Annual event Jane's Walk to include Glenn Gould locales

This Saturday, the annual international Jane's Walk event will feature a tour dedicated to Glenn Gould's Toronto, examining the landmarks and institutions that impacted his music, philosophy, and relationship with technology.

Walk leaders Erin Scheffer and Melissa Wong--both knowledgeable PhD candidates in musicology and music, respectively--will explore Gould's creative uses of technology in the recording studio and his ideas about the influence of technology on musical aesthetics and communication, drawing a parallel with his understanding of the relationship between the built and natural environments in Toronto. The walk ends with an optional group lunch at Fran's Restaurant on College Street, the oldest surviving location of Gould's favourite diner.

Saturday, May 4, 11am-12:30pm. Free. Meet at the bench statue of Glenn Gould in front of the CBC building, 250 Front St W.

Jane’s Walk celebrates the ideas and legacy of urbanist Jane Jacobs by getting people out exploring their neighbourhoods and meeting their neighbours. Free walking tours held on the first weekend of May each year are led by locals who want to create a space for residents to talk about what matters to them in the places they live and work. Since its inception in Toronto in 2007, Jane’s Walk has expanded rapidly. In May of 2011, 511 walks were held in 75 cities in 15 countries worldwide.

Click here to visit the event Facebook page.

Special Delivery for Anastasia Rizikov: an emerging artist's new grand piano

By Victoria Buchy, GGF Staff

If young pianist Anastasia Rizikov wasn’t so clever, brilliant and full of gratitude to her supporters, one just might be able to convince her that pianos grow in driveways and basements. She certainly wasn’t expecting—not even for Christmas or her fourteenth birthday last December—to receive a Yamaha C1X grand piano from The Glenn Gould Foundation with the help of Yamaha Canada Music Ltd.  

In honour of Glenn Gould's 80th Anniversary Year and his Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, The Glenn Gould Foundation has provided the piano to Anastasia on an indefinite loan-basis to aid in her artistic and career development.  The gift was revealed to Anastasia at The Glenn Gould Foundation office in December with her mother Liana Rizikov and teacher and grandmother, Maia Spis.  Before Christmas, the grand was installed and ready for use.

“I had an amazing month,” said Anastasia later in January at her grandmother’s basement studio, where the polished C1X shines in the corner adjacent to Maia’s concert upright.  “I’m always looking forward to December because there are all these celebrations like Christmas and New Years and my birthday.  Then suddenly I have a gift that is for all 14 of my birthdays, all 14 of the New Years that I’ve celebrated and all 14 of the Christmases.  It’s the gift that I’ve received.”

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Robert Lepage awarded the Tenth Glenn Gould Prize

Robert Lepage - Innovative director, playwright and actor 

Photo by Julie PerreaultToronto, ON (February 21, 2013) – Innovative playwright, actor and director of theatre, opera, circus and film, Robert Lepage is the Tenth Glenn Gould Prize Laureate.  Mr. Lepage has won international critical acclaim and audience applause for his groundbreaking and influential works that fuse diverse media into cohesive stories that surprise, challenge and delight. 

“I would like to congratulate our jury on an inspired selection,” said Brian Levine, Executive Director of The Glenn Gould Foundation.  “Robert Lepage is an artist whose dreams have expanded the realm of possibility and whose work transcends all boundaries. His work illuminates the human condition in that same spirit of innovation and idealism that motivated Glenn Gould.  We feel his selection as Laureate marks a new milestone in the history of The Glenn Gould Prize and The Glenn Gould Foundation.” 

“It is a good thing to celebrate excellence but I do think it is important to define what “excellence” is. For me, the excellence of an artist should not be measured only by his successes and achievements but also by his courage and capacity to constantly put himself in danger,” stated Robert Lepage. “Trial, error and at times even public humiliation are as much part of the process of defining one’s uniqueness. It means surviving both the highs of being ahead of the curve and the defeated feeling of trailing behind.”

“I am deeply honoured by this prestigious and generous accolade. As I know Glenn Gould did, I believe there is such a thing as a culture of the North and as I was walking to work this morning trying to fight my way through the heavy blizzard that had invaded my fair city, I could somewhat sense his presence in the howling wind and the vanishing footsteps I was clumsily following in the snow,” said Robert Lepage.

In reaching their decision, the jurors took special note of Mr. Lepage’s increasing influence in the theatre world, which has reinforced his willingness to take risks on stage to achieve results often thought to be unobtainable.

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