Blog, Facebook, Tweet, email me any requests for the Feb 12 Valentine's Concert at Market Hall Theatre in Peterborough. (The sooner, the better, so I can learn them). The concert starts at 2 pm and the program will have some classics, light classics, broadway and folk songs. Brian will be playing one of his Canadian Preludes - which he MUST record someday. www.westben.ca for tickets or call 705 653 5508/877 883 5777
Brian and I will be performing in Lindsay in the Glen Crombie Theatre at Fleming College on Saturday, January 21, 8 pm (with a preconcert chat with Rick Phillips at 7:30pm). We are very happy to be part of the Lindsay Concert Foundation Series. This Foundation has brought many wonderful concerts to Lindsay for many years. Brian and I used to tour across Canada when we first moved back to my home town of Campbellford and it's great to be "on the road again" (even though it's only 1 hour north). Rep to be included: Liszt, Chopin, Handel, Bernstein, Finley and more. We'll be in Peterborough February 12 at Market Hall - but more on that later.
I'm having fun researching and choosing music for the Youth & Teen Chorus Legends & Fables concert June 3. I'd love to hear your favourite songs from musicals or songs that are based on fables and legends. I'm also considering artists who are legendary.
One of Westben's 2012 artists will be performing at the MET Opera House in NYC in March and a Westben Group will be there to cheer him on. Gerald Finley will be singing the title role Mozart's opera Don Giovanni. Want to join us? Download the flyer for all the details. I used to go to the MET often while studying singing with Ellen Faull and it is an experience like no other. Speaking of unique experiences, the Westben Group will be dining with Gerald! Call Bev for details.
Janice Davidson of Peterborough is this week's winner of 2 ticets to a Westben Christmas Carol. Congratulations Janice. If you choose one of the Barn performances, don't forget your mitts! It's a challenge at first to clap with all the winter gear on, but it's worth it and the artists love it. You'll be greeted with a cup of hot cider and cookes. Who will win next week's tickets? Enter now.
In prepartion for the Toot! Toot! for the Members! Event coming up October 29, I was remember a phone conversation I had with a new patron while he was purchasing a ticket for the Annual Fundraiser in August. After he purchased the ticket he asked me, "what the Fundraiser was for, who would benefit from the funds". I explained that the funds raised at our fundraising events are in support of the concerts, the educational programs and community outreach. Westben is not a private business but a not for profit organization, a charity. Westben's management team, Board and staff strive to run Westben as a business, as in being efficient and accountable. Ticket sales from the concerts do not cover the entire costs of producing Westben's programming. Donors, Members, Sponsors and all levels of Government are vital partners in making this organization successful. Westben is...
Rehearsals have begun for Westben's Christmas Carol and all 3 choruses are in the thick of it! Thick as in, lots of music to learn, originial music, traditional music .... This presentation that opens end of November is a concert version that Brian Finley has created based on the traditional story by Charles Dickens. Ofcourse it's Fresh, Friendly and Joyous...it's Westben!
Do you feel like singing? Is it time to get those vocal chords warmed up, flexible and soaring? Join one of Westben's three choruses and let the fun begin. The Westben Festival, Teen and Youth Choruses are starting up again soon and will be working on a new concert version of the Dicken's classic, A Christmas Carol. The Westben Festival Chorus begins Monday, September 12, 7 pm at The Barn. The Teen and Youth Choruses have an information night and rehearsal Tuesday, September 13 at 6pm. All are welcome! Come and try it out.
Check out City TV's Breakfast Television performance of The Swingle Singers. See them at Westben August 4th at 2 pm. Tickets are almost sold out but Meadow Passes will be available weather permitting. Don't miss this incredible group from England.
Canada 101 Week of concerts continues with Fiddle Champions and so much more! Kelli Trottier & The Mushy Peas will fill The Barn with Scottish/Celtic Fiddling, exuberant step dancing and songs from the Ottawa Valley, Saturday, July 30 at 2pm. Thunder Bay balladeer Rodney Brown brings friends Don Reed - 3-time North American Fiddle Champion- Ian Tamblyn (keyboards), Pual Mills (guitars), Dennis Pendrith (bass) for songs of the northwest fur trade, Sunday, July 31 at 2pm. Get your feet tapping and join us at The Barn and catch the Donegal Fiddlers at 1:30pm (July 31).
Yesterday all 400 seats in The Barn were filled and many more sat on the meadow. The incredible anticipation could be felt everywhere at Westben. Isabel Bayrakdarian and Serouj Kradjian delivered a beautiful, eclectic and moving concert. Even when warming up in The Barn before the concert, Isabel's gorgeous voice could be heard all the way to the parking lot. They are a dynamic duo and it was a wonderful magical day.
Pam MacLennan Allen of Toronto is this week's Facebook winner of 2 tickets to a Westben Concert and Mair Greaves of Whitby is the Westben Web Site Contest winner. Congratulations! Still time to enter for 2 more tickets this week. Join us on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/westbenconcerts
Anne Elmhirst of the beautiful Elmhirst Resort on Rice Lake www.elmhirst.com is this week's lucky winner of 2 tickets to a Westben Concest. Congratulations Anne! Tickets for the next contest will be drawn Monday, July 18. Enter now to win.
Tomorrow Thursday, July 7th at 2pm the Liszt Extravaganza begins at Westben. Brian is playing Liszt's Transcription of Verdi's Opera Rigoletto and we're doing a set of Liszt songs. Liszt was very influenced by the works of Schubert and Schumann so we have included some Lieder as well. Will anyone swoon as they did in Liszt's day?
Charlotte Connell, Luke Bell, Samantha Marineau and Rebecca Dunk are the 4 recipients of the new Westben Young Musicians Scholarship Awards - a new initiative to support young musicians going on to post secondary musical education. Congratulations! Thanks to all participants in the Let it Be Concert June 4th that helped make this new Scholarship Fund possible.
The new Young Musicians Scholarships will be handed out today at the Horizon Youth Concert. Over 30 students from area music teachers will be performing at 3pm at The Barn. (Brochure misprinted 7pm but the concert is at 3 pm). This free concert will feature young pianists, singers, wind and brass players. 4 students persuing music at the post secondary level will be receiving the new Scholarships. Thanks to all the Let it Be Musicians who performed June 4th at The Barn and helped to make this scholarship program possible.
I've returned to Westben for another summer and I've got to say, it feels like I never left! I hardly had enough time to catch up with Teresa on my previous year at the University of Ottawa, where I study Journalism, before I was set to work answering the telephone that always seems to be ringing off it's hook during these busy summer months! Already, the July 24th show Sunday at the Opera, with world reknowned soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian, has completely sold out - it even has a waiting list on the go! It seems that one show isn't enough to showcase her talent. I am very much looking forward to seeing her perform at The Barn this summer just as I'm sure everyone else is as well!
This weekend is of course Haydn's Creation as performed by the Westben Festival Chorus and the Northumberland Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. What's special about this concert is that...
I mentioned to Donna today that I thought it was appropriate that as Westben prepares for The Creation next weekend (May 14th in Cobourg and May 15th in Campbellford) my small flock of sheep are "in creation" as well! There are now 5 new lambs on the farm with many more to go! I am often fortunate enough to witness the amazing (and yes often messy) arrival of a new life. One of my favourite passages in Haydn's Creation is Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde hervor lebende Geschöpfe (And God said : Let earth bring forth the living creature) - of course I am a sucker for a bass voice anyway! And then in the next passage Gleich öffnet sich der Erde Schoß (At once Earth opens her womb) Haydn disarms me completely by remembering to include farm animals like my sheep after all the exotic lions, stags, tigers, etc. stalk through the music.
As I'm packing up to drive to London, Ontario to sing a Pops Concert with Orchestra London (Sunday May 1 at 2:30), I'm revelling in the excitement of performing with such a large group of musicians. It is definitely a team sport. We rehearse for months separately and then come together for the final rehearsal before the performance. Inspiration abounds when you join with other artists. One never really knows what the performance will be like until it happens. Often exciting nuances happen and it is truly exciting. May 14 & 15 bring another oppportunity for this magic to happen, with the collaboration of the Northumberland Orchestra and Choir and the Westben Festival Chorus and soloists.
Imagine a full symphony orchestra with a chorus of over 70 singers performing one of the greatest pieces of classical music ever written as spring sunshine streams through the stain...
Tim McGee gave a very interesting Opera chat last night at the Clock Tower. Join us for the next one April 22 at 7pm. He'll be bringing us into the world of Strauss' Capriccio. What other kind of Chats would you like to see Westben present? Anyone favourite speaker you would like to hear?
Open to musical buffs of all ages, we are starting a series of informal musical Chats at the Clock Tower in Campbellford. To initiate the ongoing series of Face the Music, we look at the world of opera. Westben welcomes Tim McGee, Professor Emeritus from U of T’s Faculty of Music who will lead three sessions in advance of Live at the Met movie theatre broadcasts. Each two-hour session will focus on one of three Metropolitan Opera productions on the evening before their live-to-air broadcast to movie theatres across North America. This is a great way to “face the music”, whether or not you decide to go to the movie! Tickets to Face the Music are $10 (plus tax), or all three for $25. Call the Westben Box Office for tickets and information.
When: Fridays at 7pm, April 8, 22 & 29th; Where: at The Clock Tower Building in...
Season 2011 is bursting forward. The Brochure is in the design stage. Members have purchased their favourite seats already and tickets are now on sale to the General Public via the web site (click TICKETS) and through the Box Office 877 883 5777.
What is it about Westben that keeps you coming back? How would you describe the Westben Experience?
Tickets for Season 2011 of Westben Concerts at The Barn are now on sale to Members and Groups. Tickets will go on sale to the General Public February 4, 2011. Become a Member today and be at the Front of the Line for Season 2011. Memberships start at $35 and are tax receiptable. Visit the Get Involved Page/Memberships for more details on Westben Membership http://www.westben.ca/get-involved/membership/. Groups of 20 or more may call now for Group Reservations. Can't you just hear the birds singing while Andre Laplante plays Liszt or feel the warm, gentle breeze while Isabel Bayrakdarian sings Mozart? Call now 1 877 883 5777. See http://www.westben.ca/events/ for a list of the concerts.
The Members Season 2011 has been mailed out to Westben Members! Not a Member? Well, give us a call at 1 877 883 5777 or donate online. Memberships start at $35 and as a Member you may be first in line to book tickets. Tickets are now on sale to Members. Tickets go on sale to the General Public February 4, 2011.
It's so exciting! We will be announcing Season 2011 to Members and Groups within days. Want to become a Member? Call the Box Office 877 883 5777 or click on the web site to "Get Involved - Membership"
I hope you got the email or the Facebook entry or a tip from a Friend, but if you didn't ....
A Winter Soirée with the Adorno String Quartet “Excuse me! You are right in the middle of a string quartet!” Four life-long friends, twinkling with lively conversation, are eager to greet you for an unforgettable evening filled with merriment, musings & music. No stage, no tuxedos or ball gowns – just four fabulous artists, a few special friends and the sublime music of Beethoven. Meet:
TheBeethoven String Quartet Project …
Created in 2007 by Brian Manker, solo cellist of l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, The Beethoven String Quartet Project aims to perform all the Beethoven String Quartets in the setting in which they were first presented: the private salon.
…and the Adorno Quartet
The Adorno Quartet was formed in 2007 for the purpose of presenting The Beethoven String...
Our Data Base is having a major update today so on line sales won't be available until tomorrow - Thursday, November 11, 2010. Thanks for your patience.
The final notes of Westben's 2010 season of Concerts at The Barn have finally died away. After the last long and hearty standing ovation, the crowds have finally gone home. The piano has been covered, and the lights are off. All that is left is an empty barn surrounded by a quiet meadow.
This may be true, but it is not the complete picture! If you allow yourself, you can still sense an astounding array of unforgettable memories which are still very much alive. Remarkable concerts ranging from Bach to brand new with Broadway along the way. Top tier artists including the principal cellist of the Montreal Symphony, the Elmer Iseler Singers and Canada's internationally acclaimed prima donna Adrianne Pieczonka. Music from opera to Klezmer, with everything in between. All of this, along with the...
Camelot - there's not a more congenial spot! We have horses, and knights, banners and flags, castle walls, Sprucewood Brand delights, wine, games, auctions, AND a concert with Michael Burgess and Donna Bennett. Can't wait - call today to reserve the last 16 tickets!
Peter Appleyard today August 1 at 2pm, then Don Ross Friday, August 6 at 7:30 pm and Michael Burgess on Sunday August 8 at 2pm for our Finale Fundraiser Concert. I'd love to hear some summer highlights!
What a great weekend of Concerts - Friday at 2pm Lovin' Dat Hammerstein, Friday at 7:30 pm Sisters of Sheynville, Saturday at 2pm Sultans of String and Sunday at 2pm Peter Appleyard. Can't wait!
Be at Westben Friday night at 7:30 to hear Sisters of Sheynville! Toe-tapping, all female group, the Swing-Klezmer Sisters, 2008 Vocal Group of the Year (Canadian Folk Music Awards).
Check out the latest video clips from Tuesday's rehearsal of the new musical The Selfish Giant. See interviews and rehearsal clips with composer Brian Finley, Gabrielle Prata, Robert Longo, Mitchell Allanson, Michael Nitsch and Donna Bennett. One week from today, June 11, you can see them live in the world premiere performances.
Great rehearsal tonight! It's all coming together. Can't wait to get rehearsing with the whole band. I'm looking forward to the marathon rehearsing on the weekend. The ending is so moving.
Our genius set designer Brad Francis arrived yesterday with beautiful trees and ready made grass for the Giant's Garden! Any guesses on how he will transform them after Virginia Snow gets her hand on the garden? Gabrielle is such a great Virginia!
Westben is a not for profit, charitable organization, committed to creating, enriching and integrating communities of professionals and amateurs in world-class musical projects and settings. The vision is to create and enrich communities through music. Westben would like to be sustainable, expand it's season and exist for years and years to come. The definition of community has been the topic of many discussions at the Board Level. Westben was developed in the beginning by some very dedicated community members and it continues to rely on many volunteers and music enthusiasts. Westben has 2 Gala Fund raising events in the year and has held the Winter Sparkle event in various locations. There is strong support for Westben in the Peterborough and area community and we thought having this fund raising event there this year, would give the opportunity to expand the...
We will be announcing Season 2010's concerts this week to Members! Members, watch for your sneak preview in the mail. If you aren't a Member please consider becoming one! Memberships start at only $35 and can be purchased on line or by calling the Box Office.
Wind in the Willows will close on Sunday November 29th and Westben's 10th Anniversary will be completed. What would you like to hear at The Barn in 2010.
The choirs are sounding faboulous and Tom McCamus is always fabulous, so now the debate is whether to serve Ginger Snap cookies or Ginger Bread cookies with the hot apple cider at The Barn during Wind in the Willows. Please weigh in..........
Just saw Tom McCamus in Stratford performing in Phedre. He was amazingly moving and powerful. Our 15 year old said this was the favourite play of the ones we saw this weekend. AND he will be performing at Westben in the Wind in the Willows production starting November 21. Have you read the story yet?
My feet are already dancing the Salsa beat! Can't wait to hear Hilario's Band and taste the Sangria. The community has again been very generous for Westben's Silent Auction.
I am so excited about the Finale Fundraiser - Havana Remembered with Hilario Duran and a dozen of his band friends. I'm wondering if we should be calling this a "fun" raiser instead? Can you imagine how fantastically fun and upbeat this will be? First of all the music will be incredible. Hilario is so upbeat and a a wiz on the piano and then add his friends to the band and well, it will be hot, hot, hot!
There will be Salsa Dance lessons (don't want to dance ? - then drink Sangria), Silent Auction, Raffles and FOOD. Mark Pollard and his staff at Sprucewood Event Planning and catering are preparing a light plate of Cuban food and if you have ever experienced Mark's cuisine, you know it will be delicious. (We're lucky he will be here and not off around the world selling his famous cookies!)
So, what do you think - fun or fund raising on August 9th? Will I see you...
David Kemp and Brian Jackson are checking out The Barn right now preparing for their presentation of Transport of Delight Concert this Friday, July 24! Anyone want to share a Flanders and Swann favourite moment?! The concert is selling really well so don't wait any longer to buy your ticket.
Here's hoping the sunshine holds for tonight's Schubertiad 5 to 10 pm. Both string quartets sound beautiful in The Barn. I'm sure I heard the birds singing along with Virginia in rehearsal yesterday. Her voice is so sweet, full and rich. What a treat to have her singing in her own home town. Composer Omar Daniel is on his way, ready to compose a song on the spot to a poem written by someone in the audience. Virginia and the string quartet get to sight read it and perform it on the spot!
For Whom the Bell Tolls concert with Chick Reid and Andre Laplante was very special - moving, fascinating and riveting. Andre told Brian that he loves playing in The Barn and found collaborating with Chick very envigorating. Chick's readings were exceptional. A night to remember.
I remember Brian running around the field after the bulldozer getting the Meadow shaped "Just Right". Watching the crane errect the timbers in a day and a half was so exciting. The timbers were carved over 3 months by Didier Swartz of Lakefield.
So many wonderful concerts over the 10 years... I remember walking outside Barn while a pianist was playing at a Music of the Night concert and I could hear the crickets and smell the evening in the air and it sounded as if the whole Barn was resonating, The Barn was the instrument.
Westben is turning 10 this July. This 10th Anniversary Season starts with a Free Concert June 21rst at The Barn. Tickets are going fast. The concert of course will be amazing and I'm hoping all past Board Members, Sponsors, Choir Members (and current ones of course too) and audience regulars and first timers will join in the celebrations. Local businesses and artisans are invited to set up on the meadow for a festive market place. We live in an amazing community and Westben wants to celebrate this and thank everyone who has made this dream possible. See you there!
I would just like to say how pleased I am that all four of our concerts for The Magic Ornament are Sold Out! If you attended the concert, please feel free to comment.
Louis Lortie offered to bring his world premiere Death in Venice visual concert with film maker Mathieu Roy. We received several emails about the concert most positive and a couple who found it challenging.
Thanks for all the wonderful comments on the new Westben blog. Every comment is appreciated and welcome! Brian and I just spent two weeks at a family cottage and had time to mull over the season. We have many fun memories of the varied performances. What a thrill it is for Westben to welcome so many talented and varied artists to the Barn and introduce them to our beautiful Trent Hills community! The artists seem to love performing in The Barn and the experience of making music in the midst of nature. Mike Siracusa during his performance of Portuguese Fado event stopped to comment on the beautiful fields and birds. Artists often comment on the intimacy they feel with the audience. They can see the smiles (or puzzlement!)on faces and feel the response immediately. Often in larger halls all one sees are white lights!
As usual there was never a dull moment behind the scenes, a...
We've said it before, and we'll say it again. Westben is the realization of a dream, and we're excited that this blog gives us the opportunity to share our dream with you in a very personal and interactive way.
Here's a video that we put together a few years ago that gives you some insight into what this dream of ours is all about. As always, your comments are welcome. We look forward to hearing what you think about it.