From 1912 until 1948, you could win medals in art at the Olympic Games, in categories such as architecture, literature, music, painting and sculpture. At the London Games in 1948, Canadian composer John Weinzweig won a silver medal for his composition, Divertimento for Flute and Strings. Rachel Naylor speaks to his son, Daniel Weinzweig.
Toronto composer John Weinzweig, a 1948 Olympic silver medalist who did not look the part, had a small joke for people who asked if it was true that he’d won such a thing. “Yes,” he would say. “I ran the 100-yard dash with a piano on my back.”
Now in its 49th season,Toronto’s New Music Concerts (NMC) remains one of the main presenters of contemporary concert music in Toronto, with a long and diverse legacy of bringing first performances of significant new works to Toronto audiences, covering compositions from a wide range of styles, written by living composers from around the world, including Canada.
