Tom Allen in Winnipeg: J.S. Bach's Long Walk in the Snow

Photos: Steve Ackerman, Stephanie Stobbe

The capacity crowd attending J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow could jump to their feet fast enough to cheer for the company that kept them highly entertained in 80 minutes of stories and music. Storyteller extraordinaire Tom Allen captivated his fans with what-was and what-might-have-been while expanding on Bach’s experience after having walked the 400 kms to meet and learn from organist Dietrich Buxtehude. From wistful solos by WSO concertmaster Karl Stobbe and harpist Lori Gemmell, “angry” music on the piano by Madeline Hildebrand, and a side-splitting rendition of “You Don’t Own Me” with Diaphanie, we loved every moment. When Tom and Lori come back to Winnipeg, we’ll definitely need a bigger hall!

The Story:

Johann Sebastian Bach is usually seen as the wise, old man of Western Music, but he didn’t begin his working life that way.  At 18, and in his first job as an organist, still barely beginning life as a composer but already a spectacular performer, the young genius got into such trouble that the only thing he could do was to walk away. The Performers: Tom Allen was born in Montreal and attended Marianapolis College and McGill before finishing degrees at Boston University and Yale. He worked as a bass trombonist in New York City "when there were still places you just didn’t go", then in Toronto and on tour with the Great Lakes Brass. He has been with the CBC since his 30th birthday where we can still hear him daily as the host of About Time. Tom is a consummate storyteller. The author of three books, he's also been a Resident Artist with Soulpepper Theatre, delivered storytelling workshops for university music programs and the Banff Centre, been named an honourary Doctor of Letters by Thompson Rivers University, hosted countless concerts across the country and written a series of cabaret storytelling shows he calls Chamber Musicals. These include From Weimar to Vaudeville, The Missing Pages, A Poe Cabaret, Being Lost, and the latest: J.S. Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow. Tom lives in Toronto with harpist Lori Gemmell, their son, and a very enthusiastic dog.

Lori Gemmell started as a street-corner busker in Montreal. Now Principal Harpist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, she has toured Europe and Japan with the Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne, and teaches both privately and at Wilfred Laurier University. Lori appears regularly with the Toronto Symphony and National Ballet orchestras, and as a member of the Four Seasons Harp Quartette. Her most recent recording is Canadian Music for Harp. She has also recorded as a soloist on Prelude, with Jennifer Swartz on their harp duo recording The Garden of Peacocks, with Trumpeter Larry Larson on Divertissement, on the soundtrack recording for Bohemians in Brooklyn, and with songwriters Kevin Fox and Feist.

After a whirlwind start in the music industry as a backup singer for Juno-nominated rising star Begonia, Diaphanie, a Winnipeg-based singer-songwriter with a passion for storytelling, is emerging onto the scene as an artist in her own right.

With a voice as limitless as the prairie sky and songs that slingshot right to the heart of the matter, Diaphanie’s early classical training sets her apart from others in the genre. Her immaculate vocal control paired with the fluid acoustic guitar picking of her collaborator, Elessar Thiessen, draws audiences in and keeps them on the edge of their seats. Diaphanie has graced festival stages from Reeperbahn (Germany) to M for Montreal, and is set for her first cross-Canada tour in September. With her debut EP ‘Solid Gold’, she presents a live-off-the-floor delight featuring the delicate interplay between two guitars and three voices. 

Congratulations to Karl Stobbe on his recent appointment as Concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra! Besides his many years with the WSO, Karl filled the role of Concertmaster for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra for 25 years. He has performed in North America’s most prominent concert halls, including New York’s Carnegie Hall and Boston’s Jordan Hall, and has shared the stage with some of the most important and eclectic violinists of our day, from James Ehnes to Mark O’Connor. Whether an orchestra director, concertmaster, soloist, or chamber musician, he is an audience favourite in all settings. His recording of Ysaÿe’s Solo Violin Sonatas was nominated for a JUNO Award, and received worldwide attention, including London’s Sunday Times who called Karl “a master soloist, recalling the golden age of violin playing". Karl has recently created an online concert series featuring all the Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin by J.S. Bach.

Whether cooperating with a singer or a sine wave, Madeline Hildebrand’s collaborative virtuosity leads much of her work. She has appeared in concert with Philip Glass (Winnipeg New Music Festival), the Kronos Quartet (Mass MoCA), with Yarn/Wire (DiMenna Center, New York), and as a soloist for Music Toronto’s COSE series.

Madeline was a first-place winner in WMC’s McLellan Competition, and since then has performed with all of Winnipeg's major musical arts groups, as well as earning a Doctorate of Musical Arts. She is a vigorous advocate for bringing classical music to rural communities as evidenced by her solo tours with Home Routes and Living Room Live. She plays regularly with oboist Caitlin Broms-Jacobs in concerts featuring the dramatic and enchanting melodies of Eastern Europe (see Fierbois). The duo has recently launched their CD titled Sing to Me Again, and will tour Western Canada with Prairie Debut in the 25/26 season.