News and notes in the Arts

As the first weekend of June unfurls in all its glory, a few items of news and notes from the local arts scene and beyond to get you going for the weekend...

Last night I had the pleasure to attend the 2018/19 Hot Ticket lineup announcement at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.  This was the second of two consecutive nights, as the large Partridge Hall was filled almost to capacity both nights.  That tells us something about the local arts scene:  truly, if they build it, we will come.  And we do.  Last year for example, more than 75,000 people filed through the doors at the PAC to take in a performance of some sort.

What I love about this stat is it comes after barely three years of existence, as the PAC opened in the fall of 2015.  This fourth season announcement stokes the fires even more so, and helps to put to rest once and for all the notion the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre would not be supported and embraced by the community at large.

Guests the last two nights got to sample food from sponsors Wind, East Izakaya and Ma Chinese Cuisine along with Niagara wines in the lobby before the event inside Partridge Hall, and also experienced other notable sponsors in Robertson Hall including Critelli's Fine Furniture, The Peanut Mill and Elite Spa Group, among others.

Once inside the theatre a combination of performances both live and pre-recorded outlined the upcoming season in both the banner Hot Ticket series as well as performances by local music and theatre organizations such as Carousel Players, Essential Collective Theatre, Suitcase in Point, TD Niagara Jazz Festival and Twitches and Itches Theatre, among others.

Both Executive Director Steve Solski and Mayor Walter Sendzik spoke glowingly about the way the PAC has helped to breath new life into downtown St. Catharines with quality performances to satisfy most every taste.  It was left to Programming and Marketing Manager Sara Palmieri and the rest of her talented team to outline the upcoming season in greater detail as the evening progressed.

Of particular note the second annual Celebration of Nations, a gathering of indigenous arts, culture and tradition will once again kick off the new season September 7th to the 9th in and around the PAC.  It will be expanded this year, feeding off the momentum of the inaugural event last season with something for most everyone in both music and theatre as well as other art forms.

Tied in with that event, which Mayor Sendzik highlighted last night, was the celebration of the late Gordon Downie scheduled for October 18th.  Walking the Path of Reconciliation will be a celebration by Canadian artists of the impact of Gord's art and work.  Downie of course died last year after completing his final tour with The Tragically Hip, and not before making a special effort to shine light on the reconciliation with Canada's First Peoples.  The concert is a collaboration with The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund and will feature artists ranging from Twin Flames, Bruce McCulloch, Tom Wilson and Danny Michel to Trent Severn, Matthew Barber, Damnhait Doyle and others.

For tickets and more information on all upcoming performances, go to www.FirstOntarioPAC.ca or call the box office at 905-688-0722.

This coming Sunday afternoon in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Gallery Players will present the final concert of the current season, Opera in Concert - "Folly in Love" by Alessandro Scarlatti.  Directed by Bud Roach, the performance features Capella Intima along with Members of the Nota Bene Baroque Players from the Guelph area, along with soloists Sheila Dietrich, soprano; Vicki St. Pierre, mezzo-soprano; Bud Roach, tenor; David Roth, bass; along with instrumentalists including Julie Baumgartel and Rona Goldensher on violins, John Wiebe on viola, Margaret Gay on cello, Borys Medicky on harpsichord and Terry McKenna on lute.

The opera is full of comic themes including mistaken identity, sibling rivalry and of course, love at first sight.  It was the first opera for the then eighteen-year-old Scarlatti, premiering in Rome in 1679. The public quickly embraced this new, youthful voice in the world of opera, in spite of the fact there was a papal decree against such scandalous behaviour as women on stage and even the ban on the church's employment of theatre musicians.

Tickets to Opera in Concert are available in advance by calling Gallery Players at 905-468-1525, or you can pick them up at the PAC box office on Sunday afternoon.

Finally, Hamilton-based composer Robert Bruce's "Blues Hologram" debut concert comes up next Wednesday evening, June 6th at the Art Gallery of Hamilton in the Tanenbaum Pavilion.  This will be the first public presentation of the group's intriguing musical style and sound, integrating both live music and a cinematic experience in a multi-media concert performance.  Each song will be performed while accompanying a specially-produced short film.

The performance will highlight the vocal duets of classically-trained Amy Dodington and the more earthy, gospel-infused style of Martina Aswani performing the compositions of Robert Bruce, blending both classical elements and basic blues elements he grew up with and learned throughout the 60s and 70s in the areas of popular and rock music.  Four of the songs have been recorded already, in fact, and featured in Bruce's first full-length feature film, "Love Bonds", now in the final stages of post-production.

Bruce and singers Dodington and Aswani will be joined by Hamilton percussionist Dave Simpson, who has worked with Bruce several times over the last ten years.

The event next Wednesday, June 6th begins at 7:30 with the doors opening at 7.  Tickets are $20 and available at the door, or in advance via PayPal at www.robertbrucemusic.com.

Lots to see and do in Niagara and beyond this week and in the months ahead.  Enjoy!

June 1st, 2018.