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Two performances and one honourary degree will mark an incredible week for one of the most beloved storytellers in Canadian classical music.
“It’s very humbling,” says Tom Allen of the honourary degree he will receive from Brandon University at their convocation proceedings this week.
“This class of musicians is going to go out into the world and do things - share stories, play music, be artists, reflect art back to people and try to be able to keep track of what’s important – so to be able to have a tiny part in that is really thrilling.”
The award-winning musician and broadcaster who hosts About Time on CBC Music will have no small part to play in the other reason he, along with his partner, harpist Lori Gemmell are in Manitoba. Together with a star-studded cast of local musicians, they will also be presenting J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow in performances at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall and at the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall at the Univeristy of Winnipeg in association with the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg. The program details J.S. Bach’s 400-mile hike to the city of Lubeck to hear and learn from Dietrich Buxtehude, and will feature incoming Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Karl Stobbe, pianist Madeline Hildebrand, and indie-pop vocalist Diaphanie.
The union of spoken and musical language to share Bach’s story is, according to Gemmell, the catalyst for hers and Allen’s life partnership. “When we met and we both had this idea that we wanted story and music to be a big drive in our life, we were like, ‘Woo, fireworks!’”
The story of Bach’s legendary trek, documented in the obituary written by his son C.P.E. Bach, has been shared in musical form by Allen and Gemmell for over forty performances across Canada over the years, each featuring a unique lineup of local artists. To piece the story together, Allen and Gemmell prompt each performer for a piece they already have that has an emotional quality to it (“something angry”, for example) to help highlight Bach’s moods during his journey.
“It’s different every time,” says Gemmell with a smile. “Everybody brings their own flavour and their own personality, and that shapes the story each time.”
The flavours are widely varied with the addition of pop vocalists like Diaphanie in conjunction with the classical collaborators one might expect to hear playing Bach. Gemmell explains that this approach brings people closer to the idea that Bach was an actual person, not just a musical icon revered more than 275 years after his passing. “I just more and more see Bach as a person, somebody who developed over time and learned all the hard lessons like we all have to learn.”
With the humanization of Bach comes a chance to lean into performing the music with the instruments and people that are available. “It’s supremely adaptable and beautiful music that not only withstands arrangements but thrives in arrangements,” says Allen. “If we give this music love and value and respect, it’s going to shine.”
J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow takes place on May 28 at 7:30 p.m. at Brandon University’s Lorne Watson Recital Hall, and on May 30 at 7:30 p.m. at the University of Winnipeg’s Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall. For tickets and more information, patrons are encouraged to visit the website of the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg.