Season finale concerts always bring a set of mixed feelings. I enjoy the exhilarating feeling of completing an exciting, successful season of concerts, but along side that is a sort of reluctance to move on. After all, wasn’t this season great? Each concert was such an honour to be a part of. From Northern Voices - SBSQ’s first introduction of Heather Topp’s artwork on stage with us, as well as the beautiful new piano quintet of Robert Lemay, to working with internationally renowned accordionist Joseph Petric – who knew our best-selling concert would be accordion! We got to reunite with our good friend John Roney to do our jazz-meets-classical show, as well as do a full-out classical masterworks show including Beethoven Op. 131! I was fortunate to be a part of Sudbury’s brand new contemporary music group, the 5-Penny New Music Ensemble, and now…
Here we are. This Saturday will be the season finale of Silver Birch Concert’s 8th season.
You see? Bitter-sweet. I love everything that we have done this season and am reluctant to have it end.
On the other hand… wait until you see what we’ve got planned for next season!!!
See you on Saturday.
Saturday May 5, 2012
8pm
St. Peter’s United Church, 203 York Street, Sudbury.
Discipline is an excellent ally, as long as it does not become rigid and unimaginative. My goal this week is to revive my warmup routine to include sometime new every day: A new warm up, a new variation on a scale, a new study. Every day, something new!
What’s your goal?
Please feel free to leave your suggestions for a great cello warm up in the comments section!
Hello Friends!
This is a short note to let you know that I’ll be performing in Kitchener-Waterloo with my string quartet: the SILVER BIRCH STRING QUARTET. For those of you in the area, please come!
Wednesday March 28, 2012
8:00pm
57 Young St. W, Waterloo
For more info, click HERE.
Only a short post today to tell you about a few things.
First, I’ve added more tracks to the Listen section of my website! Two tracks from the Silver Birch String Quartet‘s demo album.
And, speaking of the SBSQ, we’ve got a great concert this weekend. “Classical Classics: Part II” is a sort of sequel to last year’s concert of masterworks of the Classical Era. This year, we’re performing Boccherini’s String Quartet Op. 10 No. 2, Mozart’s String Quartet K387, and Beethoven’s epic String Quartet Op. 131. I couldn’t be happier to be performing this repertoire! This is some of the best Classical string quartet writing out there. I could never tire of this brilliant music. Saturday March 24, 2012. 8:00pm. St. Peter’s United Church, 203 York Street.
Lastly, don’t forget about the next Cello Café: Sunday March 25, 2012. 12pm. Fromagerie Elgin, 5 Cedar Street.
I love performing with friends. Making music is always wonderful, but with friends it adds another level of intimacy and sincerity. In that instant, it ceases to be “a” song, and becomes “our” song, in a precious moment of shared ownership. Of course since music is so wonderful at bringing people together, through performance one can often connect with a new friend too.
Many thanks to Patricia Cano and Carlos Bernardo, friends old and new, for inviting me to play with them today at Little Montreal. I look forward to the next opportunity.
I can sometimes take it for granted that the First-Time can be a nervous experience. As a professional musician, I play frequently in front of other people, and have gotten used to the experience. Today, I reminded myself of how difficult that First-Time can be. I’ve been challenging myself to develop a new skill: singing and playing the cello, simultaneously. Today I did this for the first time in public at the Cello Café. All those physical and psychological flutterings came back, as if I was playing my first recital ever!
I invented the Cello Café for my students, to give them a casual and supportive environment for their First-Time performances, but now I find that I am enjoying giving myself that opportunity as well.
Next Cello Café: Sunday March 25, 12pm, Fromagerie Elgin. (No guarantees that I’ll sing/play at every one!)
It’s Cello Café time!
This Sunday at 12noon at Fromagerie Elgin, 5 Cedar Street.
Free and family friendly!
It looks like there will be a great line-up of performers for Sunday:
classics of the cello solo repertoire, such as The Swan, alongside a Vivaldi cello duet, and more!
For more information on Cello Café, click HERE.
I find that no matter how much you practice and rehearse a new piece, it does not truly come to life until it has been performed. Practice and rehearsal are to prepare, but that preparation is only good for one half of the equation. The other half is what we, as performers, receive from the audience – the exchange of energy and communication between musician and listener.
I suppose one can liken it to the famous question, “if a tree falls in a forest, and there is no one there to hear it, does it really make a sound?”. In other words, if you are playing music, but there is no one there with whom to share it, are you communicating anything?
When performing new music (i.e. twentieth century, or twenty-first century music), one often performs the piece only once. This is quite a shame, since the more you perform a piece, the more life you can discover in it. So, it is a real treat when I get to perform new music several times – as is the case with Robert Lemay’s “Territoires intérieurs… homage à Bernard Émond” for piano and string quartet. I have had the pleasure of performing this work for the first time in Banff, AB in March 2011, and again in Sudbury in October 2011, and will be performing it again this Saturday February 4, 2012. This piece is really starting to live within us as an ensemble, and I am really looking forward to playing it this weekend.
For more info: www.5pennynewmusic.ca
Hello Cello lovers,
For those of you who like listening to music in the relaxed environment of the Fromagerie Elgin, drop by at noon today to hear an assortment of cello music. The Cello Café is an open, positive environment for cellists of all levels to share their music. For more information on the Cello Café, click HERE.
It is free and open to the public.
See you there!
Blending genres is always tricky business; in attempting to take “the best of both worlds” sometimes one can end up diluting the potency of either style. Fortunately, in the right hands, a marriage of jazz and chamber music can blossom into a new and unique voice.
John Roney is not only a talented jazz pianist, but also a composer and arranger. He studied classical composition under one of Canada’s finest contemporary composers – Gary Kulesha, and is comfortable in both the jazz and classical idioms. In his hands, the two worlds of jazz and classical chamber music blend together seamlessly, effortlessly, and without pretence.
The idea of combining John Roney and the Silver Birch String Quartet was first made real right here in Sudbury as part of Silver Birch Concerts. At that time, there was about half a programme of repertoire created for us by John. The rest of the programme featured works by Glenn Buhr, Stravinsky, and a few of John’s solo piano pieces. This concert sparked a passion in both John and the SBSQ to expand the idea into a full length album. The resulting album “John Roney: Silverbirch” was nominated for a JUNO award in 2010.
As cellist of the Silver Birch String Quartet, I have had the privilege of being a part of this project since the beginning. Each time we have performed this show, it matures and evolves. Whether you were in Sudbury for our first show with John, or whether you have seen us in Ottawa or Montreal jazzfests, you are sure to feel as if it is a brand new experience. One that you will not forget!
Saturday January 28th, 2012 8pm
St. Peter’s United Church, 203 York Street, Sudbury
Tickets at Black Cat.
(P.S. If you’re still in town on Sunday January 29th at 12pm, check out the Cello Café at Fromagerie Elgin!
