Anne of Green Gables

I'm delighted to be spending the summer in PEI this year as part of the Charlottetown Festival, playing in the pit orchestra for Anne of Green Gables. Check out the schedule of shows here!

Burnwater: Alchemy at the Ship's Company Theatre

Burnwater: Alchemy went on tour this week to Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, for some performances at the Ship's Company Theatre. It was great to be back with this crew again!

Advent Show 2017

Last night was the opening for this year's Advent Show, at the Spatz Theatre! The show continues with performances tonight, Saturday afternoon, and Saturday evening. The cast is bigger than ever this year, featuring 20 local singers, dancers, and instrumentalists. Click here for more info: adventshow.com/

Photos by
 Timothy Richard

Burnwater: Alchemy at Alderney Landing

Tonight is the opening night of Burnwater: Alchemy, Dartmouth edition! After three years of working on this show in Shelburne, Mocean Dance and Hear Here Productions are presenting the piece at Alderney Landing. I was fortunate to be involved in this piece as a set and lighting designer. Seats are limited at 30 tickets per show, and performances will run from September 13th-17th.

Step inside Burnwater:Alchemy, a performance installation at the crossroads of place, memory and the natural world. Weaving together percussion, dance, poetry and the extraordinary iron sound-sculptures of Nova Scotia blacksmith John Little, the audience is immersed in a delightfully imaginative world, suspended in time and place."

Review:
http://www.halifaxdanceseen.com/burnwater-2/

Burnwater: Alchemy Trailer from Mocean Dance on Vimeo.

Albert Herring with Halifax Summer Opera Festival

Tonight is the opening night of Albert Herring! Under the direction of conductor Nicholas Gilmore, Danbee Ko (piano), Trevor Brandenburg (percussion), and myself will be joining singers from across the country for this comic opera by Benjamin Britten. There are four performances with two different casts: August 5, 8, 11, and 13. More information about the production can be found here: halifaxsummeroperafestival.com

photos by Tobbi Dyer

Zuppa Fundraising Concert

Last night was Zuppa Theatre's annual fundraising concert at the Music Room. Every year they bring together a big variety of local performers for a sold-out show centered around a theme. This year's theme was summer or sunshine. Melanie Stone and I played two songs together, Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles, and Boys of Summer by Don Henley! For more information on Zuppa and their amazing work, click here.

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

Celtic Christmas Tour

I'm halfway through a small tour of Nova Scotia with the Celtic Christmas Show! The show features Irish dancers, Scottish Dancers, Acadian Dancers, Sean Nos Dancers and Pipe Bands. It's a huge cast and great tunes all around. It's been a very fun weekend being part of the house band, led by the amazing Shannon Quinn. One show left!

Burnwater: Alchemy

Many years in the making, Burnwater:Alchemy was finally premiered this past weekend in Shelburne, NS! I was part of the creative team as a set and lighting designer, not a harpist, but the show is an amazing example of the kind of interdisciplinary work that I'm most excited about. It combines elements of dance, percussion, blacksmithing, poetry, visual art, photography, and theatre!

Here are some links to articles and promotion for the show:

https://www.localxpress.ca/local-arts-and-life/burnwater-alchemy-encourages-audience-transformation-465842

http://www.thedancecurrent.com/video/burnwater-alchemy

http://hearhereproductions.ca/

photo by Michelle Doucette

the Burnwater team 

Much Ado About Nothing

A three person band zone for the Halifax Independent School's Shakespeare production!

The Advent Show at the Spatz Theatre

This week I'm back with the Advent Show! This is my fifth (sixth?) year playing the show and it gets more elaborate every time. The show opens tonight and runs Thursday-Saturday evenings with an added Saturday matinee. It features local singers, musicians, and dancers in an advent-themed variety spectacle, raising money for local charities ARK Outreach, Daily Bread Outreach, and The Grace Street Mission. More information can be found here: adventshow.com