Belfountain Music Festival returning this month

August 3, 2016 · 0 Comments

In terms of music, the variety will be from Bach to pop.
That is what the Belfountain Music Festival will be offering this year.
The festival, presented by the Belfountain Heritage Society, will run from Aug. 13 to 21. All the concerts will be at Melville White Church, on Mississauga Road, south of Belfountain.
The festival will open Aug. 13 with a performance by The Gemsmen, starting at 8 p.m.
The Gemsmen are North America’s only gemshorn quartet, performing a wide range of instrumental and vocal musical styles, specializing in mediaeval, Renaissance and The Unlikely.
Tenor Gemsman Hall Train will perform with Dean Burry, Ken Hall and Trevor Rines. Performing on traditional renaissance gemshorns, they will conduct an exciting musical journey through the ages, including selections by Susato, Ravenscroft, the Beatles and music from Star Wars and Game of Thrones.
The Accolade Trio will appear Aug. 14 at 8 p.m.
The trio includes Susan Black, who is both a pianist and a mezzo-soprano who has performed numerous recitals with soloists, as well as touring with a variety of choirs from across Canada; Mark Chambers, a conductor, cellist and early music specialist; and Patricia Wait, an associate professor and clarinet instructor in the Music Department at York University.
The schedule for Aug. 15 will include a workshop with Amber Ghent, entitled Body Mapping for Musicians, starting at 3:30 p.m.
This introductory workshop is designed for music educators and students in order to create more ease, freedom and expression in playing. Learn clear, concise information about the body and discover your own body map, and how it shapes movement. Come and meet Fred the skeleton and dress comfortably for movement explorations. Bring your own instrument.
Ghent is a certified Andover Educatory who offers body mapping workshops and private lessons for performers, teachers and students of all ages.
Later in the afternoon of Aug. 15, there will be a Young Artist Concert, featuring students of Arco Violini, starting at 5 p.m.
Arco Violini is a chamber orchestra made up of highly advanced students under the direction of Dr. Zachary Ebin.
Aug. 15 will also feature an evening performance by the Madawaska Quartet, starting at 8 p.m.
The program will include works by Brahms and Schoenfield.
The Quartet has worked as chamber music faculty at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, also performing as part of its Great Artist Series, and has given workshops for students and emerging composers at the University of Toronto, York University, the Array New Music Centre, the Composers’ Guild of Canada, and the Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop. It is also the quartet-in-residence at the University of Toronto (Scarborough Campus) Music Faculty for the 2015-2017 seasons.
An Evening of Solo Bach will take place Aug. 16, starting at 8 p.m.
It will feature Pierre Gagnon on viola, Ebin on violin, Chambers on cello and Pierre Yves Gagnon, a member of the Niagara Symphony as well as the Canadian Music Festival Adjudicators’ Association. He teaches extensively in the area of Oakville and has been invited as a guest teacher at the Montreal Suzuki Institute, the Oakville Arts Day Camp and for workshops at several Suzuki programs in the Greater Toronto area. Ebin has performed extensively in the United States, Canada, and Israel. Active as a music educator, he is on the faculty of Etobicoke Suzuki Music and the Hammer Band, and serves as music director of Arco Violini.
The Caledon Concert Band will be performing Aug. 17 at 8 p.m.
There will be a Young Artists Concert: The Awesome Foursome Aug. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
There will be more local flavour Aug. 18 when The Golden Country Classics take to the stage Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. They have been playing old-time country dances, barbecues and parties together for eight years. All local farmers, the band is led by Rod Salisbury on the piano, with Brian Stevenson on drums, Sam Leitch on the fiddle, Wib Tupling on the guitar, and Lionel Gibney on the bass. They perform all over the GTA, and their performance at BMF is in memory of Tom Neelands, a former band member and good friend.
Aug. 19 will feature a Young Artists Concert: Suzuki Violin Play Down, starting at 5:30 p.m.
The Glenellen String Quartet will perform Aug. 19 at 8 p.m.
Consisting of Amanda Lee and Julia McFarlane on violins, Pamela Bettger on viola and Monica Fedrigo on cello, they started in 2003 as a string trio for a chamber music concert. They expanded in 2005 to become the Zonnenbloem Quartet, playing their first chamber concert n September 2006. In 2007 with the addition of McFarlane, the ensemble evolved to become the present day Glenellen String Quartet.
Also performing will be cellist Tova Rosenberg, who has recently returned to Canada after almost a decade of teaching and performing in New York City.
The Aug. 21 agenda will feature a Young Artist Concert: Arco Violini, starting at 5:30 p.m. The program will include works by Mozart, Vivaldi, Saint-Saens and more.
The festival will conclude Aug. 21 with a performance by local soprano Emily Vondrejs and Connor O’Kane on piano
Vondrejs is currently working on a vocal performance music degree at Wilfrid Laurier Unviersity. She is studying with the Canadian soprano Leslie Fagan and pianist Lorin Shalanko, and performs regularly with the Maureen Forrester Singers.
Her hometown is Erin.
Connor O’Kane has a bachelor of music in piano performance from Wilfrid Laurier University. He spent part of his degree on exchange at the Conservatoire de Lyon, France. He looks forward to continuing his musical education next year as a Masters candidate at the University of Ottawa.
For more information on the festival, including ticket information, go to http://www.belfountainmusic.com