the “hub” of Toronto Pursuits
Nearly 80 book, music and culture lovers gathered this past July for our annual “salon in the sun,” Toronto Pursuits.
At our longtime oasis, Victoria University in the University of Toronto, we read and looked and listened, ate and drank, laughed and debated, greeted friends old and new.
Most of all, we talked—about love, death, fear, desire, and beauty. About how Kierkegaard can make you crazy, how Rachmaninoff came to have such a divided reputation, how the women painters of Montreal’s Beaver Hall Group were way ahead of their time. We talked about the apocalyptic predictions of Carl Sagan, Alex Jones, and Victorian novelists; about how news should be funded; how the fugue form and chamber music have changed over the centuries.
As always, I ended the week feeling deeply nourished. I hope this recap of the week conveys the convivial atmosphere of Toronto Pursuits.
It’s (almost) all about the seminar
Our small-group seminars are at the heart of Toronto Pursuits. Each year we offer a different selection of topics and works to study, including novels, poems, plays, films, news broadcasts, paintings, and symphonies. In the months before Toronto Pursuits, seminar members study the materials for their particular seminar, and at Toronto Pursuits they come together for a five-day deep dive into their topic. Participants love the intellectual stimulation and the chance to take on works they might not read or study on their own. Our 2023 included works by Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Christi Belcourt, Søren Kierkegaard, and more.
We were all energized by the, in the words of more than one participant, “brilliant” company. But we were also committed to being a community of learners, of equals at the seminar table. One longtime participant, Diana, captured the spirit we strive for in discussion:
“With the various ideas of individuals’ associations and interpretations, as well as the leaders’ knowledge, [people] contributed so many ideas that really helped trying to understand what Emily might have meant in her numerous poems that at first seem like puzzles. I think of this process as group “bootstrapping” on each other’s ideas. As the week went along, my understanding of Emily’s methods gradually became more clear and her poems more meaningful.”
Afternoons at Toronto Pursuits
After the morning seminars were over, conversations continued over a catered lunch. In the afternoons, participants had the choice to explore Toronto independently or take part in activities that were a scheduled part of the week. At after-lunch talks, leaders gave us a glimpse of what was happening in their respective seminars. For example, in her presentation What’s Brewing in That Lab? seminar leader Nancy Carr showed how inventions and discoveries such as the stethoscope, ether, and Pasteur’s germ theory fueled a 19th-century fascination with “mad” scientists. In the Q&A we discussed how questions such as, What if scientists unleash powers they cannot control? (a major preoccupation of one of the seminar texts, Frankenstein) are just as urgent and often polarizing for us as they were for the Victorians.
And we welcomed Bryn Turnbull, author of three best-selling novels. Focusing on her debut novel about Thelma Furness, The Woman Before Wallis, Bryn discussed how she writes fictional narratives centred on historical figures. In a lively presentation she explored how authors draw the line between creative fiction and historical fact and traced the history of the relationship between the public, the media and the British royal family from the turbulent 1930s through today. Join Bryn in London in May 2024, where she will be leading our tour Houses Divided: Windsors, Vanderbilts and 1930s England.
Musician and rimbala expert Daniel Rubinoff got us on our feet dancing, clapping and laughing for two rimbala sessions. In many contexts multitasking is overrated, but not in rimbala. Daniel showed how combining music and movement can help people stay mobile longer.
painting with our group
One group enjoyed the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibit Cassatt–McNicoll: Impressionists Between Worlds. Many of us were left wondering, how is that we have never heard of Helen McNicoll before? Seminar leader Wendy O’Brien helped us analyze the compositions, brushstrokes and colour use of the two artists to better understand what they were trying to do and what effect their paintings had on viewers. We also had a special treat: The Wisdom of the Universe, a work we discussed in Wendy’s seminar on the Group of Seven and contemporary Canadian art, was on display for the first time in years.
On another day we visited the Massey College print shop for a fascinating private tour of Massey’s rare book collection and letterpress with the College printer, Kit MacNeil, and their apprentice Rob. There we saw first editions of Dickens, learned about different etching and woodcut processes, and got to try our hand at the big iron press.
Summer in the city
Come evening, we ate, drank and made merry. To kick off the week we enjoyed a cocktail party at the Royal Sonesta Yorkville. Midweek, seminar leader and former CBC broadcaster Rick Phillips gave a concert overview before we headed across the street to a Toronto Summer Music Festival concert by the Isidore Quartet, which was making their Toronto debut with a mix of Bach, Beethoven and a contemporary work by composer Dinuk Wijteratne called Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini, inspired by the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.
One group headed to the Lula Lounge on Dundas Street for lively concert with the clarinet and digital accordion duo of Kornel Wolak and Michael Bridge.
And throughout the week I ran into participants enjoying the warm summer evenings with an ice cream cone or a cocktail on a patio on nearby Yorkville Avenue.
“I come to Toronto Pursuits for the [opportunity to have] a challenging classic work in art, philosophy, literature or music to immerse myself in, and then the joy of discussing it with others. I have been coming since 2002, never missed a year and as long as I am able, I will continue to come every year.”
—Fay, Ontario
Toronto Pursuits 2024
Thanks to all who attended this year’s event. We are already at work on Toronto Pursuits 2024, which will be held from July 14 to July 19. Registration opens in October, with special discounts for early registrants and bringing a friend. Look for more details soon on our Toronto Pursuits page.
See you next July!
