“From The Beatles, With Love”; an HPO treat Reply

by • Concert, Orchestra

Review by Danny Gaisin

Over two dozen of the Fab Four’s standards; the Hamilton Philharmonic and Hamilton Jazz great Darcy Hepner at the podium; a musical trifecta. Faultlessly presented with stage rear overhead projections from a certain Beatles cartoon that incorporated the artwork of Peter Blake and Jann Haworth; the evening was an almost psychedelic experience. This was an evocative evening recalling songs we danced to; identified with ; and sang the lyrics to 8-tracks or cassettes or top-twenty radio stations. Last night, I and a filled Great Hall audience turned a concert into a 1500 person singalong.

Tributing the output of the FAB 4;   Note the projection of Hamilton from the mountain!

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“Compose Yourself” an HPO concert 1.0 event Reply

by • Concert, Orchestra

Review by Danny Gaisin

 ‘A long time ago in a Province far away’, I and many other classically-minded kids would religiously tune in to CBS on Saturday for Leonard Bernstein’s ‘Young People’s Concerts’. It was an opportunity to learn more of the intricacies involved with classical music, without feeling that the pedagogue was patronizing or condescending. It also gave us the occasional trivia that could be impressively incorporated into dating conversations!
Conductor Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser is a master at performances before young audiences. Like Bernstein, he never talks down to his audiences, and has an innate ability to integrate with the audience on an educational journey through classical music/orchestras utilizing humor and colloquial terms.

The maestro teaching us how to be a conductor!

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Robbie Burns concert; entertaining & fun Reply

by • Concert

Review by Judith Caldwell
Among the many celebrations of Scottish poet Robbie Burns Hammer Baroque offered a program of Caledonia Connections, which did not involve haggis, although there was Scottish Ale at intermission. Music was supplied by soprano, Meredith Hall, Julia Seager Scott’s harp, cellist Laura Jones and Alison Melville playing flute and recorder. These ladies are all excellent musicians with impressive resumés, and they played a collection of very interesting instruments. Seager Scott had her triple string Baroque harp which was probably developed around the 1640’s. Her 34 string clarsach (or Scottish harp) was probably in use around the year 1000 and it looks exactly like the one on the Guinness logo.

The musicians who honored ROBBIE BURNS

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Jennifer Teege, a convoluted but fascinating history Reply

by • commentary, miscellaneous

Review by Danny Gaisin
January 27th is designated Holocaust Memorial Day by the United Nations. The rationale for such an agreement is that the day is also mentioned as a warning that hatred STILL rears its head throughout world!
Jennifer Teege was born in Germany of mixed race, her father was Tunisian. Given up for adoption as an infant, she was only occasionally visited by her biological mother. Much later, through an unintended visit to a library where she came across a biography and noticed an unusual number of personal coincidences, realized that she was the grandchild of Amon Goeth, the vicious commandant of the Nazi concentration camp near Krakow.

Jennifer addressing her audience

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“KIVIUQ” returns, Inuit epic stories come to life in drama dance & music 1

by • Dance, Drama, Musical, Theatre

Review by Ellen S. Jaffe
Kiviuq Returns: An Inuit Epic, created by the Qaggiq Collective (a non-profit society dedicated to
strengthening Inuit performing arts in Nunavut) and currently playing at the Tarragon, is a wonderful, unique
theatrical experience – performed entirely in the Inuktitut language. If you are interested in theatre, or in Inuit
culture, or simply want to enjoy some unusual entertainment, you should not miss this production!
“I don’t know Inuktitut,” you say. “How can I enjoy it?”
Surprisingly (or maybe not) the play is very accessible. There is a detailed scene by scene guide in English in
the program, also available on line so you can read it before attending.

cast scene – “KIVIUQ

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5 @ 1st welcomes a growth in attendance Reply

by • Concert

Review by Judith Caldwell

The word is definitely out about the standard of music offered at the Five at the First series of concerts, the organizers at the opening concert of the 2019 season had the nice problem of needing to bring in extra chairs for the over capacity audience for String Extravaganza VIII. The concert began with 14 year old Emad Zolfaghari, viola and pianist Emily Rho, playing Franz Schubert’s Sonata for Arpeggione & Piano in A minor – Allegro moderato. Young performers often appear nervous performing a difficult passage, not so Zolfaghari, he looked totally lost in the music * More…