Brahms in New York
Sunday, July 12, 2026
2:30PM - 4:00PM
St. John's Anglican Church
36 Henderson Street, Elora
$55 Adult | $20 Student | $10 Child
Tom Allen, storytelling and trombone
Carson Becke, piano
Lori Gammell, harp
Julia MacLaine, cello
Patricia O'Callaghan, voice
In 1842, the Brahms family very nearly moved to the USA so that 9 year-old Johannes could become a child virtuoso. Forced to face the harsh realities of minstrel shows, civil war and the constant need for capital, who would this other Brahms have been? He would have escaped the trauma of harbour brothels, and wouldn't be burdened by seeing himself as the successor to Beethoven, but what would he have accomplished, and what would the two have said to each other?
Tom Allen
Tom Allen was born in Montreal and went to school there, at Marianapolis College and McGill, before finishing degrees at Boston University and Yale. He worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, then in Toronto and on tour with the Great Lakes Brass. Tom began working for the CBC on his 30th birthday, a very long time ago, and at the time of writing, he still is. He has since written three books, been a Resident Artist with Soulpepper Theatre, delivered storytelling workshops at various University music programs and at the Banff Centre, been named an honourary Doctor of Letters by Thompson Rivers University, hosted countless concerts across the country and written a series of cabaret storytelling shows they call Chamber Musicals, including From Weimar to Vaudeville, The Missing Pages, A Poe Cabaret, Being Lost and the latest: JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow.
Tom lives in Toronto with his beloved, the harpist Lori Gemmell, their son, and a very enthusiastic dog.
Carson Becke
Canadian Pianist Carson Becke has performed extensively in Canada, Great Britain, Continental Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean. A versatile pianist, he is at home as a recital and concerto soloist, chamber musician, and vocal collaborator. He is also the director of Pontiac Enchanté, a concert series in Luskville, Quebec. After moving to the United Kingdom in 2005 to study at the Purcell School for Young Musicians, Carson completed his undergraduate studies at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Following studies in London, he completed a master’s degree (M.Phil.) in performance and musicology at the University of Oxford, supported generously by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation of Canada. He completed his doctorate (D.Phil.) in musicology at Magdalen College, University of Oxford. His doctoral studies were supported by the Canadian Centennial Scholarship Foundation.
Lori Gammell
Lori Gammell has been the principal harpist with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony since 1999. She previously performed with Orchestra London and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. A graduate of the University of Toronto, she studied with Judy Loman, as well as Catherine Michel in Paris and Alice Chalifoux in Maine. Lori has appeared as a soloist with major Canadian orchestras and toured internationally with Le NEM. She records with popular artists, including Feist, and performs regularly at chamber festivals.
Julia MacLaine
Assistant Principal Cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra since 2014, Julia MacLaine performs worldwide as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in music ranging from classical to contemporary and from ‘world’ to her own arrangements and compositions.
MacLaine enjoys exploring the juxtaposition of music with other art forms, of different styles of music, and of contemporary and classical music. Her début album, Préludes, released by Analekta in January 2022, features six new Canadian works written for her, alongside the six Préludes from the Bach Cello Suites that inspired the new pieces.
Patricia O'Callaghan
Patricia O’Callaghan’s twenty year career has taken her across genres, continents, and a range of disciplines and passions.
Her recording career spans seven solo albums and many interesting visits along the way as a guest on other artists’ CDs. A speaker of French, Spanish, and German, her early recordings focused on European cabaret, and she is considered a specialist, most significantly, in the music of Kurt Weill. Patricia has performed his Threepenny Opera, Seven Deadly Sins, and Kleine Mahagonny with Soulpepper Theatre Company, Edmonton Opera,Vancouver Opera, and others.
One of Patricia’s most unique talents is the ability to blend a variety of languages and musical genres seamlessly together in her concerts, and embody whatever style she is singing at any given moment.