EVENTS
Piano Heist
Lifelong friends and colleagues Rhodes and Courtin, shocked and appalled by the realization that piano just isn’t cool anymore, set off on a divine quest to redeem the keyboard and reinstate its reputation as the greatest instrument of ALL TIME! Armed with the music of the greatest composers, songwriters and performers of the past 300 years, and the technology of the 21st century, Nico and Patrick deliver everything from classical piano raptures to bombastic boogie woogie, romantic piano ballads to 80’s keyboard synth battles in Piano Heist! What ensues is a mishmash of theatrical wonder, comedy, audience participation, heartfelt stories, a pinch of history, and a world of musical madness.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
NICO RHODES is a genre jumping, multilingual musician who collaborates with other artists and artforms to experience and explore music in as many styles as possible. Growing up touring around the globe surrounded by artists and the world of theatre – he is equally comfortable playing jazz, classical, funk or roots music, orchestrating a symphony, writing musicals, and conducting choirs. He begins his day with an expresso and practicing his Japanese, the language he is currently embracing. Nico Rhodes is one of the most in demand young arranger/musical directors in Canada, with 40 stage musicals to his credit. He’s written 400 original compositions, four original musicals and arranged two symphonic pops concerts. He’s been nominated for two Jessie and five Ovation Awards and in 2019 was honoured with Nanaimo’s Emerging Cultural Leader Award. He composes for stage, screen, and media, collaborates with multiple choirs, plays with several jazz trios and tours in a duo with his mother, renowned chanteuse Joelle Rabu. In 2022 Nico produced a series of four multi-artist multi-genre concerts entitled Chapters for The Port Theatre in Nanaimo B.C.
PATRICK COURTIN is first and foremost a pianist and he is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger, music director and teacher. From his first professional show accompanying a choir at the age of 14, Patrick has been a career musician. He is classically trained (Royal Conservatory of Music) and completed grade 10 by the age of 17. He then went on to complete a Bachelor’s Degree of Music in Jazz Studies at Vancouver Island University. Since graduating, Patrick has directed musical theatre productions, played in recording sessions, created music for film+TV, and toured across Canada, the United States and China. He is comfortably at home in many musical settings, having played in professional ensembles in a variety of genres from jazz and classical, to rock and funk.
SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE:
Adult $41 | Senior: $37 | Student: $16
BOX OFFICE: 604.927.6555 | Open Monday – Saturday, 12 – 5PM
Save big on our Variety & Music Series performances with a Sampler Pack Subscription!
(Evergreen Cultural Centre, Apr. 4, 7:30 p.m)
Dang Thai Son and Prizewinning Students
An artist that needs no introduction. Dang Thai Son’s last sold-out appearance with us in Vancouver caused people to clamour for his return.
Referred to as “a genuine musician” by the great Isaac Stern, a young and almost completely unknown Dang Thai Son caused a real stir in the musical world by walking away with the gold medal at the 10th Chopin Competition in Warsaw.
Dang will be performing with three of his most talented pupils, who are already winners at international competitions.
(Vancouver Playhouse, 600 Hamilton St, Apr. 13, 3:00 p.m)
Musical Matinées: TPocket Symphonies - Beethoven's 5th and More...
POCKET SYMPHONIES: BEETHOVEN’S 5TH AND MORE…
The Bergmann Piano Duo with special guests Jasper Wood & Joseph Elworthy
Experience Beethoven’s famous 5th Symphony in a fresh, new context through this ‘pocket’ version by Carl Burchard for one piano 4 hands, violin and cello that leaves nothing out in terms of fullness and exuberance. This ‘quartet’- with wonderful colleagues Jasper Wood and Joseph Elworthy- will round out the programme with the Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn and a selection of Brahms Hungarian Dances, celebrating the splendid and rich sound-combination of strings and piano.
Join us for a pre-show reception with complimentary coffee, tea, and treats in our lake-side lobby at 1:30PM!
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
The Bergmann Piano Duo’s dynamic and energetic performances of uniquely eclectic programmes have inspired audiences internationally. Their recitals and concerts with orchestra have taken them to many parts of the world, including the United States, Italy, Germany, The Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France, Macedonia, Greece, China and Canada. The duo has appeared at international festivals including: Festival of the Sound, Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Vancouver Opera Festival, San Francisco International Music Festival, MusicFest Vancouver, Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, the Banff Arts Festival, the Royal Bank Calgary International Organ Festival and Competition, Festival Miami, Tage für Neue Musik, Darmstadt, Braunschweiger Kammermusik Podium, and EXPO 2000, Hannover.
The duo has made recordings for the CBC, for several stations of the ARD in Germany and for National Public Radio and has recorded several CDs, which appear on the CordAria, Arktos, Koch International Classics, Naxos, ARS and Brilliant Classics labels. Their most recent recording, American Stories on the ARS label, features exclusively Marcel’s arrangements.
They are both Artistic Directors of White Rock Concerts and Elizabeth is Artistic Director of Concerts at the Langley Community Music School. Marcel held a position as Professor of Music at Mohawk College in Hamilton and both Elizabeth and Marcel have been on faculty at Mount Royal University and University of Calgary as well as being involved in various musical projects at The Banff Centre for the Arts.
SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE:
Adult $37 | Senior: $32 | Student: $16
BOX OFFICE: 604.927.6555 | Open Monday – Saturday, 12 – 5PM
(Evergreen Cultural Centre, Apr. 23, 1:30 p.m)
Sechille Sedare
Leela Gilday & Jay Gilday
A contemporary roots duo featuring sibling songwriters Leela Gilday and Jay Gilday. Sechile Sedare (pronounced ‘seh-chee-leh’ ‘seh-dahr-eh’) means ‘my younger brother, my older sister’ in the Dene language. This musical collaboration sees Jay and Leela co-write and co-create new repertoire together, harnessing their talents as deeply insightful and genuine storytellers. Their voices blend in perfect harmony, hitting notes of nostalgia, hope, humour and reflection. The songs, created during lockdown in 2021 and during a residency at the Banff Centre, share stories about their family history, their connection to the land and water, and the twists and turns of fate.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
A vagabond turned mailman, Jay Gilday has searched for himself in the depths of Folk, blues, traditional, rock and most recently soul music. The quest continues as Jay takes his experiences as a half Dene, half Canadian-Irish youth traveling the roads of Canada, the daily roller-coaster of work, family, and performance and weaves them into song. Jay’s live performance is executed with a trained voice and a passion to drive it backed up by a heavy hitting guitar, finger-style or flat-picked, your choice!
Born and raised in the Northwest Territories, Leela Gilday writes about the people and the land that created her. The power in her voice conveys the depth of her feelings of love and life in a rugged environment and vibrant culture, as if it comes straight from that earth. Leela’s family is from Délįne on the shore of Great Bear Lake and her rich vocals dance across the rhythmic beats of traditional Dene drumming as smoothly as a bass line onstage the largest venues in the country. And she has played them all.
SINGLE TICKETS ON SALE:
Adult $41 | Senior: $37 | Student: $16
BOX OFFICE: 604.927.6555 | Open Monday – Saturday, 12 – 5PM
Save big on our Variety & Music Series performances with a Sampler Pack Subscription!
(Evergreen Cultural Centre, Apr. 24, 7:30 p.m)
Stefano Maiorana: Secret Pages for theorbo and sounds of Venice
In a co-presentation between Early Music Vancouver and Vancouver New Music, virtuoso Stefano Maiorana (Italy) performs Secret Pages, a set of antique and newly composed music for theorbo – an instrument similar to a lute – that interweaves twenty works by Johann Hieronymus Kapsberger (c. 1580-1651) and contemporary composer Claudio Ambrosini (b. 1948). Toccatas, arias, and dances for solo theorbo will be heard alongside soundscape recordings that fleetingly capture the essence of Venice: the lapping and crashing of waves, chiming bells and cawing gulls, moored ships and bobbing gondolas, all broadcasted in an immersive surround audio setup of custom made wood resonators.
(Pacific Spirit United Church, 2195 West 45th Ave, Apr. 26)
SlowPitchSound
SlowPitchSound (aka Cheldon Paterson, Toronto) is a celebrated turntable artist and award winning composer, mentor and explorer of sound and visuals, who experiments with a wide range of disciplines, styles and sounds in what he has dubbed as “sci-fi turntabilism”. Inspired by nature, outer space and dystopian sci-fi, his approach to making and presenting music includes turntabilism, live sampling, field recordings and live cinema. SlowPitchSound will perform his piece Within Touch using a turntable, looper, drum machine and video camera. During the performance the a
(ANNEX, 823 Seymour St, May. 10)
