The city is feeling extra vigour this weekend. A youth movement has set in. A burst of young energy is hitting the arts scene like a guzzle of Red Bull - for the ear.
The first ever Prince George Young Canadian Music Festival is underway. It was a collaborative effort to plan, with the efforts of the Community Arts Council, The Prince George Conservatory of Music, the Prince George Symphony Orchestra (PGSO), and a collection of guest performers. Most of them are young.
It includes composition masterclasses in wind, brass and string instruments, plus piano and voice; the annual PGSO Concerto Competition; a chamber music concert; and a full concert by the PGSO.
All of it contains elements of youth getting up-close, personal training and performance experience.
"Whenever you program an event with more than one group, it takes far more time and comes with far more demands," said Carolyn Duerksen, choir director of the District 57 Tapestry Singers, one of the collaborating arts groups. "For the kids in our choir to be able to drum with Jen Pighin and The Khast'an Drummers, sing for (PGSO artistic director) Michael Hall, work with these other selected performers, it all builds them up. It draws on professionals and amateurs and draws on a number of members of our community. And its import to celebrate Canada - not the 150 in particular, but the potential of this particular nation, all of us together."
It is the Canadian 150th birthday that made this event possible. The kickoff funding came from the Canada 150 Community Fund, in financial collaboration between the Prince George Community Foundation and the Government of Canada.
The instructors for this unique set of workshops include: Simon Cole (composition), Lori Elder (piano), Melanie Nicol (voice), Allison Bell (strings) and Laszlo Klein (brass/winds).
The two-sided culmination of the masterclasses and rehearsals are a chamber concert Saturday at the conservatory (3555 Fifth Avenue, within St. Andrews United Church) at
7 p.m. and then a PGSO concert on Sunday night at 2 p.m. at Vanier Hall. Both will feature youth and professional musicians working together.
The PGSO event will feature the following works of music, all of them Canadian, hence the show's title of O Canada! Celebrating Canada's 150th Birthday:
Kaleidoscope by Mercure
Once a Canadian Lad by Coakley
Hockey Night in Canada by Dolores Claman, arr. Toth
Canadian Odyssey by Johnny Cowell
Canadian Legend by Elliot Del Borgo
This Is My Home by Buckley/Gibson
Nimrod, from Enigma Variations by Elgar
Butterfly Dance, from Good Times by Victor Davies
"What is particularly unique about this performance for our singers is, several of the selections will be accompanied by the orchestra and Michael Hall will be directing both," said Duerksen. "It is very rare that the singers sing for the orchestral director instead of their regular choir director. It's so helpful to have that experience, so the singers can compare styles and get that additional experience with someone different leading them."
Admission to the PGCM event is by donation.
Admission for the PGSO event is $36 regular, $32 for seniors and $20 for students and children. (Participants are free, families of participants get a discounted price.)
PGSOpportunities For Kids
The PGSO is hosting three shows this season especially for young children.
This trio of KinderConcerts kicks off on
Nov. 4, the second is penciled in for Jan. 6 and the third is April 7. All of them are at the Prince George Playhouse and all of the begin at 2 p.m.
"This season offers families the opportunity to introduce their children to the wonder and fun of classical music, combined with engaging stories to make each concert a riveting and enjoyable experience for children," said PGSO general manager Teresa Saunders.
"These concerts will be most enjoyed by children three to eight (years old.)"
The KinderConcerts each have a theme to spark the interest of the kids. The first one is entitled Bangers & Smash, which conjures thoughts of yummy comfort food (the British dish bangers and mash is sausage and mashed potato) and also invites the gleam in a child's eye that noisy stuff's about to get hit - in a good way.
"It's a percussion show, absolutely," said PGSO artistic director Michael Hall. "It's nice to give the kids a sense of the orchestra family, and what's more fun than the percussion section with all the drums and blocks and triangles - the things that get hit to make a sound, the things that produce the rhythms."
The following KinderConcerts are entitled Airy Fairy Time and Goin' To The Moon respectively. The former focuses on the string section, the latter on the brass instruments.
