Tag: Community Concerts Vernon

Pianist Sarah Hagen & Tenor Benjamin Butterfield

Benjamin Butterfield & Sarah Hagen – Sunday Feb 26, 2017

by SillyGilly, posted in Concert

Pianist Sarah Hagen & Tenor Benjamin ButterfieldBenjamin Butterfield & Sarah Hagen
Sunday February 26, 2017 2:00 pm
BUY TICKETS

Tenor Benjamin Butterfield and pianist Sarah Hagen unite in a magical offering from the voice and piano repertoire, giving a musical expression of artistry and human emotion.

Praised by The New York Times as “clarion-voiced and vibrant”, Benjamin Butterfield is known for his performances throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Born in Halifax NS and raised in Victoria BC, Benjamin began singing in school choirs and at his local church (Christ Church Cathedral). After graduating from McGill University he received grants from the Canada Council to work with David Gordon in Philadelphia, Diane Forlano in London and Leopold Simoneau in Victoria. In a career spanning thirty years, highlights have included tours with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert as well as with Marc Minkowski and Les Musiciens du Louvre. On the operatic stage he has toured with the Welsh National Opera, New York City Opera, Canterbury Opera in New Zealand and with Canada’s Opera Atelier. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, with the Chicago Symphony at the Ravinia Festival, the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, Le Capitole in Toulouse, the Carmel Bach Festival in California as well as participating in the St. Matthew Passion at the Saito Kinen Festival in Japan under Seiji Ozawa. A prolific recording artist, he has recorded for Analekta, Dorian, CBC Records, Koch International and Timpani (France). He has been featured in Messiah on ZDF at the Handel-Festspiele Halle with Trevor Pinnock and the English Concert and on CBC Radio as a guest host twice for “This is my Music”. Recently Benjamin recorded the St. John Passion with the Bach Choir of Bethlehem (Analekta), the Rhien transcription of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Yellow Barn, and a sixth CD of Ukrainian Art Song for the Ukrainian Art Song Project in Toronto. He is currently Associate Professor, head of voice and co-head of performance for the School of Music at the University of Victoria, and is the 2015 recipient of the UVic. Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Artistic Expression. He has served as guest faculty for Opera Nuova, the Amalfi Coast Music Festival in Italy, The Victoria Conservatory Summer Vocal Academy, Vancouver International Song Institute, Yellow Barn, and Opera on the Avalon.

BC Touring Council’s 2015 Touring Artist of the Year, pianist Sarah Hagen has been heard in concert halls and on the airwaves throughout North America and Europe. As a First Prize Winner in the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, she was awarded the opportunity to perform solo at New York City’s Carnegie Hall. An avid collaborator, Sarah has performed with cellist Ariel Barnes, violinist Robert Uchida, Trio Accord, Ballet Victoria, the Emily Carr String Quartet, among many others, and has appeared as soloist with the Victoria Symphony, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the West Coast Symphony Orchestra, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Pacific. She is Artistic Director for Pro’ject Sound, a performance project involving live piano with large-scale projected images. Sarah’s debut solo album, Glass House Dancing, was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards. Her second album, Devoted: Music of Robert & Clara Schumann, features solo piano works and Clara Schumann’s Romances, Opus 22 with violinist Martin Chalifour, concertmaster of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She currently resides in Toronto where she is putting the finishing touches on her one-woman musical comedy act, “Perk up, pianist!”. sarahhagen.com

This concert will be opened by another of our wonderful North Okanagan “Rising Stars” – harpist, Shae Fraser. Following a successful opening for the 2016 George Elliot Secondary School’s year end music recital, Shae was  featured at a local open air concert in Lake Country. Shae has been playing for just 4 years, studying with local harpist Kate Oswald. She finds inspiration in Celtic folk songs and fantasy soundtracks, along with harpists from the internet that share a similar musical taste.

Concert Program:

John Beckwith (1927- ) Young Man From Canada
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Abendempfindung (“Evening sensations”)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) Fußreise (“Journey on foot”)
Max Reger (1873-1916) Schwalbenmütterlein (“Little Mother Swallow”)
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) Ablösung im Sommer (“Change in Summer”)
Arnold Schönberg (1874-1951) Waldsonne (“Sun in the forest”)
Intermission
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Five Greek Songs
Harry Nilsson (1941-1994) Puppy Song
Nobody Cares About The Railroads Anymore
Michael Flanders (1922-1975)
& Donald Swann (1923-1994)		 The gas man cometh
A G–nu
The Warthog
The Hippopotamus

SINGLE CONCERT TICKETS
Adults – $40  Under 18 – $20
Students on the 8to12 program – $5

Purchase tickets at:

TICKET SELLER
Phone: (250) 549-SHOW (7469)
E-mail: boxoffice@ticketseller.ca

– or –

Visit The Performing Arts Centre Foyer
3800-34th Street, Vernon
All concerts are held in the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.

soucy and bolduc ensemble

Concert review: cool jazz at its finest

by SillyGilly, posted in Review
soucy and bolduc ensemble
W.L. Seaton Secondary student Jacob Soucy, left, joined members of the Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble, Fraser Hollins, Bolduc, Dave Laing and François Bourassa, at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre Jan. 28, 2017

By Jim Leonard
For The Morning Star

The volunteers of the North Okanagan Community Concert Association’s music committee must be thanked for their hard work in bringing first-class entertainment to Vernon.

Saturday’s performance of the Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble was certainly up to the committee’s high standards. But if that wasn’t enough, we were treated to an up-and-coming jazz quartet led by W.L. Seaton Secondary’s jazz phenom Jacob Soucy to start the wonderful evening.

The members, Soucy (trumpet), Craig Matterson (piano), Isley Owens (upright bass), and pinch-hitter drummer Jason Martin, wowed the audience with their take on jazz standards and an original composition by Soucy called Chocolate Milk.

Soucy then joined Bolduc’s group to play There Will Never Be Another You and held his own quite nicely.

We were informed by an earlier article in The Morning Star that Bolduc’s ensemble would not be creating a carbon copy of Brubeck’s albums. The only similarity I noticed was Bolduc’s alto sax tone. It was very close to Paul Desmond’s lighter cool jazz tone.

Many of the arrangements featured long cadenzas at the end or exploratory and wistful piano intros. I was impressed by the group’s ensemble and by the intonation of Bolduc’s sax and the upright bass played by Fraser Hollins. As I am a gigging keyboardist, I know it is a challenge for such players to adjust to the intonation of the piano.

Two arrangements stood out: Take 5 had a unique intro by pianist extraordinaire François Bourassa. He reached into the piano and created a “prepared piano” sound with his left hand resulting in a muted percussive effect. Normally this effect is accomplished by placing various small objects on strategic parts of the piano’s strings, which produce harmonics and other effects. The piece was then played as Brubeck and his quartet would have done. It was there that all similarities ended. The harmony changed and so did the 5/4 meter. The quartet began to develop the familiar opening melody in a symphonic style, teasing the audience with little snippets of the theme passed around instrument to instrument while changing its characteristics ever so slightly. To top it all off was a brilliant drum solo by Dave Laing.

The other outstanding arrangement was the group’s take on Bluette, which started with Bourassa offering an intro not unlike the music of Russian composer/pianist Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915). The arrangement had many different tonal colours, complete with a soul-searching bass solo and frisky duet between the sax and piano to finish the piece.

Other honourable mentions offered were Blue Rondo a la Turk, where the group ignored the irregular note groupings outlined in Brubeck’s piece written in 9/8 time (2+2+2+3), to create a galloping infectious groove by using the usual 3+3+3 note groupings imposed on the melody.

The other piece was Charles Matthew Hallelujah in which many short Hallelujahs à la George Frederick Handel passed between the instruments.These were interrupted by a fast 4/4 swing that jazz players call a “burner.” Within this piece were altissimo sax notes (beyond normal range) and fast scales. This all settled down, prompted by a nice bass solo, to an excellent drum solo using brushes.

The standing ovation given by the audience was rewarded with a version of The Duke, featuring duets between sax and the other quartet members. I hope for this group’s return to Vernon in the near future.

The next NOCCA concert Feb. 26 will feature pianist Sarah Hagen with tenor Benjamin Butterfield. Tickets are still available at ticketseller.ca

– Jim Leonard is a Vernon-based musician who reviews the North Okanagan Community Concert Association series.

remi buldoc jazz ensemble tribute to brubeck

Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble – Saturday Jan 28, 2017

by SillyGilly, posted in Concert

remi buldoc jazz ensemble tribute to brubeckRémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble
Saturday January 28, 2017 7:30 pm
BUY TICKETS

Dave Brubeck Quartet fans take note – we are in for a treat with this Remi Bolduc Ensemble tribute to Brubeck, including the great classics “Take Five”, “Three To Get Ready” and “Blue Rondo a la Turk”. The jazz ensemble features Rémi Bolduc, on saxophone, special guest pianist François Bourassa, Fraser Hollins on double bass and Dave Laing, drums.

Teacher and head of McGill University’s jazz department, Rémi Bolduc is considered one of the best jazz alto saxophonists in Canada. He has recorded with double bassist Marc Johnson, who himself performed with Bill Evans, Ben Monder, Jerry Bergonzi, Kenny Werner and many others. Bolduc’s album, Tribute to Charlie Parker won the Félix award for Best Jazz Album of 2011. In January 2013 he was awarded the Opus prize for Jazz Concert of the Year. His charismatic playing style and dynamic stage presence create a lasting impression on audiences. On Tribute to Dave Brubeck, his latest album recorded in collaboration with the pianist François Bourassa and released to wide public acclaim, the joy these musicians share in playing together is clearly perceptible. Acclaimed at the greatest venues of New York, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo and Beijing, Rémi Bolduc captivates audiences with the dazzling virtuosity and stunning maturity of a highly accomplished musician. Rémi is working on a new project:  Swingin’ with Oscar!, a programme dedicated to the music of the great Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. Rémi Bolduc plays on a Selmer saxophone and Rico reeds.

Pianist and composer François Bourassa, 2007 recipient of the prestigious Oscar Peterson Award at the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, leads one of the most active bands on the Canadian jazz scene. Band members include André Leroux (saxophones, flute), Guy Boisvert (bass) and tandem Greg Ritchie or Philippe Melanson (drums), plus Ivorian-Canadian percussionist Aboulaye Koné, a special guest who adds a world-polyrythmical flavour to several tunes. The latest recording, Rasstones, (Effendi/ Fusion3) is the seventh in a widely acclaimed discography. The quartet has toured on three continents, including recent concerts in Beijing, in major jazz festivals around the world, and in legendary locations such as Dizzy’s Club (Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York) during the memorable Québec Jazz series.

Fraser Hollins began his musical studies at Ottawa University and went on to hone his craft in Montreal at Concordia University. Fraser then found himself participating in musical groups with national and international artists, including musicians Dave Liebman, Mark Turner, Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin and Kurt Rosenwinkel. He currently lives in Montreal, where he teaches at McGill University.

David Laing was born in Kitchener and grew up in a musical family. He studied at McGill University in Montreal and began his professional career shortly thereafter. In the past 15 years he has recorded, toured, and performed with such national and international stars as Jimmy Heath, Junior Cook, Ed Bickert, Denzal Sinclaire and Ranee Lee. He currently resides in Montreal where he also teaches at McGill University.

The Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble

Local trumpet player and singer Jacob Soucy will open tonight’s concert. After receiving an Outstanding Soloist Award at the 2016 BC Interior Jazz Festival and winning a scholarship from the Vernon Jazz Society, Jacob looks to further his music career by playing throughout the Okanagan with various ensembles. He is inspired by live performances and favourite trumpet players Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis…and his musical peers. He is in Grade 12 at W.L. Seaton Secondary and is part of the school’s award-winning Senior Jazz Band.

Tribute To Dave Brubeck Concert Program:

In Your Own Sweet Way
Everybody’s Jumpin
Take Five
Bluette
Three to Get Ready
Intermission
Blue Rondo a la Turk
All the Things You Are
Far More Blue
Charles Matthew Hallelujah

SINGLE CONCERT TICKETS
Adults – $40  Under 18 – $20
Students on the 8to12 program – $5

Purchase tickets at:

TICKET SELLER
Phone: (250) 549-SHOW (7469)
E-mail: boxoffice@ticketseller.ca

– or –

Visit The Performing Arts Centre Foyer
3800-34th Street, Vernon
All concerts are held in the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.

Pianist Ian Parker

Ian Parker, piano – Saturday October 29, 2016

by SillyGilly, posted in Concert

Pianist Ian ParkerIan Parker
Saturday October 29, 2016 7:30 pm
BUY TICKETS

Magnetic, easy-going and delightfully articulate, Canadian pianist Ian Parker captivates audiences wherever he goes. Born in Vancouver to a family of pianists, Ian Parker began his piano studies at age three with his father, Edward Parker. He holds both Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from The Juilliard School, where he was a student of Yoheved Kaplinsky. He was First Prize winner at the 2001 CBC National Radio Competition, won the Grand Prize at the Canadian National Music Festival, the Corpus Christie International Competition and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition. While studying at The Juilliard School, he received the 2002 William Petschek Piano Debut Award and, on two occasions, was the winner of the Gina Bachauer Piano Scholarship Competition.

Heard regularly on CBC Radio, he has also appeared as soloist with major orchestras internationally, including the Cleveland Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony, National Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Minas Gerais Philharmonic Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, as well as every major Canadian Orchestra. He has recorded the works of Ravel, Stravinsky and Gershwin with the London Symphony Orchestra (2010) as well as an all-Fantasie CD entitled Moonlight Fantasies (2011).

Ian Parker returns to Vernon for the exciting début of NOCCA’s new Steinway piano. He will display the dazzling range of his artistry (and of our new piano) in this insightful and passionate performance. www.ianparker.ca

Ian will be joined by the young and talented Jaeden Izik-Dzurko for the final piece of the concert. Jaeden is from Salmon Arm, BC and began playing piano at age five. He is currently studying with both Ian Parker and Dr. Corey Hamm in Vancouver.

This concert is our annual “gala event” where those who feel so inclined are invited to dress “to the nines”.

Concert Program:

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Variations in F minor (un piccolo divertimento) Hob.XVII:6
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) Schubert Song Transcriptions for Solo Piano s.558:
Gretchen am Spinnrade
Auf dem Wasser zu Singen
Ludwig van Beethoven (1811-1886) Piano Sonata No. 12 in A Flat Major, Op. 26
George Gershwin (1898-1937) Three Preludes
Intermission
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Variations and Fugue on a theme by Handel, Op 24
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) Variations on a Theme By Paganini for 2 pianos, with Jaeden Izik-Dzurko

SINGLE CONCERT TICKETS
Adults – $40  Under 18 – $20
Students on the 8to12 program – $5

Purchase tickets at:

TICKET SELLER
Phone: (250) 549-SHOW (7469)
E-mail: boxoffice@ticketseller.ca

– or –

Visit The Performing Arts Centre Foyer
3800-34th Street, Vernon
All concerts are held in the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre.

Concert Review: piano-cello duo electrifies

by SillyGilly, posted in Review

dyachvkov and saulnierBy Jim Leonard – a special review for The Vernon Morning Star

The North Okanagan Community Concert Association (NOCCA) kicked off its season Thursday September 22nd with a rapturous performance by cellist Yegor Dyachkov and pianist Jean Saulnier.

Saulnier began by commenting, “this is not a cello accompanied by piano concert. We are equal partners in the music we have chosen.”

He and Dyachkov proceeded to demonstrate exactly what that statement meant.

The Five Pieces in Folk Style Opus 102 by Robert Schumann was played with great sensitivity. Both players were careful not to assert their part over the other.

Schumann cleverly wrote the music to portray: “With Humour; Slowly; Not Fast; Not Too Surprising and Strong and Marked.” The duo brought these titled works to life.

Brahms wrote his Sonata in E minor Opus 38 for an advanced amateur cellist. It was in three movements: Allegro ma non troppo (Lively but not too much so); Allegro quasi Menuetto – Trio (Lively in the style of a minuet with contrasting trio) and Allegro. Even though the title seemed to indicate a cello sonata accompanied by piano; this was not the case.

The most interesting part of this sonata was the last movement, which contained a fugue (a complex round). The fugue was Brahm’s homage to J.S. Bach’s masterwork The Art of the Fugue. It had the style of Bach’s fugal writing. The notes were passed seamlessly between the piano and cello and gave the impression of a much larger ensemble.

After intermission came Dimitri Shostakovich’s Sonata in D minor.

Throughout the four movements the moods oscillated between miserable, hopeful and urgent. Shostakovitch’s Russia was ruled by the tyrant and mass murderer Joseph Stalin. Stalin banned Shostakovitch’s music, calling it “chaos instead of music.” To the uninitiated, the melodies and harmony may have been too restless.

This listener enjoyed some of the other techniques involved in playing a cello throughout the sonata: pizzicato (plucking the strings instead of bowing them), applying a mute to the bridge of the cello, and portamento (sliding the fingers up and down the fingerboard while bowing). The virtuosic piano part was played brilliantly with the cello following suit.

After a standing ovation, the duo offered a short, quiet encore: Sappiche Ode by Brahms, a perfect end to a wonderful concert.

As is customary at NOCCA concerts, some young up-and-coming talent was also featured. The cello duo of Anastasia Martens and Holly McCallum (both in their early teens) presented some Bach arranged for two cellos.

Both girls showed their abilities and confidence in their playing. Their sound was warm and large and their ensemble playing was excellent.

Watch out world!

The next NOCCA concert is October 29, 2016 featuring pianist Ian Parker and the “new” (1979) Hamburg Steinway grand piano. It will be a gala event where everyone is invited to dress “to the nines” in formal wear. Check out NOCCA’s website nocca.ca, or facebook for the latest news and reviews. Lastly,  many thanks to the NOCCA organization for bringing such stellar talent to the North Okanagan!

– Guest reviewer Jim Leonard is a Vernon-based pianist, organist and composer.