Paul Marotta Communications, Royal Conservatory of Music

Interview with Royal Conservatory President

Dr. Peter Simon

by Paul Marotta

Tell me about your overarching philosophy of how The Royal Conservatory fits into the artistic and educational climate of Canada.

The Royal Conservatory is Canada's leader in promoting a comprehensive view of the arts within our society and in ensuring a broad application of that view through extensive and diverse programs for millions of people. In future, we plan to continue to create practical programs based in the arts which can address large social issues such as early childhood development, academic achievement in schools, social cohesion, physical and mental health and well being, and more.

The challenge that cultural organizations face is that the arts are relegated to a narrow corridor of focus. The result of this uninformed view is the elimination of public school arts programs and limited government and philanthropic support.

In Canada the RCM is able to counterbalance these reductions to some degree through the scale of it's activities. Our arts based educational systems are used daily in more than 300 communities across Canada reaching over 500,000 Canadians a year. Its publications, programs, and services are exported to a dozen countries.

We provide what is in effect a parallel educational structure to the public system but one focused on creativity and the establishment of a high level of musical and artistic literacy among all people. Without such a base, there are poor prospects for performing arts organizations.

What are the possible consequences of the elimination of arts programs?

The consequence for society itself is great. As schools continue to produce poor social and academic results the innovation agenda, so favoured by politicians as a means to secure our economic future, has little chance of succeeding. How can we expect innovation to flourish when the creativity at the base of that innovation is not nurtured each day in schools?

In fact I would argue that creativity is suppressed by the methodologies used today - which are virtual replicas of techniques employed one hundred years ago and have little relevance in a technology driven era.

The one timeless truth, that students need to be engaged in order to learn, has been ignored and the great success of the arts in fostering that interest has been disregarded. Our Learning Through The Arts program trains teachers to use arts activities to teach the core curriculum and get students motivated to learn. Our schools score 11 percentile points higher in mathematics for example.

All of which brings me to my main point, I think that arts organizations need to be far more socially active and engaged with their local communities than they are currently. Science has shown in absolute and measurable terms the need and benefit of arts activities. The public needs to know this. Also we cannot let public educators say on the one hand that proof is needed and then on the other ignore completely the scientific proof that has been presented.

Therefore, we must unite and pool resources to reverse the direction of public education. The arts cannot just be about self expression or transcendent performances by a few but the centre of life for all.

And how does the new Koerner Hall fit into this educational philosophy?

I see our new Koerner Hall and TELUS Centre as an important way to inspire people and for us to have the greatest creative minds in our building connecting to students. To every degree possible we will try to re-format the content of performances for educational purposes. The new Telus Centre also places the RCM in the company of major arts centres around the world.

The philosophy of the hall design was to provide an intimate performance setting and to combine this with a great acoustic setting. Classical music has suffered from disengaged audiences in large halls with mediocre sound. As performers we seek a visceral reaction and personal connection with our audience. People who listen in this hall will experience that close human connection to a great artist and we hope that it will inspire them in some way in their own lives.

The expertise and diversity of programming that Mervon Mehta brings to the Royal Conservatory is vital to both establishing the centre as an important component of our local community as well as its long term viability. The regional community here in Toronto is extremely diverse, with a wide range of cultures and tastes, and his programming even in just this first season connects beautifully.

This was originally intended to be a hall for students and faculty, a purely educational use, correct? How has it evolved during the construction process?

I do think the concepts around building the hall have broadened immensely during these past few years. The hall itself has become an extension of the educational practices of the Conservatory. If we look at it through the prism of what we do best, that is connecting and demonstrating the need for the arts in everyone's lives, then the hall has become so much more than a performance facility. It has become a development center or lab for ideas and programs to be distributed at a larger scale throughout the nation.

Again, these developments are rooted in the idea that the arts are the best means we have to allow people to reach their full potential and to develop a great society.

These are not new ideas. For thousands of years, humanity has been informed by the artistic achievements of great societies. Indeed it is primarily the great art of such civilizations that remains as a testament to their aspirations, humanity, ingenuity and creative capacity.

Today the creativity inherent in the arts remains undiminished as a powerful force to advance society and to satisfy people's abiding need for meaning, to affirm their identity, to connect with others, to be inspired and to achieve their full potential as human beings.

It is creativity that is the defining feature of being human and without creativity there are no great works of art, scientific breakthroughs, true innovation or great societies.

It is because of this view that I think it is misguided for arts organizations to allow the case for the arts to be framed in such a constricted dialogue. But it is also true then that arts organizations need to do far more than a superficial form of community outreach. That kind of thinking is just not acceptable here on our campus and Koerner Hall will never be that.

If we really believe in what we do and accept the findings of hundreds of neurological research studies that show the impact of arts activity on cognitive development, social cohesion and personal fulfillment then we have an obligation that extends much farther than our current boundaries.

When did you first have the idea to build this new hall? What was it that demonstrated the need to you to do this?

Our original discussions in 1991 centered on the idea that we wanted the Royal Conservatory to have a greater connection with the community. Our diverse educational programs would be complemented by the performance element - in other words, a complete circle that I believed would demonstrate directly the impact that the arts could have on people's lives. As we moved through the process it became clear that the centre could be even more than I had originally envisioned in terms of scale, quality and scope.

Have you played in the hall yet?

We have a brand new Hamburg Steinway that was just delivered to us and I played it a few days ago. The instrument itself is spectacular but to be able to play it in this new hall was terrific. For me it was a very personal dialogue. To be on stage and play was suffused with a form of benediction for me personally. The shelter and intimacy of this beautiful space provided an ennobling experience.

What did you play?

I played some Rachmaninoff preludes, which are truly beautiful pieces, and some of my favorite Schumann pieces, from the Symphonic Etudes. These are intensely personal works and sublime works and I wanted to play some things that were slow and beautiful so I could really gauge the sound in the hall.

What was that like?

The acoustic was clear, precise and warm. Even on stage I felt I was being enveloped in the sound. It wasn't overly reverberant or muddy in any way but very warm at the same time.

What have you heard? What was that like for you?

I heard our own Royal Conservatory Orchestra in a rehearsal of the Beethoven 5th Symphony and that too was wonderful. The sound again was really clear and warm, and the winds especially had just the right amount of reverberation. The full orchestra sound was full and every nuance was revealed. I really look forward to opening night.

photo: Tom Arban

photo: Paul Marotta

Click here to return Paul Marotta Communications Home Page

PaulMarottaCommunications