A Celtic Christmas with the McDades

Sunday, December 23, 2012, 2:00 pm

Enmax Hall, Winspear Centre

A Celtic Christmas with the McDades

2012 Christmas at the Winspear

  • Steven Reineke, conductor
    The McDades, instrumental and vocal ensemble
    Greenwood Singers (Robert de Frece, Music Director)
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Details

About this Concert
The McDades, Edmonton’s groundbreaking family of singers and instrumentalists, make their ESO debut performing favourite holiday tunes with a Celtic twist. Join us for innovative instrumental sonorities and vocal harmonies, perfectly complemented by stirring orchestral arrangements and the Greenwood Singers.

Additional Performances
Fri, December 21, 2012
Sat, December 22, 2012
Next Air Canada Presents
January 22, 2013
Karen Gomyo
click for detailed seating map

Ticket Information

$89 Dress Circle (A)
$79 Terrace (B)
$64 Orchestra (C)
$49 Upper Circle (D)
$36 Gallery (E)
$20 Orchestra Front (F)
Tickets subject to applicable service charges.
Click here to learn more about the Robbins Pops series.

Artist Info

Steven Reineke, conductor

steven reinekeSteven Reineke’s boundless enthusiasm and exceptional artistry have made him one of the nation’s most sought-after pops conductors, composers and arrangers. Mr. Reineke is the newly appointed Principal Pops Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Music Director of The New York Pops at Carnegie Hall, and Principal Pops Conductor of the National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.  He previously held posts as Principal Pops Conductor of the Long Beach and Modesto Symphony Orchestras and Associate Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Mr. Reineke is a frequent guest conductor with The Philadelphia Orchestra and in the past year has been on the podium with the Boston Pops and The Cleveland Orchestra.  He made his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut on July 4, 2012 at Ravinia.  His extensive North American conducting appearances include Los Angeles, Houston, Seattle, Vancouver, Ottawa (National Arts Centre), Detroit, Fort Worth, Jacksonville, Tampa (The Florida Orchestra), Calgary, Memphis and Oklahoma City. He has become a favourite with ESO pops audiences, with 11 appearances since 2007.
 
As the creator of more than one hundred orchestral arrangements for the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Mr. Reineke’s work has been performed worldwide, and can be heard on numerous Cincinnati Pops Orchestra recordings on the Telarc label. A native of Ohio, Mr. Reineke is a graduate of Miami University of Ohio, where he earned bachelor of music degrees with honors in both trumpet performance and music composition. He currently resides in New York City. Mr. Reineke is represented by Peter Throm Management, LLC.

The McDades

the mcdades
Punching through the walls of tradition, The McDades' celtic rooted music fuses the spontaneity of jazz improvisation and infectious global rhythms. Their cutting edge sound is the perfect complement to their fiery performances. At the heart of the group are siblings Shannon, Solon, and Jeremiah, who grew up playing Canadian folk music alongside their parents and among artists from around the world, a unique upbringing that led to a love and respect for all music. Their groundbreaking compositions and innovative arrangements are characterized by stunning virtuosity and a near-telepathic interaction on stage.

The siblings are joined by Andy Hillhouse, a multi-faceted guitarist whose influences range from mariachi to funk to choral music, and Francois Taillefer, a magnetic hand-drumming nomad who has traveled the world studying ethnic rhythms on percussion. The musical diversity of this tight five-piece celebrates the very idea of what it means to be a Canadian musician. The McDades were winners of the 2007 Juno Award for Best Group Roots/Traditional Album, the 2007 Independent Music Award for Best World Album Traditional, and 2006 winners of the 2006 Canadian Folk Music Award for Best World Group and Best Instrumental Group.

This is the group's debut with the ESO.

Greenwood Singers

greenwood singers
Founded in 1980 by Robert de Frece, Greenwood Singers is dedicated to the performance of all types of choral music “from Renaissance to Broadway.” The choir’s eclectic programming has made its concerts popular with Edmonton audiences since its debut in 1981. In the beginning, Greenwood Singers specialized in the performance of a cappella music from different stylistic periods. Its programming has now expanded to include works with soloists, instrumental ensembles and chamber orchestra. A versatile ensemble, the choir has performed frequently with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in a wide variety of programs which have included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Holst’s The Planets, family Christmas concerts, the concert version of Jerome Kern’s Show Boat, Orff’s Carmina Burana (with Alberta Ballet) and the ESO’s 1992 reunion with the British rock group, Procol Harum.

Greenwood Singers has also performed with the Alberta Baroque Ensemble and has been heard on regional and national broadcasts on CBC Radio-Canada. In the summer of 2000, Greenwood Singers performed at the 24th Biennial World Conference of the International Society for Music Education and in the summer of 2001, sang for the opening ceremonies of the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics. The choir has released four CDs, produced by Arktos Recordings: WinterGreen: Songs of Christmas (1996), Home for the Holidays (1999), Randall Thompson: Ode to the Virginian Voyage / Frostiana (2002) and Joy to the World: Music for Advent & Christmas (2009). For more information, visit www.greenwoodsingers.org.

Multimedia

Learn more about the McDades in this preview of a recently released documentary:

Comments  

 
0 # Deb Hendriks 2012-12-21 16:59 This was my first exposure to Celtic music…the ESO provided an enjoyable Christmas performance, and the Celtic musicians provided 'hauntingly beautiful' twists/additions to familiar and new to me Christmas music. The vocals provided by the Greenwood Singers, again with the magnificent accompaniment of the ESO under my ever-favorite conductor Steven Reineke was the perfect beginning to my Christmas festivities. Awesome ! Thank you Steven, ESO and McDades. Let's keep Steven coming back to cold Edmonton!!!!!! Reply | Reply with quote | Quote
 

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