Accordion Extravaganza!!

If you were ever curious about the accordion, now is your chance to find out!  The Edmonton Accordion Society's  "Accordion Extravaganza" takes place this weekend (September 24-26) and includes concerts, workshops, competitions, craft tables, trade show, a dance, AND, a pancake breakfast!  Do you need any more reasons to go??

Take in the big show and help celebrate fifteen years of accordion excellence in Edmonton.

THE BIG BAND is back! Performers from Of One Accord Ensemble, Friends & Neighbors Band, Party Pals Accordion Quartet and other accomplished players combine their talents to create this extraordinary accordion band.

The Big Band, directed by Margaret Miller, will play a variety of familiar and energetic selections. Vocalists Kathy Dalberg and Eric Mork, plus violinist Dianne Tebby will create a truly memorable program.

Michael Bridge - IN CONCERT! At age eight, Calgarian Michael Bridge attended his first Accordion Extravaganza festival. Now seventeen years old, this accordion virtuoso returns to Edmonton for his 10th consecutive Extravaganza as a seasoned entertainer. Michael will perform on both chromatic free bass and piano accordions.

In 2009, Michael performed at the Las Vegas International Accordion Convention and at the Leavenworth International Accordion Festival. He was honoured to represent Canada as a performer at an international accordion festival in France under the banner of the Accordeon Club Lorrain. This past summer he also appeared as a solo headliner at the Kimberley International Accordion Championships.

Michael, at age 14 and again at 16, released his CD's entitled "My Stuff" and "Sharon's Song" comprised entirely of his own, original compositions.

Michael has wowed audiences wherever he has performed. Don't miss your opportunity to hear this top-notch accordionist and extraordinary entertainer.

The Mattierin School of Irish Dancing kick-starts the concert with skilled young performers showcasing the joy of Irish dancing. Noted accordionist Mervin Bell will accompany the dancers' high energy performance.

New Measure Orchestra - Masquerade Ball and Silent Auction

FREE Concert - Come Celebrate Arnold Schoenberg's 134th Birthday!

Mark your calendars for a FREE concert, Monday, September 13, 8:00 pm at Convocation Hall.

We'll be celebrating Arnold Schoenberg's 134th birthday and with an hour of music and cool information about Schoenberg presented by Paul Hesselink, visiting lecturer from Las Vegas, Nevada.

We begin with a performance of Schoenberg's Variations on a Recitative by Dr. Marnie Giesbrecht and end with a rarely performed two-piano version of the same work by Celius Daugherty (very effective!) performed by Duo Majoya in a historic pairing of these two works.

Among scholars and organists it has been known that the commissioning and publication of the "Variations on a Recitative" for Organ, Op. 40 by Arnold Schoenberg generated a controversy and a dispute which lasted ten years and was resolved only by Schoenberg's death in 1951.

The definitive details of that story have been pieced together through the assemblage of the pertinent correspondence which has survived in the Schoenberg letters as found in the collection at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Oh, and you will also want to learn about Schoenberg’s acute triscadecaphobia! (Look that up in your Funk and Wagnall!)

Hope to see you there! Debi Harris, RCCO, Edmonton Centre

Auditions - Edmonton Columbian Choirs

Edmonton Columbian Choirs announce auditions for 2010/2011 season

The Edmonton Columbian Choirs (Edmonton’s family of choirs), under the direction of Artistic Director Heather Bedford-Clooney, is pleased to announce auditions for its 44th Season.

Auditions will take place on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at St. Joseph Catholic High School (10830 109 Street) starting at 6:30PM.

This year, the Edmonton Columbian Choirs has opportunities for singers in the following choirs: Young Columbians (Boys and Girls aged 6-11) – conducted by Elaine Dunbar, BMus, ARCT, BFA, Edmonton Voice and Piano Teacher – Rehearsals are Tuesday evenings from 6:30-8:00

Columbian Junior Singers & Edmonton Catholic School Honour Choir (A JointVenture for Boys and Girls aged 11-15) – conducted by Vern Slipetz, BMus, Choral Director at Louis St. Laurent Junior/Senior High School – Rehearsals are Monday evenings from 6:30-8:00

Chanteuses Ladies’ Choir (Adult Women 18+) – conducted by Heather Bedford-Clooney, BEd, ARCT, ATCL, LTCL, Edmonton Voice Teacher and Executive Director of the Edmonton Kiwanis Music Festival – Rehearsals are Thursday evenings from 6:30-8:30

For information on the choirs and to arrange an audition time, please contact either Brenda Thiru-Chelvam at 780.760.3270 or brenada@shaw.ca, or Heather Bedford-Clooney at 780.484.8325 or hbedford@shaw.ca.

http://www.edmontoncolumbianchoirs.ca/

Coming in August

The 2010 - 2011 season starts with free concerts at the ESO: the ESO Showcase, Duo Majoya, and the National Youth Orchestra. Something for everyone this month with electroacoustic music at the Wunder Bar, the Toronto Welsh Male Voice Choir (if you've never heard 50 rugged Welsh men singing together, I highly recommend it!), and of course Il Duo at the Fringe if you like tenors (who doesn't?) and you're eager to poke fun at the 'pop-era' phenomenon of the "Canadian-Italian-English-French-Irish-pick-a-country-tenors"!

Our concert calendar is almost complete except for some choral ensembles and academic instituions who have yet to post their 2010-2011 season.  After assembling the concert calendar, there are a few things that I am really looking forward to - the Beijing Opera (because when does authentic Chinese opera come to Edmonton??), Anton Kuerti (because he almost never plays intimate spaces like Con Hall), the rarely-performed, newly-discovered "Gloria" by Handel sung by Jolaine Kerley, and who couldn't resist a tuba concerto with the ESO?

What are you looking forward to? Our C.M.E. reviews will start shortly ...

Auditions for the Richard Eaton Singers

Auditions are being held on Monday, August 23, 2010 from 6pm to 10pm in Room 1-29, Fine Arts Building, UofA. Richard Eaton Singers   RES Audition Form

Expand your acoustic sensibilities with the Boreal Electroacoustic Music Society

I had to share this with you all ... if you ever needed a reason to go to an electroacoustic music show, this is it!  I dare you to read on ...

Electroacoustic six-pack invades Wunder Bar

The Saturday, Aug. 7 lineup is as follows:
• Philip Dickau: One of the local electroacoustic music scene's most energetic movers and shakers presents a live work called Digital Spasm, in which three interconnected pulse waves create an effect similar to a computer choking on pieces of glass while having an epileptic seizure.
• agaperaygunexperiment: Renowned for its in-your-face approach, this unit led by Philip Jagger will debut telephonexx, which uses a backtrack made of dial tone noises and music played through a cell phone, and allowing for participants to use their cell phones as musical devices.
• Condoleezza Rice Paddies: Disbanded in 2008, this collective will reunite the original lineup which first performed at The Works Art & Design Festival at the Citadel Theatre's Heritage Amphitheatre in 2004. Returning will be guitarist Bill Damur, keyboardist Gene Kosowan and effects specialist Will Truchon.

The Sunday, Aug. 8 lineup is as follows:
• Shawn Pinchbeck: This practitioner, renowned as a true vanguard of the local electroacoustic movement—and whose works have been recognized across Canada and Europe—makes a rare appearance in his home town, performing a live laptop composition entitled Tuurv.
• The Hobophobes: This Calgary-based experimental noise outfit, consisting of Ben Charlton, Jessical McCarrel and Sarah-Lynn Wilson, make their Edmonton debut with their brand of provocative cacophony inspired by grade-B horror movies and medical surgical videos.
• flEm: One of Edmonton's most reviled acts, after stints in Ukrainian For Butterfly and Du Plafond, returns as a solo performer.

Doors open at 8 p.m., which shows starting at 9 p.m. each evening. Tickets are $7 (BEAMS members $5) and available at the door. For more information, log onto www.beams.ca or email http://ca.mc1104.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=info%40beams.ca.

Are you studying piano or violin? Get a scholarship!

Ranald & Vera Shean Memorial Scholarships :: Edmonton Community Foundation

Recognizing that many students need financial help to achieve their post secondary educational and training goals, Edmonton Community Foundation supports a variety of learning opportunities through its scholarship, bursary and award funds. In 2009, the Foundation awarded more than $610,000 to over 160 students.

One of these awards, the Ranald & Vera Shean Memorial Scholarships, support students from Edmonton or Northern Alberta, who are pursuing classical music study of violin or piano at a recognized post-secondary institution or with a recognized private music teacher. The primary criterion is quality of performance.

The application deadline is August 31, 2010. For more information, contact  scholarships@ecfoundation.org or at 780-426-0015.

Tis' the Season! Da Camera Singers Auditions

If you are interested in singing with Da Camera, please contact their business manager, Kathleen Brough, at kebrough@shaw.ca to schedule an audition. Auditions will be scheduled in August. Auditions will be comprised of a song of your choice and some musicianship testing. They are happy to hear auditions for all voice parts!

"When the shark bites ... " Auditions for the Threepenny Opera

On December 5 and 6, 2010, the Walterdale Playhouse will be holding auditions for Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera. Details are not yet posted, but keep an eye on the "Current Auditions" page of the Walterdale Playhouse.

“Oh, the shark has pretty teeth, dear,
And it shows them pearly white.
Just a jackknife has Macheath, babe,
And it keeps it out of sight.
When that shark bites with his teeth, dear,
Scarlet billows start to spread.
Fancy gloves, though, wears old Macheath, dear,
So there’s not a trace of red.”