KW Symphony’s “Live By Request”
I attended the KW Symphony’s concert “Live By Request.” It was billed as an opportunity for the audience to decide what the symphony plays. I was intrigued enough by this idea to attend. At each stage you got to choose between 3 selections on your cell phone. Sometimes the votes were very close and sometimes […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir’s “Threshold of Night”
I went to DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert titled “Threshold of Night.” The choir is debuting their new slogan — “giving ideas voice.” The choir was joined by Lottie Enns-Braun on organ and Allen Harrington on saxophone, both from Winnipeg. Here are the choir pieces (I’ll indicate organ with * and saxophone with +): Michael McGlynn […]
KW Symphony’s “Edwin’s Final Beethoven”
I attended the KW Symphony’s performance titled “Edwin’s Final Beethoven.” Edwin Outwater, the symphony’s director, has conducted all 9 Beethoven symphonies over the last 10 years. Here’s the program: Ludwig van Beethoven — Symphony No. 2 in D major, op. 36 Erich Wolfgang Korngold — Concerto in D major for Violin & Orchestra, op. 35 […]
DaCapo’s “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind”
I went to DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Blow, Blow Thou Winter Wind.” Like the recent symphony concert I went to, it was an occasion to enjoy beautiful music I hadn’t heard before. The program had a Shakespeare theme, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of his death. Here’s the program: Harry Friedman — Songs from Shakespeare […]
KW Symphony’s “Scheherazade”
I went to the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s concert “Scheherazade.” Usually when I go hear an orchestra live I’m going to hear at least one piece that I already know. This time I didn’t know any of the pieces — but with brilliant composers and a terrific orchestra, you can’t go wrong. It was a concert of […]
DaCapo Choir’s “Winding Toward Peace”
I went to DaCapo Chamber Choir’s first concert of the season, “Winding Toward Peace.” Guitarist Kevin Ramessar joined the choir — I think I’ve seen him before, a while ago. It’s a bit unusual for a guitar to be played with a choir but it worked well in this case. The choir and guitarist were […]
KW Symphony’s “Beethoven Marathon”
The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is celebrating its 70th season. To kick it off, they had 3 Beethoven concerts over this weekend. All of the pieces played during these concerts, except for “O Canada,” were by Ludwig van Beethoven. The symphony is conducted by Edwin Outwater. Beethoven wrote 5 piano concertos — all 5 were played during […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir’s “Sun Light”
I attended DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Sun Light.” It was the last concert of the season, following “Journey Into Night.” The concert was held at Sharon Temple in the village of Sharon, Ontario. The wooden building was built in 1832 by a group known as the Children of Peace and is now a national historic […]
DaCapo Chamber Choir’s “Journey Into Night”
I attended the DaCapo Chamber Choir’s concert “Journey Into Night.” The centrepiece of the concert was the 14-minute “When David Heard” by Eric Whitacre. It’s filled with despair, based on the Bible text that starts “When David heard that Absalom was slain he went up into his chamber over the gate and wept.” As for […]
Guelph Symphony Orchestra’s “The Planets”
I went to Guelph Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of “The Planets.” The concert started with Glenn Buhr’s “Akasha (Sky)” and Carl Reinecke’s “Concerto in D major for Flute and Orchestra.” I didn’t know either of these pieces — they were fine, but didn’t really grab me. Laura Andrew played flute in the Reinecke. The concert finished […]