It's been another busy week keeping up with all that's happening in the local arts community, as well as significant happenings elsewhere in the province as spring has sprung. So this weekend a short roundup of news & notes that have crossed my desk and computer screen I thought would be of interest to you...
First off, the renowned Elora Singers present J.S. Bach's glorious St. John Passion, conducted by new Artistic Director Mark Vuorinen tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 pm. The concert, designed to usher in the second half of the Easter season will take place at the acoustically wonderful Basilica of Our Lady Immaculate on Norfolk Street in the heart of downtown Guelph.
The St. John Passion was first presented in Bach's Leipzig in 1724 as part of a Good Friday liturgy that was to last several hours. And as was Bach's custom in Leipzig, the Elora Singers will conclude the singing of the Passion with Jacob Handl's unaccompanied motet, Ecce quomodo moritur.
Tickets to the performance of St. John's Passion are available by calling 519-846-0331, or pick them up at the door prior to the performance tomorrow afternoon.
Meantime the Elora Festival, of which the Elora Singers are very much a part, recently announced the lineup for their 40th anniversary season. We'll look more closely at the season in a later post, but to whet your appetite in the meantime I'll let you know the Opening Night Gala comes up July 12th at 7:30 pm in the Gambrel Barn. The concert, to conclude with the requisite fireworks, will highlight the always-popular Carmina Burana by Carl Orff along with a variety of other choral favourites. Performances at the Gala include of course the Elora Singers as well as the State Choir LATVIJA, members of the Grand Philharmonic Children's and Youth Choirs as well as soloists and the duo Piano Six. Once again Artistic Director Mark Vuorinen will conduct along with Maris Sirmais.
Both Piano Six and the State Choir LATVIJA are featured later in the first weekend of the Elora Festival. Tickets are now on sale to the general public by calling 519-846-0331.
Locally, the Brock String and Wind orchestras will hold their final concerts of the season with popular repertoire and world-premiere performances in two upcoming recitals.
Presented by Brock University's Department of Music, the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Zoltan Kalman will present their spring recital, A Touch of Latin, this Tuesday evening in Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. The Orchestra's spring recital, entitled A Spring Serenade, takes place the following evening, Wednesday April 3rd in the PAC's Recital Hall conducted by George Cleland.
Both of these concerts demonstrate the connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts.
The Wind Ensemble will present works ranging from George Gershwin's Cuban Overture to the high-energy Redline Tango and the grandiose Music for a Festival. The Orchestra, meantime, will present Tchaikovsky's Serenade For Strings as well as Vaughan Williams' gorgeous Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.
Tickets to either concert are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office by calling 905-688-0722 or at the door on the night of the performance.
Over in Stratford the big news this week was the announcement The Stratford Festival's 2018 was both an artistic and financial success. The longest season on record, 2018 produced a $1.9-million surplus, with an increase in attendance of 10% to over half a million visitors. Total revenue for the 2018 season was $65.8 million, up 8% from the previous season.
Ticket sales were the highest in a decade, resulting in revenue of $33 million, the third-highest in the Festival's history.
The surplus will go toward the TPT campaign to build the new Tom Patterson Theatre and the Artistic Excellence Fund.
It was also announced by the Festival Board that Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino's term has been extended a further two years, meaning he will be at the helm of the Festival through 2014. Cimolino became Artistic Director six seasons ago and has been very successful in broadening the appeal of the Festival as well as spearheading the construction of the new theatre centre. He's been at the Festival for 32 years now, beginning as an actor in 1988 and rising through the ranks as administrator, General Manager, Executive Director and General Director. He has also continued to direct numerous productions over the years as well.
The 2019 Stratford Festival runs from April through November and includes Othello, Billy Elliot the Musical, The Merry Wives of Windsor and Private Lives month other performances. Tickets are available through the Festival box office by calling toll free, 1-800-567-1600.
Finally, next Sunday afternoon the Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio, celebrating 25 years of music making, will perform in the Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. The Trio, made up of performers James Parker on piano, Annalee Patipatanakoon, violin and Roman Borys on cello have made 20 CDs and have performed more than 2,000 times world wide.
The Gryphon Trio will return to St. Catharines a week from tomorrow to perform Haydn's lively Trio No. 33 in G minor, Love Triangle by Canadian composer Dinuk Wijeratne and Brahms' Trio No. 1, Op. 8.
The concert is the latest presentation by the Gallery Players of Niagara and tickets are available at the door on the day of the performance or in advance through the FirstOntario PAC box office by calling 905-688-0722.
Have a great weekend!
March 30th, 2019.
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