Inner Space Conundrum

Jack and I performed our fall program one final time on November 12 as part of Inner Space Concerts in a house in Dartmouth. Inner Space Concerts takes classical chamber music into homes in the Halifax area for very intimate concert experiences.

Conundrum Garden Room Concert

Jack and I played a second concert this weekend in Wolfville, as part of the beautiful Acadia Garden Room series. Special thanks to Elisabeth for inviting us and for organizing this event.

 

Conundrum Cookie Concert

Jack and I played a Cookie Concert in Lunenburg on Saturday! Presented through Musique Royale, these concerts are monthly, family-friendly events that take place at the Lunenburg School for the Arts. We played works by Andres, MacKelvie, Bach, Shankar, Morlock, Debussy, Gluck, Tournier, and Clarke. Thanks so much to our lovely audience and hosts.

Festival Musique de Chambre du Lac Baker

In early August, I had the good fortune to be part of the 4th edition of the Festival Musique de Chambre Lac Baker! There were beautiful works programmed for harp this year including chamber music by Debussy, Ravel, Vivaldi, Gluck, and new arrangements of folk music by Jaeyoung Chong.

Inner Space Trio Concert

Last week, the Traffic Light Trio was reunited for a house concert through Inner Space Concerts. Jack Chen, Sue Sayle, and I played three works for flute, viola, and harp: Elizabeth Poston's Trio, Sofia Gubaidulina's Garden of Joy and Sorrow, and André Jolivet's Petite Suite.

Raga Prelude in Yaman Kalyan

India Gailey and I have released a new video performance of Michael Harrison's piece "Raga Prelude in Yaman Kalyan", which was filmed in November at the Lilian Piercey Concert Hall by Triangle House Studios. For this performance, I tuned the harp in just intonation, which was a new and exciting experience for me!

Cello + Harp Concert

Last night, India Gailey and I played a fun program of cello/harp duo music - Harrison, Morlock, Pärt, MacKelvie, and some improvisation. The concert took place at Government House downtown and we were there as representatives of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, a fabulous organization that has supported both India and I in our musical studies. The whole thing was livestreamed and a video of the entire performance is below (music starts at 13:35).

Music Nova Scotia Nominations, 2018

I am excited to see that four beautiful albums I was part of this year have made their way on to the Music Nova Scotia Nominations list!

New Hermitage One for Jazz Recording of the Year

India Gailey's Lucid for Classical Recording of the Year

Dusty Keleher's Way to Grace for Folk Recording of the Year

Jeremy Finney's Tip the Bottle for Traditional/Roots Recording of the Year

You can see the full list of nominees here: http://musicnovascotia.ca/content/hillsburn-receives-six-music-nova-scotia-award-nominations-garrett-mason-jodi-guthro-port

Violin and Harp in Sandy Cove

It was a treat last week to be back in Sandy Cove with visiting UK-based violinist Hartmut Richter at the Cove Music Series, presenting another eclectic program based on our shared and diverse interests! Harti and I played for the series back in 2015 and were so happy to have another chance to perform in that community.

Deep Sea Conundrum in Halifax

Last night was the third and final show (for now) of Deep Sea Conundrum. It took place at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in the small craft gallery, where we were surrounded by old wooden boats. There were some great characters among the kids in the audience and the show was more rowdy and participatory than the last two. Jack's Inner Space volunteers had made goody bags to give out to the kids along with the colouring books, and there was a fun reception afterwards.The Maritime Museum were excellent hosts! I had such a good time working with this fantastic DSC creative team.

Deep Sea Conundrum in East Dover

On Saturday, Jack, Susanne, Courtney, and I went to the East Dover Community Hall for the second performance of Deep Sea Conundrum. The audience was amazing - although it was a show aimed at a younger age than those who attended, they were just as enthusiastic as the kids in Lunenburg! We're so grateful to the community of East Dover for welcoming us so warmly.

Deep Sea Conundrum - Lunenburg

This afternoon was the premiere of Deep Sea Conundrum, a chamber music show for kids about ocean creatures and habitats. With Jack Chen on flute, Susanne Chui dancing, and Courtney Johanna Spencer narrating, it was an awesome collaborative creation. Musique Royale generously presented us at a Cookie Concert, which took place at the Lunenburg School for the Arts. The kids were super enthusiastic and I had a blast from start to finish. We're looking forward to doing this show again soon in East Dover on May 20, and at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax on June 17.

a short excerpt of the White Shark Cafe shared on facebook by Musique Royale

NASA (North American Saxophone Alliance)

This weekend, Mount Allison University hosted the NASA Region 10 Conference in Sackville, New Brunswick. Tristan de Borba commissioned a new chamber arrangement of Faustus: a SaxOpera from composer John Plant for this event. John created a beautiful arrangement for saxophone, harp, and piano. It was a very memorable dramatic virtuoso performance by Tristan and a treat as always to play and travel with Jennifer King, pianist! 

A recording of the performance can be found here: Faustus: A SaxOpera - chamber version 

Musikon Concert at St Mary's Art Gallery

Last night's Musikon concert featured four Canadian compositions on themes relating to the art of Rachel Beach. Jack Chen, Sue Sayle, and I played a trio by Kelly-Marie Murphy, Lines of Movement, and I also joined Sue, Barbara Pritchard and D'Arcy Gray for the premiere of a new work by Fiona Ryan, Up from the Earth. It was very cool to be playing such exciting new repertoire surrounded by colourful sculpture! 

Violin, cello, and harp at the Lillian Piercey Hall

Gillian Smith, Hilary Brown, and I put on a concert of trios and duos by Ibert, Tedeschi, Saint-Saëns, and Gliere this past Sunday in the Lillian Piercey Hall at the Conservatory. It was so great to work with those two and I hope it happens again soon! Thanks to Mark Cardiff for the photograph.

Conundrum Website

Jack created a web presence for Conundrum Duo today! We're still finalizing the website and have lots to add, but check it out here: conundrumduo.ca  We can also be found on facebook now: conundrum on facebook. We're looking forward to playing more together in 2016!

The Judgment of Paris

Just back from a fantastic experience playing in Tom Allen's chamber music show "The Judgment of Paris" over these last few days. I was briefly subbing for the harpist Lori Gemmell for three Maritime shows - Fredericton, Chester, and Antigonish. The show tells the story of the lives of Debussy and Ravel, their music, and their city. It combines works by the composers and original songs by cast members. Being part of it and spending time with fellow performers Tom Allen, Kevin Fox, Patricia O'Callaghan, and Bryce Kulak was a joy from start to finish. Click here for more information about The Judgment of Paris, and Tom's other shows.