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July 12, 2012  Stars of Gershwin, Early Music  . . . and Gamelan! 
Dear friend of MusicFest Vancouver,

In this issue
Gershwin Stars Glitter
Crescendo Fundraising Dinner
Early Music at MusicFest Vancouver
The Insiders' Scoop
 Focus on the Fabulous Soloists
Odlum Brown Gala Opening Concert - Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience


MusicFest Vancouver has a history of opening with a star-studded event and this year's festival builds on that wonderful tradition. This year's Odlum Brown Gala Opening Concert is the Canadian premiere of Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience. This captivating multi-media show with full orchestra recently sold out five performances in Pittsburgh. We thought you might want to know more about its all-star cast!

Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience 
A promo for Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience posted last month by the Lied Center of Kansas

Kevin Cole Kevin Cole, vocalist & pianist 

"America's pianist" Kevin Cole has delighted audiences with a repertoire that includes the best of 20th century American music. His performances have prompted accolades from some of the foremost critics in America. Cole is an award-winning musical director, arranger, composer, vocalist and archivist who garnered the praises of Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, Hugh Martin, Burton Lane, Stephen Sondheim, Marvin Hamlisch and members of the Jerome Kern and Gershwin families. He has worked with songwriting legend Hugh Martin, who was vocal coach to Lena Horne, Ethel Waters, Judy Garland and many others.

 

Cole's discography includes Gramophone Musical Album of the Year, 1995, Gershwin's Oh, Kay! with soprano Dawn Upshaw, his critically acclaimed solo piano disc, Cole Plays Gershwin and his vocal debut album In The Words Of Ira-The Songs of Ira Gershwin.

  

"A piano genius...he reveals an understanding of harmony, rhythmic complexity and pure show-biz virtuosity that would have had Vladimir Horowitz smiling with envy"
Andrew Patner, Chicago Sun Times  

"When Cole sits down at the piano, you would swear Gershwin himself was at work...Cole stands as the best Gershwin pianist in America today." 
Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune arts critic

Sylvia McNair Sylvia McNair, vocalist 

Two-time Grammy Award winner and regional Emmy winner, Sylvia McNair lays claim to a stellar, twenty-five-year career in the musical realms of opera, oratorio, cabaret and musical theater. Her journey has taken her from the Metropolitan Opera to the Salzburg Festival, from the New York Philharmonic to the Rainbow Room, from the Ravinia Festival to The Plaza, from the pages of The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal to the London Times.   

 

 As a regular guest soloist with nearly all of the major American and European orchestras and opera houses, McNair has collaborated with an array of today's most prominent conductors and produced over 70 recordings ranging from Mozart arias with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields to CDs with Andr� Previn of music by Jerome Kern and Harold Arlen. She was thrilled to accept the invitation to sing the Bach B minor Mass with the Vienna Philharmonic for Pope John Paul II at The Vatican, to sing for Hillary Clinton, and to perform at The United States Supreme Court by special invitation from Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

 

"I could get used to this kind of ecstasy." 
Rex Reed, New York Observer  

 

 "This is definitely a star to watch." 
Anne Midgette, Washington Post 

 

Ryan VanDenBoom Ryan VanDenBoom, Vocalist & Tap Dancer 
 Singer-dancer-choreographer, Ryan VanDenBoom started performing at age 3 when he began taking dance lessons in his home state of Michigan. The following year he was introduced to tap. During his high school years he kept busy as a song and dance man in many musicals including Singin' in the Rain, where he recreated Gene Kelly's original choreography. He was featured in the premiere of an original musical, A Shine On Your Shoes, written and directed by Leeds Bird with music direction/arrangements by Kevin Cole.

 

A winner of numerous national dance competitions, he has danced at the L.A. Tap Festival. He recently performed Morton Gould's Tap Dance Concerto with Albany Symphony (NY) and the Gould Family in attendance. He is the only dancer performing the original choreography by legendary Broadway and Hollywood choreographer/dancer Danny Daniels. Daniels coached VanDenBoom personally on this ground breaking work with the assistance of tap dancing veteran Karl Warkentien. As a vocalist, he worked with vocal coach and songwriting legend Hugh Martin, who coached many stars including Lena Horne, Ethel Waters and Judy Garland.

  

Read the review of last month's Here to Stay - The Gershwin Experience performances in Pittsburgh!  

 
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Crescendo Fundraising Dinner featuring Gershwin Soloists!

Support the summer music you love!  Tickets are now on sale for Crescendo, MusicFest Vancouver's annual fundraising dinner.  This year, it's an elegant and intimate sit-down dinner at the glittering Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday evening, August 9. 

Join other MusicFest Vancouver supporters for a convivial evening of wine, dinner, and dessert.  An exclusive performance by fellow dinner guests vocalist Sylvia McNair and pianist Kevin Cole will give you a taste of the festival's exciting Odlum Brown Gala Opening Concert - Here to Stay: The Gershwin Experience taking place the following evening. 

Tickets are $250 each, of which $150 is a charitable donation. 
Call Paul at 604-688-1031, ext. 112 to order by phone.


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Early Music at MusicFest Vancouver 

 

If you enjoy Renaissance and Baroque music, mid-summer is a great time to be in Vancouver for workshops, courses and concerts staged by our colleagues at Early Music Vancouver. EMV contributes four performances to the MusicFest Vancouver line-up, ranging from solo cantatas, to instrumental, liturgical and dramatic theatrical works.

 

At Christ Church Cathedral on Friday August 10th, words and music combine in Gabrieli's Venice: A Polychoral Vespers. Giovanni Gabrieli greatly influenced the development of western classical music, and the Montreal-based ensembles Les Voix Baroques and La Rose des Vents commemorate the 400th anniversary of his death in a program of sonorous compositions for voices, strings, and brass.

 

UBC's Roy Barnett Recital Hall will be the venue for the Legacy of the Baroque - Concertos & Chamber Music at 8PM on Sunday August 12. Distinguished faculty members of Early Music Vancouver's Baroque Instrumental Programme will be featured in an eclectic program showcasing the concerto and chamber music literature.

 

Are you Mad about Opera?  

EMV Orlando If so, you'll want to take in G.F.Handel: "Orlando" Early Music Vancouver's presentation for the BMO Main Stage. Orlando is one of three operas that George Frideric Handel created in the 1730s based on an epic Italian poem titled Orlando furioso, (The Frenzy of Orlando or more literally Mad Orlando). The title character, Orlando, is a great soldier under the Emperor Charlemagne. He's in love with the pagan princess Angelica, who happens to have fallen for Orlando's mortal enemy, Medoro, an invading African Prince. That romance leaves the shepherdess Dorinda without a partner, and causes Orlando to go stark-raving mad! It's up to the magician Zoroastro to try to tame Orlando's madness and prevent the prospect of absolute carnage!

 

The cast includes the acclaimed English countertenor Tim Mead as Orlando and Canadian soprano Karina Gauvin as Angelica. Another Canadian, mezzo-soprano Allyson McHardy tackles a "trouser role" as the prince, Medoro, while Dorinda is portrayed by England's Amanda Forsythe. Zoroastro is sung by bass Nathan Berg. The in-concert performance, with The Pacific Baroque Orchestra, takes place at the Chan Centre at UBC, August 15th beginning at 7:30 PM.

Orlando soloists   

The eminent Dutch bass Harry van der Kamp is featured on Friday August 17 in Love's Lament: Italian Solo Cantatas circa 1700. He's internationally renowned in the solo and ensemble repertoire of the 14th-18th centuries, and is paired with harpsichordist Alexander Weimann for this concert, once again at UBC's Roy Barnett Recital Hall.

 

Further details on all of Early Music Vancouver's programming can be found at their website earlymusic.bc.ca 


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The Insiders' Scoop

2012 group shot
2012 MusicFest staff
Each issue of our newsletter will introduce a MusicFest Vancouver staff member who will share what c
oncert  they can't wait to hear. This week we've asked one of our "Super Volunteers", Friederike Frieler, to share her choice. Friederike is visiting Vancouver for the summer and has been very busy posting our events to various social media sites and online calendars. (Thank you, Friederike!) Her choice: Ancient Cultures: New Sounds, with the Bergmann Piano Duo and Gamelan Si Pawit!

  

Friederike
Friederike  
"Coming over from Germany to Vancouver for a couple of months, I have the wonderful opportunity to widen my professional horizon by being part of MusicFest Vancouver's crew. The festival's schedule is bursting with exciting artists and performances, and it seems almost impossible to make a choice! As I am enthusiastic about melding musical cultures and practices, I can highly recommend the Bergmann Piano Duo & Gamelan Si Pawit concert on August 13.

  

  

Ok, why do I go for this unique mixture? Because it combines elements of my own backgrounds: I am an amateur piano player, a passionate traveller, and I love extraordinary sounds. Not least, I am excited about exploring how the Goldberg Variations, written by my hometown Leipzig's best known composer, J.S. Bach, will work together with the Sundanese gamelan sounds!"

 

 

Bergmann Piano Duo playing Colin McPhee 
Bergmann Piano Duo play the gamelan-inspired music of Colin McPhee

Monday, August 13

8pm Christ Church Cathedral purchase tickets 

 
 

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