One year ago, a van mounted the sidewalk in North York on a sunny spring day and plowed through over 25 people, killing 10. The driver was quickly arrested, and the community came together in solidarity to express our collective grief over the incident.
During the van attack, I was working from home with a view of Yonge Street. I didn’t look out the window until I heard about it on the news, probably an hour or so after it was all over. I was grateful for friends and family who reached out to me, as I also did, to make sure everyone I knew in the area were safe.
One year later
On the anniversary, memorials reappeared at Mel Lastman Square and Olive Square, and at the spots victims were killed along Yonge Street.
While I couldn’t attend the community vigil, I took the time to capture some video of the memorials and the self-serve chalk stations where community members could write or draw their messages of support, while reclaiming a portion of the very sidewalk where the horror took place.
At Mel Lastman Square, a duet was playing softly with piano and cello. They inspired me to write an original piece of music featuring piano and cello to accompany my video footage.
Composition process
It was important to me to express both sorrow and hope in the music. Finding the right notes was an interesting challenge. My first draft started with chords, trying to find the right emotion through harmony. A few days later, I tried again, this time leading the composition with a simple cello melody.
My second version was simpler and more emotive. I continued to develop the emotional quality I wanted by employing inverted and suspended chords, and simple, legato melodies. I also included a “bridge” section that was little more active and hopeful. This section used major chords and shorter melodies.
Video editing and syncing
Getting the length of the music to match the length of the edited video was tricky to ensure it felt like a complete musical statement. I had to add and delete certain measures of music, and slightly adjust the tempo to get it closer.
Then, I had to make small edits to the video to shorten it to the length of the music. Overall, I’m pleased how it turned out, and a happy coincidence occured as the cello part first enters about the same time the cellist appears in the video.
