west coast winter music series

West Coast Winter Music Series:
November 5, 2011 - March 31, 2012

november 5, 2011 - march 31, 2012november 5, 2011 - march 31, 2012West Coast Winter Music Series
Nov. 5, 2011 to March 31, 2012
Clayoquot Sound Theatre


the letter 'N'Now in its 12th year, the West Coast Winter Music Series is planned and programmed by a dedicated group of volunteers who just happen to love music of all kinds, but classical music in particular. They are a non-profit group whose revenues are put back into paying the artists and providing travel and accomodation fees for them to perform in Tofino.


West Coast Winter Music Series 2011/2012
calender of events:


tofino concert - celso macado with estanislau gubiotti


november 5, 2011Celso Macado with Estanislau Gubiotti

Saturday, November 5, 2011
Clayoquot Sound Theatre

When mandolinist and vocalist Estanislau (Stan) Nogueira Gubiotti met up with virtuoso guitarist, percussionist and composer Celso Machado in Vancouver a few years back and began playing the music of their Brazilian homeland their joy and relief at being able to play so freely was immense. Stan is able to play all Celso's music with natural ease, rhythm and familiarity because he knows the genre inside out. There is an immense repertoire for the mandolin in Brazilian music - especially for the chôro. To quote Celso: " in Brazilian music, like any other music, either you have the groove or you don't, and Stan has it! ". Since that first meeting the two play together whenever they have the opportunity and Stan is the guest artist on Celso’s new Juno-nominated CD Capivara.

Both musicians have one foot in the classical tradition and the other in the tradition of musica popular brasileira. Celso’s formal training is in classical guitar and Stan is principally a violinist and tenor who performs most frequently in chamber and symphony capacities. That combination of classical training and fluency in Brazilian music is what works so well for this duo.

Brazilian music has arisen out of various blends of African, Portuguese and Indigenous influences. While Celso's music is rooted in these rhythmic and melodic styles, it also reflects his incurable fascination with other musical traditions. He finds similarities between the music of southern Italy and northeast Brazil, the Egyptian Maqsoum and the Brazilian Baião rhythm, the Moroccan Gnawa rhythm and Afoxé and Samba. Celso incorporates these influences into his own sound, his own unique contribution to the ongoing evolution of Brazilian music.

Capivara was made possible through the assistance of the Canada Music Fund and the Music Section of the Canada Council for the Arts.

tofino concert - sharon stanis, jamie syer, paula kiffner


december 3, 2011Chamber Music: Sharon Stanis, Jamie Syer
and Paula Kiffner

Saturday, December 3, 2011
Clayoquot Community Theatre

Sharon Stanis on violin, Jamie Syer on piano and Paula Kiffner on violincello perform Hayden, Prokofiev and Brahms.

These three musicians bring a world of talent and experience to the stage.

Sharon Stanis has a multi-faceted career as a chamber musician, soloist, and educator. As a co-founder of the Lafayette String Quartet, she has toured extensively in North America and Europe. Ms. Stanis has appeared as soloist with the Victoria Symphony and the Palm Court Orchestra; and has served as concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony in the Summer Festival Series. A dedicated and enthusiastic teacher, Ms. Stanis is currently an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Victoria, where she teaches violin and coaches chamber music. She adjudicates numerous festivals across Canada, enjoys giving master classes throughout North America, and has coached the violinists of the Victoria Youth Orchestra.

Dr. Jamie Syer is Dean of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and the Artistic Director of the Conservatory’s Collegium Program for Young Musicians. He is Artistic co-Director of the Alberta summer music workshop “Strings & Keys”. Dr. Syer is known for his imaginative recital programming, and his artistic, energetic playing.

Paula Kiffner is a faculty member of the Victoria Conservatory of Music, and the Nanaimo Conservatory. A former member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Ms. Kiffner has also performed as guest principal cellist of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and appears frequently as a recitalist and concerto soloist throughout the Pacific Northwest.

tofino concert - joe trio


january 28, 2012Joe Trio

Saturday, January 28, 2012
Clayoquot Community Theatre

Joe Trio is not your average piano trio. They don’t want to be neatly categorized, but instead strive for diversity, versatility, and more than a little humour and unpredictability. Their repertoire consists of the classics – from Papa Haydn to Uncle Shostakovich- new works by contemporary composers, and their own arrangements of popular, jazz and rock tunes. And they’re not afraid to mix together so many styles of music into a single piece it makes your head spin. More than virtuosi, the Trio’s members are fantastic performers who engage the audience in a way few classical musicians can. Amply witty, charming, and tremendously musical, Joe Trio leaves audiences with a new appreciation for classical music.

Since Joe Trio was formed in 1989, this classically trained violin-‘cello-piano threesome has presented hundreds of concerts throughout Canada and the United States - ten provinces, one territory, and thirty-six states so far. They’ve played everywhere from Whitehorse to Corpus Christi, and from Sacramento to St. John’s, and even in Ely, Nevada. They also appear regularly in their hometown of Vancouver, BC with the Little Chamber Music Series That Could Society. Joe has been heard on National Public Radio in the United States, RTE Lyric FM in Ireland, and on many CBC Radio shows including the old Morningside show, Disc Drive, The Music Room, West Coast Performance, and Quirks and Quarks. As well as giving concerts, the Trio enjoys offering their services for education outreach programs, and has played many school shows for children of all ages.

They recorded their first CD, ‘A Cup of Joe’ in 1997, and their second album, recorded with CBC and entitled ‘Set ‘em up, Joe’, was nominated for Best Classical Performance at the West Coast Music Awards. In 2003, they joined forces with Canadian broadcaster and writer Stuart McLean when Joe fiddler Cameron Wilson set the music to McLean’s ‘A History of Canada’, and have since collaborated with Stuart on a number of concerts including a broadcast on The Vinyl Café. And in 2005, Joe recorded a commissioned piece called ‘Rooster Bob Boogie’ for Ireland’s RKE Lyric FM radio.

tofino concert - miles black trio


february 25, 2012Miles Black Trio

Saturday, February 25, 2012
Clayoquot Sound Theatre

Miles Black began his professional music career in 1980 (at age 14) in Victoria, British Columbia after studying piano in the provincial capital with George Essihos.
Currently based in Vancouver, BC, Miles has a wealth of musical experience as an arranger, producer, composer, session musician, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist, songwriter, musical theatre director, music therapist and college level music instructor. He has performed on countless albums, and has played with many music greats around the world.

Some of the artists/acts with whom Miles has worked include Mark Murphy, Lee Konitz, Slide Hampton, Chuck Israels, Dee Daniels, Jane Siberry, Sheila Jordan, Ernestine Anderson, Paul Horn, Juno-nominated fusion band Skywalk, Shari Ulrich, Moreen Meriden, Carl Allen, Max Roach, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, Harry "Sweets" Edison, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Christine Duncan, Rodney Whittaker, Maynard Ferguson, Lew Tabackin, Bill Goodwin, Claude Ranger, Claudio Roditi, Ingrid Jensen, Carl Anderson, Jim Byrnes, Ann Mortifee, Fraser MacPherson, Houston Person, Johnny Frigo, Von Freeman and many other well known stars of the music world.

Currently, Miles is involved in several projects: He is co-leading a modern jazz quartet called "Altered Laws" with Tom Keenlyside (see tomkeenlyside.com). With lyricist/vocalist Glenda Rae, Miles has written over 300 songs. Their recently released album "Another Day" is available online (see www.glendarae.com). Black is a full-time music producer for Panache Entertainment Corporation.

Since 1993, Mr. Black has been a member of the Oliver Gannon Quartet, a Juno-award winning jazz guitarist with extensive performance experience around the globe.

Since 1991, Miles has been working for PG Music, with whom he has helped to produce and performed on music software programs, including "The Jazz Pianist 1 & 2," "The New Age Pianist" (from which these performances are derived), "The Children's Pianist," "The Modern Jazz Pianist," "Jazz Piano Masterclass," "Blues Piano Masterclass" and an Oscar Peterson CD Rom, complete with transcriptions, as well as many add-ons for the popular "Band-in-a-Box" programs.

tofino concert - the sojourners


march 31, 2012The Sojourners

Saturday, March 31, 2012
Clayoquot Sound Theatre

When Canadian blues icon Jim Byrnes called Vancouver based gospel singer Marcus Mosely on the phone a few years ago to ask if he could round up a few friends to record some back up vocals for a new album, no one could have guessed what would happen next.

From the moment Mosely and his pals, Will Sanders and Ron Small stepped up to the microphone and began singing, they realized that they had something very special going on. When Byrnes dubbed the trio The Sojourners the name stuck and – as they say – the rest is history. Formative years spent singing in the churches of Mosely, Small and Sanders’, hometowns – Ralls, Texas, Chicago, Illinois and Alexandria, Louisiana respectively – give The Sojourners’ sound an authentic edge that only comes with experience. This is real gospel - blessed with a soul that can’t be faked.

While it wouldn’t exactly be right to call The Sojourners a new act – given that each member of the group has been in the music business for around fifty years - the sound, energy and commitment they conjure any time they get together would be the envy of singers half their ages.

Hot on the tail of their session with Byrnes, the Sojourners went into the studio with roots music whiz Steve Dawson to record Hold On, their first solo album in 2007. Two years and many sessions later, Mosely, Small and Sanders have taken all they’ve learned in between and returned to record a second CD simply entitled The Sojourners.

No longer the new kids on the block, the trio had definite ideas of how they wanted their follow up record to sound, and one listen through the songs they’ve captured here shows that they’ve succeeded beyond their wildest expectations.

Working again with Dawson as producer, The Sojourners have recreated a classic gospel sound this time around - replete with the warm tones of Mike Kalanj’s Hammond B3 organ and Dawson’s dirty blues guitar. With Geoff Hicks and Keith Lowe returning on drums and bass, The Sojourners have found a band that keeps pace with the power of their vocals. This is not music that strives to be polite. In The Sojourners’ universe, echoes of doo wop, R&B, country and blues weave together to create a unique sound that has all but vanished from today’s world.

This is gospel music that can take a punch and remain standing. Singing praise music with their own special ‘stank’, the Vancouver based Sojourners sound just as at home in a road house bar as they do in a revival tent.

Highlights of the group’s time together include a definitive show with the Dixie Hummingbirds, opening spots with Jim Byrnes at the Vancouver Jazz Festival for both Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama and featured stages at most of the major Canadian folk and roots festivals.

‘Eyes on the Prize’ from Hold On was selected for inclusion in Let Freedom Sing, a Time-Life compilation box set celebrating the music of the American civil rights era. The Sojourners were also pleased to participate in both the CD and DVD of the award-winning Things About Coming My Way: A Tribute to the Music of the Mississippi Sheiks.

The newest addition to the ensemble is the talented young singer Khari McClelland.

They receive a steady stream of invitations to contribute to the recordings and live performances of a diverse range of artists, spanning several genres, from the outer reaches of jazz to beat box / street poetry. Marcus, Will and Ron all became Canadian citizens in the summer of 2008 and were invited to perform on Parliament Hill on Canada Day, where they sang the national anthem.

The Sojourners are a rock solid unit and proof positive that faith can move mountains. But, don’t let that scare you away. Sinner or saved - wherever you are on your own personal journey, you should listen to The Sojourners. You’ll feel better for it.  

 


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The West Coast Winter Music Series celebrates its 12th anniversary and features a number of distinguished classical music artists with concerts from November 5, 2011 to March 31, 2012.

tofino time magazine