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We get a lot of question from patrons, new audience members and even our artists about Salon 21. We thought that we could take a moment to answer some commonly asked Salon 21 questions.

1. What does the name mean?

The actual name Salon 21 means: A Salon for the 21^st Century.

A quick Google of the term Salon comes up with this definition; A gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. This is basically our goal for our Salons, but along with conversation we always include live musical performances, wine, beer and tasty snacks.

2. Why is it at the Gardiner Museum?

In 2008 our staff had the idea to host free, informal events where we could invite our patrons to learn more about the music that we program, listen to some music and rub shoulders with featured artists. 

The first Salon took place at the Bata Shoe museum and over the past 3 years we have created a great partnership with the Gardiner Museum, which specializes in clay and glass. Why is a music organization hosting events in clay and glass museum? By taking this programming out of a formal concert or rehearsal hall (the artist turf) and hosting it in a welcoming public space we hope that it will make our patrons feel more comfortable and create a space for open dialogue.

3. How do we decide what to talk about?

We are very fortunate to work with a lot of very talented musicians and composers in a Soundstreams concert season. Programming the Salons is a joint effort between the Artist Director Lawrence Cherney, Artistic Associate Kyle Brenders and myself with lots of input from the rest of the staff.

As much as possible we try to feature a Canadian composer whose work will be premiered or featured at a Soundstreams concert. For example our first Salon 21 of this season on Sept 24^th featured a conversation with composer Omar Daniel. Omar will be premiering a new electro-acoustic piece that will be performed in the lobby space of Koerner Hall at the Celebrate with Soundstreams concert! From Omar we learned about electro-acoustic music and the endless possibilities of new sounds when manipulated through electronics. We also learned about his history as a composer and performer of electro-acoustic works, which includes hanging upside down shirtless on stage and a little about how a father of very young triplets finds time to compose.

We hope this helps clarify some of the major questions around our Salon 21 series and has made you curious to check it out. We have five more planned through the 2012-2013 season. Please check out the Salon 21 section on our website for upcoming dates and topics and to guarantee your spot at the next Salon by registering online.