New Beginnings

Jacques Israelievitch after receiving the Order of Canada at home on 14 August 2015 - the day of the new moon in Leo!

One week from now, I’ll be leaving my Annex apartment for the last time, en route to beautiful Victoria and the start of my Fall 2015 West Coast Tour. Earlier this week, in anticipation, my partner Alex and I started cramming our belongings into a rented storage locker. When we come back, we hope our new house will finally be ready, after months of intense renovation, to become our new sanctuary. 

I’ll miss living two blocks away from Bloor Street West and Mariko, our favorite spot for cheap vegan sushi! It feels like yesterday that we moved in to our one-bedroom apartment, this past January, with a couple of suitcases and no furniture, ready to start our life in Toronto. Thanks to this city’s fertile arts scene, these past nine months have been a crash course in cross-pollination and collaborative projects. 

I’ve enjoyed stints stage directing and assisting for groups like the innovative Bicycle Opera Project. I’m looking forward to creating new work with composers Alice Ho and Anna Höstman for the Talisker Players and Continuum Contemporary Music, respectively. But most exciting of all is my newest collaboration, with a beautiful 2007 violin made by John Young of Salt Lake City – a violin that belonged to my colleague, mentor and friend, the late Jacques Israelievitch. 

If you don’t know the name, stop reading this and go read his Wikipedia page. The man was beyond accomplished and erudite. He seemed to vibrate on a higher level of love for all things artistic, from poetry to nature to ceramics, and the love of his life was his vibrant and vivacious wife Gabrielle. It’s thanks to her that I’m traveling west with this very special violin as my guide, companion, and co-creator as I embark on a tour of my new solo multidisciplinary show, Paganini’s Shadow. 

Paganini’s Shadow takes as its inspiration the eponymous legend of the music world. Yet it’s the man behind the myth that fascinates me, the humanity behind the public image. As I explore Paganini’s world through poetry and music, I’m beginning to sense the universal nature of his very personal path. Through the rituals of practice and performance, the humbling and sublime nature of our innate creativity is revealed. 

Paganini was a technical wizard with a light touch, known for his imaginative coloration and showmanship – qualities that are inseparable from the name Jacques Israelievitch. Though Jacques passed away on September 5, 2015, his energy resonates with startling clarity in his violin – even before a single note is played. Again and again, the interconnectedness of all things takes my breath away. Who is the artist and who is the audience? Where does inspiration come from? When we tell a story, is it truly ours, or the story of all creation? 

Among the countless lives that Jacques touched and continues to touch, I’m grateful for his inspiration that reaches me like stardust as I compose, write, and pack my bags for Victoria. Violin in hand, I’m looking forward to new adventures. Thank you, Gabrielle and Jacques!