Firdaus Orchestra, an all-female ensemble whose name means 'paradise' in Arabic, will be participating in 2025's Promise of Music Festival.Glenn Gould Foundation/Supplied
In Toronto this week, orchestras, soloists, artists, thought leaders and change-makers from more than 20 countries will unite at the Promise of Music: The First World Congress on the Social Impact of Music, presented by the Glenn Gould Foundation at venues throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
Among the participants are actor Viggo Mortensen, composer A. R. Rahman, dancer/actor Lil Buck and inventor Tod Machover, faculty director of music and media at the MIT Media Lab in Massachusetts.
Performers include the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, Sistema New Brunswick Children’s Orchestra, the Jerusalem Youth Chorus (composed of Palestinian and Israeli singers) and Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra of Cateura, whose musicians use instruments fashioned from the country’s largest landfill site.
Glenn Gould Foundation chief executive officer Brian Levine spoke about the inaugural event.
I can’t imagine an event of this scope coming together quickly. How long have you been working on it?
It’s been a couple of years. And if I may say so, it’s been a culmination of a lot of our history at the Glenn Gould Foundation. Last year, after many years of us making the case, the government of Canada decided to recognize the Glenn Gould Prize and the foundation as a natural asset. They gave us a substantial endowment, which we’re not allowed to spend. It’s designed to provide interest income.
You say the festival is a culmination of your history. Are you talking about cultural diplomacy?
Yes. Glenn Gould was a global figure. Like him, we’ve always felt that not only should we be telling our stories to ourselves, we should be telling them to the world. And we should be doing more things to invite the world here.
What’s your elevator pitch in explaining this festival?
It’s a public festival with public concerts and idea forums, with not only amazing music but music with a purpose. It represents a mission that uses music as a tool to help with some of the most pressing needs in our society and around the world. With each of the groups we’re bringing in, and there are over 550 musicians coming, lies a story. These are stories of overcoming tremendous odds, stories of courage and heroism, and stories of unbelievable ingenuity.
Can you talk about the ingenuity involved in pulling this together?
It’s hard to build a new brand in a short period of time. Just dealing with visa applications is an industry in itself. Getting a visa for a person from a Global South country who is an orphan and therefore has no birth certificate because they were abandoned is not easy.
How much does it all cost?
It’s in the millions of dollars. We’ve certainly contributed our own resources. But it wouldn’t have been possible without support from senior levels of provincial and federal governments, some extremely generous foundations and individuals who have stepped up to the plate, and a little bit of corporate support.
For the event’s finale, Indian composer A. R. Rahman is appearing at the Great Canadian Resort, which has a 5,000-seat venue. Isn’t that a bit ambitious?
For our configuration, it’s close to 4,000 seats. But, yes, it’s a very ambitious project. It’s one of two concerts he’s involved in. The night before he’ll appear with his Sunshine Orchestra from his conservatory at the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga. He’s a superstar who is beloved in the South Asian community.
Indian musical composer and record producer A. R. Rahman, left, with the Sunshine Orchestra.Glenn Gould Foundation/Supplied
Did you model this event after another festival?
Not really. In some ways, it was a precedent we set ourselves back in 2009, when we gave the Glenn Gould Prize to the founder of El Sistema, Venezuela’s José Antonio Abreu. For that we brought in the premiere orchestra in the El Sistema organization, the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, for a week-long residency. There were many elements we have in this congress.
This year’s Glenn Gould Prize recipient is Elton John. I understand he will not be accepting the award this fall as planned.
That is being rescheduled. The proximity of the Promise of Music festival caused some issues. But it was more the timeline to get globally prominent talent, which we really feel we need to do justice to an artist of his stature. There just wasn’t enough time. So, Elton John will now be accepting the Glenn Gould Prize in the spring.
He is deeply involved in music education, with his Sir Elton John Global Exchange Programme. What role does music education play in this festival?
If there’s one motto that captures what this festival is about, it’s that music education is a human right for every child. The ideas we talk about are not just nice, pretty stuff. It actually works. These applications change us and change society.
Promise of Music runs Oct. 6 to 10; promiseofmusic.com.
This interview has been condensed and edited.