Exploring Music

Margaret Hull, Co-ordinator of First Friday Group (currently full)

Clare Irwin and Cathy Farr, Coordinators of Third Tuesday group (accepting new members)

1st Friday:  This group has 14 members and meets on the first Friday of the month at 10:00  AM in members’ homes. To begin, we exchange information on upcoming concerts, occasionally deciding to attend as a group. We then have a presentation from a member, a guest speaker, or occasionally a film on a musical topic. In the Fall of 2018, we had three sessions of themed music – Break up Songs, Train Songs (presented by a member of the other Music group) and Scary Music. In December we had a group potluck lunch where we brought our favourite Christmas music, especially from our own national background. A highlight was modern Latvian songs!  In 2019, we turned our focus to 20th century music, first with a general introduction including examples of work by Schönberg, Philip Glass and John Cage.  In subsequent months we had presentations on the Kronos String Quartet, Florence Price, Leonard Bernstein,  Arvo Pärt and Edward Elgar.

In previous years we did programs on Opera, and composers from the Baroque, Classical and Romantic music periods.  

In April 2019 many of us attended a Guelph dance performance called Passionate Heart – Dances from Women’s Lives created by the dancers Michele Green and Suzette Sherman.

We also discussed books with musical themes and subjects and shared our thoughts on musical news such as the death of Leonard Cohen.  We have listened to Jazz, Folk Music, and have done several fascinating programs on World Music. Many of us attend local concerts such as the Guelph Connections series at St George’s Church and Opera presentations at the Galaxy Cinema. 

We continue meeting socially mid-month for coffee/tea at various locations where we discuss anything and everything not necessarily musical, and we finish up the year with a potluck luncheon.

We frequently connect with the second music group (3rd Tuesday), attending dinners and concerts together, including the Elora Festival Singers during the Christmas season.  We look forward to more interactions with these similarly minded women.


If you would like information on joining this group and don’t know how to contact the convenor, contact Member Services.

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