Noteworthy

By Glenn Sumi

If you’re fed up with the cold, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser has just the thing to warm you up. 

The Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Barrett Principal Education Conductor & Community Ambassador will be swinging his baton in Hot, Hot, Hot!, a program of calypso music that’s guaranteed to raise the thermostat in the concert hall. 

Bartholomew-Poyser has a strong personal connection to this music. His mother is from Trinidad and Tobago, and his father hails from Jamaica. So for him, growing up in Montreal and later in Calgary, calypso, soca, and reggae were always playing.

“This music was just a part of the backdrop of my childhood,” says Bartholomew-Poyser, who conducted the popular Reggae Roots concert with the TSO two years ago. 

One difference between calypso and other types of music, he points out, is its intrinsic connection to dance. 

“Dance in many cultures is something you only really do between the ages of 16 and 24,” he explains. “After that, life gets serious and you stop. Whereas in Caribbean culture, dance is something you start doing as soon as you can walk. And you dance until the day you die. It doesn't matter how old you are, you go out and dance and enjoy life.”

Calypso is also a music bursting with stories. There are so many stories told in calypso music that Bartholomew-Poyser likens the TSO program to “the musical news.” 

“If something happens in the news today, it could be a calypso song in a couple of weeks,” he says, laughing.

“Most pop music is about requited or unrequited love. But one of the pieces we’ll be playing is literally called ‘Capitalism Gone Mad’. The singer discusses how prices in Trinidad have gone through the roof. He goes into the store and complains about the prices of cereal, milk, and eggs. We can all relate to that.”

A key element of the distinctive calypso sound is the steel pan, which Bartholomew-Poyser describes as having a “sweet metallic pizzicato.” He’s thrilled to have one of Canada’s most celebrated ensembles, the Pan Fantasy Steelband, led by Wendy Jones, among the show’s guest artists. 

“When we play at events, some people come up to us and ask if the instruments are amplified,” says Jones, one of the founders of the 39-year-old group. 

“The sound totally engulfs you. When I hear the bass line on a steel drum, my heart starts to move, and I want to groove and dance.” 

Acknowledging the instrument’s association with Trinidad’s emancipation from British rule, Jones says the modern-day steel pan—one of the only original instruments invented in the 20th century—has a celebratory feel. 

“Imagine that you have this one day to celebrate, and on this day, you’re going to make merry,” says Jones, hinting at the instrument’s history. “It's like Christmas. And so you pick up anything that’s in your yard and find a stick to beat on it.”

And what will TSO audiences get from Hot, Hot, Hot! that they wouldn’t at, say, a Caribbean Carnival event in early August?

“We’ve hired some of the best arrangers in the world to use the full force of the orchestra and give these songs all the colour the orchestra is capable of,” says Bartholomew-Poyser. “So there will be a depth and a richness to the music that is unsurpassed.”

In addition to having a good time, audiences can expect to be introduced to some of the key figures in calypso history, Bartholomew-Poyser says, like Roaring Lion, Lord Kitchener, and David Rudder.

“This program will show you why these musicians were and are so great,” he says. “These are the Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, and Beyoncé of calypso music.” 

Join the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at Roy Thomson Hall on Sunday, February 16, 2025, for a Caribbean adventure bursting with calypso rhythms and orchestral magic. Enjoy free activities an hour before the show! Try out instruments at the Instrument Discovery Zone, have fun at the Music Playground, and hear an inspiring performance by young musicians from Sistema Toronto.