The weekend is here and if you are craving some great music in an equally great setting, I have a couple of suggestions for you. Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon can be musically enjoyed in downtown St. Catharines.
First off, the Marilyn I. Walker Cultural Leader Series continues this evening in the Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre downtown at 7:30.
Guitar Extravaganza 2020 is Brock University's annual celebration of the guitar, featuring The Mighty Niagara Guitar Orchestra, comprised of 70 classical guitarists from throughout Niagara and the rest of Southern Ontario. Performers travel from as far away as Sarnia, Sudbury, Ottawa and even Boston to perform right here in our own backyard. And they all perform under the direction of Artistic Director/Conductor and Brock University guitar instructor Timothy Phelan.
The Department of Music presentation features Niagara natives Paul Wiebe and James Bryan as they join special guests Rene Izquierdo from Cuba, Elina Chekan from Belarus and Emma Rush. The music is composed and/or arranged by three Niagara-area musicians, James Bryan, Timothy Phelan and Floyd Turner.
I remember years ago listening to the 50 Guitars of Tommy Garrett, who regularly featured some of the best guitarists in the world performing in unison, and the sound was always enjoyable. Some of those old recordings have made it on to CD and I have a couple in my collection at the moment, in fact. But 70 classical guitarists? That is something special, and it should be a spectacular performance tonight.
Tickets should be available at the FirstOntario PAC box office prior to the show tonight.
Meantime in Partridge Hall at the PAC tomorrow afternoon at 2:30 the Niagara Symphony presents a concert entitled Simply Irresistible, the fourth concert in their Masterworks series for the current season.
Maestro Bradley Thachuk conducts the orchestra along with featured soloist Jinjoo Cho on violin in some rather heavy-duty music leaning towards unbridled romance, just in time for the romantic day coming up later this month.
The NSO continues their Sibelius cycle with the Symphony No. 5, certainly one of Sibelius' great orchestral works, as a concert finale. Leading off will be Toronto-based composer Kevin Lau's Dark Angels concert suite, adapted from his full-length ballet of the same name that was commissioned by the National Ballet of Canada back in 2017. Lau's interpretation of the Medusa myth is both tense and dark, but along with the Sibelius will show a decidedly full-bodied facet of the Niagara Symphony that perhaps suits the darker winter months as we hibernate until warmer weather arrives.
Sandwiched in between those two orchestral works will be one of the most interesting of the last century's showcases for violin as young violinist Jinjoo Cho joins the NSO in Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto. Now considered an American classic, the work was considered "unplayable" when it premiered many years ago. Now, young violinists regularly showcase the work in their repertoire as something of a calling card as they build their musical careers.
If Groundhog Day makes you gag and the Super Bowl makes you yawn, clearly you yearn for something more substantial. The Niagara Symphony has your back this weekend at the PAC!
Tickets should be available from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office prior to the performance tomorrow afternoon or in advance by calling 905-688-0722.
Have a great weekend!
February 1st, 2020.
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