A trio of passionate storytellers transport us to exotic destinations in song.
The Mirror Visions Ensemble (MVE), Soprano Mireille Asselin, Tenor Scott Murphree, Baritone Jesse Blumberg with Grant Wenaus accompanying on piano, is passionate about storytelling through art song, laced with humor. “Charm is a quality that this ensemble of three engaging singers has in spades”, also praised for “memorable music making”, this is sure to be intriguing and delightful evening. MVE will sing their way to far-flung destinations, real and imaginary, with travel songs by Barber, Berlioz, Blangini, Duparc, Haydn, Poulenc and Hugo Wolf along with MVE commissions by Tom Cipullo and Scott Wheeler, as well as Gilda Lyons’ “Great Barrier Reef.” The poetry of Baudelaire, Joyce and Metastasio is featured, as well as the correspondence of Paul Bourget, Isabella Stewart Gardner and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Come share the ride!
Hello NOCCA friends! As the weather finally starts to warm up and Summer has officially started we want to tell you about the 7th Annual Vernon Proms which is about to kick-off on June 23rd and runs through to July 17th. Come out and support our local musicians!
There are over 25 concerts, many of them free (or by donation – pay what you can), representing a variety of music genres – from medieval, baroque and classical to jazz and world music. There are five public concerts at Polson Park Bandshell – bring your picnic baskets and chairs or blankets.
The festival opens June 23 with a concert of French baroque music by Francois Couperin performed by a world-class period instruments ensemble Contrasto Armonico (now based in Victoria) at Vernon Peace Lutheran Church 7:30 pm; and in Kelowna June 24, 7:30 pm at St. Michael’s Cathedral.
The first week of the Proms continues with “A Trip to the Emerald Isle” by Ancora and Friends with a free Celtic music celebration June 25, 3 pm at Peace Lutheran Church.
Okanagan Recorders Orchestra presents a free concert June 26, 2 pm at Peace Lutheran Church.
Partners in Crime bring a witty musical storytelling by Cvetozar Vutev and Curtis Howell illustrated with music for violin, viola, harpsichord and pianoforte by J.S. Bach and G.P. Telemann June 26, 7:30 pm at Peace Lutheran Church.
Crowd favourite Fish on Five Brass Quintet brings pop, jazz and light classics to Polson Park June 27 at 6 pm.
The Vernon Jazz Club and SilverStar Mountain present Sean Bray’s Peach Band playing “a hybrid of instrumental American roots with a jazz improv sensibility” June 29, 7:30 pm at the National Altitude Training Centre Auditorium, SilverStar.
Alexandra Babbel’s pupils with bright singing futures, accompanied by Graham Vink, will delight you with free classical favourites from Purcell, Strauss and Faure July 2, 3 pm also at Peace Lutheran Church.
The 20-piece Okanagan Symphony Wind Ensemble presents an eclectic mix of the best concert band music of the last 50 years under director Dennis Colpitts July 2, 6 pm at Polson Park.
Vernon Proms also runs a Youth Music Camp this year, July 4-8. For ages five to nine, from 10 to 10:45 am, and ages 10 to 16 from 11:45 am to 1:30 pm at Vernon Peace Lutheran Church, cost $30.
Buy single concert tickets and obtain more information about the rest of the festival line-up at vernonproms.ca.
Festival passes for 11 ticketed concerts are: General – $240 ($320 value, 25% off) Senior/Student – $199 ($265 value; 25% off) Music Student – $50 ($265 value; 80% off)
NOCCA will be holding its AGM at the above date and time. In consideration of COVID-19 restrictions, once again, this year’s AGM will be held on ZOOM. If you would like to attend the AGM please email Su Lonsdale at nocca.secretary1@gmail.com and she will send you the password and instructions for using ZOOM.
In addition to a review of the past year, we will be revealing our plans for the coming season.
The minutes of the AGM will be distributed following the meeting.
Joe Trio 7:30 pm Monday May 2, 2022 at Trinity United Church, Vernon BUY TICKETS
A new breed of classical musicians, Joe Trio is not your average piano trio. They don’t want to be neatly categorized, but instead strive for diversity, versatility, and more than a little humour and unpredictability. Their repertoire consists of the classics – from Papa Haydn to Uncle Shostakovich, new works by contemporary composers, and their own arrangements of popular, jazz and rock tunes. And they’re not afraid to mix together so many styles of music into a single piece it makes your head spin! More than virtuosi, the Trio’s members are fantastic performers who engage the audience in a way few classical musicians can. Amply witty, charming, and tremendously musical, Joe Trio leaves audiences with a new appreciation for classical music.
Since Joe Trio was formed in 1989, this classically trained violin-cello-piano threesome has presented hundreds of concerts throughout Canada and the United States – ten provinces, one territory, and thirty-six states so far. They’ve played everywhere from Whitehorse to Corpus Christi, and from Sacramento to St. John’s, and even in Ely, Nevada. Joe has been heard on many CBC Radio shows including the old Morningside show, Disc Drive, The Music Room, West Coast Performance and Quirks and Quarks.
They recorded their first CD, “A Cup of Joe” in 1997, and their second album, recorded with CBC and entitled “Set ’em up, Joe” (2001), was nominated for Best Classical Performance at the West Coast Music Awards. In recent years Joe collaborated with the late Canadian broadcaster and writer Stuart McLean when Joe fiddler Cameron Wilson set the music to McLean’s “A History of Canada”. In 2011 Joe recorded their third CD, “Cold Cuts”.
That same year, violinist Cameron Wilson premiered his film noir operetta “Supernatural Noir” co-written with librettist Kico Gonzalez Risso which included Joe Trio as the house band for the production. 2011 was also the year Joe travelled to Smithers BC to premiere another work by Cameron Wilson, “Fragile Magic” (the Salmon Symphony) which involved the trio coaching and performing in a weekend of workshops and classes with local string instrumentalists, choirs and first nations drummers. In October 2014, the trio joined forces with the late Stuart McLean again this time on a Vinyl Cafe tour of BC and Alberta.
Opening the concert is Gus Hansen. Produced organically in the heart of the Okanagan valley, Gus has been playing guitar for 15 years and is thrilled to be a part of the NOCCA experience. When he’s not touring locally with the O’Keefe Entertainers, Gus enjoys spending most of his time inside, listening to music with his cat. As he prepares to leave for music studies at Capilano, Gus is grateful to receive an opportunity to perform for such an excellent community and hopes you enjoy the show!
Please note: this concert is being held at Trinity United Church, 3300 Alexis Park Drive, Vernon BC.
Click on the image/link below to view a video of the Joe Trio:
SINGLE CONCERT TICKETS Adults – $40 22 and Under – $20 Guest of a subscription member $35
Canadian Guitar Quartet 7:30 pm Friday March 25, 2022 BUY TICKETS
For more than twenty years, the Canadian Guitar Quartet has been performing chamber music for guitar at an international level of excellence. After their American debut in New York in 1999, classical music lovers have been clamoring for encore after encore throughout the three Americas and Europe.
It has been almost twenty years since they last performed here in Vernon and the response was the same, a resounding standing ovation. They are finally returning.
Founding member, Louis Trépanier along with fellow musicians Jérôme Ducharme, Renaud Giguère and Christ Habib will take the stage at the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre on Friday evening, March 25 at 7:30 and present a program featuring transcriptions from Mozart to their own compositions.
As an original member, M. Trépanier can state that the 2022 version of CGQ is arguably the best and most versatile since the quartet’s inception, and that statement is confirmed by past members of the quartet as well.
The Canadian Guitar Quartet is the perfect example of a coming together of four amazing individual talents. In the case of the CGQ, the musical result is far greater than the sum of the parts.
The guitar can be one of the most sensual of musical instruments. Listen to the harmonies, the counterpoint and the intricacies of the melodies. Hear the response of each of the musicians to the inflections from the others. Sit back and enjoy the Canadian Guitar Quartet!
Opening for the Canadian Guitar Quartet are two of the North Okanagan’s finest young cellists, Holly McCallum and Angela Zeng. Holly comes to us from White Lake and is preparing for university. Angela is a Grade 12 student at Kalamalka Secondary in Coldstream. These amazing ladies have been members of the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra (OSYO) and have both held the position of principal cellist during their tenure with the OSYO. Together they recently performed the Serenata for Two Cellos and Orchestra by Carlo Alfredo Piatti with the combined OSO and OSYO. Both Angela and Holly study cello with John Kadz, Johanne Perron and Morna Howie.
Click on the image/link below to view a video of the Canadian Guitar Quartet:
SINGLE CONCERT TICKETS Adults – $40 22 and Under – $20 Guest of a subscription member $35
North Okanagan Community Concert Association 