Conductor in his groove with youth

Edmonton Youth Orchestra conductor Michael Massey is always full of surprises.

Upon stepping on the podium with his pencil-thin baton prepped for a rigorous rehearsal, the first questions he asks the musicians are, "Did you have a good breakfast? Did you have lots of protein?"

Not at all what one expects as the lead into a meticulous three-hour rehearsal. Murmurs and laughter ripple across the rows of 80 musicians seated in a cavernous hall at the University of Alberta's fine arts building.

It is early Saturday morning. Outside a blustery snowstorm is buffeting vehicles. From the glut of young musicians arriving with a Tim Hortons cup of coffee, it appears everyone wishes they were still tucked in a warm bed.

Yet discipline and dedication override basic desires. Just about every member of the Senior Youth Orchestra is in place, his or her presence generating an excited buzz.

This year the orchestra, comprised of a Senior Orchestra and Intermediate Orchestra, celebrates its 60th anniversary. To commemorate this extraordinary feat, Massey has scheduled a bold concert highlighting Beethoven and Benjamin Britten on Sunday, Feb. 24 at the Winspear Centre.

In addition, the Richard Eaton Singers add their voices, including soprano Nola Shantz, mezzo-soprano Moira Sharkey, tenor Anthony Flynn and bass baritone Jihwan Cho.

The seniors are rehearsing Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, a lengthy, challenging work considered by many to be the greatest piece of music ever written for the Western classical repertoire.

Youth orchestras rarely mount No. 9 simply because of the virtuosic challenges required. During rehearsal, all the seniors are on their toes. No one wants to flub his or her part for the most important concert of year, possibly the decade.

Cole Van Der Velden, 19, a Bellerose graduate and first year student in the University of Alberta's arts faculty, feels honoured to play this master composition.

"It's one of the greatest symphonies of all time. It's so diverse in scope. It takes you on a journey of 1,000 different emotions, and when the choir joins in it's a whole celebration of life," says the second-year French horn player.

Massey, a conductor who never shies away from challenge, calls Beethoven's 9th a "musical monument. It has such a splendid choral finale and the choir brings out the ode to joy. It's unique in the musical world and I wanted something unique for the 60th anniversary."

Bookending the 9th, Massey has selected another Beethoven work for the 60-piece Intermediate Orchestra to perform. Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage is a little known six-minute masterwork that is scarcely discussed and rarely programmed.

It is a setting of two poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe combined into dramatic cantata for chorus and orchestra depicting the passage from darkness to light.

Sandwiched in between the two Beethovens is Britten's Noyes Fludde (Noah's Flood), a work originally composed for children to play with recorders and strings. Massey has reworked this piece with handbells and added Bill Damer projecting the voice of God.

"The music will register the water and the storm and the wind and the gale. There's lots of percussion and it's very colourful," Massey adds.

This concert is the culmination of six decades of passion and dedication. Keith Bissell, a Canadian composer, conductor and music educator, first founded the Edmonton Junior Symphony Orchestra in 1952. Initially there was only one orchestra. Its mission, which continues today, is to nurture and develop young musicians both artistically and as individuals.

Unfortunately Bissell left Edmonton in 1955 to serve as supervisor for a Scarborough school district, a position he held for 15 years. Five conductors followed in the next 22 years, each staying anywhere from two to nine years.

Little did Massey realize that when John Barnum asked him to fill in at the podium in 1977, that he would become the orchestra's longest-serving conductor for 36 years.

Reflection

After rehearsal, at his home in St. Albert, the British born Massey shares his private thoughts. We sit in his large study, built over a two-car garage. The eye immediately travels to the centrepiece, a stunning black grand piano. Paintings and a vast collection of CDs line the walls. Music sheets are neatly stacked in a bookcase.

Several areas with a sofa and tables are arranged for thoughtful moments of discussion. The ambiance is a total reflection of Massey – refined, tranquil, comfortable.

Massey's musical journey as a young lad actually started in Britain under the tutelage of his piano teacher Miss Oakes.

"She was a little old lady who used to come to the house on a motorbike. I remember Mum used to give her a cup of tea," Massey reminisces.

In the late '50s his parents immigrated to Edmonton searching for a better life. The family of four found an apartment on 95 Street and at first were unaware it was the roughest part of Edmonton. Twelve-year-old Massey was enrolled at McCauley School, but the sensitive pre-adolescent didn't fit in.

"It took me nearly two years to get over hating it. I'm sure I must have put my mum through agony."

His change in attitude came almost overnight. The young boy had gotten into the habit of playing a piano during the school's noon-hour break. Music teacher Allan Rumbelow heard him and encouraged his parents to provide lessons.

Although they could barely afford it, Massey's parents scraped together enough money for an old upright and enrolled their son in lessons with Jean-Pierre Vetter.

"He was a brilliant man and I loved him and I had a cadre of companions in his class," Massey says.

On his piano sits a black and white photo taken of Vetter and the class, a token that reminds him of the long-held friendships that have only become stronger through the decades.

Despite Massey's extensive list of accomplishments – recipient of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal and 2002 inductee in Edmonton's Cultural Hall of Fame – he is still speaks of Vetter in awed tones.

"He imparted his love of music over and over. Whether you agreed with his technique and approach was a different thing. But his love of music, cooking and French cuisine was something we all enjoyed. We would have parties on Sunday afternoons playing fugues. He would cook up some spaghetti sauce and those of us that were over 18, and even if we weren't, would have a glass of wine."

After graduating from the University of Alberta with a bachelor in music in 1967, Massey moved to Geneva, Switzerland for two years of study under Louis Hiltbrand, the go-to music teacher of the times.

"When I went to Switzerland, I didn't push it," Massey says. "I went to learn as much as possible. I was learning a culture. I was learning a new language, one that was crucial to my development as an artist. I loved that I could exist in another language. To me that was more valuable than a PhD."

He hop-scotched across the Atlantic several more times, even moving to London.

"I wanted to try my hand at being a pianist and decided London needed another pianist like a hole in the head. I came back in 1974 and became the pianist for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra."

Three years later, Massey was ensconced as the Edmonton Youth Orchestra conductor and never looked back. While his previous colleagues stayed only for brief stints, he has made the orchestra his life's work.

"I am a teacher," he says. "I have conducted every level of orchestra from little young string groups to the Edmonton Symphony to the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. In conducting a youth orchestra you get to delve into the music much more. You have more time to introduce the beauty, the structure, the meanings."

He compares it to professional orchestras such as the ESO that are very businesslike and brisk in their approach.

"You're in. You rehearse. You're out."

What is immediately noticeable about Massey, and what has largely contributed to turning the EYO into one of Canada's premiere youth orchestras, is his genuine enthusiasm for working with young musicians.

"He always seems to be really happy and enthusiastic in what he does. He brings in a brighter atmosphere, and when he conducts he really gets into the music," says, Jacob Kryger, 14, a senior percussionist who attends école Secondaire St. Marguerite d'Youville.

It's precisely this joie de vivre and well-crafted musicianship that has fostered the talents of some of North American's stellar musicians – Canadian harpist Gianetta Baril, Juno Award winning clarinettist James Campbell, principal cellist of the National Arts Centre Orchestra Amanda Forsyth and international trumpet player Jens Lindeman, now based in Los Angeles.

Closer to home, St. Albert's own violinist Neda Yamach has played in the Senior Orchestra as a stepping-stone to the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

Ziyou Zou, 17, second principal violin and Grade 12 student at Paul Kane, sums up his experience as, "It's all about teamwork. It's no longer just about you as a musician. You work as a team. You work together. The end result is that a number of things come together in near perfection."