News and Notes from the Arts

With September now well underway, the local arts scene starts to heat up with lots of events happening throughout the Region.  In St. Catharines especially, there is plenty to see and do in the coming weeks, so let's take a look this weekend at some of the news items that have visited my inbox relating to the arts in Niagara:

- The Niagara Symphony launches their 2016/2017 season this afternoon at Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines at 2:30 pm.  Entitled "Light Transcendent", the first Masterworks concert of the new season features Music Director Bradley Thachuk conducting the NSO and special guest soloist Anthony McGill, Principal Clarinet of the New York Philharmonic.  Bradley and Anthony have been friends for many years apparently, so this will be an interesting and genial meeting of the musical minds on the Partridge Hall stage.  The feature work will be Mozart's ever-popular Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, one of his very last works.  Also on the programme will be the Symphony No. 6, "Pathetique" by Tchaikovsky and a Canadian work, Toward Light by Royden Tse, receiving its World Premiere performance, in fact.
The NSO had a huge season last year, their first in their new home, with ticket sales up considerably.  Now we'll see if the first-year momentum can be maintained now that people are familiar with Partridge Hall.  For tickets, call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.

- Brock University's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts announced their new season recently, entitled "Breaking the Surface", celebrating the bond between the community and the new arts centre in downtown St. Catharines.  The plan this season is to build on last season's momentum with the new arts school next to the PAC and hopefully broaden the community's understanding of how the arts relate to urban issues and contribute to cultural development in the Niagara Region.  There are more than 45 events planned this season ranging from live performances, exhibitions, concerts and artist talks, on stage, in studios and galleries and at regional venues.

A few of the events planned this season include The Ash Mouth Man presented by Stolen Theatre Collective and Brock's Department of Dramatic Arts continuing today and again from September 23rd to the 25th; Guitar Extravaganza II October 22nd in the Cairns Recital Hall; and the In Light and Darkness Exhibit from November 22nd to December 9th in the Art Gallery.  The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts will also be front and centre for the Culture Days Open House this year, held at 15 Artists' Common from September 30th to October 2nd.  For more on events coming up at MIWSFPA check out their website at www.brocku.ca/miwsfpa, or find them on Twitter and Instagram @miwsfpa and on Facebook at miwsfpa.

- Speaking of Culture Days, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre will be participating again this year and celebrate their first birthday Sunday, October 1st from 11 am to 3 pm.  Lots of free activities are planned for the Culture Days and birthday celebration, ranging from interactive drama workshops to National Film Board short screenings in The Film House to the Niagara Symphony Orchestra's Instrument Petting Zoo!  There will also be guided tours by PAC staff and volunteers, as well as facility tours of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts next door.  Oh yes, there will also be cake at 12 noon.  Need I say more?  You can find out more about events coming up this season at the PAC by going to their website at www.FirstOntarioPAC.ca and more on Culture Days events at www.culturedays.ca.

- Another of the primary tenants at the PAC is Essential Collective Theatre, performing in Robertson Hall.  I received my new season package in the mail this week, and ECT will kick off their second season at the PAC with The Fighting Days by Wendy Lill, directed by Monica Dufault.  Set in Winnipeg during 1910-1917, the play looks at the real-life characters of Frances Beynon and Nellie McClung and their fight for women's right to vote.  The play runs from October 27th to November 4th and then will tour the Region in November and is co-presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.  In the new year, ECT will be staging The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey, again directed by Monic Dufault.  The award-winning play deals with Miles, a young actor from the city who comes to live and work on a Southern Ontario farm as research for a play he is writing called The Farm Show.  The play will run at the PAC from February 24th to March 3rd of next year and again is co-presented by the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.  For tickets and more information call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722 or go to www.FirstOntarioPAC.ca or www.ectheatre.ca.

That should give you a sampling of just a few of the events coming up in the coming weeks.  Many of these will be included shortly on the Calendar Page of my website, www.finemusic.ca, and I will be writing more about these and other upcoming events as the dates draw nearer.

Have a great weekend!

September 18th, 2016.