Welcome

 WELCOME TO TDES 40 IN TORONTO

LATEST NEWS :  

Status Update August 31 2022

In June I we sent our Members a Status Report concerning the recommencement of meetings at Montgomery’s Inn this coming Fall.  At the time, the flood related renovations in the basement was expected to be finished in the summer well before our planned September relaunch. 

Unfortunately, the situation has not changed.  We just learned that construction will continue to the end of September and the parking lot will then be under construction.  However, the City of Toronto is accepting booking for 2023.

As a result, TDES now expects to commence our meetings in January 2023.  We realize that this continued delay is frustrating for all of us that want to see our friends in the spirit of Ellingtonia.  We ask for your patience and understanding. 

For those who have already paid memberships for the 2022-23 year, instead of a refund, we hope that you will accept a reduction in the fee for the 2023-24 season to compensate.

For everyone else, the membership fee will be reduced for this season to reflect the reduction in meetings at the Inn.  The rate will probably be $20 unless the cost of the rental is significantly higher.  We will communicate with you closer to January 2023 to confirm the meetings and the amount of the membership fee.

In the meantime, I hope that you are doing well and are looking forward to coming back to meetings at Montgomery’s Inn albeit later than we wished.

Membership fees may be made by mail with a cheque made out to “The Duke Ellington Society, Toronto Chapter” sent to  Bruce Barton, Acting Treasuruer, 18 Edenbrook Hill, Etobicoke, ON M9A 3Z6. 

We do have some interesting programs in the can including video presentations.  The topic, presenters and timing will be provided when we confirm our start date.

June 7 2022

Please see under the Meetings and Events tab for the  results of our reopening survey and the Financial statement.

The Toronto Chapter of the Duke Ellington Society was created on May 4th. 1959  and was one of the earliest to be established. The first Chapter was founded in Washington D.C. in 1953 and with the New York Chapter they were the only two others in existence in 1959.  Subsequently, several others have been formed in U.S. cities, in Britain and in Europe. While each chapter is independent there is interchange of information and studies and an annual International Conference.  The Toronto Chapter  hosted International Conferences in 1987 and 1996.

The music of Duke Ellington continues to bring people of all ages, backgrounds, artistic, social and cultural inclinations together in the spirit of swinging celebration. That is why TDES 40 continues to build awareness of Ellington’s music and influence through study, discussion and analysis in a welcoming and hospitable forum. We undertake the wonderfully rewarding work of encouraging the performance of jazz and of Ellington’s music by local, national and international musicians through our organization of concerts and through the awarding of scholarships to today’s musicians of the future.

Concerts are presented at a December Holiday Party and on a date near April 29, Duke’s birthday, every year. These eagerly awaited events have added significantly to the Chapter’s scholarship fund raising capabilities.  Since September 2012 we are now getting our season underway with a live jazz performance by a trio or quartet  at our meeting location of Montgomery’s Inn.