October 19, 2004 – Toronto, Ontario – Spectators will witness a unique undertaking when two-time Canadian Olympian Ashley Holzer performs a dressage freestyle to live classical music on Opening Weekend of this year’s Royal Horse Show, held November 5-14 as part of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at the National Trade Centre in Toronto, ON.

A 1988 Olympic bronze medallist, Ashley Holzer will perform a Musical Freestyle demonstration to the music of four pianos, each played by three musicians. That’s a total of four pianos, 12 musicians, and 120 fingers providing the music while Holzer rides her 2004 Athens Olympic mount, Imperioso. A beautiful Dutch Warmblood stallion, Imperioso epitomizes lightness and beauty in his movement while his rider is well-known for her elegance and subtly. The picture of horse and rider moving as one to the stirring sounds of George Bizet’s opera, ‘Carmen’, and Charles Gounod’s ‘Faust’, is sure to elevate the Royal Horse Show audience to new heights. The musical portion of the performance comes courtesy of Toyich International Projects, a Toronto-based not-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing classical music to the masses.

“This is a very exciting opportunity to merge the two beautiful art forms of dressage and classical music,” said Boyanna Toyich, President and CEO of Toyich International Projects, who will act as conductor from the floor of the Coliseum on both evenings, Friday, November 5, and Saturday, November 6. “We create unusual venues for our students to perform, and the Royal Horse Show certainly meets that criteria.”

Previous unique undertakings by Toyich International Projects include free ‘Monster Concerts’ in Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square with ten pianos and twenty pianists, and a similar performance in Rome, Italy, where they will return in December for an encore presentation. The goal of Toyich International Projects is to promote young, culturally diverse musicians, bring classical music to the public free of charge, educate up-and-coming classical music performers and provide professional development opportunities for teachers. These objectives will certainly be met at the Royal, where musicians from Toyich International Projects will be performing free of charge throughout the 10-day Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Heritage Court, the event’s main entrance.

“This is a new first for the Royal, presenting the art of dressage and the art of music as one,” noted Kim Philip, Chair of the Royal Horse Show. “To me, dressage is an art form and I love classical music, so to see a magnificent grand prix horse performing to live music will be simply magical. I am a strong proponent of equine theatre and the Royal is becoming a vehicle to showcase this sort of talent in addition to the high level of competition we offer. It will be absolutely breathtaking.”

In addition to the Opening Weekend’s Dressage Demonstration, fans of the sport can also take in the FEI Canadian League World Cup Final on Wednesday, November 10, and Thursday, November 11.

Tickets for all Royal Horse Show performances can be purchased through Ticketmaster at tel: 416 872-7777 or by visiting www.ticketmaster.ca. For more information on the Royal Horse Show, including complete schedules, please visit www.royalfair.org or call tel: 416 263-3400.