SURREY — George Zukerman turns 90 this month, on Feb. 22 to be exact, but the big party for him will be held in the springtime.
Surrey’s Bell Performing Arts Centre will be the stage for a special tribute concert to the musical virtuoso and impresario, an Ocean Park resident who co-founded White Rock Concerts 60 years ago.
Last year, Zukerman formally retired from planning the annual concert series, yet he’s kept busy organizing classical music-themed river cruises in Europe.
Since the 1950s, Zukerman has made a lifelong effort to bring classical music to cities and towns across Canada, hence the tribute concert on Thursday, April 27.
An organizer of the event is Elizabeth Bergmann, who, along with husband Marcel, inherited from Zukerman the artistic-direction duties of White Rock Concerts.
“The concert (on April 27) came up as an idea to do something special for George in conjunction with his retirement and his special birthday and everything, and just to celebrate and pay tribute to a man of this stature and everything he’s done for classical music, here and across Canada,” Elizabeth told the Now.
The concert will feature performances by The Elmer Iseler Singers, Borealis String Quartet, clarinetist James Campbell and the Bergmann Piano Duo, along with special surprise guests.
Zukerman, a bassoonist, will not perform at the concert.
“No, he’ll have a special seat in the house and he’s to sit back and enjoy, and not to worry about any details,” Elizabeth said with a laugh.
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In the early 1950s, Zukerman moved to Vancouver, via New York and his native London, but a season’s work with the city’s symphony wasn’t enough to keep the restless musician occupied.
He set out for places such as White Rock, and by 1957 the fledgling city had a classical concert series of its own.
These “Overture” concerts were soon brought to towns like Williams Lake, Oliver and beyond. They lasted well into the 1990s by employing Zukerman’s system of “organized” concerts.
“The typical concert would hinge on the size of the membership,” he recalled in a 2007 interview with the Now. “We’d go to towns where people wouldn’t pay five bucks if Mozart himself would turn up for the show. But the local people would form concert societies and ran membership campaigns, and they didn’t proceed (with a concert) until they had the money in the bank. They’d base their program exactly on the amount of money raised, so the more members, the more concerts. There is no failure with that system, only different levels of success…. In those days, we were the only ballgame in town, for the most part.”
Later, as part of “outreach” work, Zukerman created and toured “The Great Mozart Hunt,” a dramatized concert about three allegedly missing bassoon concertos written by the composer. Such performances were brought to far-off places like Tuktayaktuk and the Zomba Plateau in the African country of Malawi.
“The gift for us (was) seeing the looks in the eyes of the children, because most of them had never seen or heard anything like this,” recalled Zukerman, an Order of Canada winner. “It’s inspiring for them, I hope – and I know this, judging from what we’ve witnessed, kids going back to school and being part of the band, you know.”
Tickets are $30 for the April 27 concert at the Bell. For tickets and more details, call 604-507-6355 or visit Bellperformingartscentre.com.
“We’re going to do various combinations of all these ensembles,” Elizabeth explained, “So we (Bergmann Piano Duo) are going to be doing something with the Iselers, Borealis will do something with Jim (Campbell), Jim is doing something with the Iselers and we’re working on something special, too. We don’t want to give away the entire programme, so at least some of it remains a surprise for George and the audience, too.”
As for the river cruises he plans, Zukerman calls them “really quite extraordinary.” Booked through Vancouver-based Special Travel International (call 1-800-665-0998 or visit Sticanada.com), the trips are made along the Danube, Rhone, Douro and other famous rivers of Europe.
“These trips each involve approximately 100 to 120 passengers, and are built around major classical music events – that’s what I am responsible for organizing,” Zukerman explained. “It’s tricky, finding the opera or the orchestra concert that falls exactly on the day when the ship drops anchor at Budapest, or wherever along the line. Sometimes we actually produce special concerts, in museums or art galleries on shore – those are private events just for our passengers. Then, in addition, we schedule five or six concerts on board the ship as it sails gently down the river.”
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com
