Astronaut and Singer Julie Payette is Canada’s New Governor General

Julie Payette, a former member of the Tafelmusik Chamber Choir who became an astronaut, is now the next Governor General of Canada. The Governor General of Canada is a largely ceremonial position, but an important one as the representative of the Queen in Canada.

Glenn Gould: man, musician, myth and mystique

The fact that Glenn Gould bookended his recording career as a pianist with the Goldberg Variations by JS Bach – one of the pinnacles of the variation form – seems eerily appropriate. For Gould, communicating was his personal theme, and the way he achieved it during his lifetime was truly protean: pianist, composer, writer, critic, producer, broadcaster, conversationalist, conductor – they were all Glenn Gould, all variations on his theme. They illustrate his incredible desire to communicate what interested him, to others – to connect. Since his death in 1982, Gould’s recordings, writings, videos, and radio documentaries have continued to fuel his fame and legacy, probably more than is the case for any other musician.

Sylvia Tyson contends today’s fledgling musicians have it harder

Yet Tyson contends today’s fledgeling musical artists have it much tougher — even at a time when anyone with a six-string can bypass the A&R man and post a video of themselves strumming, and ultimately reach a mass audience without leaving the comfort of their parents’ basement.

Series brings award-winning acts to Barrie

He has performed in Barrie many times in the past, including the first Colours of Music festival in 2003, the same year the 15-year-old from Shanghai marked his debut with the Toronto Symphony.

And Finally

US musician Tom Petty dies aged 66
I know we are meant to be focused on Canadian music but I couldn’t let his passing go unmentioned, and if you can’t bend your own rules for Tom Petty who can you bend them for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfH1byDYrgg