Under the rhythmic baton of conductor Michael Massey, the Edmonton Youth Orchestra has proved time over time that talented and hard working young musicians can trump experience.
Conductor Michael Massey has just returned from the EYO’s annual Senior Orchestra workshop at Banff Centre, and they are itching to display their refined palette of sound on Sunday, Nov. 24 at the Winspear Centre.
The Senior Orchestra’s noteworthy presentation is a true tonic for winter blues. Their three-piece segment delivers a completely contemporary classical sound.
It includes Edmonton composer Malcolm Forsyth’s Jubilee Overture, a piece that was commissioned by Cape Town’s Symphony Orchestra for their 50th anniversary; Aaron Copeland’s Tender Land Suite, an opera that takes place in the American south during the Depression, and Silvestre Revueltas’ Sensemayá, a rhythmic composition with dark undertones balanced by Mexican motifs.
Likewise, the Intermediate Orchestra is presenting three works – Mozart’s light, whimsical Impresario Overture, Camille Saint-Saens catacomb-inspired Danse Macabre, and Howard Hanson’s Serenade op. 35, a dedication to his wife on their wedding day.
The concert starts at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 780-420-1757 or purchase online at www.tixonthesquare.ca or at the door.
Director Glenda Stirling is committed to asking what is the price people pay for living on the precipice of life?
Under her guiding hand, the Studio Theatre production Bloody Poetry puts the proclivities of 19th century Romantic poets – the neurotic Percy Bysshe Shelley and the rebellious Lord Byron under a microscope.
Written in the 1980s by Howard Brenton, the play starts when both poets spend a summer in a villa on Lake Geneva with their lovers, Mary and Claire. The foursome are natural allies and forge a friendship that inspired them to produce some of their greatest works.
However, their dreams of a utopian future are consumed by lives of excess, illness and tragic accidents.
Bloody Poetry runs Nov. 28 to Dec. 7 at the Timms Centre for the Arts, 87 Ave. and 112 St. There is a $5 preview on Wednesday, Nov. 27. Otherwise tickets are $11 to $22. Call 780-420-1757 or go online to: www.tixonthesquare.ca
In The Pick Me Ups, playwright Nathania Bernabe dives into the best and worst parts of women’s relationships. In the story five women meet regularly at the Tuck-Away CafĂ© for venting sessions, pep talks, and the occasional temper tantrum.
The women could be our sisters, daughters, mothers or friends, flaunting all their quirky baggage and at some point are all dissected to reveal their humanity.
Filmmaker Katrina Beatty directs The Pick Me Ups and incorporates multi-media visual imagery to amplify the production’s nuances.
The Pick Me Ups runs Nov. 24 to 28. All performances are at The Bower, 10538 Jasper Ave. Tickets are $10 to $15. Call 780-420-1757 or go online to: www.tixonthesquare.ca.
