It doesn't seem possible we are already talking about the upcoming second season of the Foster Festival in St. Catharines, but here we are anticipating summertime laughs at the PAC.
If you were not paying attention the last couple of years, the Foster Festival was formed by Executive Director Emily Oriold and Artistic Director Patricia Vanstone to celebrate the plays of Canada's favourite playwright, Norm Foster. Foster, who has been a summer theatre circuit staple for over a quarter of a century, now has a festival devoted entirely to his vast body of work for the stage.
In the inaugural season in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, the Foster Festival presented three Foster plays, each playing for about 3 weeks each, running from late June through to late August. Two Foster classics were staged along with a premiere of a new Foster play; the Festival has as part of its mandate to premiere at least one new play by their namesake playwright each year.
The first season started slowly but as the word got out this is no ordinary summer theatre festival, sales picked up and by the end of the summer everyone was pleased with the outcome of the first season. Would there be room for improvement? Of course there would be. But was it the right decision to base the Festival in downtown St. Catharines? I would have to say absolutely yes!
Foster himself appeared in the first play of the season, On a First Name Basis, and attended the opening nights of the following two plays. So he is very much a part of the Festival that bears his name.
This year, the Foster Festival unveils not one but two new Foster plays as they continue to gain a foothold in the busy summertime entertainment schedule here in Niagara with a roster of new and returning artists both from the Shaw Festival and movies and TV.
The season kicks off June 21st with the World Premiere of Screwball Comedy, directed by Patricia Vanstone and starring Joanna Douglas, Kevin Hare, Darren Keay and Eliza Jane Scott. Keay returns after a successful run in last year's World Premiere, Halfway to the North Pole.
Screwball Comedy is set in 1938 and involves budding reporter Mary Hayes, trying to break into the male-dominated world of newspaper reporting. Full of snappy period dialogue, this comedy sends up the screwball comedies we all remember seeing in the theatre while growing up.
Foster's Old Love opens July 12th, and features the real-life husband and wife team of Janet-Laine Green and Booth Savage as Molly and Bud. Also starring is Melanie Janzen, who wowed audiences last year as the trio of women in Here on the Flight Path.
Old Love, also directed by Vanstone, is a story of courtship, rekindled romance and the importance of hope in everyday life. Bud is divorced and Molly is recently widowed. At her husband's funeral, they meet...
The third and final play of the season is the second World Premiere of the season at the Foster Festival, a play titled Lunenburg. Again directed by Vanstone, the play features the return of Melanie Janzen along with Shaw veteran actors Peter Krantz and Catherine McGregor. Lunenburg opens August 2nd and will close down the Festival on August 18th.
Lunenburg is set, naturally, in Lunenburg Nova Scotia, and mixes love, mystery and a lot of laughs as American widow Iris Oulette and friend Natalie arrive in town to a house she's recently inherited from her recently deceased husband.
If you did not attend last year's Festival, I urge you to take some time and discover what's happening in downtown St. Catharines this summer. The Foster Festival is the only Canadian theatre festival to celebrate the work of a living playwright. And with Foster already having written about 60 plays to date, the Festival has lots of material to draw upon in coming seasons.
Foster, for his part, is now an Officer of the Order of Canada, a honour bestowed on him back on December 31st. It is an honour richly deserved and befitting a playwright who has made so many laugh and think for so many years.
To find out more about the Foster Festival, visit their website at www.fosterfestival.com. You can purchase tickets directly through the site or through the FirstOntario PAC box office by calling 905-688-0722.
With spring just around the corner, can summertime fun be far behind?
Have a great week!
February 19th, 2017.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Enjoying a night out swinging with John Sherwood & Friends
It has been a little while since I last wrote in this space, and for that I apologize. A busy schedule and really feeling tired from a lot of work lately have kept my creative juices from flowing freely. But with renewed interest after a bit of a break, I hope to return to writing on the arts and other related topics on a semi-regular basis. Maybe not every week as in the past, but on at least an occasional basis.
So with that out of the way, a heartfelt thank you goes out this weekend to the friendly staff of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines. Once again they were kind enough to invite this humble scribe to their Encore! Professional Concert Series at Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.
I've written before about the uniformly high quality of the performances offered in the series, and also the lamented general lack of interest on the part of the general public. Try as they might, the School of Fine Arts just couldn't seem to gain a foothold on growing their audience for exceptional classical and jazz concerts in Niagara.
But perhaps they are beginning to turn the corner, if Friday evening's performance is anything to go by. The largest venue at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre was almost full this time around to welcome to the stage local jazz favourite John Sherwood and his musical friends. Now granted Sherwood is a pretty safe bet almost anywhere, as his performances are usually well attended wherever he goes.
Still, if the Encore! Professional Concert Series needed a cure for their identity crisis, John Sherwood provided it in spades.
John must have worked well in advance to book the talent he brought with him on stage Friday night, as they are all first-rung jazz masters on the Canadian scene in their own right: Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Pat Collins on bass, Mike Murley on saxophone and none other than Terry Clarke on drums.
The programme was called Canadian Jazz Scene, although save for an obvious tip of the hat to Oscar Peterson to lead off the proceedings, the rest of the evening featured the group as either a trio or quintet on a collection of jazz standards from literally all over the world.
John and the boys were swinging hard at times, gently swinging on occasion and at least once offered a hybrid of the two, including on Pat Metheny's classic James. But no matter the tempo, everything was anchored by that rock-solid foundation offered at the keyboard of the majestic Steinway & Sons Concert Grand by John Sherwood himself. He truly is a master of the instrument.
John also happens to be the resident piano tuner for all the pianos at the PAC, so he knows them inside out to begin with, and was able to coax just the right amount of sound and swing throughout the evening.
The evening was inexplicably cut short as they introduced the final tune, I Want to Be Happy when the fire alarm began to sound and everyone had to file out a little prematurely, greeted on the street by the wailing of fire engine sirens coming down St. Paul Street. I have not heard officially what caused the problem, but rumours persist about a malfunctioning popcorn machine on site.
No matter, things were popping and hopping all night long inside the PAC and I doubt anyone would feel hard done by when the alarm finally did sound.
It's a funny thing about John. He could probably write his ticket to perform with anyone he wanted anywhere in the world, he is that good. But he chooses to stay right here in his adopted home town where he grew up and built up his musical career. We are all the richer for it, of course, but one wonders what kind of offers he's had over the years.
I recall having a wonderful meeting with John at his north St. Catharines home about 5 years ago now when I was researching the whereabouts of one of the two famous grand pianos that used to grace the massive radio studio where I used to work at CKTB Radio. Turns out the larger of the two is now John's personal piano at home, fully refurbished and looking astounding after all these years.
In an odd twist of fate, my current job as a letter carrier for Canada Post has seen me deliver John's mail on several occasions over the past year! He is not aware of the fact I am sure, but I smile whenever I approach his house, knowing the connection between my former career and the piano sitting just beyond the front door of his north St. Catharines home.
Thanks again John and friends, for a very entertaining evening of jazz classics from the Great American Songbook. And thanks to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts for inviting me to enjoy the show on Friday night.
Have a great week!
February 12th, 2017.
So with that out of the way, a heartfelt thank you goes out this weekend to the friendly staff of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines. Once again they were kind enough to invite this humble scribe to their Encore! Professional Concert Series at Partridge Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.
I've written before about the uniformly high quality of the performances offered in the series, and also the lamented general lack of interest on the part of the general public. Try as they might, the School of Fine Arts just couldn't seem to gain a foothold on growing their audience for exceptional classical and jazz concerts in Niagara.
But perhaps they are beginning to turn the corner, if Friday evening's performance is anything to go by. The largest venue at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre was almost full this time around to welcome to the stage local jazz favourite John Sherwood and his musical friends. Now granted Sherwood is a pretty safe bet almost anywhere, as his performances are usually well attended wherever he goes.
Still, if the Encore! Professional Concert Series needed a cure for their identity crisis, John Sherwood provided it in spades.
John must have worked well in advance to book the talent he brought with him on stage Friday night, as they are all first-rung jazz masters on the Canadian scene in their own right: Kevin Turcotte on trumpet, Pat Collins on bass, Mike Murley on saxophone and none other than Terry Clarke on drums.
The programme was called Canadian Jazz Scene, although save for an obvious tip of the hat to Oscar Peterson to lead off the proceedings, the rest of the evening featured the group as either a trio or quintet on a collection of jazz standards from literally all over the world.
John and the boys were swinging hard at times, gently swinging on occasion and at least once offered a hybrid of the two, including on Pat Metheny's classic James. But no matter the tempo, everything was anchored by that rock-solid foundation offered at the keyboard of the majestic Steinway & Sons Concert Grand by John Sherwood himself. He truly is a master of the instrument.
John also happens to be the resident piano tuner for all the pianos at the PAC, so he knows them inside out to begin with, and was able to coax just the right amount of sound and swing throughout the evening.
The evening was inexplicably cut short as they introduced the final tune, I Want to Be Happy when the fire alarm began to sound and everyone had to file out a little prematurely, greeted on the street by the wailing of fire engine sirens coming down St. Paul Street. I have not heard officially what caused the problem, but rumours persist about a malfunctioning popcorn machine on site.
No matter, things were popping and hopping all night long inside the PAC and I doubt anyone would feel hard done by when the alarm finally did sound.
It's a funny thing about John. He could probably write his ticket to perform with anyone he wanted anywhere in the world, he is that good. But he chooses to stay right here in his adopted home town where he grew up and built up his musical career. We are all the richer for it, of course, but one wonders what kind of offers he's had over the years.
I recall having a wonderful meeting with John at his north St. Catharines home about 5 years ago now when I was researching the whereabouts of one of the two famous grand pianos that used to grace the massive radio studio where I used to work at CKTB Radio. Turns out the larger of the two is now John's personal piano at home, fully refurbished and looking astounding after all these years.
In an odd twist of fate, my current job as a letter carrier for Canada Post has seen me deliver John's mail on several occasions over the past year! He is not aware of the fact I am sure, but I smile whenever I approach his house, knowing the connection between my former career and the piano sitting just beyond the front door of his north St. Catharines home.
Thanks again John and friends, for a very entertaining evening of jazz classics from the Great American Songbook. And thanks to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts for inviting me to enjoy the show on Friday night.
Have a great week!
February 12th, 2017.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
The Christmas conundrum
I will admit it. I have a great deal of trouble finding the Christmas spirit these days. Maybe because I am getting older, but I think it is more a reflection of how busy and over-commercialized the season has become.
I know it seems to have always been over-commercialized, but these days it just seems to be all the more so, when you go into a store or the shopping mall in October and they already have the piped in Christmas music going full tilt. Geez, the Halloween decorations are not even down yet!
So it is with trepidation I admit to finding it more and more difficult to find the spirit of Christmas, or whatever your personal celebration at this time of year might happen to be. I'm there now, and in full Christmas music listening mode these days. Right now listening to one of my all time favourite classic Christmas recordings, The Glorious Sound of Christmas with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. This is an early-60s recording with arrangements by Arthur Harris that still sound great today, and I am all too happy to supply you with a copy of the CD at a great price through www.finemusic.ca.
But I defiantly hold off on listening to Christmas music as much as possible until the first of December. Why? Simply because we get overloaded with it every year, and I want to at least try to keep it fresh sounding and enjoyable until Boxing Day.
Same goes for the rituals of Christmas as we know them today. I may hit a Christmas bazaar or two in November, but it isn't until December I really pay attention to the season and begin my Christmas shopping. When I do, I am quick and methodical in my pursuit of the perfect Christmas gifts, and make sure it is all done early. I finished today, in fact, and have no intentions of going anywhere near a shopping mall until after Christmas.
Several years ago I tried avoiding the usual shopping haunts altogether and instead shopped locally, preferably in small, locally-owned shops in our city centres, and I must admit it has erased a lot of the stress we put on ourselves at this time of the year. I actually enjoyed chatting with owners of shops I actually go into the rest of the year, and took great pleasure in finding things you just won't find in the mall.
So that's what I do every year now. This year I visited shops in downtown Port Colborne, downtown Thorold, downtown St. Catharines and even Port Dalhousie.* Every visit concluded with a smile and the knowledge I contributed to the local economy rather than some global conglomerate with little or no ties to Niagara.
Still and all, I find it difficult to actually find the spirit of Christmas the rest of the time. I certainly didn't find it the last couple of weeks trying to drive around Niagara, as I encountered so many impatient motorists who should know better and would do well to take a deep breath and just slow down.
I also found it difficult to find in the several lineups I found myself in from time to time, standing near others obviously fuming over losing precious time in a lineup. Again, take a deep breath and just try to relax. You will get everything done, and even if you don't the world likely won't end as a result.
I did, however, find plenty of Christmas spirit the last Saturday in November when I and several of my Canada Post colleagues collected Letters for Santa along the parade route for the Thorold Santa Claus parade. Just seeing those hopeful faces as they handed you their personally-written letters could not help but melt the heart of the most jaded person.
Just last Sunday evening I attended a fabulous Christmas concert at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, part of the Christmas Tidings Ontario tour by Ensemble Vivant, the wonderful chamber group fronted by an old friend, Catherine Wilson. Catherine and I met over 20 years ago now and have kept in touch ever since, and I find that quite rare in the entertainment world where an artist will not only recognize you but actually know you from one visit to the next.
Catherine managed to take some of the traditional, hackneyed Christmas music and breath new life into them in semi-formal dress. Arranger Rick Wilkins provided most of the charts for the concert, and each and every one of them was polished to a high lustre, free of the gaudy tinsel and garland others dress the tunes up with.
It was a pleasure to hear Ensemble Vivant actually enjoy the music they were playing, which truth be told, they have been playing together for quite some time now. But you would never know it with their fresh approach to classics such as Greensleeves (What Child is This?) Silent Night and even It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Add to that the young and innocent voices of the Chorus Niagara Children's Choir and for me, Christmas was beginning to sound enjoyable again.
The tour is continuing as we speak, so if you see Ensemble Vivant's Christmas Tidings tour coming to your community, I suggest you check your Grinchly heart at the door and enter a world of beauty and youthful optimism.
So now I am almost ready for the season. I say almost because in my line of work, delivering the mail for Canada Post means we are busier than ever at this time of year, and I anticipate the coming week to be very busy and heavy with plenty of last-minute parcels and Christmas cards to deliver. That will mean long days, weary nights, and occasionally a screw-up that will make you shake your head in desperation. But it will also involve people smiling at the door as you deliver their cards, letters and parcels, and even an occasional gift from those thankful for services rendered throughout the year.
Yes, Christmas can get you down. But I have found if I look beyond the commercialization of the season and just dig a little deeper, I will be richly rewarded with the treasures of the season at hand. I suggest you do the same if you suffer, like me, the anxiety that comes around this time of year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one all all, and let's meet back in this space one last time before Christmas actually arrives.
Have a great weekend!
December 17th, 2016.
* For the record, this is a partial list of the shops and businesses I visited this year, all of whom provide a warm welcome and unique gifts you would want to give on Christmas morning:
Arlies Flowers & Gifts, Port Colborne
Figg Street Co., Thorold
Stems Etc., St. Catharines
The British Boutique, St. Catharines
St. Joseph's Bakery, St. Catharines
St. Catharines Downtown Farmer's Market
I know it seems to have always been over-commercialized, but these days it just seems to be all the more so, when you go into a store or the shopping mall in October and they already have the piped in Christmas music going full tilt. Geez, the Halloween decorations are not even down yet!
So it is with trepidation I admit to finding it more and more difficult to find the spirit of Christmas, or whatever your personal celebration at this time of year might happen to be. I'm there now, and in full Christmas music listening mode these days. Right now listening to one of my all time favourite classic Christmas recordings, The Glorious Sound of Christmas with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. This is an early-60s recording with arrangements by Arthur Harris that still sound great today, and I am all too happy to supply you with a copy of the CD at a great price through www.finemusic.ca.
But I defiantly hold off on listening to Christmas music as much as possible until the first of December. Why? Simply because we get overloaded with it every year, and I want to at least try to keep it fresh sounding and enjoyable until Boxing Day.
Same goes for the rituals of Christmas as we know them today. I may hit a Christmas bazaar or two in November, but it isn't until December I really pay attention to the season and begin my Christmas shopping. When I do, I am quick and methodical in my pursuit of the perfect Christmas gifts, and make sure it is all done early. I finished today, in fact, and have no intentions of going anywhere near a shopping mall until after Christmas.
Several years ago I tried avoiding the usual shopping haunts altogether and instead shopped locally, preferably in small, locally-owned shops in our city centres, and I must admit it has erased a lot of the stress we put on ourselves at this time of the year. I actually enjoyed chatting with owners of shops I actually go into the rest of the year, and took great pleasure in finding things you just won't find in the mall.
So that's what I do every year now. This year I visited shops in downtown Port Colborne, downtown Thorold, downtown St. Catharines and even Port Dalhousie.* Every visit concluded with a smile and the knowledge I contributed to the local economy rather than some global conglomerate with little or no ties to Niagara.
Still and all, I find it difficult to actually find the spirit of Christmas the rest of the time. I certainly didn't find it the last couple of weeks trying to drive around Niagara, as I encountered so many impatient motorists who should know better and would do well to take a deep breath and just slow down.
I also found it difficult to find in the several lineups I found myself in from time to time, standing near others obviously fuming over losing precious time in a lineup. Again, take a deep breath and just try to relax. You will get everything done, and even if you don't the world likely won't end as a result.
I did, however, find plenty of Christmas spirit the last Saturday in November when I and several of my Canada Post colleagues collected Letters for Santa along the parade route for the Thorold Santa Claus parade. Just seeing those hopeful faces as they handed you their personally-written letters could not help but melt the heart of the most jaded person.
Just last Sunday evening I attended a fabulous Christmas concert at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, part of the Christmas Tidings Ontario tour by Ensemble Vivant, the wonderful chamber group fronted by an old friend, Catherine Wilson. Catherine and I met over 20 years ago now and have kept in touch ever since, and I find that quite rare in the entertainment world where an artist will not only recognize you but actually know you from one visit to the next.
Catherine managed to take some of the traditional, hackneyed Christmas music and breath new life into them in semi-formal dress. Arranger Rick Wilkins provided most of the charts for the concert, and each and every one of them was polished to a high lustre, free of the gaudy tinsel and garland others dress the tunes up with.
It was a pleasure to hear Ensemble Vivant actually enjoy the music they were playing, which truth be told, they have been playing together for quite some time now. But you would never know it with their fresh approach to classics such as Greensleeves (What Child is This?) Silent Night and even It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year. Add to that the young and innocent voices of the Chorus Niagara Children's Choir and for me, Christmas was beginning to sound enjoyable again.
The tour is continuing as we speak, so if you see Ensemble Vivant's Christmas Tidings tour coming to your community, I suggest you check your Grinchly heart at the door and enter a world of beauty and youthful optimism.
So now I am almost ready for the season. I say almost because in my line of work, delivering the mail for Canada Post means we are busier than ever at this time of year, and I anticipate the coming week to be very busy and heavy with plenty of last-minute parcels and Christmas cards to deliver. That will mean long days, weary nights, and occasionally a screw-up that will make you shake your head in desperation. But it will also involve people smiling at the door as you deliver their cards, letters and parcels, and even an occasional gift from those thankful for services rendered throughout the year.
Yes, Christmas can get you down. But I have found if I look beyond the commercialization of the season and just dig a little deeper, I will be richly rewarded with the treasures of the season at hand. I suggest you do the same if you suffer, like me, the anxiety that comes around this time of year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one all all, and let's meet back in this space one last time before Christmas actually arrives.
Have a great weekend!
December 17th, 2016.
* For the record, this is a partial list of the shops and businesses I visited this year, all of whom provide a warm welcome and unique gifts you would want to give on Christmas morning:
Arlies Flowers & Gifts, Port Colborne
Figg Street Co., Thorold
Stems Etc., St. Catharines
The British Boutique, St. Catharines
St. Joseph's Bakery, St. Catharines
St. Catharines Downtown Farmer's Market
Saturday, December 3, 2016
It's beginning to sound a lot like Christmas...
I must admit I am a bit of a slow starter when it comes to delving into my Christmas music library. Though extensive, I usually wait until December before I start pulling out my favourites to listen to again. I just can't get into the spirit of the season until December, no matter what the merchants might otherwise wish.
So it was on December 1st I started listening to some of my evergreen favourites and feeling a little bit warm and fuzzy inside. But to experience the extreme warm and fuzzies, you have to get out there and experience some live music with some like-minded souls.
Fortunately right now there's a wealth of concerts and events coming up sure to fire up the holiday magic for even the most jaded listener. Herewith a look at a few of my favourite things coming up this week, beginning with tonight...
The Brock University Choirs directed by Harris Loewen presents a concert entitled Laudate: Praise! tonight at 7:30 in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
Along with guest instrumentalists, the choirs will perform seasonal and other choral selections by a number of composers including several from Niagara, including Blake, Butler, Loewen, Phelan and Royal. Many of those names will be familiar to anyone following the Niagara choral music scene over the years.
The concert, part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts Viva Voce! choral series, is very affordably priced at $15 for adults and only $10 for students and seniors, and only $5 for those connected to the eyeGo high school program. You can pick up tickets at the door or in advance by calling the box office at the PAC at 905-688-0722.
Two other concerts with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts come up this Tuesday at the PAC as well. The final RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital for the fall season takes place Tuesday at noon in the Cairns Recital Hall, and it is absolutely free of charge. This one will feature piano and guitar students from the School of Fine & Performing Arts. And Tuesday evening at 7:30 The Sounds of Music will come alive in Partridge Hall. That's the title of the concert featuring the University Wind Ensemble from Brock's Department of Music, conducted by Zoltan Kalman.
Billed as "an evening of brilliant works", the concert will include works by Verdi, Richard Rodgers, Frank Ticheli, a World Premiere by Michael Kositsky, and the ever-popular Trumpeter's Lullaby featuring soloist Graham Young. There will also be a number of Christmas selections featuring the children's choir "Enchorus" directed by Catherine Richardson.
Seating is by general admission and tickets are only $10 for adults and $5 for children 14 and under or those participating in the eyeGo program. It's totally free for current students of the MIWSFPA with a valid student ID card.
Sunday afternoon up in Guelph the Guelph Chamber Choir presents their annual Carols for Christmas concert at St. George's Anglican Church at 2:30 pm. St. George's is one of the truly magnificent churches in all of Ontario with an warm ambiance and lots of old wood and marble. It is a joy to hear choral music there, and you'll hear a wealth of it tomorrow as the choir is joined by the Winter Trio, made up of Sharlene Wallace on harp, Ben Grossman on hurry-gurdy and percussion and Ron Korb on flute.
There will be traditional and not-so-traditional seasonal music along with readings appropriate for the season featuring a number of readers from the community. Tickets are available now by calling 519-763-3000 or you can pick them up at the door tomorrow afternoon.
Next weekend a couple of family-friendly Christmas concerts will take place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, beginning with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra's first Classical Family concert of the new season. Entitled A Symphony of Stories, the performance will feature the NSO conducted by Bradley Thachuk along with narrators William Vickers and Karen Wood. They'll present a couple of very popular children's classics, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and William Blake's perennial favourite The Snowman.
The concert will take place in Partridge Hall at the PAC on Saturday and Sunday afternoon with both start times at 2:30 pm. Pick up tickets at the door or call the PAC box office in advance at 905-688-0722.
Finally, the Christmas Tidings Tour is in full-swing across Ontario and comes to the PAC next Sunday evening at 7:30 pm. The concert features Ensemble Vivant led by Toronto-based pianist Catherine Wilson, who have performed together for over 25 years now. They are well-known for their chamber music work across the country and were referred to by the Toronto Star as "Canada's Chamber Music Treasure."
It will most certainly be a holiday-themed show, so be prepared to become un-Grinchified next Sunday night at the PAC. The addition of local children's choirs for the concerts wherever they perform pretty much guarantees that.
I've known Catherine for a lot of years now, having met in Elora about 1991 when Catherine was giving a recital for the late, lamented Guelph Spring Festival. We kept in touch over the years since then and renewed acquaintances a couple of years ago when she performed at Brock as part of the ENCORE! music performance series hosted by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts.
Catherine is coming to town with her group and I am especially looking forward to the visit! You can call the PAC box office for tickets at 905-688-0722, and in fact if you are a Groupon fan they have a sweet deal available right now, as you can get half-price tickets to the concert through Groupon and then picking them up at the PAC box office.
So there you go - a wealth of concerts that won't break the bank this holiday season. Even the Grinch could appreciate that!
Have a great weekend!
December 3rd, 2016.
So it was on December 1st I started listening to some of my evergreen favourites and feeling a little bit warm and fuzzy inside. But to experience the extreme warm and fuzzies, you have to get out there and experience some live music with some like-minded souls.
Fortunately right now there's a wealth of concerts and events coming up sure to fire up the holiday magic for even the most jaded listener. Herewith a look at a few of my favourite things coming up this week, beginning with tonight...
The Brock University Choirs directed by Harris Loewen presents a concert entitled Laudate: Praise! tonight at 7:30 in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.
Along with guest instrumentalists, the choirs will perform seasonal and other choral selections by a number of composers including several from Niagara, including Blake, Butler, Loewen, Phelan and Royal. Many of those names will be familiar to anyone following the Niagara choral music scene over the years.
The concert, part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts Viva Voce! choral series, is very affordably priced at $15 for adults and only $10 for students and seniors, and only $5 for those connected to the eyeGo high school program. You can pick up tickets at the door or in advance by calling the box office at the PAC at 905-688-0722.
Two other concerts with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts come up this Tuesday at the PAC as well. The final RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital for the fall season takes place Tuesday at noon in the Cairns Recital Hall, and it is absolutely free of charge. This one will feature piano and guitar students from the School of Fine & Performing Arts. And Tuesday evening at 7:30 The Sounds of Music will come alive in Partridge Hall. That's the title of the concert featuring the University Wind Ensemble from Brock's Department of Music, conducted by Zoltan Kalman.
Billed as "an evening of brilliant works", the concert will include works by Verdi, Richard Rodgers, Frank Ticheli, a World Premiere by Michael Kositsky, and the ever-popular Trumpeter's Lullaby featuring soloist Graham Young. There will also be a number of Christmas selections featuring the children's choir "Enchorus" directed by Catherine Richardson.
Seating is by general admission and tickets are only $10 for adults and $5 for children 14 and under or those participating in the eyeGo program. It's totally free for current students of the MIWSFPA with a valid student ID card.
Sunday afternoon up in Guelph the Guelph Chamber Choir presents their annual Carols for Christmas concert at St. George's Anglican Church at 2:30 pm. St. George's is one of the truly magnificent churches in all of Ontario with an warm ambiance and lots of old wood and marble. It is a joy to hear choral music there, and you'll hear a wealth of it tomorrow as the choir is joined by the Winter Trio, made up of Sharlene Wallace on harp, Ben Grossman on hurry-gurdy and percussion and Ron Korb on flute.
There will be traditional and not-so-traditional seasonal music along with readings appropriate for the season featuring a number of readers from the community. Tickets are available now by calling 519-763-3000 or you can pick them up at the door tomorrow afternoon.
Next weekend a couple of family-friendly Christmas concerts will take place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, beginning with the Niagara Symphony Orchestra's first Classical Family concert of the new season. Entitled A Symphony of Stories, the performance will feature the NSO conducted by Bradley Thachuk along with narrators William Vickers and Karen Wood. They'll present a couple of very popular children's classics, Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf and William Blake's perennial favourite The Snowman.
The concert will take place in Partridge Hall at the PAC on Saturday and Sunday afternoon with both start times at 2:30 pm. Pick up tickets at the door or call the PAC box office in advance at 905-688-0722.
Finally, the Christmas Tidings Tour is in full-swing across Ontario and comes to the PAC next Sunday evening at 7:30 pm. The concert features Ensemble Vivant led by Toronto-based pianist Catherine Wilson, who have performed together for over 25 years now. They are well-known for their chamber music work across the country and were referred to by the Toronto Star as "Canada's Chamber Music Treasure."
It will most certainly be a holiday-themed show, so be prepared to become un-Grinchified next Sunday night at the PAC. The addition of local children's choirs for the concerts wherever they perform pretty much guarantees that.
I've known Catherine for a lot of years now, having met in Elora about 1991 when Catherine was giving a recital for the late, lamented Guelph Spring Festival. We kept in touch over the years since then and renewed acquaintances a couple of years ago when she performed at Brock as part of the ENCORE! music performance series hosted by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts.
Catherine is coming to town with her group and I am especially looking forward to the visit! You can call the PAC box office for tickets at 905-688-0722, and in fact if you are a Groupon fan they have a sweet deal available right now, as you can get half-price tickets to the concert through Groupon and then picking them up at the PAC box office.
So there you go - a wealth of concerts that won't break the bank this holiday season. Even the Grinch could appreciate that!
Have a great weekend!
December 3rd, 2016.
Saturday, November 19, 2016
Lots to see and do in Niagara this week
As usual, November means lots of concerts and theatre-related events are on the go, many of which often have a holiday theme to them. While I am trying to hold off on listening to any Christmas music until the start of December, that is increasingly difficult once I leave my office and go into practically any other public space.
Still and all, there is lots to see and do this coming week on the music and theatre scene locally, so let's look at a few examples you can experience for yourself and perhaps you too will be able to avoid the holiday music crush just a little while longer...
The ever-popular community-based theatre organization Garden City Productions opened their fall show last evening at the Mandeville Theatre at Ridley College. It's a bit of a departure from the traditional musical theatre norm for the troupe: Monty Python's Spamalot, which as the promotional material explains, is "A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Many find anything to do with Monty Python to be uproariously funny; I tend to run hot and cold on the British humour, but friends of mine who have already seen the show say this is one very funny production. John McHenry is the director and choreographer and John-Luke Anderson is handling music director duties.
Spamalot continues Friday and Saturday evenings through to December 3rd with Sunday matinee performances at 2 starting tomorrow and the next two Sunday afternoons. For tickets and more information, go to www.GCP.TIX.COM or call 905-682-1353.
One of the finest examples of local chamber music is Gallery Players of Niagara, based out of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The concerts are always inventive and the musicians often change with the concerts, so you get a wide variety of musical styles to suit most every taste.
Their new season kicks off tomorrow afternoon at 2 at Silver Spire United Church on St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines. That's one of their performance venues; others include Grace United Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, depending on the concert.
Sunday's performance is entitled Bohemians in Brooklyn and it's described as "a potent mix of cabaret, social history, very juicy gossip, glorious music and all parts fun." With a description like that, it should come as no surprise the concert is headed up by Tom Allen, the host of Shift on CBC Radio 2, who performs on trombone as well as narrating the concert. He's joined by Bryce Kulak on vocals and piano; Lori Gemmell on vocals, harp and guitar; and the one and only Patricia O'Callaghan on vocals and percussion.
This should be an enlightening and enjoyable afternoon of music and conversation, so if you feel the need to get out of the house, I can't think of a better place to be on a cold November Sunday afternoon. For tickets, go to www.GalleryPlayers.ca or call 905-468-1525.
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts kicked off their Viva Voce! Choral Series tonight along with the Walker String Ensemble in north St. Catharines, but there is still plenty of time to catch the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital at the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines. The Tuesday noon-hour recitals feature both students and faculty from the Department of Music at Brock's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts and run through to the end of the school year in the spring.
This Tuesday, November 22nd the Voice students will take to the stage at the PAC, followed on November 29th by the Instrumental students. The final recital before Christmas break will be on December 6th when Piano and Guitar students perform.
No tickets are required and the recitals, just under an hour in length are absolutely free of charge.
Finally, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra presents their second Masterworks concert next Sunday November 27th at 2:30 in Partridge Hall at the PAC, with a concert entitled The Art of Passacaglia. The title derives from the first piece on the programme, Oskar Morawetz' Passacaglia on a Bach Chorale. Also on the programme will be the Brahms Symphony No. 4 and the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin joining the NSO conducted by Bradley Thachuk.
In addition to the music, the annual Silent Auction will be held in the lobby with lots of holiday gift ideas, all helping to support the NSO. For tickets call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
So there you go - lots of entertainment without a single Christmas carol in the bunch. That is no easy feat in late November!
Enjoy your week.
November 19th, 2016.
Still and all, there is lots to see and do this coming week on the music and theatre scene locally, so let's look at a few examples you can experience for yourself and perhaps you too will be able to avoid the holiday music crush just a little while longer...
The ever-popular community-based theatre organization Garden City Productions opened their fall show last evening at the Mandeville Theatre at Ridley College. It's a bit of a departure from the traditional musical theatre norm for the troupe: Monty Python's Spamalot, which as the promotional material explains, is "A new musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Many find anything to do with Monty Python to be uproariously funny; I tend to run hot and cold on the British humour, but friends of mine who have already seen the show say this is one very funny production. John McHenry is the director and choreographer and John-Luke Anderson is handling music director duties.
Spamalot continues Friday and Saturday evenings through to December 3rd with Sunday matinee performances at 2 starting tomorrow and the next two Sunday afternoons. For tickets and more information, go to www.GCP.TIX.COM or call 905-682-1353.
One of the finest examples of local chamber music is Gallery Players of Niagara, based out of Niagara-on-the-Lake. The concerts are always inventive and the musicians often change with the concerts, so you get a wide variety of musical styles to suit most every taste.
Their new season kicks off tomorrow afternoon at 2 at Silver Spire United Church on St. Paul Street in downtown St. Catharines. That's one of their performance venues; others include Grace United Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake and the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, depending on the concert.
Sunday's performance is entitled Bohemians in Brooklyn and it's described as "a potent mix of cabaret, social history, very juicy gossip, glorious music and all parts fun." With a description like that, it should come as no surprise the concert is headed up by Tom Allen, the host of Shift on CBC Radio 2, who performs on trombone as well as narrating the concert. He's joined by Bryce Kulak on vocals and piano; Lori Gemmell on vocals, harp and guitar; and the one and only Patricia O'Callaghan on vocals and percussion.
This should be an enlightening and enjoyable afternoon of music and conversation, so if you feel the need to get out of the house, I can't think of a better place to be on a cold November Sunday afternoon. For tickets, go to www.GalleryPlayers.ca or call 905-468-1525.
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts kicked off their Viva Voce! Choral Series tonight along with the Walker String Ensemble in north St. Catharines, but there is still plenty of time to catch the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon recital at the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines. The Tuesday noon-hour recitals feature both students and faculty from the Department of Music at Brock's Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts and run through to the end of the school year in the spring.
This Tuesday, November 22nd the Voice students will take to the stage at the PAC, followed on November 29th by the Instrumental students. The final recital before Christmas break will be on December 6th when Piano and Guitar students perform.
No tickets are required and the recitals, just under an hour in length are absolutely free of charge.
Finally, the Niagara Symphony Orchestra presents their second Masterworks concert next Sunday November 27th at 2:30 in Partridge Hall at the PAC, with a concert entitled The Art of Passacaglia. The title derives from the first piece on the programme, Oskar Morawetz' Passacaglia on a Bach Chorale. Also on the programme will be the Brahms Symphony No. 4 and the Chopin Piano Concerto No. 1 with pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin joining the NSO conducted by Bradley Thachuk.
In addition to the music, the annual Silent Auction will be held in the lobby with lots of holiday gift ideas, all helping to support the NSO. For tickets call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
So there you go - lots of entertainment without a single Christmas carol in the bunch. That is no easy feat in late November!
Enjoy your week.
November 19th, 2016.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
A Friday night in downtown St. Catharines with some great music
It had been awhile since I had attended a performance at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, save for a Tuesday noon-hour recital a couple of weeks ago. So when the invitation came in to attend the season opener for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts Encore! Professional Concert Series, I jumped at the chance.
This series never fails to impress me with the breadth of talent from all areas of music, based either locally or on tour from elsewhere. Each and every performance is of a uniformly high calibre, and I can't think of a single performance I've attended that was not in some way memorable.
What does trouble me, however, is the lack of public support for the concert series. I've written about this before, when the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts was still based up at Brock, and I noted at the time the concert series should attract a wider audience once it moves down the hill along with the rest of the arts featured at Brock.
There is more aggressive marketing of the concerts now, as part of both the Marilyn I. Walker School themselves and the umbrella marketing of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, where the concerts are held now. But still, I see mostly students at Brock in the audience, and that's a shame.
Oh sure, the public is there alright, but still not in the numbers we'd like to see. Perhaps in time that audience will grow, and I hope it does. These are really enjoyable, affordably-priced concerts you can attend right in the heart of downtown St. Catharines at a pristine new venue.
Last evening, for example, the series kicked off with the recently-formed Walker String Quartet, named of course after the Walker School next door, along with clarinet virtuoso Zoltan Kalman. Kalman, along with the rest of the members of the Walker String Quartet, are all members of the Niagara Symphony along with handling other musical assignments elsewhere in the province. The quartet is made up of Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes on violin, Andrew Simard on viola, and Gordon Cleland who is Principal cellist with the Niagara Symphony.
The group performed the String Quartet in D minor by Haydn, and were joined by Zoltan Kalman for two quintets, the Clarinet Quintet in B minor by Brahms and the ever-popular Clarinet Quintet in A major by Mozart. All were presented with style and elegance; nothing fancy but certainly strong, nuanced performances across the board.
The next concert in the Encore! Professional Concert Series will see the Rondeau Brass Quintet with Laura Thomas on percussion performing January 20th; The Canadian Jazz Scene with John Sherwood on February 10th; and the piano duo of Anagnoson & Kinton on March 10th. Tickets to all these performances are available by calling the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722.
I do want to add a few asides on my experience last evening, all of them positive, I might add. Once again, hearing music in Partridge Hall is a wonderful experience, and I am looking forward to hearing the full forces of the Niagara Symphony in their new home sometime this season. Up until now most of the performances I've attended have been smaller ensembles and the sound has been exceptional.
Although I noted one of the stage lights appeared to burn out during the performance last evening (rather strange to have that happen so soon) the venue is everything you could want in a first-rate concert hall of this size.
I also noted in the lobby at intermission the PAC now has several varieties of tea for sale along with coffee. That's an oversight I lamented last season when I first attended a performance there. Not everyone is a coffee drinker and I appreciate the powers that be noting and correcting that issue. I also quite appreciate the gentle yet obvious bell system for calling you in to the hall for the rest of the performance. It isn't jarring like some are; rather refined I'd say. It was a nice surprise.
Now, I recall at some point there was talk of a proper marquee outside the PAC that was still to come. Is that still a go? I have not see or heard anything about it since, and it would be an important addition to the facade of the PAC.
Finally, although people I saw hunting for a parking spot close by the theatre might feel otherwise, it was wonderful to see downtown alive with people attending so many different events in our city core on a Friday night. There were events in at least three of the PAC venues last night and the Niagara Ice Dogs were playing at the Meridian Centre down the street, so parking was certainly at a premium if you chose not to use the city-owned parking garages. But hey, the parking is there, and now we pay the price for a vibrant and active downtown. You can't have everything!
So all in all, it was a great night out. For me, a seven-minute walk from my house and world-class performances almost every week of the year. What more can you want?
Have a great weekend!
November 5th, 2016.
This series never fails to impress me with the breadth of talent from all areas of music, based either locally or on tour from elsewhere. Each and every performance is of a uniformly high calibre, and I can't think of a single performance I've attended that was not in some way memorable.
What does trouble me, however, is the lack of public support for the concert series. I've written about this before, when the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts was still based up at Brock, and I noted at the time the concert series should attract a wider audience once it moves down the hill along with the rest of the arts featured at Brock.
There is more aggressive marketing of the concerts now, as part of both the Marilyn I. Walker School themselves and the umbrella marketing of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, where the concerts are held now. But still, I see mostly students at Brock in the audience, and that's a shame.
Oh sure, the public is there alright, but still not in the numbers we'd like to see. Perhaps in time that audience will grow, and I hope it does. These are really enjoyable, affordably-priced concerts you can attend right in the heart of downtown St. Catharines at a pristine new venue.
Last evening, for example, the series kicked off with the recently-formed Walker String Quartet, named of course after the Walker School next door, along with clarinet virtuoso Zoltan Kalman. Kalman, along with the rest of the members of the Walker String Quartet, are all members of the Niagara Symphony along with handling other musical assignments elsewhere in the province. The quartet is made up of Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes on violin, Andrew Simard on viola, and Gordon Cleland who is Principal cellist with the Niagara Symphony.
The group performed the String Quartet in D minor by Haydn, and were joined by Zoltan Kalman for two quintets, the Clarinet Quintet in B minor by Brahms and the ever-popular Clarinet Quintet in A major by Mozart. All were presented with style and elegance; nothing fancy but certainly strong, nuanced performances across the board.
The next concert in the Encore! Professional Concert Series will see the Rondeau Brass Quintet with Laura Thomas on percussion performing January 20th; The Canadian Jazz Scene with John Sherwood on February 10th; and the piano duo of Anagnoson & Kinton on March 10th. Tickets to all these performances are available by calling the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722.
I do want to add a few asides on my experience last evening, all of them positive, I might add. Once again, hearing music in Partridge Hall is a wonderful experience, and I am looking forward to hearing the full forces of the Niagara Symphony in their new home sometime this season. Up until now most of the performances I've attended have been smaller ensembles and the sound has been exceptional.
Although I noted one of the stage lights appeared to burn out during the performance last evening (rather strange to have that happen so soon) the venue is everything you could want in a first-rate concert hall of this size.
I also noted in the lobby at intermission the PAC now has several varieties of tea for sale along with coffee. That's an oversight I lamented last season when I first attended a performance there. Not everyone is a coffee drinker and I appreciate the powers that be noting and correcting that issue. I also quite appreciate the gentle yet obvious bell system for calling you in to the hall for the rest of the performance. It isn't jarring like some are; rather refined I'd say. It was a nice surprise.
Now, I recall at some point there was talk of a proper marquee outside the PAC that was still to come. Is that still a go? I have not see or heard anything about it since, and it would be an important addition to the facade of the PAC.
Finally, although people I saw hunting for a parking spot close by the theatre might feel otherwise, it was wonderful to see downtown alive with people attending so many different events in our city core on a Friday night. There were events in at least three of the PAC venues last night and the Niagara Ice Dogs were playing at the Meridian Centre down the street, so parking was certainly at a premium if you chose not to use the city-owned parking garages. But hey, the parking is there, and now we pay the price for a vibrant and active downtown. You can't have everything!
So all in all, it was a great night out. For me, a seven-minute walk from my house and world-class performances almost every week of the year. What more can you want?
Have a great weekend!
November 5th, 2016.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
A busy week in the arts coming up
As October prepares to transition into November, there are plenty of reasons to stay inside and enjoy some great music, theatre and dance in the coming week, both here in Niagara and beyond. So let's take a look at a few of the highlights.
This weekend the Elora Festival Singers kick off their winter season at their home base, St. John's Church in Elora on Sunday afternoon. The concert, entitled Valiant Hearts, pays tribute to the valour of Canadians here in Canada and elsewhere in the world. With Remembrance Day coming up soon, this is a perfect way to remember and honour those who have served so well over the years.
I was at St. John's Church a couple of weeks ago and it is still one of the nicest, most welcoming churches you'll find anywhere. For tickets, call the Elora Festival Singers box office at 519-846-0331 or toll free, 1-888-747-7550.
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines has a couple of musical events coming up this week you will want to attend. The first is the Tuesday Music@Noon recital in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. These recitals by faculty and students at the school of fine arts are always free and from what I can see, very well attended.
This Tuesday November 1st the recital will feature piano, vocal and instrumental students and it begins promptly at noon.
On Friday evening, the Encore! Professional Concert Series gets underway with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts welcoming the Walker String Quartet to Partridge Hall at the PAC. The Quartet, made up of Vera Alekseeva, Anna Hughes, Gordon Cleland and Andree Simard, are joined for this concert by Zoltan Kalman, the Department of Music's clarinet instructor at Brock.
The concert begins at 7:30 Friday evening and will feature music by Brahms, Mozart and Haydn. For tickets, call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
The Hot Ticket series at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre has a couple of performances lined up this week as well. Proartedanza, founded by former National Ballet of Canada dancer and choreographer Roberto Campanella will present a programme featuring two works, Diversion and Fearful Symmetries.
Diversion features choreography by Robert Glumbek and is described as an explosive, high-energy work; Fearful Symmetries, choreographed by Campanella himself, is actually a World Premiere. It explores the choreographer's experience as an immigrant to Canada in juxtaposition with the current generation of young artists influenced by urban aesthetics and pop culture.
Proartdanza performs Wednesday night at 7:30 in Partridge Hall.
The following night the same hall will play host to the first of the season's Classic Albums Live concerts, this time paying tribute to The Band - The Last Waltz. The film documented The Band's seminal farewell concert, of course, which many in the area still remember fondly.
The concert begins at 7:30 on November 3rd at Partridge Hall, and tickets to these and all the Hot Ticket concerts are available by calling the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
And next weekend choral music is front and centre both here and in Guelph. Here, Chorus Niagara kicks off their new season at Partridge Hall at the PAC with a performance of the magnificent Mendelssohn oratorio Elijah, with Robert Cooper conducting.
Chorus Niagara is the Niagara Region's premiere symphonic chorus, performing classic choral masterpieces, new commissions, modern and even seldom-heard works.
The season opener for Chorus Niagara is next Saturday, November 5th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available by calling the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
And the Guelph Chamber Choir also performs next Saturday night at the River Run Centre in downtown Guelph, with a performance of the popular African Sanctus by David Fanshawe. The work brings cultures together through a fusion of recorded African music, percussion, live choir and rock band. Also on the programme will be Gary Diggins' Musical Postcards of Africa with soprano Sheila Dietrich.
Tickets to the performance are available by calling the River Run box office at 519-763-3000.
Have a great week!
October 29th, 2016.
This weekend the Elora Festival Singers kick off their winter season at their home base, St. John's Church in Elora on Sunday afternoon. The concert, entitled Valiant Hearts, pays tribute to the valour of Canadians here in Canada and elsewhere in the world. With Remembrance Day coming up soon, this is a perfect way to remember and honour those who have served so well over the years.
I was at St. John's Church a couple of weeks ago and it is still one of the nicest, most welcoming churches you'll find anywhere. For tickets, call the Elora Festival Singers box office at 519-846-0331 or toll free, 1-888-747-7550.
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines has a couple of musical events coming up this week you will want to attend. The first is the Tuesday Music@Noon recital in the Cairns Recital Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. These recitals by faculty and students at the school of fine arts are always free and from what I can see, very well attended.
This Tuesday November 1st the recital will feature piano, vocal and instrumental students and it begins promptly at noon.
On Friday evening, the Encore! Professional Concert Series gets underway with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts welcoming the Walker String Quartet to Partridge Hall at the PAC. The Quartet, made up of Vera Alekseeva, Anna Hughes, Gordon Cleland and Andree Simard, are joined for this concert by Zoltan Kalman, the Department of Music's clarinet instructor at Brock.
The concert begins at 7:30 Friday evening and will feature music by Brahms, Mozart and Haydn. For tickets, call the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
The Hot Ticket series at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre has a couple of performances lined up this week as well. Proartedanza, founded by former National Ballet of Canada dancer and choreographer Roberto Campanella will present a programme featuring two works, Diversion and Fearful Symmetries.
Diversion features choreography by Robert Glumbek and is described as an explosive, high-energy work; Fearful Symmetries, choreographed by Campanella himself, is actually a World Premiere. It explores the choreographer's experience as an immigrant to Canada in juxtaposition with the current generation of young artists influenced by urban aesthetics and pop culture.
Proartdanza performs Wednesday night at 7:30 in Partridge Hall.
The following night the same hall will play host to the first of the season's Classic Albums Live concerts, this time paying tribute to The Band - The Last Waltz. The film documented The Band's seminal farewell concert, of course, which many in the area still remember fondly.
The concert begins at 7:30 on November 3rd at Partridge Hall, and tickets to these and all the Hot Ticket concerts are available by calling the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
And next weekend choral music is front and centre both here and in Guelph. Here, Chorus Niagara kicks off their new season at Partridge Hall at the PAC with a performance of the magnificent Mendelssohn oratorio Elijah, with Robert Cooper conducting.
Chorus Niagara is the Niagara Region's premiere symphonic chorus, performing classic choral masterpieces, new commissions, modern and even seldom-heard works.
The season opener for Chorus Niagara is next Saturday, November 5th at 7:30 pm. Tickets are available by calling the PAC box office at 905-688-0722.
And the Guelph Chamber Choir also performs next Saturday night at the River Run Centre in downtown Guelph, with a performance of the popular African Sanctus by David Fanshawe. The work brings cultures together through a fusion of recorded African music, percussion, live choir and rock band. Also on the programme will be Gary Diggins' Musical Postcards of Africa with soprano Sheila Dietrich.
Tickets to the performance are available by calling the River Run box office at 519-763-3000.
Have a great week!
October 29th, 2016.
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