 |
 |
Friday, July 18, 2014 at 07:48AM Each Saturday morning, CBC Radio 2's This is My Music is hosted by one of Canada's foremost international classical artists. The host selects a program of mainly classical music and presents it in a lively, engaging manner enriched with personal anecdotes and insights.
Saturday, July 19, 2014 10am-noon CBC Radio 2 will air James Campbell’s segment of This is My Music.
Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 10:36AM By Peter Hendra, Kingston Whig-Standard
Wednesday, July 2, 2014 8:10:06 EDT PM
Unlike a decade ago when she took over as artistic director of the annual classical music concert series held on Amherst Island, Beverley Harris doesn’t usually have to pursue top-flight musicians anymore.
“We are now able to bring what I call ‘A-list’ performers to this small festival, and this small festival has now developed quite a little reputation for itself,” Harris explained about the Waterside Summer Series, which kicks off Sunday evening. “I find that often artists are now contacting me, particularly those that have been here before.”
One of the reasons is the way they’re treated. “We don’t kind of shake hands as they arrive, do their gig, and here’s your cheque, thank you very much, and off they go, which is what I think is what they probably experience in a lot of urban settings,” she said before apologizing for the noise as she removes a pie from her oven.
Instead, the performers typically arrive the night before and dine at Harris’s island home. They then have the following day — after staying at the island’s “lodge” — to rehearse in the hall in which they’ll perform. And there’s a post-performance gathering complete with food and drink in one of the “lovelier homes” on the island, she said. “I think this hospitality perhaps has a lot to do with them saying, ‘Gee, we just love it here and we’d love to come back.’’ Harris suggested.
Being a gracious host isn’t the only reason the island has become a destination of choice for classical musicians.
Each of the series’ five concerts is held at St. Paul’s Church — it started in 1994 as a fundraiser for another, smaller church, St. Alban’s — which can accommodate only 140 spectators. “It’s very up close and personal, and it’s a knowledgeable audience, and I think the artists right away sort of twig to that,” Harris said. “They realize by the reception and the fact that, when they’re performing, you can hear a pin drop, that the audience really, really appreciates it.”
Waterside is now a not-for-profit festival that now regularly attracts classical musical enthusiasts not just from the island, but also from places such as Ottawa, Toronto and, naturally, Kingston and area. The series now has around 75 sponsors, most of which are individuals rather than corporations. “I think people are just knocked out by the quality of what we’re presenting here,” Harris suggested. “And they enjoy, if they don’t live on the island, the whole outing: the ferry ride, a lot of them will have a picnic, that sort of thing.”
As for the annual lineup — it runs only until mid-August, Harris explained, so that it’s still light out during the concert’s 20-minute intermission — she likes to musically “mix it up.” “We’ve got a string quartet, we’ve got two opera singers this year, we’ve got a piano trio, we’ve got violin and piano, and we have Janina Fialkowska, who will do the piano recital,” Harris said.
One thing the performers can’t have, Harris said, is an attitude. “I’ve maybe had one, or two, in 10 years, what I would call divas, who, for obvious reasons, I haven’t invited back,” she said with a laugh. “There are certain things on this island that you cannot offer, and if these people are just used to five-star hotels and whatnot, it just isn’t here. So they have to come and appreciate the island for what it is.”
Wednesday, June 25, 2014 at 07:18AM Friday, June 27, 2014
7:30pm • Music Shed • Free Admission
Norfolk, CT
Under the direction of composer Martin Bresnick, Norfolk's acclaimed New Music Workshop invites composers and instrumentalists to study the dynamics of taking a piece from a composer's imagination to the performance hall. The 2014 Workshop focuses on new music for guitar and ensembles. The Workshop culminates in a performance featuring guitar virtuosi and composers Benjamin Verdery and Van Stiefel, pianist Lisa Moore and the Norfolk Contemporary Ensemble led by conductor Julian Pellicano.
Martin Bresnick director, Julian Pellicano conductor,
Benjamin Verdery guitar/composer, Van Stiefel guitar/composer
Lisa Moore piano and Fellows of the Norfolk Festival
Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 07:11AM Masters from the Academy
BENJAMIN VERDERY
Saturday, June 28, 2014 at 7:30pm
The Mannes Concert Hall
150 West 85th Street, New York, New York 
Music by Verdery, Couperin, Bach, Laderman, Marshall, Prince,
Neil Young, Randy Newman, Otis Blackwell, Elvis Presley