Saturday, May 16, 2015

The arts will keep you busy this weekend in Niagara

It may be the first holiday weekend of the season, the celebrated Victoria Day weekend and all, but if you want to spend some time indoors with the arts this weekend you have plenty of choices.

First off, the 2015 season for the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake is now officially underway.  I will be writing more about the new season in a future post, but this opening week has already seen Shaw's You Never Can Tell, Ibsen's The Lady from the Sea, Rick Elice's Peter and the Starcatcher and the Cy Coleman/Dorothy Fields musical Sweet Charity officially open.

On Sunday there are no openings, but Peter and the Starcatcher, based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson with music by Wayne Barker will be onstage at the Royal George Theatre at 2 pm.

For more information on the entire Shaw Festival season and how you can be a part of it, call the box office at 1-800-511-SHAW or go to www.shawfest.com.

Meantime Primavera Concerts wraps up their current season with a performance by the Cecilia String Quartet with Shauna Ralston featured on cello on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm.  The performance takes place at the always-pleasant Silver Spire United Church on St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines.  Featured on the programme will be Schubert's Quintet in C major along with a number of other works performed by this talented group of Canadian musicians.

Tickets to the final Primavera performance of the season are available in advance by calling 289-990-3630 or by going to www.primaveraconcerts.ca, or you can pick them up at the door prior to the concert Sunday afternoon.

Finally the Niagara Symphony wraps up their final season at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts at Brock University Sunday afternoon at 2:30, with the last Masterworks concert of the season.  Entitled Beethoven & the Baroness - Ending on a High C!, the concert acts as a sort of swan-song for the NSO as they prepare to move to the new First Ontario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines next fall.

The concert this weekend features two works by Beethoven, the Egmont Overture and the always-challenging Symphony No. 5, as well as Lamento by Christos Hatzis, featuring the vocal stylings of Sarah Slean.  Maestro Bradley Thachuk promises the concert will be a fitting end to the season as well as a suitable lead-in to the new era at Partridge Hall beginning next season.

If you are not a subscriber but would like to go, call the Brock box office at 905-688-5550, ext. 3257 for tickets or visit the box office prior to the concert tomorrow afternoon and purchase your tickets on the spot.

Speaking of the NSO and their move to the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre next season, they announced the season amid much fanfare recently, and it promises to be an exciting launch in their new home.

I received the new season brochure earlier this week and they are really pulling out all the stops for their inaugural season at Partridge Hall, although it is interesting to note the Masterworks 1 concert that will kick off the season will be presented in two parts at the Cairns Recital Hall.  Why they won't be in their home at Partridge Hall is a bit of a mystery, but there must be a reason behind the move.

No matter, the pair of concerts will feature their new Artist-in-Residence, pianist Stewart Goodyear, who will be performing all five of the Beethoven Piano Concertos with the NSO on the opening weekend.  Goodyear will be returning for the final Masterworks concert next May on a programme that will include Chorus Niagara in a performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy and the great Symphony No. 9, the "Choral" Symphony.

A nice addition will be a recital with Goodyear at Cairns Hall next December featuring the rarely-heard piano transcription of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker ballet score, and he will also be part of an all-Gershwin concert in the Pops! series performing Rhapsody in Blue.

Other artists performing with the NSO next season include violinist James Ehnes performing the Lalo Symphonie espangnole and soprano Erin Wall featured in a performance of Strauss's Four Last Songs, and even a concert with Brian Baty performing Contours by Michael Conway Baker.

The Pops! series is highlighted by a Beatles concert known as Classical Mystery Tour next November, and the aforementioned Gershwin weekend in April.  As well the annual Home for the Holidays! Christmas concerts in December will mark the return of Joey DeBenedetto and the Jeans 'n Classics band will bring new life to some great Oscar scores from the past in February.

The NextGen series, formerly the Family Series, is now known as the Family Series again (can we stick with one name from now on?) and will feature a Peter Pan and Harry Potter double-bill in December and the Classical Kids Mozart's Magnificent Voyage in April.

Incidentally, and this might just be me, but I found the new season brochure rather dull-looking considering the importance of the upcoming season.  Oh, it has some lavish pictures and all, but the overall design just didn't grab me.  No idea why, as a lot of work obviously went into it...strange.

Anyway, the new season subscriptions are available as of this Tuesday, with a buy one get one free offer for new subscribers available until August 17th.  For more information, call the box office at Brock at 905-688-5550, ext. 3257 until June 30th, and after July 2nd you can call 905-688-0722.

The new season is about to get underway in a new venue, but in the meantime, lots to entertain you in Niagara!

Enjoy your weekend!

May 16th, 2015.

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