This year, as last, my husband and I made a modest donation in support of the work of the Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM) in Toronto. Founded in 1886 the RCM, a Canada-wide organization focuses on the music training and examination of Canadian youngsters.

To thank us for this year's donation the RCM sent along a cd of Beethoven's Ninth performed by the Royal Conservatory Orchestra of the Glenn Gould Professional School and a similarly affiliated choir and chorus. This is all great. We'd have much preferred their Thanks-Folks cd had showcased compositions by Canadians. Heaven knows there are lots of them. But, the good people at RCM seem sold on Beethoven's Ninth. They sent along the identical Thanks-Folks cd last year. Just what a collection needs -- two more Ninths, identical yet.

Wendy - Toronto

Ahh Canada, they build a great country but no one showed up. Did you ever hear of that Canadian train song, "Take the Train, Eh."

Couldn't resist. sorry. seriously, I would think that in this scenario, they would have merged their database with pre-existing donors against new ones and sent different gifts. Perhaps they don't have the money to send different gifts?

Barry Turner

What are some worthy Canadian composers?

Henrietta Schlossberg

Don't tell us, tell their development office. Maybe they need to hook up with PBS's or NPR's systems.

When they solicited your donation, didn't they tell you what premium(s) they were offering?

Blair - Tuba