This year’s event is sold out!
For more information see below.
The Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains invites you to the 96th Anniversary of the Group of Seven painting on the Algoma Central Railway and the 82nd birthday of Glenn Gould, pianist extraordinaire and devotee of Lake Superior and the Algoma Highlands.
The Group of Seven and Glenn Gould Train Event
September 19, 20 & 21, 2014
The magnificence of the Algoma Highlands clad in autumn slendour, the rugged northern coastline of Lake Superior, wild rivers descending out of the Highlands and into the great lake – these have been inspiring many, including the painters of the Group of Seven and Canada’s internationally acclaimed pianist, Glenn Gould. Join the Group of Seven & Glenn Gould Train Event 2014 and learn, through experience, why and how the North Country so moved these men.
After two sell-out seasons, the 2014 Train Event has been modified for this September with the intention of including more travelers in the original intimate format. It will be a two-in-one event. There will be two groups of participants heading into Algoma’s wilderness on Saturday morning, September 20th. Group One will be on the train and Group Two in a coach. Of course Group Two will be returning on the train – this is a train event! – and Group One will be on the coach. (In previous years the coach returned from Wawa empty.)
The Event will begin on the evening of Friday, September 19th with a reception and presentation on this year’s featured artist, Alexander Young Jackson, and Glenn Gould with their Algoma experiences. The Art Gallery of Algoma will host the reception.
On September 20th, Group One participants will board the Algoma Central Railway (ACR) in Sault Ste. Marie and ride north to Hawk Junction (Wawa) on the same rails that took members of the Group to their various painting sites along the ACR. The train trip will include a live commentary on the Group’s painting sites visible from the train. Michael Burch, art historian and researcher, will conduct the tour.
At Hawk Junction, Group One will leave the train and proceed by bus into Wawa to the Wawa Motor Inn, Glenn Gould’s former lodging. In the evening guests will be joined by Group Two participants to enjoy an excellent dinner at the Wawa Motor Inn. Following the dinner there will be a presentation by musicologist, Dale Innes, on the role the north played in the music of Glenn Gould.
Gould was a regular visitor to Wawa and the areas around Michipocoten. On the morning of the 21st, following the opportunity to participate in a workshop-demonstration or a coach tour of Wawa, Group One participants will trace Gould’s footsteps as they tour those haunts – waterfalls and shorelines – frequented by the pianist.
In the afternoon of September 21st, Group One participants will travel down what has been called one of Canada’s finest road trips – the magnificent eastern coastline of Lake Superior – as the Event wends its way back to Sault Ste. Marie. Stops are made at lookouts and points of interest including Lake Superior Provincial Park and its comprehensive Visitor Centre. The Event draws to a close in the late afternoon.
On September 20th Group Two will board a coach and travel north to Wawa along Lake Superior’s eastern coastline, stopping at Lake Superior Provincial Park and other points of interest. En route they will be introduced to – and experience – the sense of wonder that these northern lands inspired in the young Glenn Gould. Arriving in the Wawa area, Group Two participants will tour those haunts frequented by the pianist. Following the tour and checking in at the Wawa Motor Inn, participants from Group Two will join their Group One fellows for dinner and a presentation on the significance of the North Country on Glenn Gould’s music.
In the morning of September 21st, following the opportunity to participate in a workshop-demonstration or a coach tour of Wawa, Group Two participants will travel by bus to Hawk Junction. From there participants will board the ACR train traveling south through the Algoma Highlands to Sault Ste. Marie. The train trip will include lunch and a live commentary on the Group’s painting sites visible from the train. Michael Burch, art historian and researcher, will conduct the tour. The train is scheduled to arrive in the city at 6:00 (but usually arrives between 7 and 7:30 pm on its journey south.)
The Group of Seven and Glenn Gould Train Event for 2014 is sold out!!!!!
Should you wish your name to be added to a waiting list in the event participants cancel this year, or have your name added to a waiting list for next year please contact:
Linda Savory-Gordon
Phone: (705) 949-2301, ext. 4320
Coalition for Algoma Passenger Trains
NORDIK Institute
Algoma University
1520 Queen Street East,
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada
P6A 2G4
Ticket prices are as follows:
$395.00 for double occupancy (Tax incl)
$435.00 for single occupancy. (Tax incl)
Ticket includes train and coach transportation to and from Wawa, accommodation in Wawa, lunch and dinner on September 21, breakfast and lunch on September 22, and all presentations, tours, choice of art sessions or Wawa tour, and reception. The ticket price includes a $18.00 cancellation fee to be applied if the train event does not occur for any reason.
