Festival of the Arts opens summer run July 3

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on June 24, 2009.)

Some familiar names are returning to Huntsville this summer, showcasing talent that, for the most part, has been recognized at a national and international level.

The Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) is a week away from its first concert of the 2009 summer season and another year of record-breaking performances is anticipated.

Festival favourite Jim Cuddy and his band of exceptional musicians will be closing out the festival on Aug. 25 and 26. Prior to those dates, theatre-goers will be tempted with
returning artists John McDermott (Aug. 8), Hawksley Workman (Aug. 12) and the Downchild Blues Band (July 15).

On Saturday, July 11, Maestro Kerry Stratton, a participant in all of the 16 previous festivals, will lead his 43-piece orchestra in paying tribute to classical music used as part of film scores for a wide variety of movies. Featured in this program will be a second half comprised solely of Beethoven’s Emperor piano concerto, performed by celebrated pianist Zora Mihailovich.

The HFA is a year-round celebration of the performing arts with an emphasis on the summer months of July and August. From its early beginnings, the festival has grown and diversified to present artistic offerings in the fields of jazz, pop, choral, Celtic, country, orchestral and classical
music, as well as theatre, written word, poetry and the visual arts.

This year will see a continuation of this successful schedule, with the presentation of the internationally recognized husband and wife team of fiddle and stepdance masters Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy (July 22), pop diva Serena Ryder (July 9), the 35-piece Metropolitan Silver Band (July 8), world-class classical favourites the Alcan
String Quartet (Aug. 13), Japanese drum masters Nagata Shachu (Aug. 7), world guitarist Johannes Linstead (July 4), and much more.

For country fans in the area, one of new country’s hottest artists, Doc Walker, will perform on July 16. The comedic duo of Bowser and Blue return on July 10, bringing with them their hilarious insights on the people and events around them.

In addition to original artists, there also will be concerts paying tribute to the music of legends such as Patsy Cline (July 25) and Andrea Bocelli and Michael Buble (July 18). Seasonal resident Pamela Hoiles, a respected soprano in her own right, will present a concert titled Festival Friends on July 17, showcasing her own vocal talents alongside the virtuoso violin skills of Arkady Yanivker, who will perform in recital and with his string quartet.

Dala (Aug. 6) has performed in Huntsville, opening for Jim Cuddy and Stuart MacLean, and now presents a headline show. The Dylan Tree, lauded for their performance in February 2009, returns by popular demand on Aug. 14. For the young at heart, local artists Karl Mohr, Eric Reid and Ruth Cassie present an evening of pop/folk and techno rock on Aug. 21.

In 2007, the HFA expanded and created the Huntsville Jazz Festival, running from July 30 to Aug. 1. This festival within a festival features vibraphone master Peter Appleyard and the big band sounds of the Toronto All-Star Big Band (Aug. 1). Also performing will be crooner Michael Danso, supported by a rhythm section led by acclaimed drummer Archie Alleyne (July 31). Added to the jazz festival this year is a day-long outdoor festival to be held Saturday, Aug. 1, in Huntsville’s downtown River Mill Park.

Interspersed among the numerous main-stage evenings, primarily presented in Huntsville’s 400-seat Algonquin Theatre, are numerous fringe performances, many presented for free, at various locales throughout the community. Among these events are the festival’s popular Music at Noon series, Arts Splash, Arts Walk and the Writers’ Café.

For information or to purchase tickets, contact the Algonquin Theatre box office on
Main Street 789-4975, e-mail info@huntsvillefestival.on.ca, or go to www.huntsville festival.on.ca.

More festival stories and photos can be found at www.trumpeterhfa.blogspot.
com.

Benefit concert offers unique setting in renovated barn, thanks to HFA supporters

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on June 17, 2009.)

Long-time Huntsville Festival of the Arts supporters are opening up their barn for a unique classical concert that will benefit the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music.

The concert will be held Sunday, June 21, on Joan and John Jerrett’s Hwy. 60 property. The couple, who renovated the barn and use it for occasional public gatherings, have agreed to allow the building to be the venue for the presentation of a Nancy Telfer piece, since it was written to be played in a natural environment.

Telfer, a renowned Canadian composer, approached Linda Drennan, head of the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music, about producing a piece of work for the Suzuki Strings group. Telfer recently relocated to Bracebridge; she had heard the string group in recital and came up to a couple of rehearsals.

It was agreed that the school would commission a piece. Drennan then approached festival organizers about helping set up a significant event to launch the world premiere of her piece, titled Water, Rock, Trees.

Drennan has put together a program that includes offerings from Amanda Penner, a teacher at the Suzuki school, as well as students. Joining these musicians on the program are former Suzuki students Sarah Jane Johnson and Ashley Hill, who are both currently pursuing musical studies at post-secondary institutions. Both girls are also former scholarship winners with the Huntsville Festival of the Arts.

Drennan also touched base with Alija Bos, a talented young photographer from Bracebridge who agreed to work with Telfer to create a visual interpretation of her music through pictures that will be screened simultaneously with the playing of the piece. He will also have a display of some of his work for show and sale.

To round out the afternoon, local professional dancer Meredith Thompson will contribute a dance number and percussionist Glenn Kay will play a Liberian greeting song. The afternoon concert runs from 2 to 4 p.m. The recital will be followed by light refreshments supplied by the Butcher’s Daughters deli.

Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling the Algonquin Theatre box office by calling 705-789-4975, online at www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca or at the barn, located at 2295 Hwy. 60. There will be a limit of 150 tickets sold.

The event is a fundraising effort and net proceeds from the afternoon will go towards the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music. For more information visit www.huntsvillefestival.on.ca.

SOUND-READY: The students of the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music practice hitting all the right notes during a Music at Noon performance held at Trinity United Church. A concert is being held this Sunday as a fundraiser for the school. Long-time Festival of the Arts supporters are opening up their barn for a unique classical concert that will benefit the Huntsville Suzuki School of Music.

Jazz festival gets approval for River Mill use

(The following article originally appeared in The Huntsville Forester on June 3, 2009.)

By Brent Cooper

A decision by the town’s parks and recreation committee concerning the use of River Mill Park is music to Rob Saunders’ ears.

Jazz music, that is.

The committee told the general manager of the Huntsville Festival of the Arts (HFA) last Wednesday that his group could use a portion of the new park to host two events this summer. Saunders was seeking permission to host an outdoor concert on Aug. 1 at the public park as part of the annual Huntsville Jazz Festival. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and feature a variety of local performers.

“We have had the jazz festival running for around three years now and we are now intent on adding a larger outdoor component to the festival,” he said.

The other event is the annual Arts Walk visual arts show, which had been held at Avery Beach for the past three years. The show is set for July 26 and would run from noon to 3 p.m. with a freewill offering from the public.

“Given the great appreciation for the arts in our area, the park would benefit from the ability to present the performing arts in a professional, orderly and patron-friendly manner,” Saunders stated in his presentation.

The local arts organization is the first to officially apply to the town to use River Mill Park for non-municipal reasons. The area has already been designated by the town as the site for the 2010 Olympic Torch Run ceremony, which is expected to pull into town in late December.

The parks committee decided at its May 6 meeting that the town staff will handle requests for use at the park as they happen and will bring large-scale requests back to committee for consideration.

Saunders said that the HFA is in the process of purchasing a portable stage, stage cover and sound equipment that will be used during the jazz concert. The funds to purchase the equipment come from a $40,000 grant from the Celebrate Ontario program.

This multimillion-dollar Ontario Ministry of Tourism program has a mandate to increase the economic potential of new and existing tourism festivals and events. The program is open to festivals and events taking place in Ontario from now until March 31, 2010. Saunders said the HFA is willing to lend the equipment to other groups for community events.

The entire stage and structure are moveable and can be used elsewhere in the community when needed, according to Saunders. Setup and takedown of both the cover and the stage can be accomplished in only a few hours.

The committee appeared to be in favour of the association’s request to use space at the park, but chair Mike Greaves told Saunders that he felt the matter should still go back to staff for further study.

“I am going to suggest, if the committee is agreeable, that you sit down with (community services director Brian Crozier) and give him a full understanding of where the bandshell will be and the impact on River Mill Park. There are things that concern me like the (effect on the) interlocking brick sidewalk. I am not so sure we put interlocking brick sidewalk in there for truck traffic. So we need to understand all the impact in the long run,” Greaves said. “If Brian is satisfied, then I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t want to try it.”

Mayor Claude Doughty disagreed with the idea of sending the request back to staff. He pointed out that the brick sidewalk was designed to handle heavy truck traffic, since the District of Muskoka uses that route to get to the pump station in that area.

“I would like to move a motion that we approve in principle the schedule laid out with the Aug. 1 event and the Arts Walk. If we approve these in principle, you folks can work out the details over garbage pickup and the costs to the municipality. That would be then ratified at council,” he said. The committee unanimously approved the motion presented by Doughty.