A Dozen Reasons Why You'll Want to be at MusicFest Vancouver
1. Gala Opening Concert: Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience Friday, August 10 @ 8pm (Orpheum Theatre, Smithe at Seymour)
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Kevin Cole and The Nashville Symphony Orchestra Rhapsody In Blue clip
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We launch MusicFest Vancouver with the Canadian premiere of a multimedia concert event at the historic Orpheum Theatre that celebrates one of the greatest teams of collaborators in the history of American music. Our guide for this glittering evening is the renowned pianist and Gershwin interpreter Kevin Cole. The brilliant singer Sylvia McNair, vocalist/tap sensation Ryan VanDenBoom, and our own Grammy Award-winning Vancouver Symphony Orchestra led by guest conductor Leslie Dala, join together for this unique and entertaining insight into the legendary duo, George and Ira Gershwin. Gershwin family photos, rare video clips, and elegant visual elements provide a distinctive and unique experience, plus there will be an unforgettable offering of the Gershwin brothers' best. Performances include The Man I Love, I Got Rhythm, Strike Up the Band, Summertime, 'S Wonderful and many more.
2. La Bottine Souriante Rocks the Vogue Tuesday, August 14 @ 8pm (Vogue Theatre, 918 Granville St)  | |
La Bottine Souriante Vitteaux 2011
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Be prepared to party as MusicFest Vancouver presents the sensational group La Bottine Souriante at the Vogue! Featuring big brass, stepdancing, fiddles, and fun, this world famous ensemble of Québécois artists will have you dancing in the aisles to their infectious combination of pure folk music infused with a dash of jazz and salsa! La Bottine Souriante is a living legend of French North American roots music, having sold over half a million CDs, with four Gold and three Platinum albums to their credit. The members of "The Smiling Boot" have crossed borders the world over and left in their wake countless enchanted fans, including a worldwide television audience of billions for their acclaimed performance in the Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games. 
3. G. F. Handel's Orlando Wednesday, August 15 @ 7:30pm (Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC)  | |
Lascia chi'o pianga / Karina Gauvin
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Early Music Vancouver presents a thrilling opera-in-concert performance featuring Vancouver's own Pacific Baroque Orchestra and an all-star cast of early music singers. Premiered in 1733, Orlando was composed at the height of Handel's operatic powers, and this performance is the embodiment of his genius. Musically remarkable, emotionally gripping, and performed with consummate skill: it's the summer early music event you won't want to miss. Soprano Karina Gauvin sings the role of Angelica in Orlando. Here she is with conductor Alexander Weimann in a ravishingly gorgeous rendition of Lascia chi'o pianga. (It's not from Orlando but it gives you a great idea of the wonderful singing you'll enjoy that evening!) 4. Pink Martini: Shaken & Stirred Friday, August 17 @ 8pm (Orpheum Theatre, Smithe at Seymour)  | PINK MARTINI - Let's Never Stop Falling In Love.
Live In Portland.
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Dress up for a grand night of seriously cool music as Pink Martini brings its lush '60s technicolor sound to a hot Vancouver summer night! The thirteen members of Pink Martini offer a highly polished blend of multilingual musical virtuosity in a combination of class and kitsch, swooning nostalgia, and deliriously romantic melodies to delight you. Pink Martini draws inspiration from the romantic Hollywood musicals of the 1940s or '50s with a more global perspective. Like musical archeologists digging through scores and recordings of years past, Pink Martini rediscovers beautiful songs - bridging the divide between highbrow and pop culture. "If the United Nations had a house band in 1962," says Pink Martini's bandleader and pianist, Thomas Lauderdale, "then hopefully we'd be that band."  5. Deux Pianos: Hommage à Debussy Saturday, August 18 @ 8pm (Vancouver Playhouse, 601 Hamilton at Dunsmuir)  | |
Philippe Cassard: Debussy à 4 mains
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One of the great pillars of musical modernism, Debussy is "the composer without whose investigations of texture, colour, form and feeling, the vast majority of 20th century music could not have been written." To mark the 150th anniversary of Debussy's birth, MusicFest Vancouver is proud to welcome two of Debussy's foremost exponents, French pianists Philippe Cassard and François Chaplin. In this recital for four hands and two pianos, the artists celebrate a genre that Debussy took immense pleasure in playing with friends throughout his life. Cassard and Chaplin will perform a program that includes the sensual Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, the jaunty Petite Suite, a recently rediscovered piano version of the Première Suite pour Orchestre, and more.  6. World at the Garden: New York Voices Sunday, August 19 @ 7pm (VanDusen Botanical Garden)  | |
New York Voices - Stolen Moments
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MusicFest Vancouver closes with an al fresco evening featuring New York Voices - cool vocal jazz on a hot summer night on the Great Lawn of VanDusen Botanical Garden. Celebrating their 25th year, this Grammy Award-winning vocal ensemble is renowned for their excellence in jazz and the art of group singing. Like the great groups that have come before, such as Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, Singers Unlimited, and Manhattan Transfer, they have learned from the best and taken the art form to new levels. While rooted in jazz, New York Voices calls on influences ranging from R&B, Brazilian, classical, and pop music to create a fresh exciting sound. They have traveled the globe performing with artists such as Bobby McFerrin, Nancy Wilson, George Benson, and the Count Basie Orchestra. Bring a picnic and settle in for a vocal jazz treat! 
7. Legends: The Whitening of the Ox & The Firebird Sunday, August 12@ 8pm (Vancouver Playhouse, 601 Hamilton at Dunsmuir)  | Whitening of the Ox rehearsal
with Turning Point Ensemble |
MusicFest Vancouver is proud to present the Turning Point Ensemble in Legends, a performance that incorporates multi-media components in a compelling musical response to works of the past. Jeffrey Ryan's recent commission is based on The Whitening of the Ox (Inside the Zen Ox Pictures) by Canadian poet K.V. Skene. This extended vocal/instrumental work incorporates 15th-century illustrations by Tensho Shubun of a Chinese fable, and features Canadian baritone Tyler Duncan. Just as an Oxherd domesticates a beast, the series depicts the Zen Buddhist concept representing the taming of the disordered mind and the ultimate attainment of enlightenment. Stravinsky's landmark ballet score The Firebird undergoes a metamorphosis at the hand of BC composer Michael Bushnell (from TPE's Rio Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award winning production). It is inspired by a Russian legend about the adventures of young prince Ivan and his search for the most beautiful bird in the world: The Firebird. 8. Gryphon Trio with Patricia O'Callaghan: Broken Hearts & Madmen Thursday, August 16 @ 8pm (Orpheum Annex, 2 FL 823 Seymour St)  | |
Riverman by Nick Drake. Performed by Patricia O'Callaghan and Gryphon Trio
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The Gryphon Trio teams up with vocalist Patricia O'Callaghan (hailed by Billboard as "the most promising cabaret performer of her generation") to present their genre-stretching concert of songs and tangos from the Americas. O'Callaghan trained as an opera singer but was soon drawn to the music of Leonard Cohen and Kurt Weill. A multilingual performer who has recorded everything from Erik Satie to Bob Dylan, O'Callaghan fell in love with Hispanic music while living in Mexico as a teenager. The engaging program for Broken Hearts & Madmen includes songs by Nick Drake, Leonard Cohen, Lhasa de Sela, Laurie Anderson, Elvis Costello, Astor Piazzolla and more, and showcases the Gryphon Trio at its adventurous and groundbreaking best. Beautiful songs sung in an intimate cabaret setting by a renowned singer in collaboration with an internationally acclaimed piano trio - this is sure to be a festival highlight and seating is limited, so purchase early to avoid disappointment. (By the way, the Gryphon Trio are also performing two concerts of Piano Trios as part of our Morning Chamber Music Series!) 
9. Cristina Braga with Ricardo Medeiros & Sal Ferreras: Harpa Bossa Jazz Monday, August 13 @ 5:30pm (Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard at Georgia)  | |
Águas de Março / Cristina Braga
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From the tropical beaches of Rio de Janeiro in the late 1950s, a "new beat" started a musical craze. A sensual mixture of Brazilian rhythms, American jazz and Portuguese lyrics, Bossa Nova became an international sensation, and Stan Getz's 1964 recording of The Girl from Ipanema with João & Astrud Gilberto spent 96 weeks in the US charts! At home in both popular and classical music, Cristina Braga is principal harpist with the Rio de Janeiro Symphony and has worked as a soloist with many ensembles. She is a compelling vocalist with a deep melancholy in her voice that seems specially carved for the compositions of Tom Jobim, Luiz Bonfá, Roberto Menescal and other masters of Música Popular Brasileira.
10. Jayme Stone: Bach to Africa and Back Wednesday, August 15 @ 5:30pm (Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard at Georgia)  Jayme Stone makes music inspired by folk traditions from around the world. His latest album, Room of Wonders, includes works from Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria, Brazil, Italy and North America. His backpack must be overflowing with sheet music, ranging from Bach's French Suites, to a Moorish
 | Jayme Stone: Allemande from the
French Suite No. 6 by J.S. Bac |
swordfighting dance to his own lush, original works. Stone thrives on unexpected inspiration: Japanese poetry; Brazilian literature; even instruments found while traveling in remote Malian villages. His JUNO Award-winning albums both defy and honor the banjo's long role in the world's music, turning historical connections into compelling music. In a specially selected set for MusicFest Vancouver, this world-traveller will include many classical transcriptions, including arias, two-part inventions and fugues by J.S. Bach, as well as a passepied by Claude Debussy. 11. Guitartist Daniel Bolshoy with Borealis String Quartet: Fandango Monday, August 13 @ 10:30am (Christ Church Cathedral, 690 Burrard at Georgia)  Fire and passion ignite on stage as Vancouver's Borealis String Quartet and internationally recognized guitarist Daniel Bolshoy kick off our Morning Chamber Music series with a program guaranteed to delight on a summer morning. With works ranging from the Schubert-infused melodies of Tedesco's Quintet to an exploration of dance forms from the 18th to 20th century, this concert colours outside of the lines of traditional classical playing traditions. It's a joyous and fun-filled program that will leave you smiling and calling for more. 12. Casavant Frères: 100 Years of Good Vibrations Saturday, August 11 @ 2pm (Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 1440 W 12th Ave at Hemlock) Self-described "organblaster" Michael Dirk showcases the mighty Casavant Frères Opus 485 pipe organ in a lighthearted performance to mark its centenary. Exactly 100 years ago - August 11, 1912 - the doors of Chalmers Presbyterian Church (now Holy Trinity) opened at the corner of Hemlock and 12th, and the first chords resounded from the 2,271 pipes of this historic instrument. This celebratory concert includes works by J.S. Bach, a tribute to Virgil Fox's "Heavy Organ" tours from the '70's, Healey Willan's magnum opus Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue, Denis Bedard's Variations on Old Hundredth - plus improvisations to a Laurel & Hardy silent movie, complete with popcorn for the audience! A keyboard cam and projection system will put you alongside the artist as Michael Dirk works his keyboard wizardry, and you are invited to visit the display of organ pipes and workings at intermission. 
So there you have a dozen great reasons to make MusicFest Vancouver part of your summer of fun in Vancouver - but don't take our word for it! Browse our website here or check us out on issuu.com and make your own choices, then join the conversation on Facebook  and let us know your own top picks! Table of contents | 
