Daily Archives: February 8, 2017

Sultans of String April 2 at the Venables

Posted on by

The Sultans of String, with all their incredible talent and explosiveness, are coming to our magnificent theatre on Sunday, April 2. This is a change from the original scheduled performance, because they’ve been asked to attend the Juno Awards!

(From their press release) “Canada’s genre bending string slingers SULTANS OF STRING garner a JUNO nomination for World Music Album of the Year at the celebratory JUNOs Press Conference for their feast of raucous reels ragas ‘n’ rumbas, Subcontinental Drift, featuring special guest/sitar master Anwar Khurshid (Oscar-winning Life of Pi).

“We are honoured to receive this JUNO nomination for our new album! We could not have made this recording without the support of the whole Canadian roots community, and our special collaboration with Anwar”, states bandleader/violinist Chris McKhool. He adds, “there is something magical about joining world music rhythms that we often play, but with pop sensibilities and forms and lengths, and blending that with the music of the East.”

Yet Subcontinental Drift is more than a genre-hopping passport. It is a musical promise that embraces differences while finding common ground across culture, land, and time.

“Together we started writing songs about freedom and equality, and our hope of creating a better world. I feel in some way that these songs reflect our own personal hopes and journeys towards finding a world peace. This is a message that is needed more than ever at this time”.

The award nomination comes on the heels of the band’s whirlwind North American and UK Subcontinental Drifttours, including a special appearance organized by the High Commission at London’s Trafalgar Square. Distributed by Fontana North in Canada, the album hit #1 in Canada on Earshot’s international charts, top 10 on the American CMJ charts and top 15 on Billboard’s World Music charts in the U.S. It also got picked up for distribution in the U.S. by CEN/SONY and by Proper in Europe.

Sultans of String are celebrating their 10th anniversary as a band, criss-crossing North America and performing at many taste-making forums such as JUNOFest, legendary jazz club Birdland in NYC, and California’s hip music scene, including the San Jose Jazz Festival. They recently sold out Koerner Hall (Toronto’s Carnegie Hall), and performed with Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton Symphony Orchestras. Sultans of String were recently filmed by MPBN’s Maine Arts! in a feature concert, and performed live on BBC TV, Irish National Radio, and the internationally syndicated shows WoodSongs, World Cafe, and on SiriusXM in Washington. The band has been on the road non-stop, and will make their debut in The Netherlands and mainland Europe this summer. 

They are currently recording a festive world-music-inspired Christmas Caravan CD featuring Canada’s singer to the stars Rebecca Campbell (Bruce Cockburn, Alanis Morissette, Emmylou Harris) and 5x Platinum selling Nikki Yanofsky, The Chieftains’ very own Paddy Moloney, JUNO winner Alex Cuba, Cameroon’s Richard Bona, Panamanian 7x Grammy/5x Latin Grammy winning Ruben Blades, and more.

Tickets are $40. Seating is assigned. This will be one of the most incredible music experiences of your life. You can afford the ticket and you cannot afford to miss this. Tickets are available on line at VenablesTheatre.ca, at the Frank Venables Theatre box office or at Medici’s at 522 Fairview Road in Oliver…250-498-2228

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8mKJL4SvpQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSgbRZVDa30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tUM9ifOaQw

Colourful Concert February 24

Posted on by

When I first started reading the reviews for Duo Concertante, Canada’s premiere violin and piano ensemble, I wondered what I could be getting in for. “Vigorous, passionate, red-blooded” said one. “Ethereal textures, colorful sonorities” and “suspended between poetry and romance” said another. “Grace and fire…fury and repose” said another. Then a conclusion, “Two packages of musical dynamite that would credit any stage in any city in any continent on the planet!”

Wow!   Nancy Dahn, violin, and Timothy Steeves, piano, are coming to OUR stage at the Venables Theatre, Oliver, on Friday, February 24th . Performance starts at 7:30 pm and tickets for $22.50 are available on line at www.venablestheatre.ca, at the Venables box office open 10 to 3 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday or at the door.

Dahn and Steeves are partners in life as well as in music and their powerful musical instincts and flawless technique have been recognized throughout North America, Europe, and Asia where they maintain a busy touring schedule. Their tight quality of ensemble playing speaks to years of successful collaboration where the fluidity of the piano intertwines intimately with the poignancy of the violin. The inscription over Beethoven’s “Kreutzer” sonata reads, “in stilo molto concertante” with the implication that the performers are two equal and dynamic voices. This notion defines Duo Concertante’s artistic relationship.   The “Kreutzer” sonata was the first piece the duo played when, in 1997, they burst into the performance world.

Both Dahn and Steeves are based at Memorial University in St. John’s where they are energetic, experienced teachers who have given hundred of master classes and workshops throughout the world. Their commitment to working with young musicians gave rise to the annual Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, which they founded in 2000 to bring together young chamber music performers with world-class artists and ensembles for an intensive two weeks of learning and performance.

The couple have seven acclaimed CDs including Beethovens Complete Sonatas for Violin and Piano, which received rave reviews from the international press and their recording of R. Murray Schafer’s Duo for Violin and Piano which won the 2011 Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year.

Tickets are on sale now for this concert which will close another very satisfying South Okanagan Concert Society season of music. Those requiring bus transportation from Osoyoos can call Maureen at 250 495 7978 to make arrangements.