SECRETS OF OLD SOUTH

Toby Sass has been composing music since he was nine years old, which hasn’t been all that long ago, because Toby is only in Grade 9 at London Central Secondary School. He plays cello, piano, and French horn and plays in the junior and senior bands, and the junior and chamber strings. As well, he is part of the Young Artists Pre-College Academy, which fosters young violinists, violists, cellists, and pianists in a collaborative environment within the program and broader musical community.

Toby also loves writing poems and stories. Coupled with his love of nature and birding, he wrote the lyrics to “Seeds of Community” after spending a day on the river bank in the Coves, thinking about what makes community and why it’s important.

In addition, Toby sings in the youth choir, Mysterium, at Wesley-Knox and his parents are members of KSS. This is his first choral piece.

Ubuntu is a philosophy from South Africa that celebrates the human spirit and focuses on relationships. Archbishop Desmond Tutu explained, *One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu, the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can’t be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality—Ubuntu—you are known for your generosity. We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole of humanity. “Umuntu ungumuntu ngabanye abantu.” (Zulu) —“A person is a person by and because of other people.”

What better place to experience the connectedness of ubuntu than with a choir? There is a feeling of joy and satisfaction that comes from blending one’s voice with others and working toward the goal of making beautiful music together. You can’t be a choir of just one. To reach our full potential, we must stay connected to our fellow humans. Embrace the wisdom of ubuntu and let that power change the world. —Mark Hayes, composer

This song was written in 2016 for Denise and KSS. Slow Gospel.

Originally from Toronto, Steven Hardy is a songwriter, composer, and lyricist whose songs have been recorded by some of Canada’s favorite artists, including Murray McLauchlan, John McDermott, Quartette and Lunch at Allen’s.

A Western University Don Wright Music Faculty theory and composition honors graduate, Hardy has composed music for theatre, choir, dance, and television, including scores for two national award-winning documentaries, Slippery and Lost April. His songs have been licensed for film and television in Australia, Ireland, Iceland, and the U.S.A.

In 2004 his song “If Never” was performed by London, Ontario singer Jessie Ross at the Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece, and was featured in the CBC Television Special Celebrate!.

His songs have been heard on CBC radio and television programs including Vinyl Café, After Hours, Sounds Like Canada, Morningside, Quirks and Quarks, DNTO, Tonic, The Sunday Edition, and As It Happens. He is the inaugural recipient of the SOCAN Advanced Songwriter’s Workshop Award.

Steve was recently honoured on the “Jazz for the People” Concert Series with A Salute To Songwriter Steven Hardy, at Wolf Hall.

Hailing from Brantford, Ontario, Jeff Smallman has written for a wide variety of ensembles, ranging from solo instruments to full orchestra, covering a vast range of styles. He has received numerous commissions for orchestra, concert band, solo instrument, chamber groups, and choirs of all sizes. His trumpet sextet, “Fanfare for Prince Henry”, was written in celebration of the birth of Prince Henry of Great Britain, and was accepted by Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1984. More recently he has written a ballet and a chamber opera.

Jeff is a member and a competition winner of the Canadian League of Composers. His music has been performed throughout Canada, the United States, Hungary, Holland, Lithuania, Finland, South Korea, England, Wales, Poland, China and beyond.

He has been a Lecturer at the Don Wright Faculty of Music at Western University, and was composer-in-residence for the Woodstock Fanshawe Singers. Jeff is also owns Lighthouse Music Publications.

KSS commissioned “Shadows on the Tide” for their 2010 concert “River: Reflections on the Thames”.

Amid the rushes, green, and slight,
Beneath the willows tall, and strong,
Wave after wave, so fast and bright,
The river runs, it runs along.
The winter comes with icy blast,                     
The summer brings her scorching suns,
Day after day has come, and passed
And still the river runs.

Refrain: I see it flow; away, away,
        Along the same broad even track,
        Waves sweep onward night and day,
        But never come back.

And thus it is, time passes by,   
Nor ever stops, for joy or pain,
Thus years, and days and moments fly,
But never come, never again…

This rousing Canadian anthem has been heard far and wide on radio and television, at ceremonies, sports arenas and special events. It was premiered at the World Exposition (Vancouver) in 1986.  Written by BC composer, Bob Buckley, it’s been called the second Canadian National Anthem.

Beauty of the Earth Medley is an arrangement by Wayne Fritchie of three beloved hymns: “For the Beauty of the Earth”, “This Is God’s Wondrous World”, and “All Creatures of Our God and King”.