Well, my apologies for not writing in this space over the weekend but I was knee deep in shows the past week at both Stratford and Shaw, reviews of which will be coming shortly on my blog. Both festivals have some great theatre to offer this season, and I will be reporting on them over the next couple of months in this space. As a result of all the summer activity coming up, we'll once again be writing twice-weekly for the balance of the summer in order to keep on top of things happening in Niagara and beyond.
This column will round up the myriad of summer music festivals available either in our own backyard or within driving distance of Niagara. I won't be covering them all in this space, but events listings can always be found on the calendar page of my website at www.finemusic.ca. It will be updated again shortly with the latest information once I get some technical issues cleared up this week. In the meantime, here are some of the festivals you might want to check out this summer:
MUSIC NIAGARA - ATIS BANKAS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Our home-grown music festival kicks off their 15th season this Friday, July 12th with an opening concert titled Anuna at St. Mark's Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake. All the performances are at venues in and around the Old Town, at St. Mark's, The Epicurean, Simcoe Park Bandshell, Jackson-Triggs Amphitheatre and several other locations. This is the premiere summer music festival in Niagara and always worth a visit, with musical performances ranging from jazz pianists Dick Hyman and John Sherwood to the Elora Festival Singers and the New Orford String Quartet and New Zealand String Quartet. If you plan to attend any of the performances, call the box office at 905-468-2172 or go to www.musicniagara.org. for more information. All performances are also listed on my website, by the way, at www.finemusic.ca.
LEWISTON COUNCIL ON THE ARTS - EVA NICKLAS, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Just over the river in lovely Lewiston, New York, in the shadow of the much more familiar Artpark summer music festival (details of which are on my website now), the Lewiston Council of the Arts presents their own music and events festival, ranging from Chainsaw Art at Olde Sanborn Days this coming weekend to the ongoing Blue Monday concerts at the Hennepin Park Gazebo. Also at the Hennepin Park Gazebo this coming Friday evening the ever-popular Summer of '69 concert takes place, with special guest, Grammy Award winner Gary Baker joining the gang. The annual Lewiston Art Festival also comes up August 10th and 11th all along Center Street in Lewiston. Many events are free, by the way, and even the ones with an admission charge are very reasonably priced. For more information and tickets if needed, call 1-716-754-0166 or go to www.artcouncil.org.
BROTT MUSIC FESTIVAL - BORIS BROTT, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Back on this side of the border and just down the QEW from Niagara is the 26th annual Brott Music Festival, hosted by that Canadian icon of classical music promoting, Maestro Boris Brott. The festival is already underway at several venues in and around Hamilton, and runs to August 15th. Some of the July highlights include Hot Jazz with Michael Kaeshammer this Friday and Saturday and St. John's Anglican Church; Tango Terrifico and Best Bolero July 18th; Shall We Dance? - Tchaikovsky Favourites July 25th and Last Night at the Proms Meets Gilbert & Sullivan July 27th, all at the McIntyre Performing Arts Centre at Mohawk College. Lots more coming in August, too, so for more information and tickets call the box office at 905-525-SONG or 1-888-475-9377 or go to www.brottmusic.com.
ELORA FESTIVAL - NOEL EDISON, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
The 2013 season for one of my favourite summer music festivals, the Elora Festival, kicks off this Friday at the Gambrel Barn just outside of town with an Opening Night Gala featuring Verdi's Requiem to celebrate Verdi's 200th anniversary. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir joins the Elora Festival Singers and Orchestra with Noel Edison conducting for the opening night concert; also featured over the three-week festival are performances by the New Zealand String Quartet, Leahy, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Moscow String Quartet and the Jorge Miguel Flamenco Ensemble among others. Some of the performances are in the intimate setting of St. John's Church and others at the much larger Gambrel Barn, which in the wintertime hosts all the town's snow-clearing equipment. But the acoustics are great, so it is a wonderful venue for a summer concert. If you go, make a point of joining the congregation at St. John's Church for the Sunday morning service, which features glorious music with the Elora Festival Singers. It is always a highlight of my visit to Elora! For tickets and more information, call 519-846-0331 or 1-888-747-7550 or log on to www.elorafestival.com.
STRATFORD SUMMER MUSIC - JOHN A. MILLER, ARTISTIC PRODUCER
This is the 13th season for the popular Stratford Summer Music Festival, which kicks off with an Opening Night Gala featuring The Grand Illumination to Music for a Midsummer's Night on Monday, July 15th. This is one of the busiest music festivals anywhere, with six full weeks worth of music and entertainment at several venues in the city of Stratford, another of my favourite summertime escapes. Looking over the list of events, there are far too many to list here, but they will be up soon on the calendar page on my website at www.finemusic.ca. Included are performances by the likes of the Vienna Boys Choir, young Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, Tafelmusik and the Creole Choir of Cuba. Also featured are musical brunch concerts, coffee concerts and even something called Bicycle Opera throughout the Festival! This is really an adventurous music festival, so to find out more call the box office for tickets and information at 519-271-2101 or 1-866-288-4313, or log on to www.stratfordsummermusic.ca. The Festival runs to August 25th, by the way.
FESTIVAL OF THE SOUND - JAMES CAMPBELL, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
This is one festival I have always wanted to go to but somehow the time just has not allowed me to. It runs from July 18th to August 11th in Parry Sound, Ontario, as you head through lovely Muskoka country. My far better half and I were up in Huntsville a couple of weeks ago and the brochure was already available for this season, so I was able to catch up on what's to come this season and soon include the information on the calendar page of my website at www.finemusic.ca. There will be an Opera Gala celebrating Verdi's 200th birthday on Saturday, July 20th, as well as a Giants of the Saxophone tribute concert August 3rd and one concert August 10th intriguingly tiltled The Orford Six: Masterpieces performed on six pianos, 528 keys, by 12 hands and 60 fingers! Other performances include the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Hannaford Street Silver Band and the two-piano team of Anagnosan and Kinton. Performances are at the Charles W. Stockey Centre in Parry Sound on beautiful Georgian Bay. For tickets and more information, call 705-746-2410 or 1-866-364-0061 or go to www.festivalofthesound.ca.
Enjoy some summer music!
July 10th, 2013.
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