Concerts and Special Events

 

Winter 2012  Thursdays at Noon Concert Series

 

Celebrating 45 Years of Music Making
 

Concerts start at 12:10pm SHARP on Thursdays in MacKinnon Rm 107 (Goldschmidt Room).
Admission FREE - donations gratefully appreciated.
Everyone Welcome!

 

January 26
FACULTY SHOWCASE Celebrating the 45th Anniversary of the Thursday At Noon Concert Series

The talented Professors and Instructors in the School of Fine Art and Music will perform.  To celebrate the 45th year of this concert series, a commemorative collage will be unveiled, and refreshments will be served in MacKinnon 103 after the concert. Everyone is welcome to attend.

 

February 2
Madawaska Quartet - The Evolution of the String Quartet in One Hour

The Madawaska Quartet will perform works from Purcell to Haydn to new pieces hot off the presses by local composers Dustin Peters and Nick Storring, linking old to the new and revealing how much---and how little---has changed in the world of the string quartet.

 

February 9
James McLean- Music from Winterreise

James McLean is one of Canada's most distinguished vocal artists, known for his compelling interpretation of the works of Bach, Mozart and Britten in an illustrious career on the operatic and concert stages of Europe.  He will perform 16 songs from Schuberts' first great song cycle Winterreise.  Anna Ronai will accompany on piano.

 

February 16
Convergence Ensemble

Instrumentalists Dr. Gerard Yun (shakuhachi, didgeridoo, and native flute), Kathryn Ladano (bass clarinet), and Sandro Manzon (piano) use improvisation to explore new modes of meaning and expression rooted in aesthetics of a variety of global music forms.  In the process each instrument is used in its traditional mode but each is also pushed into new modes of expression.

 

March 1
Daniel Payne, Roots, Music from Newfoundland and Labrador

Dance tunes played on fiddle, accordian, mandolin, whistle and wooden flute.

 

March 8
Creative Music Symposium with Bob Gluck & Neil Rolnick

Duet concert for piano and electronics including Neil Rolnick's Faith for piano and computer (2009), Herbie Hancock's 'Sleeping Giant' suite (1971/2009), and other works.

 

March 15
Veronique Mathieu & Boris Kupesic, Paragons of Contemporary Canadian Music

A recital celebrating Canadian composers, from the established to the up and coming.  Solo and duo compositions on the violin.

 

March 22
Lorne Lofsky / Kieran Overs Duo

Performing modern renditions of the great American Songbook and well known jazz standards.  The duo's aim is to adopt a fresh approach to this repertoire by varying structure and form in a context of ever widening parameters.

 

March 29
Student Soloists Day

Features the talented Applied Music students at the School of Fine Art and Music.

 

April 5
Student Soloists Day

Features the talented Applied Music students at the School of Fine Art and Music.

 

For more information on the Winter 2012 Thursday At Noon Concert Series please email Vicki Isotamm at visotamm@uoguelph.ca or call 519 824-4120 ext.52991.

 

 

Winter 2012 Ensemble Concerts

 

Saturday March 10, 2012
University of Guelph Choirs present

Homecoming: The Afro-Celtic Connection with special guest Daniel Payne

This concert features special guest Newfoundland singer-fiddler-actor-accordionist DANIEL PAYNE.  Daniel will perform most of the first half of the concert with his own and traditional Newfoundland songs.  The choir will join him for a few of his songs and also perform several Celtic numbers.  The second half features African repertoire, including Horizons, a deeply touching South African lullaby, Mama Afrika, an ode to Africa from the people of Haiti, Oremi Jekojo, a Nigerian HighLife song, and Ghana Alleluia, an inspired song of love and hope that surrounds the audience with lush harmony.  Harmoniously drawing together the "two worlds" of the Africans and Celts, we will also sing I Dream A World, a gorgeous setting of the poem by prominent African-American poet, Langston Hughes.

Conductor Marta McCarthy
Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, Guelph
8:00 pm
$10 General Admission

 

Friday March 30, 2012
University of Guelph Concert Winds Ensemble

Conductor John Goddard
Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, Guelph
8:00 pm
Tickets for sale at the door - $10 (general admission), $5 students/seniors

 

Saturday March 31, 2012
University of Guelph Choirs

Dream Weavers with special guest Willem Mollenbeek

All three University of Guelph choirs join together to present a wide variety of repertoire that encapsulates all of the mystery, excitement, and poignancy of the dreamworld.  A breadth of musical styles is included, ranging from Beethoven (his lovely Elegie) to a Hebrew Prayer (by Canadian composer Syd Robinovitch) to African lullabyes.  A special treat will be the world premiere of  El Sueno by Guelph student composer Patrick Horrigan.  This concert also serves as a "Farewell" and fundraising event for the University of Guelph Chamber Singers - in anticipation of their competition in Germany - and for the Women's Choir - to show off their repertoire for Podium (Canada's national conducting conference).  The performance culminates in music that expresses dreams for a better world, including a gorgeous setting of I Dream A World, by prominent African-American poet, Langston Hughes.

Conductor Marta McCarthy
Harcourt United Church, 87 Dean Ave, Guelph
8:00 pm
$10 General Admission
 

Sunday April 1, 2012
University of Guelph Chamber Ensemble

Conductor Henry Janzen
MacKinnon building room 107 (Goldschmidt Room), University of Guelph, Guelph
3:00 pm.
Free Admission

 

Thursday April 5, 2012
University of Guelph Jazz Ensemble

Conductor Ted Warren

Manhattans Pizza Bistro and Jazz Club, 951 Gordon St, Guelph
8:00pm
$2 cover charge at the door

 

Saturday April 7, 2012
University of Guelph Contemporary Music Ensemble

Conductor Joe Sorbara

Macdonald Stewart Art Centre, 358 Gordon St, Guelph
$5 cover charge at the door

 

 

Thursday Noon Hour Concert Series
1967-2012 (Celebrating 45 years of Music from Around the World)

When the Department of Music was established in 1965 as part of Wellington College of Arts and Science, Ralph Kidd was appointed Chair of this small but important academic unit. For many years Ralph and Edith Kidd were in effect the "musicians in residence" for the Federated Colleges of the Department of Agriculture which included the Ontario Agricultural College, the Ontario Veterinary College, and MacDonald Institute.

In their capacity as musicians in residence, Ralph and Edith provided music for every occasion, playing for convocations, University church services, alumni reunions, 4H group visits, and for banquets and retirement parties.

In addition, they organized the Sunday Nine O'Clock Concert Series, held in Creelman and War Memorial Hall, and helped to bring distinguished performers to the campus. The Glee Club, made up of students from the colleges, was conducted by Ralph and Edith accompanied.

The Kidds' influence reached well beyond Guelph as founders of the Inter-Varsity Choral Festival which included Toronto, McMaster, Western and Guelph.

In the Guelph community, Ralph and Edith took an active role in every musical enterprise including the Presto Music Club. Ralph was also organist and choirmaster at St. Georges's Anglican Church for many years and established a fine musical tradition with both the adult and boys' choirs.

When the Arts Building was completed on the University of Guelph campus in August 1967, Edith became Concert Manager with responsibility for planning concerts that would feature professional performers brought to Guelph to provide cultural opportunities for the University community. She was given plenty of freedom, but a very small budget. The plan was to use Music Room 107 in what is now the MacKinnon Building for Noon-Hour Concerts offered to faculty, staff, students and the general public, all free of charge.

The first concert of the 1967-68 academic year began with a recital by the Dutch baritone Peter van Ginkel, who at the time was in residence at Wilfrid Laurier University. About twenty concerts were arranged every year. Until retirement in 1975, Edith and Ralph worked tirelessly on this concert series which was soon recognized as a model of quality, economy and good organization. Ralph provided a brief introduction before each performance, and welcomed the artists.

Other Ontario universities have replicated the style and structure of these splendid Thursday Noon Hour Concerts, but Guelph led the way.

Over the years the series has seen an impressive array of well-known nationally and internationally recognized artists including:

  • The Canadian Opera Company (1975)

  • renowned pianist Angela Hewitt (1979)

  • baritone Kevin McMillan (1987)

  • the Amsterdam Guitar Trio (1987)

  • the Vancouver Wind Trio (1987)

  • Soviet pianist Evgenij Koroljav (1987)

  • Elsa Hilger and Catherine Baird, cello and piano from the USA (1987)

  • The Cleveland Violin Duo (1988)

  • American lutist Hopkinson Smith (1988)

  • Mondriaan String Quartet (1994)

  • Jaap Schroder (Netherlands), baroque violin with Mary Cyr, viola da gamba and Sandra Mangsen, harpsichord (1997)

  • Lukshmi Ranganathan, veena Vasan Rajalingam, mrudangam (1997)

  • Trichy Sankaran & Friends (1997)

  • Arbor Oak Trio (1999) and Boubacar Diabate, kora and Elhadji Diouf, percussion (2000)

  • Silvia Mandolini (Italy), violin and Brigitte Poulin, piano (Quebec) (2004)

  • Alexander Tselyakov, piano (Russia) (2004)

  • Andrew Klaehn, reeds, Michel Bergauer, bass, Paul Stouffer, piano (2004)

  • Ken Moore, solo guitar (2006)

  • Jesse Stewart, solo percussion (2006)

  • Cary Savage, classical guitar (2007)

  • The Donn Robert' Band (2008)

  • The Middlesex Singers, Richard Cunningham and Zachary Windus (2008)

  • Pierrot Lunaire Ensemble, Silvia Gelos, flute, and Gustavo Balanesco, piano (2008)

  • The Trillium Brass Quintet, (2009)

  • Light of East Ensemble, (2009)

  • Red Chamber Ensemble, (2010)

  • Kevin Breit, (2010)

  • Jane Bunnett, (2011)

The School of Fine Art and Music and the College of Arts are proud supporters of the Thursday At Noon Concert Series which celebrates its 45th anniversary in 2012.   Performers from around the world come to the University of Guelph to showcase their talents to our community.  Over the years, the series has been expanded to include performances by various music ensembles conducted by faculty from the School of Fine Art and Music, as well as three special Student Soloists' Day concerts presented each academic year.

For more information on the Thursday At Noon or Ensemble Concert Series, please email Vicki Isotamm (visotamm@uoguelph.ca) 519-824-4120, Ext. 52991