The Magic of Music

by Neville Nankivell

An introduction to musical study at any age can enrich people's lives, says W. Kirkland Adsett, St. Matthew's new music director and organist. "And it can give us a vehicle to build community and to teach by example some of the values we hold most dear."

Formerly the organist and choirmaster at the Church of St. Simon-the-Apostle, Toronto, Kirk succeeds the gifted Stephen Candow, who in the summer returned to his native Newfoundland for family reasons.

In the interim, Barb Hallam-Price did an exceptional job as organist and in keeping the choirs to their tradition of excellence in choral music. This included conducting the highly successful Messiah concerts.

"I am very excited by the musical possibilities at St. Matthew's," Kirk says. "The church has a very fine musical reputation due both to some very illustrious previous music directors and to the support of many volunteers." He adds that he is really pleased there are so many people involved in the music program, and that Ottawa's music community is known to be welcoming and vibrant.

The new music director's experience includes directing mixed choirs, conducting regular evensong services and concerts, and performing organ recitals. An active composer of new anthems, hymns and liturgical music for worship, his compositions have premiered at performances in the U.S. and Canada in recent years.

As executive director of the Reaching Out Through Music community choral program in Toronto, Kirk was successful in encouraging children to join choral groups. This will be an important part of his mission at St. Matthew's.

"Musical participation offers an outlet for self-expression, builds self-esteem and can, in an ensemble situation, encourage the expansive feeling of being part of a group," he says about the Toronto program. "It was important that our students, as well as learning music on an individual basis, were encouraged to sing all together in the children's choir."

Kirk points out that studying music in early childhood has been shown to increase brain development and improve ability in reading and math. Students in the Reaching Out Through Music program were new Canadians, mostly from Sri Lanka, China and the Philippines. Feedback from their parents noted that participation in the program helped the children learn to speak English as a second language.

While improved academic performance is important, Kirk says one of the big pluses from group musical participation is a sense of belonging - "that's what is sometimes lacking in our modern epoch."

A 2002 graduate in music of Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Kirk has a Master of Music degree from the Westminster College of the Arts, Princeton, New Jersey, where he majored in sacred music, organ and choral conducting. The recipient of several scholarships and awards, he studied organ improvisation in Paris and has done silent movie organ improvisations.

"For as long as I can remember I have sung in a church choir," Kirk says. Between the ages of nine and 14, he was a member the Eramosa Youth Ensemble that toured regularly, including competing at the Cork International Festival of Song and Dance in Ireland and singing at the Mozart Festival in Salzburg, Austria. In Austria, he had the opportunity to play the large organ in the church at Mondsee where Maria von Trapp was married in the movie The Sound of Music. "For a boy of 14," he recalls, "this was truly the thrill of a lifetime."

Looking back on his early years as choirboy, Kirk says he can see now how it formed him as a person and taught him that making something as beautiful as music was a very worthy goal in life. He says that it also showed him how to work as part of a team.

Kirk's previous positions also include being the organist and choirmaster at St. James' Anglican Church, Dundas, Ontario, St. John's Episcopal Church, Salem, New Jersey, and St. Simon's Anglican Church, Oakville, Ontario. He is 40 years old and grew up in Wellington County, close to Fergus, Ontario.