It is hard to believe it’s already April! It is beginning to feel more and more like Spring in Saskatoon, and I’m happy that I can start biking comfortably to work now.
With a new season comes plenty of new performances. Here are a few details about my upcoming performances this month:
Classical Variety Night
Grosvenor Park United Church, Saskatoon, SK
Sunday, April 9, 2017 7:30pm
https://www.facebook.com/events/1383667995008113/
Classical Variety Night is a relaxed concert series put on by Alyssa Thompson and the Galliard Foundation. I’ve played at several at these concerts now and I always enjoy the varied program and performers that Alyssa brings in. This time around, I will be joined by Brett Graham on vibraphone, and we will perform a short contemporary piece titled Fernandina (Extrait de Galapagos) by Pierre Gouin, as well as Children’s Song by Chick Corea. The only information I have been able to find on Fernandina is that it is stage music for the ballet Galapagos, put on by Le Groupe de la Place Royal, directed by Jean-Pierre Perreault in 1974. Le Groupe de la Place Royal was a modern dance company formed in 1966 in Montreal that creatively integrated theatre, dance, voice, technology and music in its productions. Brett and I have been working on a few pieces for saxophone and vibraphone now, so stayed tuned for more information and performances from that project!
Star Wars: The Music of John Williams (with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra)
TCU Place, 35-22nd Street East, Saskatoon, SK
Saturday, April 22, 2017 7:30pm
https://tcutickets.ca/Online/default.asp
I had plans to attend this concert as soon as I saw it on the 2016-2017 season, but I am even more excited to be a part of the orchestra! This concert is nearly sold out, so I suggest getting tickets right away if you want to attend.
Saskatoon Concert Band Concert
Lighthouse Victory Church, 2802 Rusholme Road, Saskatoon, SK
Saturday, April 29, 2017 7:30pm
Stay tuned for a link to the Saskatoon Concert Band’s website
George Charpentier, the director of the Saskatoon Concert Band, has invited me to perform a piece for solo saxophone and wind ensemble for their April concert. I will be performing Glen Gillis’s Elegy Cadenza for alto saxophone and wind ensemble. Elegy Cadenza was originally written for alto saxophone and piano, and working on it again brings back fond memories of my time at the University of Saskatchewan. I performed the original version of Elegy Cadenza at the 2012 National Music Festival Competition of Canada in Fort McMurray the year I received first place in the woodwind category. The last time I performed Elegy Cadenza with wind ensemble was during the U of S Wind Orchestra’s tour to Europe in July 2013, when we performed the piece at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Elegy Cadenza is an exciting virtuosic work for saxophone that begins with a powerful cadenza, followed by a beautiful lyrical elegy, and a blistering bebop jazz section to finish. Thank you to George Charpentier for inviting me to play with the Saskatoon Concert Band and providing the opportunity to perform this work again in Saskatoon!