Help Stephen Beat Cancer! 1,900 CAD till Goal!

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

this gofundme is for pianist Stephen Clarke.

A fixture in Toronto and international contemporary classical music scene, you may have seen Stephen performing in Array Ensemble, Esprit Orchestra, and as part of many other ensembles. He has given Canadian premieres of solo piano works by Scelsi, Feldmann, and Ustvolskaya. He is a champion of complex, demanding music.

This July, however, while getting ready to perform Radulescu's solo piano sonatas, Stephen experienced intense throat pain and was subsequently diagnosed with stage 3 throat cancer. Within two weeks, Stephen was enrolled in Princess Margaret's cancer treatment program. The first phase of the treatment, now underway, consists of a 7-week course of radiation (5 days a week) and concurrent weekly chemotherapy sessions.

Stephen has always been self-reliant, but with such intensive medical treatment, the simplest tasks, such as getting to/from medical appointments, general shopping and housekeeping, can quickly become overwhelming (or impossible). He will need support during the coming 6 months.

Stephen's inability to work is putting him into a very difficult financial situation. There will be additional expenses for medications not covered by OHIP, and for medical devices as they become necessary including an emergency medical alarm system. There are few funding programs that he qualifies for, and the support they provide is minimal.

Stephen has tireless given so much to our community over the course of his career. Now, it's our time to give back.

This gofundme campaign is set up to help support Stephen with fixed living costs and additional medical costs so that he can concentrate on his cancer treatment. We are aiming to raise 34,000 CAD* to make sure Stephen can concentrate on his treatment for the next 6 months, and possibly the rest of the year, as Stephen may lose the entire 2022-23 season (1 year), and we hope to reach this goal by 10 December, 2022.

*Current living wage for Toronto is $2867/mo.

Thank you for reading this post and for thinking about Stephen. He will be working very hard to regain his health. Let us stand with him and be with him during this challenging time.