EMILY HSUEH
LUSKVILLE June 9, 2021
The onset of the pandemic last year spelled the end of live music and shows all around the world. But one Luskville concert series faced the challenge head-on and, after nine months, had their final virtual concert of their 2020/2021 season . . .
Pontiac Enchanté, founded and run by brothers Carson and Tait Becke, began their first virtual season in September 2020 and put on their final show of the season on June 6.
“We capped it off with a Ukrainian violinist from Montreal named Sofia Yatsyuk … and pianist Suren Barry,” said Carson Becke. “They put on a great program … centered around music by a few female composers who were sort of recognized by their colleagues as really sort of fantastic top of the line composers, but just because of the fact they were female in their times never really got the recognition that they definitely deserved, as composers. And it was great, it was really wonderful music and great to have it played here.”
The musicians played pieces by Rebecca Clarke, Ethel Smyth, and Germaine Tailleferre, as well as Ernest Bloch and Gabriel Fauré. Becke said they had a turnout of around 80 people, which would have filled their physical venue at Venturing Hills Farm — which was recognized by the CBC as one of 50 magical concert venues that are the heart and soul of Canadian music.
The full concert can be found at their website pontiacenchante.ca or on their YouTube channel.
Pontiac Enchanté would normally have been a nearly year-round in-person concert series, filling a loft above a horse barn at the base of the Eardley Escarpment. However, after the pandemic set in, the Becke brothers had to figure out a new way to share their music.
“Basically, there was no pre-existing model for us to follow in terms of how we were going to do that as a small concert series. So that was kind of exciting,” said Becke. “Putting on in-person concerts, there are procedures that you’re going to follow, and you kind of have a sense of budgeting and tickets and all that. But we had to really build everything kind of from the ground up.”
In total, Pontiac Enchanté put on nine shows that were streamed live, which can all be found online. Looking back on the series, Becke was pleased with how the series took shape and that they were able to bring people together virtually from all over the world to enjoy something the pandemic took away.
“I think the thing that I would take away from it is that I’m most heartened by just how consistent our audience was,” he said. “People were watching these concerts and interacting with them. And that was the thing we really didn’t know, like, ‘Okay, we’re gonna do all this stuff. But does a digital classical concert resonate with people?’ And the answer that we got at the end was yes, definitely, because we had really good audiences for every concert. So yeah, I really could not be happier with it.”
With the end of the 2020/2021 season, the brothers will be taking the next few months off to relax and plan the next season. However, they have one summer event planned that both music and astronomy lovers will not want to miss.
“It’ll be our first in-person concert since September 2020. And I’m fairly confident that it will be in person because the whole thing is going to be happening outdoors,” Becke explained. “What we’re doing is called An Evening Under the Stars. The evening is going to culminate with a performance of Holst’s The Planets, new arrangements that I’ve written with my friends and duo partner Suren Barry and so we’re gonna play The Planets on two pianos outdoors.”
In addition to the music, Pontiac Enchanté will be partnering with the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (RASC) and Astro Pontiac, a stargazing community in the region, as well as the Steinway Gallery who will provide two pianos for the outdoor stage. The RASC will be showing live footage of Saturn and Jupiter as they cross the night sky, and the date of the concert, August 14, will be the height of the Persied meteor shower.
“We’re running it sort of like a bit of a miniature outdoor festival,” Becke explained. “It’s going to start at 7:30 and there’s a really great group coming from Montreal called the Hear-Say trio … They’re going to be playing their own arrangement of Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka. And they’re going to do it in a very interactive way.”
Attendees will bring their own dinners to enjoy, and there will be local beers being served as well. Becke said that while he was excited for a lot of things during the season, this event might be what he’s looking forward to the most.
For their next season, Becke is hopeful that they will once again be able to welcome people into their rustic venue. However, they will continue to live stream their performances for the world and are looking forward to seeing how their series will evolve as a result.
“We’ve been without live performances where you actually go, and you miss the social aspect of it for so long. I’m really excited to see what happens when that starts happening because I think there’s going to be a renewed interest,” he said. “I think people will not take for granted how wonderful it is to congregate for something like a live musical performance. And I think our best days in that regard are ahead of us.
“Pontiac Enchanté — despite the fact that we’re now a year and a bit into a world pandemic — feels very much alive, and then kind of going forward. So I’m just so proud of the fact that we’ve managed to do that with a constant series that relies on people being here, physically,” he said. “I’m just proud in general of the fact that we’ve been able to do that.”
