Orchestras Canada

Music students are not only honing their song-writing and performance skills as part of the inaugural season of the Regina Symphony’s Build the Band music education project, they are also being mentored on marketing, fundraising and concert production skills. And the mentoring is paying off. As part of the Arts Management component of the RSO Build the Band program, Campbell Collegiate students Ben McLellan, Brendan Anderson, and Ashley Patoine prepared and presented The Mosaic Company with a proposal to support their concert – and Mosaic has signed on.

Here’s some background: in 2011, the Regina Symphony Orchestra created the Build the Band program, sponsored by Enbridge Pipelines Inc, in collaboration with the Regina Public Schools, to create opportunities for students in the areas of songwriting, performance, and arts administration. Through this program, RSO musicians have been mentoring students in Campbell Collegiate’s Concert Winds Band in their individual band sections. Popular Saskatchewan musicians Jeffery Straker and Belle Plaine (Melanie Hankewich) have also been working with students over the course of an in-depth songwriting course. To prepare students to do strategic marketing, financial planning, and fundraising so that they may manage their own band, the Regina Symphony Orchestra’s Executive Director, Maxim Antoshin, has been sharing experience, too.

With the support of The Mosaic Company, the students will market and organize their own concert, featuring the release of a Build the Band CD featuring songs written and performed by participants in the songwriting course.

For more information, please visit reginasymphony.com.

A number of Canadian orchestras launched their 2012-13 seasons last week. Here’s a quick round-up:

The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, under music director Bill Eddins, announced its 2012-13 season, offering a variety of repertoire and artists over seven different series, a gala with Measha Brueggergosman and the Symphony Under the Sky festival.

The Niagara Symphony celebrates its 65th season in 2012-13 with MasterWorks, Pops and a brand new Family Series. The season, under the leadership of music director Bradley Thachuk, includes the launch of a multi-year Beethoven Project (which will culminate in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in St. Catharines’ new performing arts centre).

Orchestra London, led by music director Alain Trudel, says it’s “pulling out all of the stops next season with blockbuster performances, breakout stars, and a whole lotta Beethoven” over multiple series, guaranteed to appeal to all tastes. Guests include violinist Jonathan Crow, trumpeter Jens Lindemann, harpist Valerie Milot, and conductors Victor Sawa, Brian Jackson, and Uri Mayer.

The Regina Symphony’s season is entitled Around the World – and it features music from France, Germany, Russia, Central America, Antarctica, and more – with a distinctly Canadian twist. Soloists on the season include Canadian Brass, Meaghan Smith and James Ehnes, along with L’Arsenal A Musique’s The Little Prince, and Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra’s Galileo Project.

September 30, October 1 and 2 mark year 2 for Culture Days and the 15th anniversary of les Journées de la Culture. Here’s a quick round up – east to west, more or less – of the orchestral activity we were able to identify via media releases from member orchestras, as well as the user-friendly websites for the movement.
Culture Days : culturedays.ca
Alberta Arts Days : culture.alberta.ca
Journées de la culture : journeesdelaculture.qc.ca

Symphony Nova Scotia: open dress rehearsal, September 30; Musical Munchkins programs at local libraries, October 1; small ensembles in various venues including the Discovery Centre October 1 and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, October 2.

Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil : chamber concert, October 2.
Orchestre symphonique de Lévis : open rehearsal with on-stage seating, October 2.
Orchestre symphonique des Basses-laurentides: meet the musicians, October 2.
Orchestre métropolitain : Sing with the Choir of the Orchestre métropolitain, October 1.

National Arts Centre Orchestra: participating in a complete weekend of Culture Days events presented by the National Arts Centre
Kingston Symphony: instrument petting zoo and open rehearsal, October 1.
Peterborough Symphony: behind the scenes at Showplace Peterborough, October 1.
Toronto Symphony Orchestra: 2 lobby concerts by a small ensemble, featuring performance, story-telling and instrument demonstrations, October 1.
Kitchener Waterloo Symphony: open rehearsal, September 30.
Stratford Symphony Orchestra : orchestra petting zoo, October 1.

Winnipeg Symphony: open dress rehearsal, September 30; small ensembles at Nuit Blanche, as part of Musicians in Healthcare, and at Steinkopf Gardens, October 1.

Saskatoon Symphony: quintet performance at Flowers by Fred, September 30; musical petting zoo, October 2.
Regina Symphony: Chamber Players performance at the Mackenzie Gallery, October 2.

Edmonton Symphony: Open dress rehearsal and tours of the Francis Winspear Centre for Music, September 30; Symphony 101 with D.T. Baker, October 1.

Chilliwack Symphony Orchestra: assorted events at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre, October 1.
Victoria Symphony: instrument petting zoo, October 1 and 2

At the end of March, four musicians associated with the Regina Symphony will head to Central America to offer a series of concerts and masterclasses. RSO concertmaster Ed Minevich, assistant principal clarinettist Pauline Minevich, composer/pianist David Macintyre, and composer/guitarist Ramses Calderon will spend a week in El Salvador and Guatemala through the support of the Saskatchewan Arts Board’s Culture on the Go grant.

The quartet will perform and teach in San Salvador City, Suchitoto City, and Guatemala City, and the tour will conclude with a concert at the Theatre of the Guatemala Conservatory of Music on March 30th, where they will perform with the Guatemala Youth Orchestra – an extension of the work that Ed Minevich and Ramses Calderon have been doing with young musicians and inner-city youth in Regina.

The RSO Chamber Players – an ensemble made up of the twelve principal players of the Regina Symphony – will perform with Regina musician Jeffery Straker and his band “The Handsome Strangers” in four Saskatchewan communities in May.  They’ll be in Weyburn on May 3rd, Strasbourg on May 5th, Gravelbourg on May 10th, and Wolseley on May 13th.

The mixed program will feature the Chamber Players in standard classical repertoire, a solo set by Mr. Straker and band, and then Straker’s music orchestrated – “demonstrating the process of how orchestral music is incorporated into popular genres that audiences can easily relate to while at the same time introducing audiences to orchestral instruments in an interactive manner.”

For more information, please visit here.

The Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières has announced its 2010-11 season, under the direction of Jacques Lacombe.  The season features a rich blend of established classics (such as Handel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, and a program of opera favourites, with soloists and chorus) as well as a new piano concerto by Rachel Laurin (with soloist Marc Bourdeau).  In addition, the orchestra will celebrate important anniversaries of Chopin and Mahler.  For more information about the OSTR, please visit here.

The Regina Symphony has launched its 2010-11 season – and it’s a busy one, consisting of masterworks, pops, chamber orchestra, kids programs and an inventive series of specials.  Newer works on the program include a concert featuring the music of David L. McIntyre, Bramwell Tovey’s Songs of the Paradise Saloon (featuring its dedicatee, trumpeter Andrew McCandless, as soloist), and RSO principal violist Jonathan Ward’s Russian Overture.  For more on the RSO, please visit here.

Tomorrow evening, the Regina Symphony with guest performers violinist Raymond Ko, soprano Sophie Bouffard and the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra, will perform a colourful program entitled Spanish Flair.  The program will be led by RSO music director Victor Sawa, and the repertoire includes Bizet’s Carmen Suite No. 1 (with the youth orchestra), Khatchaturian’s violin concerto, and de Falla’s Suite from the Three Cornered Hat. 

We reference this concert  because it’s a lovely celebration of Saskatchewan talent:  Mr. Ko (who holds the ARCT designation in both violin and piano) was born and raised in Saskatoon, where he recently graduated with a Bachelor of Science Honours in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan. Currently, he is studying medicine at the University of Toronto.  Ms Bouffard was born and raised in Québec City, and received her vocal training at Laval University and also in Belgium; she moved to Saskatchewan in 2002 and teaches voice at the University of Regina.   And the SSYO – now in its 34th season – offers 61 talented students from all over southern Saskatchewan the opportunity to rehearse, perform, travel, and make lasting friendships with other young people who love music.

As well, pre-concert events include a Symphony Preludes talk by Assistant Principal Clarinet, Pauline Minevich; and a performance by the cello and violin students of the Child/Parent String Program of the  University of Regina Conservatory of Performing Arts.  All events take place at Regina’s Conexus Arts Centre.

For more information about the RSO, please visit here.