Noteworthy

Toronto-based interior designer Colette van den Thillart is known for creating spaces that feel both deeply personal and richly layered with history. After nearly 15 years as Creative Director for London’s NH Design, she returned to Canada to found her own studio, working on projects across London, Ireland, and Toronto.

For Colette, joining the Gala Committee was about engaging with an art form that speaks to her in a different way than her visual work. “It’s a sonic experience rather than a visual one,” she says. “Coming from a visual field, it’s refreshing to occasionally turn that off.”

Her appreciation for the TSO lies in the dialogue it creates between past and present, and in the intimacy of live performance — a quality she sees as central to the Gala’s mission to reach new generations.

Noteworthy: What does live performance mean to you?

Colette van den Thillart: There’s an intimacy to live performance and you can see and viscerally feel the blood, sweat, tears, elation, and heartbreak of the performer and of the audience around you who are contributors in their own right. I like the ephemeral nature of it all, the idea that what’s unfolding in front of you will never happen in the same way again. There's something magical about witnessing creation in the moment. I find it quite inspiring.

NW: Why does the Gala’s support for youth music education resonate with you?

CVDT: We are an extremely diverse population, and maybe not everyone has been exposed to the kind of music presented by the TSO. But we know for a fact that music is neurologically expansive and it can be truly life-changing. The TSO is doing a great job actively championing this art form and engaging so many young people each year. That commitment was a big part of what drew me to get involved. For the artists too, I can venture to say that it must be rewarding to see young faces in the audience, the next generation of listeners and enthusiasts. I know how excited I am when I meet young people interested in interior design.

NW: What excites you about making classical music more visible to new audiences?

CVDT: What excites me most is the thought that there are so many young people out there who haven’t yet discovered this world and who don’t yet know what they’re missing! The idea that a single performance, a moment of sound, might open a door for them into something vast and moving—how thrilling! There’s magic in that kind of discovery and it’s quite hopeful.
On Gala night, Colette relishes the ritual: the transformation of getting dressed up, the possibility of a surprise, the shared sense of anticipation in the hall. “It’s all of it,” she says. “And there’s always that element of the unknown waiting.”

The Gala supports the TSO’s music education and community programs. Explore its impact at TSO.CA/Gala.