Thursday, May 29, 2014

Musical events worth catching in Niagara

A couple of musical events are coming up this weekend in Niagara, and both are very much worth your time if you are looking for something inspiring to close out the month of May.

Tomorrow at noon (Friday), Canada's largest academic conference will prepare to wrap up with a celebratory concert at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University.  Congress 2014 as been going on for the past week up at Brock, with about 8,000 people registered to attend, take part in and discuss all things academic at Brock University.

The concert will feature the group Momentum, a performance choir comprised of more than 50 adults with an intellectual disability, performing from noon to 1 pm.  The performance is free and open to the public.

The choir started seven years ago with the help of Bethesda Community Service and a provincial grant, and they are an amazing group to see and hear.  According to Mendelt Hoekstra, the choir's founder and current artistic director, the choir is "highly disciplined (and) professionally facilitated."  They provide what's described as an authentic musical experience in which the gifts of unique artists can be professionally nurtured, thereby allowing the choir members to belong, believe and inspire.

Momentum rehearses every week from September to May, performing twelve shows a year out of close to 50 requests.  According to Hoekstra, "Once the music starts, disabilities take a back seat...it's professional, entertaining and inspiring musicians."

Even if you have not been attending Congress this past week, if your lunchtime is free tomorrow you should really make an effort to hear this choir; they really are amazing to hear!

On Saturday, the Burlington Male Welsh Chorus will perform in concert at the newly renovated Church of the Transfiguration at 320 Glenridge Avenue in St. Catharines.  The concert is from 7:30 to 9:30 Saturday evening, and tickets are available through the church office or at the door on the night of the concert.

From Carnegie Hall to Royal Albert Hall, the singers in the choir have sung their repertoire of Welsh folk songs, hymns and other musical numbers in venues the world over.  They continue the long tradition of music making in Wales, where almost everybody can hold a note and sing a song, at least that's what we're told!

The Church of the Transfiguration, by the way, was a venue I became familiar with back in the late 80s when I was asked to emcee a concert given by a Welsh-born singer whose name escapes me at the moment.  But I do remember it was about this time of the year and the late NDP legend in Niagara, Mel Swart, was in the audience that evening.  We talked afterwards and I realized he was a regular listener to my musical show in the evenings on CKTB Radio at the time, on his way back from Queen's Park many evenings.

I recall asking the singer performing that evening about the famous train station in Wales with the longest name I had ever heard, and without missing a beat he rattled it off for the audience that night: Lianfairpwllgwyngyll.  Imagine seeing that name come up when you ask for directions while touring Wales!

Anyway, the Burlington Male Welsh Chorus will be performing Saturday night at the very same venue where I learned a little of the Welsh language many years ago, and it promises to be a very musical evening.  If you go, why not ask them to rattle the station name off too?

Enjoy the weekend!

May 29th, 2014.



Friday, May 23, 2014

Looking for something interesting to do this weekend in Niagara?

It's another busy spring weekend in Niagara, with no shortage of things to see and do as everything blooms all around us at this time of year.  So before the weekend starts, I wanted to touch on a couple of Saturday events that should be of interest to you.

Saturday morning, the 9th Annual Rankin Cancer Run takes place, leaving from St. Catharines Grantham Lions Club at 10 am.  For serious runners there is a 5k run; for more casual types like myself, there are two walk circuits planned, one a 1k course and the other the same 5k course the runners use.

Whether you are a participant, sponsor, volunteer or just an interested spectator, this is an important event in the local community, where money raised goes to help out right here in Niagara.  In the past 8 years, for example, almost $4-million has been raised in order to fund immediate cancer care  for residents of Niagara.

Pre-registration begins at Grantham Lions Club Park at 8 am and the runners hit the starting line at 10; the walkers and those with strollers and dogs follow soon afterwards.  You can still sponsor a walker or runner, of course, or even do the course yourself so long as you pre-register in the morning and pay the $20 fee to participate.  I will be walking again this year, in fact, so I would be happy to have your support should you choose to sponsor me on the 5k walk.

Last year I recall it rained constantly from start to finish, and we all got more soaked than we had anticipated, but it is a great cause and everyone has a great time no matter what the weather is like.  This year, we are hoping for a better morning for the event, so let's keep our fingers crossed, shall we?

It's important to note, by the way, the Rankin Cancer Run is organized and run completely by volunteers.  No one is paid, so all the money raised goes to fun cancer care in your own backyard.  Can you help support the runners or walkers?  We all thank you so much for your generosity if you do!

In the evening, a special musical event takes place at St. Thomas' Anglican Church on Ontario Street in downtown St. Catharines, as forty boys and girls of the New York City Children's Chorus will be performing music ranging from Bach and Handel to Aaron Copland's "Old American Songs" as well as favourite Broadway songs from such shows as "The Sound of Music", "Mary Poppins" and "Oliver."

The NYCCC was founded at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church by Mary Huff and Andrew Henderson, the pride of Thorold, of course.  The choir shot to national attention in 2012 when they appeared on Saturday Night Live with Paul McCartney, appeared on the TODAY show, and more recently performed with Josh Groban as well as on Good Morning America.

The group plan to record their first CD of American art songs very soon, for release in 2015.  

Andrew Henderson really needs no introduction around these parts, of course.  He is the son of Cathy and John Henderson, owners of Henderson's Pharmacy in downtown Thorold, a mainstay on historic downtown Front Street for 75 years now.  Andrew began his organ studies at the tender age of 11, and as he grew up in Niagara performed regularly at many of the local churches both for services and for organ recitals.

Today he is Director of Music and Organist at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City, a post he acquired in 2005 following the retirement of his former teacher, John Weaver.  Andrew is organ instructor at Teacher's College at Columbia University, and is the Associate Organist at New York City's Temple Emanu-El, the largest Jewish house of worship in the world.

I have had the pleasure of meeting Andrew many times in the past and find his quiet, unassuming charm a constant and significant presence wherever he performs.  But can he perform!  I remember a recital he gave years ago in his native Thorold where his encore piece just blew the proverbial roof off the church he was performing in at the time.

But of course, on this tour the real stars are the forty boys and girls who make up the New York City Children's Chorus, and together with Andrew as accompanist and Artistic Director Mary Huff, they will perform with Canadian soprano Allison McCauley.

The concert begins tomorrow night at 7 with tickets available at the door, or you can purchase them in advance at - where else? - Henderson's Pharmacy in Thorold...imagine that!  And if you need any more incentive to get out and enjoy a Saturday evening of great music, all proceeds go to benefit the tremendous work done every day by Community Care of St. Catharines and Thorold.

Tickets are only $ 20 by the way, or $15 for students and seniors.  Children under 12 are admitted free of charge.  Seating is general admission, so I suggest you plan to get there a little early if you can.

So there you go, two great events in one day, and both help out great local causes.  What more could you ask for?

Have a great weekend!

May 23rd, 2014.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Hanging up the headphones after 40 years in radio

Today was a rather sad day for me, as I did my last regular radio broadcast in a career that has spanned just over 40 years.  So in my midweek blog post I thought I would reflect on that a little bit, waxing nostalgic as I am.

Since last September I have, as you may know, been hosting a weekly radio programme at the Brock radio station, CFBU-FM, titled Inquisitive Minds.  I interviewed many Brock University professors, graduate students and other interested parties about research being done at Brock as well as other items of interest to Brock and the wider community.  In addition I worked to develop other spoken word programmes for the station, which is why I was hired on a temporary contract basis for eight months.

It all ended today, as I hosted Inquisitive Minds for the last time.  Oh, the show will still be around, going into summer reruns for a while, but I will no longer be spending many hours in a small editing studio making some digital magic as I have been doing weekly since last September.  Today's show will air again at noon on Saturday, and will then be archived on the website, which you can access here:http://www.cfbu.ca/archivei.php.  In fact, all the shows from week one are there for you to peruse should you wish to.

This was a part-time position I was thankfully able to keep when I started my new career in the financial services industry beginning in March, in order to honour my commitments to Brock radio until the end of my contract.

It has been a challenge coming up with three interviews for each show, researching the topics, drawing up the questions and conducting the interviews, followed by many hours editing to make the interviews flow smoothly and time out for the show.  But it has been all worth it.  If nothing else, it taught me, after some doubts of my abilities following my departure from my former employer last August, that I still had it.  I could conduct an intelligent, accessible interview on any number of topics and have fun doing it.  It was gratifying to me how people I had never met before opened up to me in the studio and gave me some great conversations.

We shared laughter, such as on the subject of amorous mosquitos; tears, as one guest confessed her battle with mental illness during her student years; and almost everything else in-between.  It is the type of discussion you don't often hear anymore on commercial radio at least; people talking to people about any number of subjects ranging from cancer research to the Laura Secord Trail to hockey and even The Beatles and their impact on today's society.  We discussed all these topics and then some, and I loved every minute of it.

My time at CFBU-FM was the culmination of a career that saw me handle positions as producer, on-air host, interviewer, music programmer, promotion and public relations person, and community liaison.  I also acted as a sort of historian for my final commercial stop, CKTB Radio in St. Catharines, where I worked for 32 years until last August.  Perhaps it was because I was there longer than anyone else, or even I appeared older than anyone else, but people always turned to me (and still do!) about the history of the station I called my second home for so many years.

It all began innocently enough.  As a kid growing up I was always fascinated by radio and at one point even thought all the musical acts actually appeared in the radio studio one after the other all day long!  It wasn't that way, of course, at least not in later years, but in the early days of radio live studio broadcasts or on location remote broadcasts were the norm rather than the exception.

I could not wait to get into radio, so between grades 10 and 11 at Neil McNeil High School in east-end Toronto, I got a part-time job producing weekend overnights at CHFI-FM in Toronto, where I grew up.  I produced the overnight classical programme, eventually moving into daytime shifts, and then into music programming at the station, including the long-running Candlelight & Wine evening show hosted for many years by the late Don Parrish.  I worked for the princely sum of $3.00 an hour back then, threatening to walk down Yonge Street to another radio station, CKEY at the time, if I didn't get a raise.  I did, to $ 3.50 an hour!

In the summer of 1977, four years after my time at CHFI began, I moved to Oshawa, hosting the morning show and programming music for CKQT-FM radio.  The days were long and the pay was slight.  I remember being thrilled when I found out my weekly pay cheque would be $140!  Oh, how innocent we were back then.  But I learned a lot while there, including both German and Italian languages to an extent as I also produced weekend programmes in both languages for a time.

This was the time I started conducting countless entertainment-related interviews with everyone from dancer Ginger Rogers about break-dancing to singer Tony Bennett about his painting, and even the infamous cross-dressing entertainer Divine, appearing in Toronto one year.  Others were hesitant to interview Divine but I went ahead and found myself with a particularly entertaining and insightful entertainer who was often misunderstood by many.  I loved that aspect of my job:  delve beneath the surface to find the real story, and I did it countless times over the years.

An ownership change in 1980 made it necessary for me to move further east, to CIGL-FM in Belleville, Ontario, where I hosted the afternoon drive show and conducted entertainment interviews for a show airing Friday evenings.  Again, pay was not great, just over $10,000 a year, but I got a lot of valuable experience back then and made a lot of new friends.  But I never felt I was part of the team for some reason, so after eight months I made another move.

In April of 1981 I came to St. Catharines for an interview at CKTB Radio, then owned by the Burgoyne family, who also owned at the time the St. Catharines Standard.  I got the job and moved here on Mother's Day in 1981, and never left.  I felt at home in Niagara and in spite of the fact I thought I would move on at some point, I set down roots here and realized my life was very good in this little corner of the world.

I survived seven ownership changes over the years, several format changes and outlasted countless managers.  But all that came to an end last August when yet another ownership change resulted in several of us being let go.  It was painful, but in time proved to be a good thing for this writer.

I had to step outside of my comfort zone, challenge myself to learn new skills, and make the leap to an entirely new career, which I have now done, and which I will write more about in the near future in this space.

But for now, I am looking back on a career well lived, richly rewarding and now, part of my past.  I don't regret any of it for a moment, and have made many lifelong friends along the way.  You find a way to move on and reinvent yourself as I have done, and challenge yourself yet again.  I know no other way, and have no regrets at all about my rather interesting career path.  You can be bitter if you want to; I choose to be thankful for the great opportunities I have had in a business I have loved, and now move on to even more exciting things.

Perhaps I will never say goodbye to radio totally.  I hope to pursue some freelance work at some point when I can, and hope to continue my long-running Midnight Mass broadcast on Christmas Eve from the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria, which I have been doing for almost 25 years now.  I might even return to CFBU-FM in the fall to host another show on a voluntary basis, but we'll have to see about that.

So while today is an end, it is also a beginning.  I look to the future and embrace change.  Because truth be told, change is all around us and that won't change!

Here's to the future, and I hope you'll join me in this space as we share the adventure together!

Saturday, May 17, 2014

Why I became a member of Garden City Co-Op, and you should too.

With this being the Victoria Day Weekend, I'll deviate from my usual arts reporting to report on another local issue that is very worthy of your attention - the issue of a downtown St. Catharines grocery store.

While most of us remember with fondness the old A&P at the Midtown Plaza - where I often bought single-servings of some meat cut or other for dinner that night during my bachelor days - the loss of that venerable institution several years ago left a gaping hole in the quality of life we have enjoyed in the city core.

Certainly the Giant Tiger now residing in that location is a welcome relief to local residents and in particular seniors who have no access to their own transportation; still it is only a partial solution to the problem.  Being a department store of sorts, it only stocks limited lines of food products, and not as many as most would like or in fact need.

The chances of another major grocery store chain setting up shop in the city centre are slim to none at this point; gone are the days when you could go to the first A&P in downtown St. Catharines at Court and St. Paul Street or the original Loblaws store in the former Beattie's Basis store on Queen Street or former Downtown Fine Music location at 81 St. Paul Street.  Those locations, popular over 100 years ago now, now house other business of varying descriptions.

But there is life beyond the major chain stores, and one of the more recent signs of life is considerable movement on the local Food Co-Op front.  This is an idea in the planning stages for many years now, and is growing ever closer to becoming a reality in downtown St. Catharines.  While still a year or so away from being realized, the move is afoot now to get the community on board in a big way to help fund the development and realization of this very important dream.

If you have not heard about the Garden City Food Co-Op, allow me to elaborate in this space.

The idea is develop a locally owned and operated food co-operative able to offer local food and produce grown or produced right here in Niagara at fair prices, thereby supporting our local farmers as well as the local economy.

Did you know if each person spent just $10 of their grocery budget on local products produced or grown right here in Niagara, the local economy would grow substantially?  It's true, and it just makes sense.  Supporting our local farmers and producers means we all win.  They have a steady clientele and we benefit from local food produced in one of the most fertile areas of the country.

I have never understood why, in June for example, people accept imported strawberries at their local grocery stores when local berries are either hidden away in another part of the store or not stocked at all.   What's the sense in that?  Ask yourself:  would you prefer produce grown locally and picked likely a day or two ago, or something that was trucked here from another country or even continent that was picked several days ago?

The issue of price often comes up in this discussion, of course, and I can't argue with producers who pay their workers a fraction of what they should be paid for work we ourselves would never think of doing back home here in Niagara.  But price is not everything.  Sure, local produce may cost a bit more, but knowing where it comes from and who is growing it seems to me to be a fair trade-off for paying slightly more.

Besides, there are few pleasures in life more gratifying than going to our local farmer's markets in Niagara and talking to the producers and growers right there, or buying from the farm gate if time allows.

Another important point to consider is the fact in order to get more people living in the downtown core, you need to offer more reasons for them to do so, and a viable food source is just one such way. There is more to life in our downtown than bars, eateries and office buildings.

So, how can we improve upon that good feeling and desire to support the local food producers and growers in Niagara?  By supporting our local food co-operative, that's how.

This month, Garden City Co-Op proponents are at Market Square in downtown St. Catharines Saturday mornings answering your questions about the venture and signing up new members and adding them to the fold.  They happen to make a pretty good case for opening up a downtown foo co-operative here in St. Catharines.

What you find out when you talk to them is you purchase a $120 membership in the co-op and receive the following benefits:

- Full selection of grocery and household products once the store opens.
- Frequent member-only specials.
- Special offers from partner businesses.
- Patronage refunds during profitable years.
- Direct connection to local producers.
- Democratic control of the store you have part ownership in.

All that for $ 120.00, which is a one-time fee, by the way, and covers you and up to two affiliate household members.  You don't have to be a member in order to shop at the store, but it makes more sense to be a member to take advantage of the members-only offers.

Also, being a member allows you a vote on how the store operates and you can even sit on the board if you want to run for one of the positions.  In other words, your membership gives you a stake in the business operation as well as the advantages of shopping there.

This is not a pipe dream; it is going to happen, and sooner than you realize.  The concept has become successful in Hamilton and just recently in East Aurora, just outside of Buffalo.  These are just two examples of successful food co-ops, but there are many more.  And we have a chance to be another success story right here in Niagara.

What they need now are members, which is why they are meeting people every Saturday morning at the Market Square location in downtown St. Catharines.  And that is why I joined this morning, becoming a proud member of the Garden City Co-Op community.

You should seriously consider it too, whether you live in the downtown core like I do or not.  It benefits the entire community, quite frankly.  Want more information?  If you can't make to the market on Saturday mornings, you can still find out more by checking out their website at www.gardencityfoodcoop.ca; you can email them at membership@gardencityfoodcoop.ca; you can also check them out on Facebook at Facebook.com/gardencityfood, or follow them on Twitter at Twitter.com/gardencityfood.  You can even phone them at 905-321-9579.

However you contact them, please do so.  We'll all benefit from a local food store in downtown St. Catharines, and that just makes good business sense for all concerned.

Are you going to join?  I did, and you should too!

May 17th, 2014.

Sunday, May 11, 2014

News and notes on the arts in Niagara

I have been falling behind a little bit lately on my arts reporting duties and I apologize for that, but the reasons will become clear in a posting later this month as I recount my busy schedule the last couple of months and why.  But for now, a quick round up of things that caught my attention lately.

First, to no-one's surprise, Lyndesfarne Theatre Projects announced last month they were leaving the Seneca Theatre in downtown Niagara Falls, unable to make a go of it as permanent tenants at the facility.  In spite of strong productions and even a world premiere of The Ravine in March and April, audiences did not materialize.  Sad, but making a go of it in downtown Niagara Falls is proving to be a challenge even with the support of so many people who want to bring the downtown core back to their glory days of years ago.

I don't know if that will ever happen, but for now at least, the old Seneca will sit empty, again.  Now, Lyndesfarne will still use the space for their productions, renting the space on an as-needed basis, which seems to me to be the best option for them at the moment.  Artistic Director Kelly Daniels has done everything she can to keep the company going the last two years in the downtown space, but the results are just not there.

I have said this before and I will say it again:  Lyndesfarne Theatre Company is one of the best local theatre companies in Niagara and deserves your support, but they can't perform in an empty space night after night.  What's with it with downtown Niagara Falls, anyway?  You have to wonder...

Second item.  While LTP flounders in downtown Niagara Falls, this weekend the curtain went up on the 53rd season of theatre at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake Friday evening with a performance of Shaw's Arms and the Man, directed by Morris Panych, at the Royal George Theatre.  Openings continued throughout the weekend with a double-bill on Saturday, with The Charity that Began at Home: A Comedy for Philanthropists,  directed by Christopher Newton at the Court House Theatre in the afternoon and Peter Hinton's new take on the musical Cabaret at the Festival Theatre Saturday night.

What's interesting this year is they have returned to opening the season with a Shaw play, and the opening night is at the smaller Royal George Theatre, saving the Festival Theatre opening until Saturday night.  But Artistic Director Jackie Maxwell is not above taking risks and trying new things, so we'll see how the openings play out after the weekend is done.

For my part, I will be reporting in this space on a reduced schedule this summer, with sincere thanks to the Shaw Festival for extending the invitation again this year in spite of my career change since last season.

Over at the Stratford Festival, incidentally, their new season is about to get underway, and I have yet to hear back from them if I will be doing any arts reporting from there this summer, but I remain hopeful.  I'll keep you posted.

This week, there was another significant funding announcement for the new Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines as well.  The Cairns family of Niagara, who helped fund the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Complex at Brock University in 2010 to the tune of $ 10-million, have announced they are donating half a million dollars to the new downtown arts venue.  The announcement, at a Wednesday event in the downtown Market Square, means the Cairns family will receive naming rights for the 300-seat recital hall designed for musical performances by the local arts community.

The Cairns family has always supported the arts in Niagara and many other worthwhile causes as well, so this seems a logical progression for them.  It takes us one step closer to achieving the fundraising goal of $ 5 million in community donations towards the new Performing Arts Centre.  It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2015 and you can just feel the excitement as the date draws near.

Thanks to the entire Cairns family for this donation, and to all who have or will decide to make a donation to help pay for the new facility, be the donation large or small.

Finally, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra, who performed at the event on Wednesday at Market Square and who will be the main tenants at the new Partridge Hall in the centre, give their final performance this season at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University this afternoon at 2:30 pm.  The final Masterworks concert of the current season, conducted by Bradley Thachuk, is titled Epically Romantic, and will be a splendid way to spend part of your Mother's Day afternoon.

The concert features the Overture to Mozart's opera Cosi fan tutte; the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 2 with pianist Peter Longworth, and the Beethoven Seventh Symphony, long one of my favourite symphonies by Beethoven.  Once again before, after and at intermission, I will have a table set up in the lobby with lots of great music available for purchase, including box sets of the complete Beethoven symphonies at a great price, so be sure to stop by and say hello if you are at the concert today.

Tickets are still available through the Brock box office by calling 905-688-5550, ext. 3257, or pick them up at the door prior to the concert this afternoon.

Happy Mother's Day!

May 11th, 2014.

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Celebrating the arts this weekend in Niagara

Another spring weekend in Niagara, with buds appearing on the trees and the lawn almost ready for the first cut of the season, and the weather might even warm up before too long!  Well, we hope so, anyway...

I looked through my schedule of events coming up this weekend in Niagara and three things come to mind you might want to catch if you choose not to spend the entire weekend in the garden.  So why not divide your time between nourishing your garden and nourishing your soul this weekend and enjoying some time away to experience something new in Niagara this weekend?

First off, and this is not specifically art, the Niagara Food & Wine Expo is on at the Scotiabank Convention Centre in Niagara Falls.  Last evening's unusual bomb scare at the facility should not deter you from going and experiencing the bounty that is so very much Niagara and indeed Ontario.  A lot of the presentations are indeed artistic in nature and the cooking demonstrations are the same.

I have always enjoyed going to this show in the past, and the Scotiabank Convention Centre is really a first-class facility in Niagara to showcase trade shows of every description.  The Food & Wine Expo  continues Saturday and Sunday with plenty of parking available and tickets available at the door.

This evening, Chorus Niagara wraps up their current season and the 25th under Robert Cooper's artistic direction.  This has been a very fruitful collaboration and has resulted in many performances being sell outs due to the inventive programming Robert has introduced.  He also knows how to get the very best out of his singers, both here and in Toronto where he also leads the Orpheus Choir.

This evening's performance takes place at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandra in downtown St. Catharines, and features both Chorus Niagara and the Orpheus Choir joining forces with the Talisker Baroque Players.  In all there will be 160 voices filling the Cathedral along with full orchestra, so it promises to be a fitting end to a celebratory season for Chorus Niagara.

The performance will feature a rarely-heard work from the choral repertoire, Antonin Dvorak's expressive Requiem.  The work for chorus, orchestra and soloists was written over the course of 10 months in 1890, a product of Dvorak's time in London, a city with a rich choral history that spanned many centuries prior to his arrival.  The Requiem, Op. 89 is made up of 13 numbers, each reflecting the composer's strong Catholic faith, so it seems only appropriate the work is being performed this evening at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in St. Catharines.

Tickets should be available this evening at the door, but you can also get them in advance from any chorus member or through the Brock box office by calling 905-688-5550, ext. 3257.

By the way, should you wish to have a recording of the work following the performance this evening, I have access through my website at www.finemusic.ca to a fine recording from Supraphon records of Karl Ancerl conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.  Although a modern orchestra, these musicians know Dvorak's music better than probably anyone else.  Email me directly at music@vaxxine.com or through the order form on the website if you would like to order a copy for yourself.

Finally, tomorrow afternoon at 3 pm, singer Melissa Shriner presents the first annual Springtime in the Village concert, featuring selections from musical theatre and the Great American Songbook, ranging from Barbra Streisand to Eva Cassidy.

The performance features Shriner along with pianist Robert Horvath, bassist Attila Darvas and cellist Gordon Cleland, and takes place at the Jordan Station United Church right in the heart of the Village of Jordan.  Tickets should be available at the door for that performance, by the way.

So get out and enjoy everything Niagara has to offer this weekend!

May 3rd, 2014.