Feb. 8, 14 and 15, 2012 at 10:30 am & 1 pm (1 hour in length)

 

This season’s Grades 4-6 ESO and Lehigh Hanson Education Concerts, Alberta: Songs of our Land, combine classical masterpieces with traditional music from across the province to inspire respect for the land and encourage identity and belonging within Alberta.

 

Created and led by Enbridge Resident Conductor Lucas Waldin, the concert will explore the Aboriginal communities of Alberta, from First Nations to Métis to Intuit, using music to depict the land and legends that define their cultures.

 

Fiddlers from Prince Charles School, Enoch Cree singers, Métis child jiggers and musical prodigy and fiddler Calvin Vollrath all take the stage to give students a unique and authentic experience.
 

Kemal Gekić, one of today’s most seductive and sensitive pianists, presents his daring approach to the music of Franz Liszt. The Late Night audience will also enjoy other music from titans of the Romantic age.

“Gekić rides the charismatic edge of genius,” said R. Dyer, Boston Globe. According to James Roos of the Miami Herald, “He is something like a general who has learned all the rules in the book and is therefore free to ignore them in the time of war.”

Known worldwide for his daring approach to tone and form and vast repertoire, Croatian-American Gekić will perform Liszt’s Fantasia on The Ruins of Athens, generating his usual frenzied audience enthusiasm. As a recording artist, his original views of music, including his Rossini-Liszt transcriptions, won him accolades in Europe, America and Japan.
 

From leaps and shimmies to pirouettes and even the Lindy Hop, A Wild Symphonic Ride takes families on a whirlwind tour of the energy, artistry and sheer fun of dancing. Enbridge Resident Conductor Lucas Waldin leads the symphony while Edmonton’s most talented, young dancers and acrobats representing some of the community’s finest dance organizations shake and spin.

Students from Strathcona high school bring their passion for Broadway on stage while above stage Firefly Theatre acrobats showcase their aerial circus acts. Dancers from Sugar Swing Dance Club and Knock School of Irish Dance will have guests jitterbugging and tapping in their seats.

"This will be one of this season's highlights as we showcase the extraordinary wealth of young talent here in Edmonton,” said Waldin. “When you aren't enjoying the sights and colours of our special guests, you'll be holding onto your seat as the ESO takes you on a wild ride through a variety of sparkling show pieces for orchestra.”
 

Concert blends classical with just plain classic
Over 100 voices add an elaborate musicality to traditional holiday favourites

A Lightly Classical Christmas

 

Have yourself a merry little Christmas in two evenings devoted to the beloved classical and traditional music of the season. Rising American conducting star Stuart Chafetz makes his ESO debut, leading Canadian bass-baritone Nathan Berg, the magical voices of over 100 Richard Eaton Singers and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

 

Resident Conductor of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Stuart Chafetz brings his rich holiday sentimentality and engaging personality to the Winspear for exquisite orchestral arrangements and grand choral masterpieces.

 

Lending his “first-class voice” (The Boston Globe), one of the most in-demand bass-baritones of his generation Nathan Berg will enchant the audience with his internationally acclaimed musicality and artistry.  Performing traditional favourites including You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch, The Most Wonderful Time of the Year and What Child Is This?, Berg will also join forces with RES for pieces including Silent Night, Joy to the World and a stirring rendition of O Holy Night.
 

 

Christmas at the Winspear continues with the traditional holiday performances of Handel’s Messiah, one of the world’s most cherished works of faith and inspiration. Four Edmonton natives and three of Edmonton’s finest choirs return to fully evoke this powerful marriage of scripture and song.

 

Returning to the ESO, Soprano Linda Perillo, Mezzo-Soprano Frances Jellard, Tenor John Tessier and Baritone Nathan Berg will recreate the opulent power and stirring contrast of this famous oratorio, with a libretto excerpted from scripture by Charles Jennens.

 

Joining the orchestra and these highly-acclaimed vocalists, over 80 voices from i Coristi Chamber Choir, the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers and Òran will add the full richness to the performance, once again bringing guests to their feet with the climactic “Hallelujah” chorus – the most famous piece from Messiah.

 

Music Director William Eddins will take the harpsichord role for the concert and will lead the orchestra through various head nods and signals – a rare and challenging undertaking.