Well, it must be the Christmas season, as barely a day goes by that another musical event is not scheduled to help put in in the mood for the holidays. Last week, we looked at some of the recorded music; this week, a brief look at some of the musical events coming up, starting this weekend:
Let's start with tonight, November 29th, when a much-anticipated performance takes place at Knox Presbyterian Church in downtown St. Catharines. "Duo Chori I" presents the Brock University Men's and Women's Choruses in sacred motets and secular partsongs by Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mendelssohn and others. Canadian composers featured include Sirett, Somers and Telfer. Tickets are $ 10 for adults, and available at the door.
Tomorrow, Sunday, the Niagara Symphony Masters II takes place up at Brock's Centre for the Arts at the Sean O'Sullivan Theatre at 2:30: Canadian conductor (Conductor Laureate, in fact), Uri Mayer conducts the symphony in the Mozart Bassoon Concerto, featuring Eric Hall from the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra as soloist; also the Mendelssohn First Symphony, Weber's Andante and Rondo Ungarese for bassoon, and Murray Adaskin's Diversion. It promises to be a special event, with the Niagara Symphony's birthday party following the performance in the lobby, and a huge selection of silent auction items ready for your bidding both at intermission and after the performance. Tickets are available through the Brock Centre for the Arts boxoffice, at (905) 688-5550, ext. 3257. Meantime, their annual Christmas celebration, Holiday Pops! takes place the weekend of December 13 and 14, and we'll have more on that in December.
Now, I want to take a moment and offer up an apology to Chorus Niagara, as they prepare for their biennial performances of Handel's Messiah, coming up on December 13 and 14. The Saturday evening performance is at Mountainview Christian Reformed Church in Grimsby; the Sunday afternoon performance is at Calvary Church in St. Catharines. In my monthly newsletter for November, I mentioned it would be a difficult decision, choosing between the Chorus Niagara and Niagara Symphony performances, both scheduled for that weekend. Of course there's no conflict: you can do one on Saturday and the other on Sunday. But I was thinking of the fact I couldn't be at both at the same time, which I would if I could, believe me. I hate missing a Messiah fix at Christmas. So to all members of Chorus Niagara: I apologize. I meant no harm by the comment, but hey, at least I know they're reading the newsletter! Anyway, tickets for both Messiah performances, and you should really catch both, are available through the Brock Centre for the Arts boxoffice. Closer still is the Chorus Niagara Children's Choir performance, Christmas Joy '08, coming up Saturday afternoon, December 6th at the Cathedral of St. Catherine of Alexandria in downtown St. Catharines. Tickets for that performance are available by calling (905), 945-2049.
Other performances next month include Suing Niagara Women's A Capella Chorus Christmas Concert at Paroisse Immaculee Conception Church in St. Catharines on December 8, which is a Monday evening. Tickets are available by calling (905) 354-4745. And next weekend, December 6th and 7th, Choralis Camerata, led by Laura Thomas, will have their two Christmas concerts, featuring Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, Saturday night at St. George's Anglican Church in downtown St. Catharines and Sunday afternoon at St. Alexander Church in Fonthill. Tickets are available by contacting choralis.camerata@gmail.com. I hope to be at the Sunday afternoon performance in Fonthill, so look for me set up in the lobby with a selection of Christmas recordings for purchase. And down the road in Hamilton, the John Laing Singers have their annual Christmas concert on Saturday evening, December 6th at Central Presbyterian Church in Hamilton. Featured will be Lauridsen's O Magnum Mysterium, excerpts from Vaughan Williams' Hodie, and a world premiere Christmas Cantata by John Laing himself. Tickets are available by calling (905) 628-5238. And their Christmas CD, Merrily Sing We! is available through my website, www.finemusic.ca. Just go to the Mike's Picks page and you'll find it there.
That's it for this week; we'll have more holiday concerts on a later entry around mid-December. But don't forget, for a complete listing of all concerts coming up, check out the Calendar page on my website, at www.finemusic.ca. And lots of Christmas CDs for sale on the Mike's Picks page, too, with more coming in about a week.
Have a great Christmas season, and remember to take time to enjoy all it has to offer!
November 29th, 2008.
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