter what the piece was, or who the composer was. So I admired him for that. And he was fairly easy to follow.

Different conductors have different styles of beating and some are harder, a little more difficult to understand their beat than others. But Andrew, I always found was clear and for the most part, very congenial and pleasant and had his, he had his moments, what we would call his twit fits. Maybe that shouldn't be, maybe that should be edited. No, that's the real talk. That's the real talk. Yeah

Or he would say one of his most famous quotes is I and when I might as well save my breath to cool my porridge That was a standard that was one of his His quips and once This is going now into Roy Thompson Hall The audience would would cough This is going now into Roy Thompson Hall. The audience would cough here and there and it bothered Andrew. So finally one time he just in a concert he turned around and said to the audience, well why don't you all just let it all out!

In rehearsals, he had a propensity to... if something wasn't going exactly ensembly together, he'd say, it's late in the back. And if I was sitting in the back, it was late for me, or whoever was in the back. So that became another standard quote, it's late in the back. James you do a great impression. This, soon I'm gonna ask you about this stand-up comedy part of your life, and I need more details on that, but do you do impressions on the yuck yuck stage etc.? I don't do,

well, I don't do actors and actors, famous actors and actresses like the famous Rich Little. But I do my friends and I do some conductors and people that I've heard because I have this musical ear.

And I tell you comedy and acting was something I've always wanted to do ever since I was a kid. But because I had these Germanic parents beating me down to practice and because I had a little bit of internal fear about getting onto the stage, even though I wanted to do it, I never changed careers. I became a violinist. Then when I moved to Toronto and discovered Yuck Yucks headed by Mark Breslin and the place that everybody did it at was on the corner of Scholared and Bay and Scholared, their original home, I thought, you know what, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this.

So I took a course, a stand-up course that was given, and then I had my first go at Yuck Yucks. And I did, and it was all just general, nothing musical, you know, humor, your standard stand-up stuff. And the very first time I did it at yuk-yuk's I what they say killed in other words the audience was laughing Yeah, and I thought this is so what a high this is great. So about two or three weeks later. I did the same routine again nothing

So I was like what happened and I spoke to, you know, the pros there at the time. Can you name any of the pro? I'm just curious who was there at that time. Larry Morgenstern, Larry Horowitz, Mark Breslin. What about John Wing? Was John Wing there? I don't know, but I know Jim Carrey got his start there doing some stuff there.

Well, you know, cause I've had Mark Breslin over here. He tells me he did not know Jim Carrey got his start. They're doing some stuff there Well, you know cuz I've had Mark Breslin over here He tells me he did not think Jim Carrey was very good and did not think he had a future in comedy He's an FOTM that means friend of Toronto Mike then James you're now an FOTM as well So you can add that to your bio, but was Ralph been murky hosting these shows I know of Ralph to add that to your bio, but was Ralph Ben-Murgy hosting these shows? I know of Ralph, but no, he wasn't. Back in those days in the 80s, there were some other names. Mark Brezlin can give you-

Mike McDonald, maybe? I'm trying to think of who would have been there. Yeah, Mike McDonald was around. What about Norm? Was he coming through from Ottawa? Norm McDonald, he might have, but? Norm MacDonald? He might have. You know, I didn't do it a lot. But then it came a point when the local pros came up to me and said, Jim,

you've got this hook. You play the violin. There are comics out there who would love to have that kind of hook. Be 700 pounds and play the ukulele, you know. And so, they said, why don't you start incorporating the violin into your routine? So I did. And eventually, I got to the point where I did a full, you know, five, six minute music routine with the violin, and somebody sent me a link and said, Jim, here's a competition, a contest,

that you might be interested in doing. It's for classical musicians who do stand-up comedy. It's hosted by WQXR and Caroline's Comedy Club in New York. This is in 2011. And I thought, there's no way I am going to be at all picked but why not? So I had to scramble to get a digital tape into them because everything I had was on VHS at that time.

So I went to a place and I had them, you know, edit stuff and I sent it in. Two weeks later I get a call from from a guy from WQXR named Elliot Forrester, I believe his name is, and he says, Jim we'd like you to come down and be part of this competition. There's ten people. There were 80 submissions. This is incredible. So I'll send it to you. Send it over. Because it's, I'm just gonna write it down. Send it over because I'll literally drop, because I'm not live and I'm pre-recording, I can drop it right now. Thank you very much. So I am a violinist and early on I discovered that I had

perfect pitch, the ability to identify notes. I felt special. I wanted my friends to test me. Hey Jim, what's this note? Mmmmm. Okay, that's an A. How about this one? Mmmmm.

Okay, that's a B flat. But I'd have some goofy guys come up to me and go, Hey Jim, what's this note? Buh. And Ed here thinks it's a C. What do you think? Well, my mother really wanted me to become a classical violinist, but as a kid, I'd much rather be watching one of my favorite TV shows at the time, Hawaii Five-O, than practicing Beethoven. And I couldn't focus. I remember once having an audition for the school orchestra. They asked me to play the opening to Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, so I played this. ["The Fifth Symphony"] But all that practicing paid off because now I play in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. But I'll tell you, our audiences over there at Roy Thompson Hall are just so noisy.

Just once I'd love it for the orchestra to go on the offensive. You know, give them a taste of their own medicine. We'd be playing a slow and beautiful melody. Oh, it's 12.15. I also play weddings. Once I played a half Jewish half Catholic wedding so for them I played Boyfey Maria. So you ready to rock? I can't hear you! You know, that's what Beethoven said. Except when Beethoven said, I can't hear you, he said it because he was deaf. Only he said it in German. Why, you think just because I'm a classical violinist I can't rock here we go with Jimi Hendrix purple haze That was Mozart's version. Alright, I'm going to close with a bunch of impersonations. You like impersonations? Alright, here's the first one. Give me a second here.

It's an idiot listening to tapes. Here's one of my favorite cartoon characters, Woody Winnpecker. For those of us who remember cassette tape, here is cassette tape reminding. The West Nile Virus Mad Cow Disease Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo Moo! Can't do a cow on the violin. A Tim Simms Comedy Night audience. The men. The women. For any of you who have been to Europe, this is the sound of a European ambulance driving by. Finally, for any of you who had mice and tried to catch it, this is the sound of a mouse

getting caught in a trap. That's it. We've had a great audience. I'm going to turn it over. Thank you all. The panel consisted of Robert Klein, Peter Schickley of the famed PDQ Bach, I don't know if you know that name, Marilyn Voigt of the Metropolitan Opera and a booking agent named, I think his name is Mark Hamlin, he was a booking agent. So those were the four panel members. And I flew down, I had to miss a TSO rehearsal, they let me out. I tested the mic, I did my thing. As you'll hear on the video, I got from Robert Klein very funny. I loved it. But first he said to me, he goes, ìWell, I have a question for you. Youíre from Toronto. Could you explain

to me what icing is? So that and people came, well I didn't win. I didn't win. Somebody else won and I personally, I think the person that won didn't deserve, he did an elaborate card trick that had some humor in it. But people came up to me afterwards and said, Jim, I thought you should have won. It was funny because before we went on stage, Robert Klein came back to Wish Us All Luck and said, I just want you to know that whoever wins this,

it's not gonna mean a thing. That's real talk too. So I've been doing that, but after I became a father late in life. Like Mark Breslin, by the way, became a father late in life. Mark and I have that in common. We're both in our early 70s and he's got a young teen. Mine are going to be 16.

And we talked a lot. Actually, the last time I saw Mark, and it's so ironic, I was sitting in a pod for a TIFF film in the film festival in September. And I look up and who's coming into my row but Mark Breslin, I couldn't believe it. So he sits down and we're chatting and I said, how's Larry? And he goes, oh, not too good. He needs a kidney. And so that was a little bit sad. But we chatted and I asked him how, what's his son's name? I forgot his name. Jake, not Jake. Ben, maybe Jackson Jackson, right?

Jackson. It's an unusual, somewhat of a new and usual. I asked him how Jackson was doing and I keep telling him to bring Jackson to the TSO, you unusual, somehow Jackson is doing. I keep telling him to bring Jackson to the TSO when he was younger, but he never did. I don't think he ever did because we do kids' concerts there. Of course. We do everything. Anyway, stand-up comedy was something that I've always loved to do, but I haven't developed too much material as of late. I may still continue it but we'll see.

Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. But before we get close with I have a couple more questions about Andrew Davis, I was going to ask you about one more thing in your bio which caught my attention which is I should tell you I know what icing is and I love Doug Gilmore when he was playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Doug Gilmore would put on these For money he would put on these cow tights and he would do these milk commercials

His wife was he his wife at the time was even in these ads But did you appear in any of these milk commercials wearing cow tights? I did I did that should be in that that's in may not be in my regular Vial but I have done a lot of fair amount not a ton, but I've done a lot of background stuff. I've been in three or four different films all as a Violinist in in an orchestra one was called Camilla starring the late Jessica Tandy and Bridget Fonda. Oh Yeah, you could probably find that somewhere in a store. Then I was in something called Me in My Shadow, the story of Judy Garland,

and I played the scene, her Carnegie Hall scene, where she did a concert at Carnegie Hall. I guess it was one of her last concerts with an orchestra backing her up. I can't remember the name of the actress who played Judy Garland, but she was incredible. I did Martin and Lewis, and it was Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis's last gig together as a duo, and they had an orchestra. And I also, you know, I've been on soundtracks, I was on the soundtrack for Kronenberg's

Crash, and I was also in this Drink Milk Live Life commercial in Countites. I could probably send you that as well. Yeah, so you know, I've been in the studios here and there for commercials and for movies and and I was recently in a string quartet for a Murdoch mystery Show I was I'm of course close friends with Bridget hunt whose husband is Rob Carly who writes the music for Murdoch mysteries And he asked me if I would be interested in, you know, its background stuff so you're sitting there for hours and hours, you're sitting in a waiting room doing nothing for hours and hours, then you're sitting on the set for hours and hours. But it was,

it was, I loved, I loved doing that kind of stuff and I'd like to do more of it if I can. James, do you remember the last time you played for Sir Andrew Davis? James, do you remember the last time you played for Sir Andrew Davis? Yes. And ironically enough, it was last November. And ironically enough, the main piece in the program was the famous for a requiem. I say ironically because at that time, I mean, a requiem, you know, we all know what a requiem is, but he was fighting this leukemia. I didn't know about it and I don't think anyone in the orchestra knew.

He had had it a year and a half ago, apparently, from what I'm hearing, but it got really bad in this past February. He was with us in November and he seemed a little slower. My wife was at the concert and she remarked on how he seemed a little slower. My wife was at the concert and she remarked on how he seemed a little slower. He was sitting down when he was conducting most of the time he stands. For the longest time he used to use a baton. He wasn't used to use a baton then, but that was the last week and I had no idea, so I didn't know I was saying goodbye that I

would not see him anymore. And this picture that I have, I can't remember what year, it was in the last five, no I think this was at his 75th birthday because he's 80. So this was five years ago. Right. And you know, we have a long and storied history, Andrew and I, not quite as long as maybe some other people in the orchestra. But I loved Andrew, I'm so sad that he's gone. And yeah, we played the foray requiem in that concert. We also played a piece by his son, Edward Frazier Davis, I believe it was called Mother and Child. Then, there was a Mozart symphony as well on the program.

He covers the bass as well from early classical to contemporary to romantic to impression. He can do it all. He could do it all. Which was really incredible about Andrew. He took us so many, the tours that we did with him, I mean the tours, that 10 year span that I played under him from 78 to 88 were incredible. They were great. My sincere condolences on your loss here. I want to thank you for carving out some time. Not only did I get to know you better and found out you were donning the cow tights for a milk commercial, that's a big deal on Toronto Mic'd here. We have that and you're

going to send me that audio of you doing the stand-up. I'll drop that in here as well. But you shared these great memories and helped me learn more. Not only learn more about Sir Andrew Davis, but I got to hear some pretty good impressions of him. So thanks so much. My pleasure, Ted. Yeah, just so you know, it's not Ted. My pleasure, Mike. I don't know why I'm saying Ted. My pleasure, Mike. I don't know why I'm saying Ted. Hi, can you hear me? Yes, I can. How are you doing?

Oh, good. I'm good. How are you? Good to meet you. Nice to meet you. You okay? If we dive right in, are you okay? You ready to rock?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'm fresh off the concert last night where we was kind of a very sad opening. We played the movement from the Enigma variations of Elgar, we played Nimrod, which is a very slow and very personal, it's often used as an elegy, and it was pretty hard to get through it without crying. I don't know if I've ever heard the orchestra play so quietly and so sensitively in the very beginning.

It was almost inaudible, it was so personal. And I'm really glad that we did that, but of course I'm completely devastated that Sir Andrew has left us, which I think is far too soon. But here we are. Here we are. Well, I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you. Me and a lot of other people, we're all together.

I think the thing that always gives me comfort when we lose a musician especially, is that the music that we've all been playing together for all these years, was also, a lot of it played way before we did, and it will be played afterwards. That is the one thing that will remain consistent in our lives. By the time you get to the point where I am, I'm in my 49th season with the Toronto Symphony, so I've played a whole lot of music. I probably, I was in our library the other day,

and I was looking, and I've played every single thing that's in there, because that's 50 years worth of stuff. And every time we play, there's always an association because that's 50 years worth of stuff. Every time we play, there's always an association when develops with musical works. So when you play those things again, it's like you're all back together. I certainly got lots of Andrew Davis musical memories to keep me afloat, that's for sure. He left such a legacy to us. We were very lucky to have him.

Absolutely. Now, Leslie, before we learn, I want to learn a little more about you, but would you mind sharing the story of when you first met Andrew Davis? When I first met Andrew Davis? Well, I actually didn't meet him at my audition, because I was in the Baltimore Symphony and I had to take the audition and fly back for a concert that night, so I was in and out before I met anybody. I found out I got a job through the phone call.

So fast forward to the September of, I guess we started the season with the operas at that time. I guess we started the season with the operas at that time, so I probably would have met Sir Andrew in say October. I was just impressed. The first thing I thought about him was, he's got a Beatles haircut. He looked so young, and he had that mouth of hair. I've got a great book right here, I'm going to try and find a young picture of him. Well, no audience can't see it, but you've probably seen pictures of Sir Andrew

when he was young, and he looked like he was about 12 years old. So he was 9 years older than I am, and I felt like a kid. And it was a beginning for both of us, because he was beginning his tenure at the Toronto Symphony, as was I, and we were both in a new country. So I think we kind of bounded over the newness of our situations, and I was just instantly impressed with his conducting. Of course, he was amazing. He was inspiring. He was precise. I was absolutely impressed with his conducting, of course. He was amazing.

He was inspiring. He was precise. He knew exactly how to get what he wanted. He had a delightful sense of humor. I mean, sometimes he would say things like, if he told us, ìYouíre playing too loud, youíre too loud, youíre too loud.î If he had to say it more than once, he would say, ìWell, I might as well save my breath to cool my porridge and that's that's become a buzzword there are still people will

still say that sometimes sometimes these little traditions get started and um and so it was like that and he did he lose his temper sometimes. He could get snippy. But he was always about the music. And I don't think that he would have ever done anything to get in the way of us making better music. He was there. And conductors are there to help us do our best. And he realized that.

He never talked down to us. He never talked to us like we didn't know what we were doing. He was a wonderful communicator. He realized that. He never talked down to us, he never talked to us like we didn't know what we were doing. He was a wonderful communicator. And he was lots of fun too. He liked to party. We went, at the end of my first season, we went on a tour to the Maritimes, where we started out here, and we headed east, we went through Quebec, we went through New Brunswick, and

we made our way through. And this was great, because I hadn't seen any of these places, and so it was a good way to get to know the country. And we finally wound up in Prince Edward Island, and we've been partying pretty hard. Parties are pretty standard on tour, after concerts. People get, you know, people unwind. And so we'd all had a pretty heavy night the night before. So the next morning we're down in the hotel lobby on it. We have a day off, which is really unusual on tour. I don't want anybody to think that being on tour is vacation for us, because it is not. It's anything but you get a look at a place that maybe you might want to go back to, if you're lucky.

But we're there to play. But we did get a day off in Prince Edward Island, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day. So some of us decided we would rent a car and drive around and go to beaches. So we're all gathered in the lobby, and Sir Andrew comes kind of stumbling out of the elevator and he's looking around and we say to him, �Hey, what you doing?� And he says, �Oh, I got to go� He was going to go off on some social event with some board members or some kind of music directorly duties that they're always having to do.

I think they were pretty well running him off his feet with that stuff, because he was new, he was a big splash, and he was very good natured about it, but we were all pretty tired from all the music we'd been playing, Symphonie Fantastique, which is just a trip in itself, with him especially. He looks around and we're saying, �Well, we don't see anybody that you're supposed to be going with, and why don't you come with us?� He goes, �Oh, I don't know if I can do that.� We said, �Come on, come on, come on.� They were late, and he decided in a split second he's going to join us.

We all drove around all day, and we went to beaches, and we went to beaches and we went to restaurants and we just had the most wonderful day running around in the ocean, just having a great time and it was delightful for him because what he was doing was playing hooky. We were complicit, but those are the kind of things that show you what his spirit was. Not that he would not do what he was supposed to do, but it shows you that he was a playful spirit and he had a lot of joy in him. And he loved all of us. He called me Kid from the time I started.

He called me Kid. And you know, he was still calling me Kid when he was here last November. I was going to ask you, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you there. No, that's okay. I was going to ask you about the last time you spent time with Sir Andrew Davis. That was last November? That was last November, and we were playing the 4A Requiem, and we were also playing a work by his son, Edward Davis, who was a very gifted composer. So we played Edward's piece, and having known Andrew all these years, it was just wonderful

to see him with his son making music together. It was really very, very special. And then his son sang in the foray requiem and had the most comforting, beautiful voice I'll just always remember. I was really sad, we'd just lost a cat. I'm an animal person and I was devastated. It was perfect to play the foray requiem that week and be comforted by that music. And then see Sir Andrew again, because every year, it's 50 years of friendship, every year he came back.

So it was almost like that movie, Same Time Next Year, where the couple keeps meeting every year. Right. You know when you have someone that you're close to but you don't see them that often, but then when they come back, it's like they never left. I think as the years went on, he grew closer and closer to the people that he knew from the beginning of his time here. I think it's a natural thing that those relationships just happened, and it was bittersweet the last time I saw him, because we hugged,

and I told him that I loved him, and I told him to please take care of himself. I had a feeling he wasn't well, I could tell he wasn't well, but he was in great spirits, and his conduct was completely all there. I knew that time was probably coming, but I really didn't expect it to happen this soon. I guess a lot of times we never do, but the one thing I'm really glad for is that I did tell him that I loved him, and though many of us loved him. I think it was important to say that, and I hope he knows what an impact he had on so many lives, including mine.

He was a very generous musician. I'm a real nerd when it comes to music. I play different instruments, and I'm always keen to do stuff. I play different kinds of music. And I play the viola along with the violin. And there are a couple of pieces in the repertoire with no violins. One of them is one of the Brahms Serenades,

and the other one is a Brandenburg Concerto. And both of those times when we were playing those pieces, I had the audacity to go into him and say, Andrew, is there any way I could beg my way into the viola section? Because I really always wanted to play these pieces, and both times he let me do it. And that for me, artistically, to be able to stretch myself as an artist and have a music director that understood why that's important to nurture his people, I just thought that was great.

So I'm very grateful to him for his generosity that way as well. And then let's see, what's some more stories? Well, we went to China, the People's Republic of China in 1978, which was a groundbreaking trip to go there at the time that we did. Most of the people there had no idea who we were. I don't know what they thought we were. He was of course the music director then, and I remember sitting and watching him in meetings like there were many get-togethers with officials and other artists. He was so poised and so gracious and just comfortable talking to anyone.

He was one of the smartest people you'll ever meet in your life. But he also had an emotional IQ, which is not always something that goes with a highly intelligent person. Between those two things, he was really able to forge liaisons where there wouldn't have been any. We did a side-by-side rehearsal with the Peking Philharmonic, which had up until very shortly before we came, they weren't even allowed to play music. All Western culture had been shut down completely, and they were just dusting off their instruments and getting back into shape.

I remember that morning that we sat and we played side by side with them, and their equipment was in dreadful condition. They didn't have good strings, they had just been cut off. He set the tone for a very generous exchange. We were like emptying out our cases of extra strings and doing whatever we could for these people. As a gift to the orchestra, they had done an arrangement of a Chinese folk song for strings, which I can still hear. It was the most beautiful thing to play side by side.

There's a number of little gestures in non-Western music, little slides and little inflections and things that we weren't familiar with. And the players very patiently showed them to us and taught us. And we learned how to play that music. And when we came back to Toronto, we played it for Toronto audiences. And I just think that was great. Unfortunately, nobody knows where that music went. That breaks my heart, because of all the souvenirs you could bring back from a place, what is better than a piece of music that was arranged for your visit?

I would love the community at large to know more that when we tour, we're diplomats. It was a diplomatic mission, and it was led by Andrew Davis beautifully, and it set the stage for wonderful collaborations after. And now, we have a number of Chinese nationals in the orchestra. Back in those days, we've even had a conductor who was 14 years old in our audience at Shanghai when we played Tchaikovsky 4th, which they'd never heard anything like this before. You could imagine the reaction of the noise and just having all these people. This guy was in the audience and he decided he was going to be a conductor.

He's come and guest conducted us since. To think that we were part of that, to make a whole thing happen, it really kind of blows me away to have had these experiences. Of course, we toured elsewhere with him, but I think that trip to China was a really landmark thing. The other thing we did with him that had to do with outreach, and this was years and years ago, we went up to the far north of Canada, we went all the way up to Inuvik and played concerts up there and did community things. Even one of our � sadly we've lost her, but Andrea Hansen was a violinist in the orchestra

who started up a string instruction program called Strings Across the Sky as a result of that trip. And with Andrew's help and encouragement, she kept that thing going. I've gone up there and taught for her since. And that's all, and again, Andrew Davis at his helm. I just can't see enough good things about him. He was what a guy, you know? That strings across the sky sounds incredible.

Oh, that is a wonderful thing. Oh, that is a wonderful thing. The way that even came about was we were up there in Inuvik and there wasn't, I think at the time there was one hotel and there was not room for everybody, so they had to make other arrangements. So they made arrangements to billet people with local families. And Andrea happened to get billeted with a family who, the guy was an amateur fiddle player and he loved that music and he was lamenting that that tradition was kind of getting lost because the kids weren't learning and there was nobody there doing it. So Andrea Hansen, and there's a whole topic for a show right there if you ever want to,

that woman was something else. She started up this thing to instruct him, and she developed this ingenious method for starting beginners that you can't miss. I would start classical beginners with her method, because it just works. It was so smart. She started this thing and what you do is you'll go into a place and you'll have what we call fiddle camps. Every day there are a couple of sessions where they get together and within a couple of, actually within a day we've got a violin in their hand. They start with a wooden spoon

and a stick and singing. And then they go, they learn what it's going to sound like because they're singing the notes that they're pretending to play. And when they pick up the violin, it's like such an amazing transition because it feels the same. And when they bow the open string, it should sound like the same note as they were singing. And so you go there for a week, and then if there is an orchestra in town, which most of the time there is, like I've done in Thunder Bay, where we do a concert at the end of the week where the kids play, and if it's possible they do a concert with the local orchestra. For a lot of these kids, it's not just about playing the fiddle, which they love, the music

and stuff, but for some of them it's a chance to actually accomplish something. I remember once we went into Thunder Bay, and what we didn't know was that the school that we were going to be teaching at was actually an institution for kids who had been convicted of violent offenses. All of a sudden, we had all these kids who were very troubled. I remember this one boy whose self-esteem was so bad that he would just sit there with his head hanging. By the end of the week though, we had him playing, and he was playing better than everybody

else. They were able to do this outing where we went into town to their concert hall and played this concert and had a little reception after, and they just did beautifully. They were so proud of themselves. You can also stem this from Andrew Davis getting that trip going, being part of that and getting Andrea and the support he gave her. So many great things go back to Andrew Davis, but that Northern Odyssey tour, that was really something else.

Like how many people ever get to even see these places and go up and know what it's all about. But that was Andrew, he just had a generous heart and he was a completely generous music maker. I have a question about, in instances where, let's say Andrew Davis leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra with a performance that ends up winning a Juno Award. This has happened, right? Yep. I think we did win. Yeah, I don't really keep much track of those things, but I know we've won some Junos and I think we won Junos with him. We did a lot of recording. I believe you won a Juno with Sir Andrew Davis in 2021, best classical album vocal or choral probably yes

Opera yes, so here's my ridiculous question Leslie. Do you get a Juno? I? Can't Juno no I get to say that my was the group I'm in wanted you know You can now bill yourself as Juno award-winning Award-winning and we're Grammy nominated too, so I guess I could say that. That would be the first line in my bio. Grammy nominated, Juno award winning. Grammy nominated, Juno award, yes. Multi-instrumental, mom of five.

Wow, good on you. How many cats do you have right now? I don't have any cats right now, I'm sorry to say. At one time I had six cats and they all eventually aged out, but what I do have right now is two dogs. We have a Boston Terrier and we have her niece who's a puppy and these two Boston Terriers are an absolute riot. They are so entertaining.

You know Sir Andrew had dogs too. No, tell me, I did not know this. He and Gianna, I don't remember the breeds, but I believe they had several dogs. Sometimes when he would come here, Gianna, his ex-wife, she passed away sadly, but she was an absolute sweetheart. They would come here sometimes with the dogs. I remember a couple of times ago, I think they rented a house somewhere so they could have the dogs in the yard. Here he is traveling around conducting all those music-wrangling dogs.

I think people who love animals have a I I'm always very attracted to those people I think there's something something very good about that did sir Andrew Davis enjoy bluegrass by any chance he would do a funny southern accent though he would tease me about my accent because I guess to him I sounded like an American. I probably do. I'm from California, so I don't think I've probably ever lost it completely. By the time I started playing bluegrass, he wasn't here. He knew I was doing it and he knew I was singing bluegrass and he got a kick out of that

But he was right. Yeah, I mean he just thought it was cool You know if you wanted to do do something else, whatever it was It was creative and bring happiness to people in whatever whatever way you can That's why we're given the talent is so we can so we can make people happy and do do something good in the world So I think he would I think he would support that. I'm going to say yes, he supported it. Would you shout out, because I don't want to bury the lead here, but you're a bluegrass musician, so do you want to shout out any of your bluegrass bands? Oh yeah, for sure.

I was the fiddler in a group called Hometown Bluegrass, which for many years was the houseband of the Tottenham Bluegrass Festival, just northwest of the city. I'm currently playing in a group that's based out of Six Nations in Oshwekin called Second Line Bluegrass. We have a number of things coming up. We're doing a festival up on Manitoulin Island in the beginning of June. On June 21st we'll be in Kingston for the First Nations Day celebrations. I think we've got some other stuff, but I can't quite remember it right now because it's not in front of me. But yeah, I've got that group.

And then I have another group that I play with. It's my good friend Don Cucci, who is also an artist. He's a painter as well, but he plays multiple instruments. And he's a jibway guy, and we have a group called the Wildwood Strings, and that's a very straight up bluegrass band. We venture into a little bit of Tony Rice kind of stuff, which is a little more out there. That's a more non-traditional. The second line bluegrass is traditional, and we lean towards country.

Then there's another group that I play with with and I call myself more of a promoter of theirs because they're a complete band without me and they're called Thirsty Horse and they've got tunes on Spotify. That's all original music. Second line, Boo Grant's originals too, but Thirsty Horse is all originals and I've helped that one of the other things I do is I arrange and I play in studios for singer-songwriters bands that are looking for strings. I enjoy the writing process. I've played on tracks with the headstones, which my son is the drummer for them.

And I went into labor with him at the dress rehearsal for Mahler 8th with Sarah Andrew Davis conducting way back in 1983. And my son was born the next day. So there's another Sarah Andrew connection. It inspired the birth of my son. Yeah. You said Headstones, right? Yeah, the Headstones. My son is the drummer in Headstones. What's your son's name? My son is Jesse Labovitz. I love the headstones.

I did not know this. This is a fun fact for me. Oh yeah. Yeah, they're great. Hugh's a great guy. They're all great guys. Yeah, I work with them a fair amount. I've done a couple of albums for them. Yeah, it's a really interesting process when you start putting things together,

because it's like building a sculpture. They are absolutely really wonderful guys and great musicians. Just a pleasure to work with. My musical life is branched out beyond the Toronto Symphony, but it's also been, I think that all of the technique that I've learned and everything that I've learned in the orchestra, I bring to other things as well. So I just feel like everything, I mean it's all music, right? It doesn't matter what kind of music, it's all music. It's all written because something matters to someone and they want

to get it out there and other people relate to it. So, it's fun to have variety in your life. People, I get this a lot, oh well, wouldn't you rather be playing bluegrass or wouldn't you rather be playing, I play jazz, wouldn't you rather be Oh well, wouldn't you rather be playing bluegrass or wouldn't you rather be playing, I play jazz. Wouldn't you rather be playing jazz? I don't believe in rather be doing anything. I believe in being in the moment, whatever piece I'm playing at the moment, no matter what it is, that's my very favorite piece in the whole world.

It's like method acting for me. I'm also an actor and I find that acting and performing music are very, very close in that when you are performing a piece of music, you believe in it. If you believe, your audience is going to believe. Works the same way for acting. So that's kind of fun because it makes you always be going to these cool places, as it were. Like last night I was in Brahms Land, Brahms Second Land, and tonight I'll be there again. There's always going to be some other cool place to go to. I wanted to recommend a book for anyone who's interested in the history of the Toronto Symphony. There's actually an extensive chapters, two chapters on Andrew Davis, one at Massey Hall

and one at Roy Thompson Hall. This is the Begins with the Oboe is the name of the book. And it was written by Richard S. Warren, who was the archivist for the Toronto Symphony for many years. And you can't see it on the radio, but I'm showing it to you. Yeah, beautiful.

This is a wonderful book. It has a lot of photos and it has a lot of, a lot of, I guess has a lot of inside information. For anyone who's interested in any further reading, I would highly recommend this book. Richard was a lovely, lovely man who was so dedicated. I don't think that he even collected any salary for being our archivist. I think he did it because he loved music. I could be wrong, but I think he was just a very generous soul who realized how important

it was. There's a lot of – City of Toronto Archives now has a lot of material as well. I'm going to be writing a book. I think I have to. You can't spend 50 years in an orchestra and not write a book about it, can you? No, I was going to ask, when you hit the 50-year milestone, do you get a jacket or something? What is the proper...

No, I don't think so. I think I got a silver tray at 25 years, but I don't think anybody really gets anything like that. Well, how many people hit 50? That can't be common for somebody, excuse me, to hit 50 years with the TSO. No, it's not very common at all. There's one person there who's been there longer than I am, and that's my ex-husband, Gary Labovitz, who's Jesse's dad. There's another. We've got all kinds of topics here. You're fascinating.

I love it. Gary label vets whose Jesse's death is the whole if you want There's another we've got all kinds of topics here you're fascinating I love it Gary Gary was here and I wish I think that I'm not sure if you talk to Gary I can give you his contact information if you want to talk to him because he's great and he has a lot to say he Was there when they hired sir Andrew? to say he was there when they hired Sir Andrew. So that's kind of really interesting too. And the father of a headstone, that's pretty cool. Not many of us left and now there's people in the orchestra that could be my kids. You know, I've got my first child was born in 1980, so figure that out, you know. I've got grandkids that come to the Toronto Symphony now.

Do the math. I don't know how it happens, but if you don't go anywhere else, you'll wind up being at the place for 50 years. I was going to ask, I'm glad we got to keep you. Sometimes musicians come and go, but you got here almost 50 years ago and you stuck around and I think that's pretty cool. I stuck around. Well, Toronto is a great place to live.

It's a wonderful place. I got married, I had kids, and I'm married to the tuba player. You love your musicians. One of the best ways to keep people in an orchestra is to have them be a couple because the odds of a couple, because the odds of a couple getting a job in the same orchestra are not great. Not even a tuba opening doesn't even occur very often. So for us to be married, and they like that, that's stability.

And so I think that's a lot of it. But I've been very happy here. There have been frustrations. There was a terrible strike, which was not fun. I'm still mad that we lost Ontario Place, because I think that our six-week summer season was a fantastic thing there. If there were ever a way to bring it back, I wish they would, because so many people got to get introduced to classical.

People would come to Ontario Place not having any idea that they were going to all of a sudden be hearing Tchaikovsky. They would fall in love with it, and it was great. Those are some of the not pleasant things, but I would say that I've been having a great career. I'm still at it, I'm still playing, I'm going to play next season too. I would love it if they would hire me to come back as an extra. Sometimes they generally don't do that.

I'm not sure. It's probably having something to do with fairness, because some people they would hire, some people they wouldn't, who knows. But I'm busy, I'm busy. I'm not so much retiring from the symphony as I'm going on to other things that I do, because I'm concert master of a couple other smaller groups. And I just got, I was actually starting to take

a lot of unpaid time off to do other stuff. So it kind of just works out. 50 is just a good number. So you're going to serve your 50 years and then you're going to bow out gracefully and play the fiddle, do some bluegrass, have some fun with the grandkids. Is this the plan? Yeah, and continue. I'm a concertmaster of the Toronto Mozart players, and I'm concertmaster of the Brantford Symphony Orchestra. I do some recordings, I collaborate with people. I play mandolin, a guy wrote me a mandolin piece.

I played mandolin in the orchestra, I've played many times mandolin, and recently I played in a Raspighi piece that we played. There was a composer in the audience, got inspired, now he's written me a piece. So, I have a Mandolin piece to play. I've got many musical projects and it'll be a matter of deciding where to put my time and attention. The grandkids are too busy for me to be honest with you and that's probably a good thing because they're you know all my all my kids are are thriving and I'm grateful for that and yeah I will I will get to spend more more time with them. Amazing. I like being outdoors, I like camping, I like hiking, just to be, just hoping that my health

holds out, which is the important thing, and so far so good. So yeah. Well, listen, okay, congratulations on 50 years. That's incredible. Thank you so much, Mike. And congratulations on well-deserved, you can say moving on to other things, retirement, whatever. I hope they give you a jacket.

I hope. I think they're going to make, you know what they'll do though, at the beginning of my last concert, Gustavo will make some kind of a speech and I'll get to stand up and everybody will applaud and I'll cry and it'll be like that. But most importantly, I'm going to play my concert. You'll play your concert. And thank you for your time today and for sharing these wonderful memories and thoughts about Sir Andrew Davis who passed away.

So my condolences again and thank you for your time and sharing those great stories. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to talk with you. And thank you for doing this for Sir Andrew. It's turned out to be a lot about me, but really my reason for being here is to talk about Sir Andrew and how much we loved him and how much his memory, when we say in Jewish we say may his memory be a blessing and his memory is already a blessing. We've all been blessed. forever and ever. King of grace and Lord of hosts. King of grace and Lord of hosts. Each and each and every forever and ever. Forever, forever, forever, forever. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.

Hallelujah. Thanks for watching!