wine (which McGegan loved!).
For several years, he spent
two hours each Sunday with
McGegan, receiving instruction.
“He was so generous with me,”
says Canosa.” I am so grateful
that he was willing to take me
on.”
Canosa’s hunger for new
experiences, and the deeper,
spiritual meaning within music,
eventually led him to Europe for
several years, including studies
with the Romanian conductor,
composer, and teacher, Sergiu
Celibidache, who was influenced
by Zen Buddhism.
“When I met Celibidache, I
knew for the first time that
there were people who were
looking and working toward
the same aim that I was on
my own, in another corner of
the world,” says Canosa. “He
had a system of studying music
that came from philosophy and
phenomenology, so he was
very connected to my spiritual
philosophy.”
This included his desire to
understand fully the role that
art plays in human lives. “I
always had the courage to
clarify for myself, the deeper
meaning of what I was doing
with music,” says Canosa.“ Once
my definition of that became
clearer, my role became clearer,
and my purpose became clearer.
Because, if my purpose is not
clear, what can I give?”
Canosa returned to the Bay
Area around 2000, and since
that time has built up quite a
local portfolio. He conducts and
produces a series of concerts
each year with several groups
he founded, including Marin
Baroque, an ensemble of
singers and instrumentalists
devoted to baroque music, ECHO
Chamber Orchestra, made up of
professional players who choose
their repertoire collaboratively,
and as the music director at
First Presbyterian Church in San
Anselmo. Summers are spent
under the redwoods with the
Apollo Symphony Orchestra.
Canosa feels that in these
current times, with so many
things competing for peoples’
attention, that the actual origin
and meaning of many things is
often lost. “I feel like we live
in a storm—a psychological,
intellectual and emotional
storm,” says Canosa. “But I have
a place in myself that has settled
down—my eyes are open, and
I know now what I am looking
for,” he adds.
“Art has a very specific role
for we humans,” says Canosa.
“There is the entertaining part,
which is legitimate, but above
all, from early civilizations,
art was the connection to the
gods—a bridge between we
humans and another level of
existence or understanding.”
And for many artists and seekers
like Canosa, that bridge has been
a musical one, and very joyful.
“Some people go to church,”
says Canosa, “but for people
who are art oriented, their
relationship to something higher
than themselves—is through
music—or through art.”
Marin Baroque presents its
next concert, featuring Bach
Motets, on Saturday, March 10;
marinbaroque.org; Echo Chamber
Orchestra performs on Sunday,
February 4 in collaboration with
the Mana (saxophone) Quartet,
featuring pieces by Franz
Shubert, Anders Nilsson and
Philip Glass, echorchestra.com;
First Presbyterian Church, San
Anselmo.
11
Marin Arts & Culture