Brahms in New York
- 42 minutes ago
- 3 min read
SUNDAY, JULY 5TH, 2026
Shows starts at 1:00 p.m. (doors open at 12:30 p.m.)
ADMISSION: $25.00
A musical stroll through history and speculation
with Tom Allen
In 1842 the Brahms family very nearly moved to the USA so that 9 year-old Johannes could become a child virtuoso. Forced to face the harsh realities of minstrel shows, civil war and the constant need for capital, who would this other Brahms have been? He would have escaped the trauma of harbour brothels, and wouldn't be burdened by seeing himself as the successor to Beethoven, but what would he have accomplished, and what would the two have said to each other? Join storyteller Tom Allen, singer Deantha Edmunds, bassist Jim Vivian, harpist Lori Gemmell, pianist Bill Brennan, and violinist Heather Kao for a journey into what could have been.
About the Artists
Tom Allen was born in Montreal. He worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, toured with the Great Lakes Brass and began working for the CBC on his 30th birthday, a very long time ago. He has written books, created and hosted countless shows and toured a series of chamber musicals with his beloved, the harpist Lori Gemmell, including The Missing Pages and JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow. Tom was recently granted an honorary Doctoral degree from Brandon University. His latest project is an 18th century-style Classical Musick Almanack, with illustrator Ian Bell, built on gossip, smut, steampunk technology and, within certain limitations, history. www.tomtomallen.com.
Bill Brennan’s expertise as a pianist, percussionist, composer and producer can be heard on some 140 albums to date. His album Kaleidoscope won the 2024 ECMA Classical Album of the Year awards. Bill’s most recent album is “Dreaming in Gamelan”, a project with co-composer Andy McNeill. This year saw him win his first Juno as
orchestrator of Deantha Edmunds’ piece “Angmalukisaa”. More than 40 years of
relentless experience have garnered Bill a solid reputation as a performer and
collaborator — always exploring, always open to new ideas. The Toronto Star says: “Brennan … is a central figure in this country’s music.”
Since her role in the 2021 video production of Messiah/Complex, in which she sang the music of G.F. Handel in Inuttitut, Deantha Edmunds has been named as a Member of the Order of Canada, has won Juno, MusicNL and East Coast Music Awards, among many others, and has been acknowledged across Canada and in Europe as a composer, singer, performer, author, actor, mentor, artist and all-round inspiration. During last year’s National Indigenous History Month, Opera on the Avalon released a video of Deantha singing, with her daughter Annabelle, Nunatsiavut’s anthem Labradorimut/Sons of Labrador, just one month after Deantha was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music degree by Acadia University.
Lori Gemmell started as a street-corner busker in Montreal and wound up playing regularly with the Toronto Symphony, The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, for which she served as Principal Harpist for 25 years, orchestra re-builder for 2 years, and once again Principal Harpist. Lori teaches at Wilfred Laurier University and has a passion for new music. She recently (with violinist Sheila Jaffé) premiered the Partita for Violin and Harp by Caroline Lizotte. The late composer R. Murray Schafer honoured her with the gift of his Four Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Harp, which she also premiered. Lori has made four solo recordings as well as recording with songwriters Kevin Fox and Feist.
Jim Vivian left St. John’s for Toronto in 1979 to pursue classical bass studies before shifting focus toward jazz and improvised music. He now has long-standing associations with musicians worldwide, appearing on over 130 recordings (34 of which have been nominated for Juno awards in as many years) and has performed and recorded with artists such as John Abercrombie, Jerry Bergonzi, Kenny Wheeler, and Norma Winstone. Jim holds a Masters Degree in Music from York University, and was on faculty at both University of Toronto and York University from 2001 to 2021. He is very happy to be back in St. John’s.