Toronto Chamber Choir Blog

A note from Toronto Chamber Choir Artistic Director Lucas Harris:
I hope you all have your tickets for our Music & Memory kaffeemusik on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 3:30 p.m. at Church of the Redeemer! (162 Bloor St. W. at Avenue Road.)
I don’t want to give away too much! But I really can’t resist giving you a sneak peek at one of the stories we’ll tell in the concert’s narration.
Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) was an American pianist who was born into slavery on a Georgia plantation. Though blind and likely autistic, Wiggins became one of the 19th century’s greatest musical prodigies. He toured throughout the U.S., Europe, and South America, was the first African American to perform at the White House and was written about by Mark Twain, who attended his performances.
From an early age, Wiggins had both a special sensitivity to sounds as well as a savant-like memory. He could repeat conversations up to 10 minutes in length, or replicate a political speech with the exact tone and mannerisms of the politician. He mimicked birdsong and other environmental sounds with astounding accuracy. From age five he composed piano pieces such as The Rain Storm and The Sewing Song, which imitated the sounds of rain on a tin roof or the mechanics of a sewing machine. His performances included eccentric tricks, such a playing three pieces of music at once, or playing with his back to the piano and his hands inverted.
But what is especially astounding for the lens of this project is Wiggins’s musical memory. He could reproduce musical performances he heard on the piano very precisely, often after a single hearing. From a young age, Wiggins’s owner, General Bethune, hired professional musicians to play for him, and he committed everything he heard them play to memory. Thus, he began building a repertoire that would eventually grow to an astounding 7,000 memorized pieces of music.
Wiggins has been the subject of at least two films, as well as a song by Elton John. He’s also featured in a new documentary (premiering on Oct. 22) in the PBS Renegades series, titled Thomas Wiggins: Composing the Future.
We’re looking forward to welcoming pianist Luke Welch to perform one of Wiggins’s compositions at Saturday’s concert as we tell his story. We can’t wait to share this special project with you.

For tickets and more information, see our choir website at torontochamberchoir.ca