In July, artistic director and resident conductor Ray Baril is taking the New Edmonton Wind Sinfonia to the prestigious 2015 World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles in San Jose.
Before the wind symphony ships off to the sunny state, they will host a preview concert of their California Dreamin’ program on May 9 at Convocation Hall in the Old Arts Building at the University of Alberta.
Baril pays tribute to two Edmonton composers: Godfrey Rideout’s Fall Fair and Malcolm Forsythe’s Colour Wheel, a piece that evokes swirling colours on an artist’s palette.
Also included in this rich repository of music is Hungarian composer árpád Balázs’ Music with Chequered Ears, a whimsical piece about a rabbit with chequered ears; Kah Chun Wong’s Krakatoa, a tone-poem on the 1883 volcanic eruption of Mount Krakatoa, and Czech composer Adam Gorb’s Bohemian Revelry.
The concert starts at 2:30 p.m. Tickets for California Dreamin’ are $15 to $20, children 12 and under are free. They are available at the door.
As the Edmonton Youth Orchestra prepares to close its season, conductor Michael Massey has invited the three winners of the 34th Northern Alberta Concerto Competition to participate.
The soloists are saxophonist Kendra Heslip, a recent graduate from the University of Alberta’s music program and violinist Zane Liang, a student at Alberta Conservatory of Music at MacEwan University.
The youngest recipient is violinist Maya Budzinski, a child prodigy and the sole contestant in the 12 and under solo category from Alberta winning a national gold medal at the 2014 Canadian Music Competition in Quebec City.
Heslip gets into the groove performing Paule Maurice’s Tableaux de Provence while Zane Liang stretches with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major. Budzinski, on the other hand, tackles the first movement of Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor.
The concert is Sunday, May 3 at the Winspear Centre. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 780-420-1757 or purchase at the door.
