Encore! Professional Concert Series

  • Encore! Professional Concert Series: Rondeau Brass Quintet

    Wednesday, March 11, 2020 | By

    Rondeau Brass Quintet

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This event has been cancelled as part of Brock University’s ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of students, faculty, staff and the community in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

    Directed by Tim White

    Featuring Brent Adams (tuba), Mike Polci (trombone), Timothy Lockwood (horn), and Paul Otway (trumpet).

    March 20, 2020 – 7:30 p.m. Presented at FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Recital Hall.

    Tickets: Adult – $29^ ; Senior/Student – $23^ ; Children (14 and younger) – $13^ ; eyeGo Program $5*

    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office by calling 905-688-0722 or toll free at 1-855-515-0722, as well as online at firstontariopac.ca.

    ^ Includes the $3.00 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF); other applicable fees and taxes are extra.

    * No CCIF applied; other applicable fees and taxes are extra.

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Uncategorised

  • The MOSAÏQUE PROJECT arrives in St. Catharines to launch the ENCORE! Professional Concert Series for 2020

    Monday, January 20, 2020 | By

    Mosaique 4 musicians with cello viola and violin

    This Friday, January 24, at 7:30 pm the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and the FirstOntario Performing Arts will be co-presenting the final performance of the massive musical initiative by Ensemble Made In Canada: The Mosaïque Project.

    The project is a suite of new compositions by 14 Canadian composers, inspired by each province, territory, and the Indigenous regions of Canada. The thrilling new works from composers including Ana Sokolović, Sarah Slean, Kevin Lau, Samy Moussa, Julie Doiron, Barbara Croall, David Braid, encompass a wide variety of musical genres – from classical, jazz, singer-songwriter, electronic, and First Nations traditions – making up a richly inspiring whole to represent the beauty and diversity of Canada.

    Travelling to almost every corner of the country – from Iqaluit, Nunavut to British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast to Pouch Cove, Newfoundland, and beyond, Ensemble Made In Canada has chosen St. Catharines as the final performance of the two-year long tour, featuring a live-streamed concert and album launch in Partridge Hall.

    The evening promises an extraordinary cinematic concert experience featuring multiple screens providing close-ups of the musicians and their instruments, footage from the tour across the country, as well as newly-created images inspired by the music.

    Friday’s performance will also be the first ENCORE! Professional Concert of the decade for the 250 students enrolled in MUSI 1F10 Introduction to Classical Music, a Humanities context elective course offered by the Department of Music.

    Many of the students attending Friday’s concert have traveled from international destinations to pursue their university studies in Canada. Ensemble Made in Canada’s performance will be an introduction to the piano quartet as a genre and an opportunity to discover a wide variety of musical styles from geographically and culturally diverse regions of the country.

    This course is offered as part of the Walker School’s commitment to exposing Brock students to a broad range of cultural experiences, and nurturing future audiences for the performing arts.

    Ensemble Made In Canada (EMIC) is rapidly gaining recognition as Canada’s premier piano quartet. Awarded the 2006 CBC Galaxie Stars Award from the Banff Centre for the Arts, EMIC was featured in 2008 Chatelaine Magazine’s 80th anniversary issue as “Women to Watch” and called “an ensemble that is leading the next generation of classical musicians.” The members of the group: Angela Park (piano), Elissa Lee (violin), Sharon Wei (viola) and Rachel Mercer (cello) have been forging outstanding individual careers and bring together a wealth of experience having already appeared at prestigious festivals such as Marlboro, Ravinia, Orford, Verbier, Prussia Cove, Pablo Casals and Evian. EMIC has been Ensemble-in-Residence at Western University since 2014.

    The concert will be live-streamed on Ensemble Made In Canada’s website as well as via the streaming service Stingray, reaching millions across Canada and 156 countries around the globe. The same day features the release of the Mosaïque Project album, which will be available on CD, download and streaming channels.

    Maestro Johannes Debus will be hosting a pre-show chat with composers Kevin Lau, Sarah Slean, David Braid and Richard Mascall at 6:45pm

    To purchase tickets visit the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre website.

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    Categories: Announcements, Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events, In the Media, News, Special Events, Uncategorised

  • One-night-only performance set for Encore! trio

    Friday, March 15, 2019 | By

    Trio Amore, including Erika Reiman, Gordon Cleland and Christine Chesbrough

    Trio Amore, including Erika Reiman, Gordon Cleland and Christine Chesbrough, will perform on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    (From The Brock News, March 19, 2019 |By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    Guests attending the next Encore! Professional Concert, presented by Brock’s Department of Music, will be the first to hear Trio Amore perform on stage.

    The trio is coming together for a one-time performance titled Clara’s Love Triangle on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Comprised of cellist Gordon Cleland, pianist Erika Reiman and violinist Christine Chesebrough, the group has arranged a concert featuring works by Clara and Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms.

    With it being the bicentenary of Clara Schumann’s birth, the group thought this was the perfect time to play her trio. Brahms was a protégé and friend of the Schumanns, so the performers felt that adding Brahms’ Op. 8 to the repertoire was a fitting choice.

    “The fascinating relationship between Brahms and the Schumanns would also be an interesting angle for the audience,” Cleland said. “The musicians would all have known each of the pieces the other wrote and were probably mutually inspired by each other.”

    Although the musicians aren’t a full-time trio, they have played together in the past and enjoyed working together while preparing for their upcoming concert.

    “I think this concert is a great opportunity for us and we are grateful to be able to present these wonderful pieces in a fantastic hall,” said Reiman. “The repertoire promises to be full of drama, memorable melodies and originality.”

    Trio Amore will perform on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    Tickets are on sale now through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre’s box office.

    For more information on upcoming performances, visit the Department of Music’s website.

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  • Brock Encore! Series continues with hit show

    Tuesday, January 22, 2019 | By

    TorQ Percussion Quartet standing next to xylophone

    TorQ Percussion Quartet will perform as part of Brock’s Encore! Series on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre. (Photo by Bo Huang)

    (From The Brock News, January 22, 2019 | By: Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    It’s going to be hard to resist the beat at Brock’s latest Encore! Series performance.

    With more than 70 instruments used in their lively show, the TorQ Percussion Quartet plans to get feet tapping and the crowd moving on Friday, Jan. 25 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Held in Partridge Hall beginning at 7:30 p.m., the concert is the second performance of the Department of Music’s Encore! Professional Concert Series.

    TorQ is a four-piece Toronto-based ensemble that utilizes everything from marimbas and vibraphones to tom-toms, cowbells and even tin cans and garbage cans in their energetic performances.

    Music Department Chair Matthew Royal is looking forward to the unique performance and invites Brock faculty, staff and students, as well as members of the community, to attend.

    “The Music Department is delighted to welcome the accomplished percussion quartet, TorQ, back to Brock,” said Royal. “The concert promises to be entertaining, informative and chock-full of inspired musicianship.”

    Formed in 2004, TorQ features the talent of Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell, Jamie Drake and Dan Morphy. The ensemble has developed a dedicated following and has worked to make percussion music accessible to audiences of all ages.

    The group has performed across Canada and internationally, including shows at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention in San Antonio and Indianapolis, and the International Percussion Quartet Festival in Luxembourg.

    TorQ will perform a wide variety of pieces during Friday’s concert, including some composed by members of the Quartet themselves. Guests will also hear works by Canadian composers Dinuk Wijeratne and Ken Shorely.

    Tickets to the TorQ Percussion Quartet performance on Jan. 25 are available through theFirstOntario PAC website.

    For more information on upcoming performances, please visit the Department of Music’s website.

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  • Award-winning pianist returns to Brock for Walker Cultural Leaders Series

    Thursday, November 08, 2018 | By

    david jalbert

    Award-winning Canadian concert pianist David Jalbert will give a recital Friday, Nov. 16 as part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ 2018 performance season.

    (From The Brock News, Wednesday Nov. 7 | By: Sarah Moore)

    Renowned Canadian concert pianist David Jalbert is returning to St. Catharines Friday, Nov. 16 as the next performer in the Walker Cultural Leaders Series.

    The performance will also open this year’s Encore! Professional Concert Series, hosted by the Department of Music at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

    Jalbert, who performs regularly as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe, last came to Brock as part of the MIWSFPA’s 2013 performance season.

    A national and international prize-winner, he has won five Opus Awards, was nominated for three Juno Awards and was the 2007 laureate of the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize of the Canada Council for the Arts.

    Music Department Chair Matthew Royal said the accomplished performer will be a highlight to the School’s 2018 event season, both for the public and music students alike.

    “We are delighted to have David Jalbert return to Brock to give a master class to our piano students, and to perform a solo piano recital,” he said. “He is a superbly expressive pianist whose musicality and intelligence are supported by a flawless technique.”

    Jalbert will perform in Partridge Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Art Centre, where attendees will be treated to a program of solo piano works by Bach, Schumann, Liszt and Fauré. The recital will conclude with a performance of Prokofiev’s monumental Sonata No. 7, Op. 83, in B flat major.

    “The highlight of this concert will, I believe, be the Prokofiev 7th Piano Sonata,” Royal noted. “This is one of those pieces that all pianists worth their salt must conquer at some point in their careers. I predict it will be a ‘tour de force.’”

    Tickets are available by contacting the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office at 905-688-0722 or firstontariopac.ca

    Tickets are $29 for adults, $23 for seniors and students and $13 for children 14 and under. Special $5 tickets are also available through the eyeGo program.

    The Walker Cultural Leaders Series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to Brock’s MIWSFPA.

    The sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in society. The education program is generously funded by Marilyn I. Walker.

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  • Encore! Professional Concert Series presents Pat & Emilia

    Wednesday, March 14, 2018 | By

    Encore Professional Concert Series presents Pat & Emilia

    Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: Pat & Emilia: A Mixed-Media Chamber Opera

    Pat & Emilia is a new mixed-media chamber opera based on the lives of two Windsor, Ontario artists – photographer Pat Sturn (1910-2011) and opera singer Emilia Cundari (1930-2005). Act One, created by Tara Sievers-Hunt, features opera arias from Emilia’s repertoire alongside monologues inspired by newspaper interviews given by the singer from the 1950s to 1970s. Act Two showcases new music by Canadian composer Jeff Smallman with text by Windsor Poet Laureate Marty Gervais.

    Tara Sievers-Hunt (soprano) as Emilia | Jocelyn Zelasko (soprano) as Pat
    Margaret Gillie (clarinet) | Velda Kelly (violin)
    Nadine Deleury (cello) | Mary Siciliano (piano)

    Including familiar arias from Italian opera as well as new music by composer Jeff Smallman. Text by Marty Gervais.

    Preceded by the documentary film, ‘Imagining Angels’, on the making of the opera

    Friday March 23, 2018

    Time: 7:30 p.m.
    Location: Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul Street, St. Catharines

    Tickets: $28.50† adults; $22.50† seniors/students; $12.50† child (14 and under); $5* eyeGo program. General admission. † Includes the $2.50 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF); other applicable fees and taxes are extra. *No CCIF applied; other applicable fees and taxes are extra.

    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Long Distance Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca.

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  • Jane Bunnett visits St. Catharines!

    Friday, February 02, 2018 | By

    The department of music Cuban Rhapsody poster

    The Department of Music presents Encore! Professional Concert Series

    CUBAN RHAPSODY

    with Jane Bunnett and friends.

    Friday, Feb. 9, 2018 , 7:30 p.m.
    Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre,
    250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

    Jane Bunnett looks back and presents some of the most elegant music from Cuba’s rich musical history. Performing music from the beginning of the 20th century until the present, this evening explores the rarely heard European influences in Cuban music by great composers such as Lecuona, Valdes Cervantes, etc., melding European classical styles with Jazz and Afro Cuban Rhythms.

    Tickets: $28.50† adults; $22.50† seniors/students;
    $12.50† child (14 and under); $5* eyeGo program.
    General Admission.
    † Includes the $2.50 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF);
    other applicable fees and taxes are extra. *No CCIF applied; other applicable
    fees and taxes are extra.

    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    Box Office: 905-688-0722; 1-855-515-0722; firstontariopac.ca

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  • Our first Encore! Concert for 2018!

    Friday, January 19, 2018 | By

    The department of music Guy Few and Stephanie Mara poster

    The Department of Music presents the Encore! Professional Concert Series:

    JUMP

    featuring
    GUY FEW (TRUMPET AND PIANO)
    STEPHANIE MARA (PIANO)

    “Jump,” an energetic, cross-cultural program that hops across musical styles.

    Friday, Jan. 26, 2018, 7:30 p.m.
    Partridge Concert Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre,
    250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

    Tickets: $28.50† adults; $22.50† seniors/students;
    $12.50† child (14 and under); $5* eyeGo program. General Admission.
    † Includes the $2.50 FOPAC Cultural Capital Improvement Fund (CCIF); other applicable fees
    and taxes are extra. *No CCIF applied; other applicable fees and taxes are extra.

    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office:
    905-688-0722; 1-855-515-0722; firstontariopac.ca

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    Categories: Announcements, Encore! Professional Concert Series

  • The Department of Music on stage!

    Monday, November 06, 2017 | By

    Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: The Walker Quartet with Karin Di Bella, and Guitar Extravaganza III

    Pictured above is a previous season performance of the Guitar Extravaganza (top), The Walker Quartet (left to right: Anna Hughes (2nd violin), Faith Lau (viola), Gordon Cleland (cello) and Vera Alexeeva (1st violin)), and pianist Dr. Karin Di Bella (bottom right).

    This weekend the Department of Music is presenting two spectacular concerts that will surely be among the highlights of the fall season.

    On Friday Nov. 10, as part of the Walker Cultural Leader Series, Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: The Walker Quartet with faculty pianist Karin Di Bella. The Walker Cultural Leader Series was generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

    Now in its second season, the Department of Music’s resident Walker String Quartet and Karin Di Bella present a program of two of the most iconic works in the string quintet repertoire, the Piano Quintets by Schumann in E-flat Major and Shostakovich in G Minor.

    This concert takes place on Friday Nov. 10, 2017 in the Partridge Concert Hall at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, starting at 7:30 pm. For more information, please visit the Department concert events webpage and the ExperienceBU page.

    Then on Saturday Nov. 11 as part of our continuing celebration of Canada’s 150 year of Confederation, the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre is once again the venue for the ever-popular Guitar Extravangaza III including a special Canada 150 performance of Carpe Noctem.

    Brock University’s annual celebration of the guitar commences at 7:30 pm on Saturday Nov. 11 in the Cairns Recital Hall.  An orchestra of 60 guitars comprised of Brock students, local amateurs and professionals will be directed by Brock University Guitar Instructor, Timothy Phelan. Special guest soloists include Matthew McAllister (Scotland) and Emma Rush (Canada).  The concert features a tribute to the late Warren Stirtzinger with George Kane (USA) and James Bryan McCollum (Canada), music composed by Timothy Phelan and the World Premiere of Carpe Noctem – a six-movement work written especially for this occasion by Niagara composer Floyd Turner.  For more information, please visit the Department concert events webpage and the ExperienceBU page.

    Tickets for both events can be ordered from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office (905.688.0722) or from their website.

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    Categories: Encore! Professional Concert Series, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Special Events

  • Encore! Professional Concert Series presents: Anagnoson & Kinton, piano duo

    Tuesday, February 14, 2017 | By

    Anagnoson & Kinton piano duo

    March 10, 2017 at 7:30 pm
    Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, 250 St. Paul St., St. Catharines

    Recognized as one of the world’s finest piano duos, their performances are repeatedly met with critical acclaim across North America, Europe, China, and Russia. Respected scholars and performers, Anagnoson & Kinton’s musicianship defines the art of true ensemble playing.

    “…an outstanding two-piano recital with formidable precision and panache”  – The New York Times

    Video teaser: http://bit.ly/28Lxxvz

    Tickets: $25† adults; $20† seniors/students; $10† child (14 and under); $5† eyeGo program
    †Applicable fees and taxes are extra.
    Order tickets from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Box Office: 905.688.0722 or Toll Free: 1.855.515.0722; online: firstontariopac.ca

     

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