New Music for Old Hands (The WholeNote)
…the grassroots, community-based New Music for Old Hands Concert Series, curated by Toronto composer and performer Laura Gillis. … Gillis’s work focuses on collaborative music-making in non-traditional settings, particularly with older adults and people in long-term care. … On June 13, Alex Eddington will present “The First Song I Remember...” and speak about his work in collaborative community music-making.
From The WholeNote magazine - May 13, 2026
Written by Wendalyn Bartley
Category: New Music
In contrast to the high-profile Luminato Festival, a newcomer to this column – the grassroots, community-based New Music for Old Hands Concert Series, curated by Toronto composer and performer Laura Gillis. Beginning May 2, the series presents biweekly concerts through June 20 at the Labdara Lithuanian Nursing Home in Etobicoke. Gillis’s work focuses on collaborative music-making in non-traditional settings, particularly with older adults and people in long-term care. Her projects are often process-based and participatory, involving non-professional musicians. One such project, Vintage Voices, documents the musical memories and voices of long-term care residents.
The first three events in this five-part series feature the Labdara Bell Choir, an ensemble Gillis conducts. For the series, she has invited several guest musicians to present their work, beginning with Adam Scime on May 2 who will discuss his approach to music-making through his work Morning Rain. On May 16, Louise Campbell will explore creating participatory music practices, lead an interactive activity for audience members, and discuss Music Dairies, a project she co-created with Anne McIsaac, a woman living with Parkinson’s Disease. Lieke van der Voort will join virtually from Germany on May 30 to share Old Flames, a new work for voice and electronics, and discuss her work as a vocalist, improviser and composer. On June 13, Alex Eddington will present “The First Song I Remember...” and speak about his work in collaborative community music-making. The series concludes on June 20 with Martin van de Ven, who will present Mellow Bells, speak about Klezmer traditions, and perform works from that repertoire.
The series places contemporary music in a uniquely intimate setting, emphasizing participation, dialogue, and intergenerational exchange.
The June 13 presentation of New Music for Old Hands (details below) includes the world premiere of The First Song I Remember… for bell choir and piano, by Alex Eddington. Composed in collaboration with the members of a bell choir in a Mississauga seniors’ home, the piece unlocks the memory of an Italian song that several of the participants remembered from childhood: “Quel Mazzolin del Fiori”.
DETAILS
Saturday, June 13, 2026
2:00 PM 3:00 PM
Labdara Lithuanian Nursing Home5 Resurrection RoadToronto, ON, M9A 5G1Canada (map)
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/new-music-for-old-hands-concert-series-tickets-1983887551070
gibbons vs Gibbons - hilarious new music video released!
Swoop-ga-woop!
Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra just shared a hilarious new music video of my piece "gibbons vs Gibbons" starring the Odin Quartet.
Alex Toškov (who also edited the video) and Tanya Charles Iveniuk struggle to play through a viol duet by English Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons, as a pair of white-cheeked gibbon apes (voiced on cello and viola by Samuel Bisson and Veronica Lee) sing, swoop down and swat them. See my full program notes below the video…
Swoop-ga-woop!
Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra just shared a hilarious new music video of my piece "gibbons vs Gibbons" starring the Odin Quartet.
Alex Toškov (who also edited the video) and Tanya Charles Iveniuk struggle to play through a viol duet by English Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons, as a pair of white-cheeked gibbon apes (voiced on cello and viola by Samuel Bisson and Veronica Lee) sing, swoop down and swat them. See my full program notes below the video…
All season, the SPO has been releasing music videos in their Performance Series. In May some of these are pieces that will be included on the Odin Quartet's debut album later this year - which will feature "gibbons vs Gibbons" alongside premiere recordings of music Samuel Bisson,
Bruno Degazio, Chris Meyer, Elizabeth Raum, Ron Royer, and Kevin Zi-Xiao He among other Canadian composers!
Programme notes
gibbons vs. Gibbons is one of those pieces that started as a title. I was thinking that it was funny that there is an English Renaissance composer named Orlando Gibbons, since gibbons are also a kind of ape. The most wonderful kind of ape!
Watching them swing and play at the Toronto zoo, and listening to recordings of the whooping-swooping duets of white-cheeked gibbons online, I wondered what would happen if these apes encountered their namesake composer. In my piece, the viola and cello (the gibbons) keep swinging playfully down to bother the violins (attempting to perform a duet by Gibbons), causing unexpected problems in the music.
Eventually, apes and musicians find a way to play together for the final cadence - and a whooping finish! "gibbons vs. Gibbons" is dedicated to these endangered primates who give the world a music of their own.
-- AE