Although I usually try to write something about the music that we hear at the Via Salzburg concerts, I want to write a little bit about Via Salzburg itself. Not so much the group as a whole, but about the people who make up that group. Not long ago I attended the annual Via Salzburg fundraiser at Grano’s restaurant here in Toronto (for those of you who weren’t there, you really ought to have been. Plan now for next year). In addition to some fabulous food, drink, and music, I think the most enjoyable aspect of the evening was the conversation. I was fortunate enough to be sat at a table with two of the Via Salzburg musicians who had come to perform that evening. Over the course of the evening I learned a great deal about them and what interesting people they are. We often look at orchestra members and see them as individual units that constitute a whole, but those individuals themselves lead very interesting lives, though like many musicians, some of them struggle to balance enough work to sustain themselves. Most of them, like many musicians, have multiple musical commitments both here and abroad, and although they get to perform great music all over the world, most of them do it for a fraction of the money that many receive from work outside of the music field. They do it, of course, because they love it, but that doesn’t make it an easy life.

I say all this because I think that it is important to realize that when we buy subscriptions or donate to Via Salzburg, we are not just funding a great organization that plays beautiful music, but we are also contributing to the livelihood of some very hard-working and admirable people. Yes, they love what they do, and perhaps many of us don’t, but these musicians work just as hard or harder than many people in the workforce, and they do it with the sort of discipline and rigour that we should hold up as an example for others. Perhaps the next time your kids come home with a CD by the latest minimally-talented but oh-so-attractive pop star, you might consider supplementing that with a subscription for Via Salzburg’s concert season, so that they might see what sort of artistic goals can be accomplished through hard work, dedication, and discipline. If that opportunity should not happen to arise, please give generously to Via Salzburg and help these extraordinary young people continue to provide for us both wonderful music and admirable examples to follow.