As promised, a few words today on the start of the Pops season for the Niagara Symphony, which begins tonight and tomorrow afternoon (Saturday and Sunday) at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at the Centre for the Arts, Brock University. We have the second of the four candidates for the music director position to conduct these concerts as well: Bradley Thachuk, who hails from Toronto originally.
The Pops series is always a bit of a cunundrum for me, really. The Saturday evening performances rarely sell well, with most people preferring to come Sunday afternoon instead. But the Saturday evening performance has its fans, too, so it would be hard to discontinue it if that would even be considered at some point. At least this season the symphony has wisely chosen to move the start time up from 8 pm to 7:30 pm. I think that makes a lot of sense as the audience begins to age, and it is a trend followed by other orchestras around the area as well, including Hamilton. Let's face it, we don't party like we used to, so bed often comes earlier than it used to for some of us.
That being said, this concert promises to be a bit of a party anyways, as it features a wide variety of music, both classical and popular in nature. The program is titled 'Classics Rock!' and includes everything from Jimi Hendrix' Purple Haze to the adagio movement from the Second Symphony of Rachmaninoff. I like the lineup, as it gives a lot of variety and will hopefully show us yet another side of the Niagara Symphony as their transition year continues. Besides, hearing the Niagara Symphony perform the 50s hit 'Tequila' should be worth the price of admission alone!
As for the conductor, I am looking forward to hearing what Mr. Thachuk brings to the table, as he is a home-grown talent who is now Associate Conductor of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Music Director for the Fort Wayne Youth Symphony. He will have youth on his side and lots of ambition, no doubt, but we'll have to see what he does with the Niagara Symphony this weekend as well as later in the season when he conducts his Masterworks program to know if he is ready for the move up the ladder to the head of a full-time professional symphony orchestra. His soloist for the performances this weekend is pianist Blair Salter, who will be featured on the adagio movement of the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto. Blair is a St. Catharines native who is currently finishing her Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance at the University of Western Ontario.
There are still tickets available for either performance, I believe, by calling the Brock box office at 905-687-4993. And if you go, be sure to stop by my table in the lobby before, after or during intermission of the show and say hello. I plan to bring a wide variety of music to these concerts, so you never know what you might find! If you don't check out my website at www.finemusic.ca or email me directly at music@vaxxine.com.
One other piece of news from the Niagara Symphony this weekend: they have announced their administrative team is now complete with the recent hiring of Karen Bannister to the position of Resource Development Manager as of November 9th. Karen assumes this new position within the organization to move it forward in a business sense, after working in various resource development positions at the Shaw Festival for the past six years. At the symphony, the position was created with the help of and funding from Ontario's Trillium Foundation.
We wish the new administrative team well as the season continues, and look forward to hearing the remaining candidates for the Music Director position as well. Next week, I'll report on this weekend's performances after we've had a chance to hear what Brad Thachuk brings to the table.
October 24th, 2009.
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