Clef presents a trio

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 3, 2005


A trio of fine young musicians from across the Lower Mainland will be featured when the Burnaby Clef Society kicks off its 2005 concert season with a presentation of festival winners at the Shadbolt Centre later this month.

Clarinetist Christopher Lee, his oboe-playing brother John Lee and pianist Raymond Zeng will perform in Salon 103 of the Shadbolt at 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 18.

Christopher will perform compositions by Weber, Debussy and Michizsky, while John Lee will play a Mozart sonata. Zeng, who is only 12 years old, will perform a Beethoven sonata, Hungarian Dance by Liszt and Scherzo by Chopin.

In total, the afternoon will feature more than 100 minutes of music by these three talented young artists, at the nominal price of $10 for adults, $5 for students or seniors, or free to Clef Society members.

The society will also host an Oct. 22 performance by the students of Lorraine Grescoe Studio, with the Fraser River Fiddlers, and the Nov., 27 performance of the UBC Opera Ensemble under the direction of Nancy Hermiston.

SUSTAINABLE MUSIC

An up-and-coming folk singer from back east will be bringing her heartfelt music to the Myles of Beans coffee house on Kingsway later this month.

Sharon Coward, whose new CD This Time was released in Ottawa just four weeks ago, will visit Burnaby as part of her Sustainable Music tour that will take her from Montreal to Victoria.

Citing influences such as the Cowboy Junkies, Norah Jones, Sinead O'Connor and Jane Siberry, Coward's website, www.sharoncoward.com, includes some fascinating comments about her views of the world.

"Music is what I do, but living as a human being in the bigger picture is more important," Coward says. "I feel called to do this, and I think there are all kinds of ethical creative ways to live, and this might be one. But you can't lose sight of the larger picture, your context. And if the life you are living, whatever it is - artist, banker, mother - doesn't make sense in the context of the world's larger realities, then you've got to find something that does."

The Sustainable Music tour arrives at Myles of Beans, 7010 Kingsway, at 8 p.m., Sept. 14.

Coincidence? Coward's itinerary notes that she'll be playing in Halifax at the end of October with another singer-songwriter by the name of David Myles. And no, it's not the same David Myles who once owned the Burnaby coffeeshop where the Ottawa-based singer will be performing.

ASHLEY'S HIGH NOTES

Add a little piece of Burnaby to your music collection with the release of High Notes, a CD featuring songs from the top 10 finalists from the current edition of the popular reality TV show Canadian Idol.

Among the 10 performers on the disc is Burnaby's own 18-year-old singing sensation Ashley Leitao, who performs her signature song Colours of the Wind from the Disney film Pochahontas on the disc.

The CD was released by Sony BMG Music (Canada) last week, as the show prepared to take the four 2005 finalists down to Nashville, Tennessee, to bask in the limelight of Elvis Presley's former stomping grounds.

Despite the fact that Leitao's Canadian Idol aspirations were dashed several weeks ago, the teen with the powercharged voice was invited back to Toronto last weekend for the official CD release party.

SEASONS AT FONG'S

Some of the most respected artists in Burnaby will be heading to the Eileen Fong Gallery, at Tinseltown in Vancouver, for today's opening reception of its new show, The Four Seasons.

Fong, one of the greatest supporters of the Burnaby Arts Council, has been using the space to highlight the works of local artists, and her latest exhibit, which runs throughout the month of September, offers an excellent look at the varied styles and forms of B.C. painters.

The exhibit features the work of nine artists Dale Waldorf, Gloria O'Neil, Jane Andelini, Joan Mostad, Linda McPhail, Mark Sterling, Mayumi Hatano, Michael Sayamore and Pat Maertz. View their work online at www.coopgallery.com.

The opening reception runs from 2 to 5 p.m. today, and the exhibit continues to Sept. 30. The gallery will also also host a Chinese brush painting workshop with Fong at 1 p.m., Sept. 10, and a demonstration of Japanese chigire-e by Roxsane Tiernan at 2 p.m., Sept. 17.

Contact the Eileen Fong Gallery at 778-889-4057.

SHADBOLT FILLER

The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts is preparing for its most ambition season ever with its 2005-06 lineup of dance, music and theatre productions.

"Go big or go home," was the message from arts services manager Ian Forsyth, after announcing that the Shadbolt will host a record 19 different productions in its 10th season.

The year begins on September 30, when local impresario Susan Bertoia and friends at BellaLuna host the world premiere of The Best Italian Variety Show ... Ever!

A newcomer to the Shadbolt is the Applause! Musicals in Concert company with its unique program of reviving not-well-known musicals with up-and-coming actors.

Applause will bring Cole Porter's Jubilee from Oct. 5 to 8, George Gershwin's Strike Up The Band from Nov. 2 to 5, Richard Rodger's Flower Drum Song from Feb. 22 to 25, and Irving Berlin's Louisiana Purchase from April 5 to 8.

Next up is the Arts Club Theatre production of SUDS: The Rocking' 60s musical soap opera, running Oct. 12 and 13, featuring more than 30 big hits from the early days of rock 'n roll and squeaky clean fun for the whole family.

Weill Women, a humourous and soulful journey through the landscape of Kurt Weill's best known songs feature the talents of Alisa Kort, Calla Krause and Karen Shumka on Oct. 15.

The man who starred in One-Man Star Wars is back at it with A Canadian Bartender at Butlin's, the wistful story of a working holiday in a piano bar at a much-maligned seaside resort. Written and performed by T.J. Dawe, the show runs one-night-only, Dec. 2.

The spring season begins on Feb. 10 with Randy Rutherford presenting Weaverville Waltz, a story of youthful angst in the 1950s and 60s as seen through the eyes of a pip-squeak Romeo who rides a royal blue Schwinn Flyer.

The Arts Club Theatre returns from Feb. 14 to 18 with Mom's The Word 2: Unhinged, The Hysterical Sequel, features Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard, and Deborah Williams bring humour back into the fray of the world's oldest unpaid profession.