reviewvancouver: concerts

Movie Nights with the VSO
West Side Story™ Film with Orchestra

When & Where April 22, 2023 at 7pm & April 23, 2023 & 2pm | Orpheum Theatre

Maestro Andrew Crust leads the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in a heart-pounding interpretation of Leonard Bernstein’s Stravinsky-inspired score that has long been considered a “popular masterpiece.” The orchestra fittingly begin the concert with Overture, a medley of the soundtrack’s musical highlights: Tonight, Maria, Mambo and The Rumble. Full review

When & Where March 3 at 8pm, March 4 at 5pm & 8pm | St. Andrew's-Wesley United Church, 1022 Nelson Street

Conductor Erick Lichte Featured musicians Ken Cormier – Piano, Jodi Proznick – Bass, Keith Sinclair – Guitar & Liam Macdonald - Percussion

Accomplished a cappella singing, clever arrangements and an adventurous spirit have allowed the sixty-plus members of Chor Leoni to become one of North America's best male choirs. Partly because of the size of the choir and also the need for ideal acoustics, the group regularly perform in the sanctuary of St. Andrews-Wesley United Church. Full review

Off The Vine: Arizona Wine Festival

When & Where Saturday February 18, 2023, | Steam Pump Ranch, Oro Valley, AZ

Reviewer Patricia Cassidy

Wine plus great music, plus good food – a winning combination. Plus, blue skies, no wind and a temperature of 23C made for a perfect day for an outdoor festival in Oro Valley which is about 10 miles north of Tucson. Full review

Four Shillings Short
Celtic, Folk and World Music Concert

When & Where February 11, 2023 | Unity of The White Mountains, Pinetop-Lakeside, AZ

Reviewer Patricia Cassidy

Aodh Og O’Tuama (pronounced ayog) is from Cork, Ireland and Cristy Martin from California. Collectively, they play twenty different instruments and Cristy sings in English Irish and Sanskrit and Aodh Og sings in English, Irish, French, and Latin. The concert included the dulcimer, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, tin whistles, flutes, sitar, charango, banjo, krumhorn, psaltery, bodhran, guitar and ukulele. Full review

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Brass Transit: The Musical Legacy of Chicago

Conductor David Bui Featured Performers Members of Brass Transit: Ian Jutsun – vocals, Don Breithaupt – piano & keyboards, Silvio Simone – lead guitar, Jay Speziale – bass guitar, backing vocals, Paul DeLong – drums, Tony Carlucci – trumpet, Doug Gibson – trombone & Phil Poppa – saxophone

Why are eight Canadian professional musicians forming a band to perform music by an American rock band? Brass Transit embodies the music of Chicago! The combo features a stellar brass section that zealously recreates the arrangements of the original band. Full review

The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra
Celebrating Maestro Bramwell Tovey: His Life in Music

Host Christopher Gaze, Conductor Tania Miller, Guest Conductors Gordon Girard and Rosemary Thomson Featured performers Tracy Dahl - soprano, James Ehnes - violin

Program Elgar's Enigma Variations, Mahler's Adagietto from Symphony No. 5, Barber's Violin Concerto, opus 14, Morlock's Nostalgia for String Orchestra, Goddard's Vocalise, Strauss' Morgen! Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 in A major , Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending

The program in this concert covers music that honours the legacy of Bramwell Tovey. It’s music that he enjoyed listening as well as performing. The opening piece, from late Maestro’s countryman Edward Elgar was the famous Nimrod, the ninth movement from Variations on an Original Theme played by the orchestra without a conductor. Host Christopher Gaze invited the audience to imagine the late Maestro standing on the podium. Fans of Elgar's music appreciated the orchestra's precise and affectionate playing. Full review

When & Where December 16, 17 & 19 at 8pm, December 17 & 19 at 5pm, and December 17 at 2pm | St. Andrew’s-Wesley United, 1022 Nelson St.

Artistic Director Erick Lichte Featured performers Cameron Wilson - violin, Keith Sinclair - guitar, Tina Chang - piano

Now in its thirty-first year, the Vancouver based and internationally renowned Chor Leoni is a sixty-plus member male choir who once again bring their seasonal concert to the St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in downtown Vancouver. This year Chor Leoni presents its seasonal celebration of light and hope with a gallimaufry of traditional Christmas Carols, modern secular Christmas tunes and a song we usually hear on New Year’s Eve. Full review

When and Where Friday November 11 and Saturday, November 12, 8pm at 2022 | Orpheum Theatre

Conductor Karen Kamensek Featured performers Jon Kimura Parker – piano, Christie Reside - flute

Programme Kodály's Dances of Galánta, Fung's Flute Concerto, Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, Age of Anxiety

A varied music program was featured on November 11th by the VSO and guest artists. The program included Zolton Kodaly’s Dances of Galanta, Vivian Fung’s Flute Concerto and performed by flautist Christie Reside and Symphony No. 2: Age of Anxiety performed by pianist Jon Kimura Parker. Full review

Conductor Karl Hirzer Featured Performers Sarah Slean- vocals, Mark De Jong - saxaphones

Canadian vocalist Sarah Slean does not look like her tribute subject, nor does her voice sound similar. Nonetheless, she seems an obvious choice to perform a selection of the iconic singer-songwriter’s well known and less well known songs. She seems to have a genuine affinity for Mitchell’s music, especially the songs that have a jazz influence. Like Mitchell, Slean began her music career at age twenty. Full review