Concerts, movies and skiing crowded in to city visit

My wife Pat has been in Vancouver the last couple of weeks adjudicating piano examinations for the Toronto Conservatory. Not one to turn down staying in a fancy hotel in the big city I tagged along.

The Vancouver Canucks were playing their first game after the infamous NHL strike. Having never seen the Canucks play live, I thought it might be great to attend a professional hockey game. That is until I went online to see if there were any tickets available. Talk about sticker shock. Cheap seats in the nosebleeds started at $95. Sitting anywhere near ice level was priced at $206.00. Really! Do families actually attend NHL games? I decided to skip the hockey and take in a concert instead. 

The Vancouver Symphony with their musical director Bramwell Tovey was doing a launch concert before heading out on the road for a Western U.S. two week tour to Washington, California, Nevada and Arizona. I went online and got an excellent seat at the Orpheum for a fraction of the cost of watching the boys of winter, skate around the Rogers’ rink. Just as well, the Canucks got dumped by the Ducks.    

                                                                               Pianist Jon Kimura Parker 

Soloist for the VSO concert was pianist Jon Kimura Parker. For the tour Parker had selected the Grieg Piano Concerto in A minor. He was dazzling and if the concert I heard is any indication, U.S. audiences will be greatly impressed with this British Columbia raised Canadian export who currently teaches at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately Pat was unable to come with me to hear him. Adjudicating is not easy work. The hours are long and Pat needs to spend evenings going over all the marks and comments given during the day before Purolatoring everything off to Toronto. 

Specially written for the U.S. tour was a piece called Totem by VSO composer in residence Edward Top. My ears can handle some very far-out contemporary harmony but I’m afraid nothing could have prepared me for such a mish mash of sound. Pounding percussion, wailing sirens, gut wrenching brass and edgy string sounds that seemly led nowhere. I found the composition a tad painful to listen to. However, in fairness, the work did in the final bars morph to a very beautiful closing. I can’t imagine what the U.S. audiences will make of it. 

Wrapping up the concert was Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major by Prokofiev. The score for the symphony is complex and it was a demanding workout for both the conductor and the orchestra who played the work brilliantly. 

 I had some excellent skiing on Grouse Mountain. There was a weather inversion with sun on the slopes and the city below encased in thick fog. 

The outdoor ice rink on Grouse Mountain.

With oodles of movie theatres scattered around the lower mainland I was able to see all the Academy Award nominees. The late night TV talk shows had been raving about a flick called Zero Dark Thirty so I started with that one. 

In the running for 5 Academy Awards, Zero Dark Thirty is a chilling thriller concerning the CIA’s decade-long search for Osama bin Laden. Jessica Chastain is outstanding as the single-minded CIA analyst who figures out where bin Laden is holed up. Her portrayal garnered her a best actress nomination.  It’s always been puzzling to me, if a movie has been nominated for best picture, shouldn’t the director be automatically nominated as best director? Case in point. The director of Zero Dark Thirty Kathryn Bigelow was completely ignored. 

Although not a blockbuster academy award nominee, one of the most enjoyable films I saw this week in Vancouver was called simply Quartet. I heard about the film after listening to an interview with the film’s director Dustin Hoffman on Jian Ghomeshi’s morning talk show “Q,” on CBC Radio One. 

Quartet is set somewhere in Britain in a retirement home for performing artists and named after the famous conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. The film is loaded with great music played by actual retired musicians who perform as extras throughout the film. Playing a quartet of retired operatic stars are famed British movie stars Maggie Smith, Pauline Collins, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connolly. As you may have surmised, the target audience for Quartet is, shall we say mature, like myself. 

Quartet is currently playing at the Galaxy in Nanaimo. If you do attend be sure to wait until the credits run at the end showing photos of the musicians and singers in their heyday. As they say in the film, getting old isn’t for wimps. Having just seen Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Last Stand and Jason Statham’s Parker, it was a relief to sit through a film without scads of violent gunplay and perpetual car chases. 

Before I forget, while attending a film at the Metropolis Theatre at Metrotown , I slipped into the theatre showing Les Miz to have a second look. When I saw the movie a few days after Christmas in Nanaimo I felt the balance between the singers and the orchestra left a lot to be desired. However, the sound was much improved at the Metrotown venue. I could hear the orchestra very clearly right down to the deepest bass notes although the voice mix continued to be tweaked on the loud side for my taste. 

A few days after this second viewing, a colleague emailed me an interesting review written by Emma Gosnell that had appeared in the UK’s Daily Telegraph newspaper. The critique was titled Why I walked out of Les Miserables. Echoing my sentiments, Gosnell had been very excited about seeing the movie ever since the trailer screened that had “Anne Hathaway sob-singing her way through I Dreamed a Dream.”  

Her review paralleled the thoughts I expressed in my last blog about my lack of an emotional connection through the music as presented in the film version. I’ve read so many outstanding reviews of Les Miserables (with its 8 Oscar nominations) I was beginning to think I had a chunk of defective genetic material wedged in my cranium for even suggesting the highly nominated film has some musical flaws. 

The bottom line, unbalanced sound track aside, is that most of the actors in the film version are brilliant actors first, not singers. This is not live theatre and I need to acknowledge that’s likely why I found little emotional connection to the film. However, this was not the case with the three weeping women sitting in the row in front of me at my second viewing. 

Reviewer Emma Gosnell, as part of her article for the Daily Telegraph, had interviewed Marni Nixon an 82-year-old Hollywood musicals veteran. I quote: Nixon “is known in the industry as the ‘ghostess with the mostess, having been a singing double for everyone from Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady, Deborah Kerr in The King and I and – without her knowledge – Natalie Wood in West Side Story.”  In Nixon’s opinion, “the Les Misérables film was misconceived. If you’re making a musical, you should hire singers who can act. In a musical, you want singing that’s technically good. It’s cruel to make people who can’t sing, sing,” 

Enough said. I confess, my love for live Broadway theatre taints my opinion about filmed musicals.

For those interested, the link to Gosnell’s complete review in the Daily Telegraph can be read at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/9812939/Why-I-walked-out-of-Les-Miserables.html

I don’t like to be away from the piano too long so when possible I bring my digital keyboard along with me. I use earphones so the hotel guests in the next room don’t start complaining. 

Another film I viewed in Vancouver was the Life Of Pi with 11 Academy nominations. The film should only be seen in a big-screen 3-D format in a good theatre. Life Of Pi has to be the most beautiful film of the year. It is unquestionably a technical marvel. There is a Canadian connection with Winnipeg born composer Mychael Danna receiving a nomination for best musical score as well as best song.

In support of the performing arts I’ve been asked by readers to post the following information for anyone in the mid-Vancouver Island area who may be interested.

BARD TO BROADWAY THEATRE COMPANY

Summer 2013 – Village Theatre in Qualicum 

General Auditions for the 2013 Summer Season are being held in Parksville – Shelly Road Centre, 186 Shelly Road on Sunday, Feb 03 (1:00-5:00 pm & 6:30 to 9:00 pm). Nanaimo – St. Paul’s Hall, 100 Chapel Street on Saturday, Feb 2, 1:30-5:00pm.

Singing and non-singing roles for males and females aged 13-70. Open auditions for all three shows at all audition sessions. Please prepare a 1-2 minute monologue, and about 16= bars of a song (if auditioning for musical). No appointment necessary but please be prepared to stay for about 2 hours.

The shows:

SEXY LAUNDRY – A marital comedy-poignant and funny, Special Guest Director Norman Browning.

THE DROWSY CHAPERONE – A terrific, tuneful, toe-tapping tribute to the Twenties. Directed by Gary Brown & Eric Gow. 

LITTLE WOMEN – The timeless classic by Louisa May Alcott. Directed by Eileen Butts.

Role descriptions may be found in B2B’s November newsletter online at www.b2btheatre.com. For further information contact: Eileen Butts (ebutts@shaw.ca or 250-248-3782). Gary Brown (stageguy@shaw.ca or 250-468-9545). Don Harper (doncharper@hotmail.com or 250-752-3502).

NANAIMO CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC presents pianist Krzysztof Jablonski – Sunday, March 17, 2013

Nanaimo Conservatory of Music presents its annual gala concert featuring international piano superstar Krzysztof Jablonski. Fresh from a touring engagement in Japan, Mr. Jablonski will present an afternoon of Frederic Chopin’s greatest hits. Program highlights include the Polonaise in A flat major (Op. 53), the Prelude in E minor (Op. 28 No. 4), and Andante Spianato & Grand Polonaise in E flat major (Op. 22).

For tickets and more information, please call Nanaimo Conservatory of Music at 250.754.4611

A diary of memories - The Holiday Season

Happy New Year to all my faithful blog readers. The email list is now approaching 400. Last week the Port Alberni Community Website (alberni.ca) added a link to the online version. I see the link has received 89 reads so far. Welcome to those readers.

The Holiday Season is without a doubt my favorite time of the year. The years during my working life as a teacher were filled with music, my favorite event each December was the Candlelight Concert that featured my wife Pat’s Teen Choirs with my school bands and handbell choirs.

The handbell set used by the student groups was purchased through the Dr. A.P. Miller memorial fund set up by the Kinsmen Club of Port Alberni and endorsed by my mother when my father passed away. When I retired I placed the bells in storage.

Photo: The bass bell section of one of the handbell ensembles I directed at ADSS performing at the annual Candlelight Concert. Unfortunately I didn’t date the photo. However, I do remember the names of the students in the photo. (R to L): Gordon Mosey, Luke Mayba, Steven Gregory, Alan Beauregard and Joanne Marshall. 

Photo above: Pat’s Alberni Valley Teen Singers performing in the ADSS Auditorium at our 30th Candlelight Concert in December of 1995.

However, several years ago I put the bells on the Port Alberni Orchestra & Chorus Society’s instrument inventory list as the Dr. A.P. Miller Memorial Handbells. Currently the society has the bells on loan to the Alberni Valley United Church where Michael Villette has been training a group of ringers. A few days ago Mike emailed me a YouTube video of his ringers performing Unto Us a Child is Born at the church’s recent Christmas concert.   It’s wonderful to hear the bells being rung again in memory of my father. 

Here is a link to the AVUC Bell Choir video for anyone who’d like to see it.         http://youtu.be/RBHzKvA0chA

Celebrating our 30^th Anniversary Candlelight Concert

The Boxing Day sales mania saw us switching over to an HD television set. To a movie addict like myself the conversion to an outsized TV screen has ushered in a feast of films through the online video streaming site Netflix. I’ll need to be vigilant and spread out my expanded viewing options to avoid becoming a couch potato. 

Living in Nanaimo with 14 movie theatre screens just moments away from our home, the holiday season means indulging in one of my favorite pastimes, viewing the latest film releases that traditionally play theatres during December. A few days after Christmas, I took in the new movie version of the musical Les Miserables. Over the years I’ve seen at least a half dozen live productions of the musical, including a wonderful production of the 25^th anniversary concert beamed last year from London via satellite into movie theatres. I’d been looking forward to viewing the new film ever since learning of its Christmas day release date. 

Sadly, I was extremely disappointed with the screening I attended. The balance between the voices and the orchestra was unusually poor, something I didn’t expect from the Dolby sound system at the Nanaimo’s Galaxy Theatre. I’ve seen many opera presentations via satellite in the theatre complex and all, with the exception of one which had an equipment breakdown, had superb sound. With the orchestra tracks barely audible and the voices excessively strident, I had difficulty connecting to the musical on any sort of technical or emotional level.

I know that the studios insist that theatres set their Dolby speakers at certain volume levels. Perhaps someone at the Galaxy got the mix wrong. Returning home, I did listen to the film’s soundtrack on my computer through iTunes and the balance was excellent. I plan to be at the Galaxy seeing some other films in January. I think I’ll duck into the auditorium showing Les Mis and see if the pitiful sound was a ‘one-off’ situation. 

World War II had just ended and electric trains were once again to be found in toy stores. In the photo above my brother Terry and myself are playing with a model railroad that suddenly appeared on Christmas morning. The layout, set up by our father late on Christmas Eve, consisted of a 4X8 sheet of plywood painted green with an oval of “027" gauge railroad track tacked firmly to its surface. Our father being a medical doctor had even constructed a miniature pedestrian overpass out of wooden tongue depressors. That simple layout expanded over the years into a major model railway operation only to be torn down when my parents moved to a smaller home after I graduated from high school.

Boxing Day is traditionally the day for our family dinner. Pat and I always light a special candle after the meal. The huge candle was given to us at our final Candlelight Concert in December of 1997. It contains dozens of melted down candle stubs that were used over the years for rehearsals.

On Saturday evening Pat and myself with my brother Terry attended the Chemainus Festival Theatre’s Christmas musical The Gift’s of the Magi. The timeless holiday love story follows a down-on-their-luck couple who go to great lengths to find the perfect gift for each other. In the spirit of Christmas, they discover that the best gifts come from the heart. The Chemainus version of the venerable off-Broadway musical was outstanding. Jeff Hyslop was brilliant in the role of Soapy. The Vancouver born actor/singer currently lives in Campbell River. His most famous role was the phantom in Phantom of the Opera in which he played over 975 performances. Hyslop is also well-known internationally for his role of Mike in the London West End and Broadway productions of A Chorus Line. 

Pictured above is the British built Hornby steam locomotive from my first model train set. It now graces our living room Christmas window frame display.

New Years Day I hit the slopes for my first ski day of the season. Our grandchildren were on the hill as well. The conditions on Mt Washington were perfect, some new snow overnight followed by a sunny ski day.

It’s 3 am on Jan 3^rd as I wrap up this blog. It’s the 3^rd period at the World Juniors and Canada is getting blown out of the rink 5 goals to 1 by the USA. Canada’s Gold Medal dreams are shattered. I’m going back to bed. 

Seasonal song Six White Boomers sparks memories

Playing piano for two 2-hour shows a day as I’m currently doing at the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular can be daunting. If you take your mind off what you’re doing for a millisecond you could find yourself scrambling to refocus. This is the sixth year I’ve been a member of the band backing the production and it’s been made additionally enjoyable using a newly acquired digital piano. 

Last month my wife Pat and I were in the Long & McQuade music store in Nanaimo. Pat needed to purchase some Christmas music for some of her piano students. While waiting for her to dig through the bins of sheet music, I kept entertained by noodling my way through the piano department. 

Trying out a number of the digital pianos on display, I came across a Roland FP-7F keyboard and after playing just a few chords I instantly fell in love with the instrument. No digital I’d played before sounded and felt so close to an acoustic piano as this one did. Later at home I couldn’t get the instrument’s superior sound out of my mind and thought I’d check for reviews of the piano on the Internet. I soon learned the sampled sound chip in the unit had been prepared using a Hamburg Steinway D Grand piano. Sound sampling is a way of converting real sounds into a form that a computer can store and replay.

Pat could see how taken I was with the piano and the following day said to me that if I liked that much, she’d give it to me for Christmas. I was of course delighted. However, the piano had been listed in the music store as used so I needed to know its history. It turned out the instrument had been rented to the Chemainus Festival Theatre for one of their musicals. The result was a substantial discount off the list price. Picking up the piano just a day after first playing it, I’ve had an incredible time performing on the instrument from the Yellowpoint show’s very first rehearsal.  

(Above) - The Roland FP-7F keyboard - my Christmas present from Pat.

This year the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular has over 50 songs programmed. Playing through the production, many of the tunes have sparked personal memories of Christmases past. One song in particular called Six White Boomers took me back to a seasonal show I performed over 40 years ago with an entertainer by the name of Rolf Harris. 

Rolf Harris was an Australian entertainer who showed up in Vancouver on the maiden voyage of the cruise ship Oriana in the spring of 1961 to play a short gig at a venue called the Arctic Club on Pender Street. His big hit in Australia was an infectious tune called Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport that had caught on worldwide. Harris was such a smash hit in Vancouver that he ended up playing two shows a night, six days a week for 31 straight weeks before the Arctic Club burned to the ground on New Year’s Eve 1961. He was so popular the legendary Cave Theatre Restaurant on Hornby Street extended his stay. 

Rolf Harris ultimately built a secure career in England but still continued to make regular visits to Vancouver. It was one of these periodic visits during the Christmas season that a local Alberni Valley radio station (CJAV) booked Harris to do some concerts on Vancouver Island. Somehow his Vancouver booking agent got my name and phoned to ask if I could put together a trio to back the entertainer up. 

Photo above: My jazz trio is seen backing up Rolf Harris at the old Athletic Hall in Port Alberni. Rolf is shown with his wobble board singing his principal hit, Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport. Ernie De Montigny played bass and my brother-in-law Dave Auld (unseen at right) was on drums.

The first show was to be a matinee in Port Alberni and a rehearsal was arranged for my band to learn the music. However, when Harris showed up after travelling over from the mainland he apologized that the airline had lost all his musical arrangements in transit. Even his mammoth didgeridoo (a long, wooden wind instrument used traditionally by the aboriginal people of Northern Australia) had gone astray. However, Rolf was happy to learn that I could read chord symbol shorthand as he’d spent his travel time on the ferry scribbling out the chord structure of his compositions on sheets of hotel stationary. 

And that’s what we ended up doing, playing the entire show from these scrap pieces of paper scotch-taped to the piano. To imitate the strange sounds of a didgeridoo, Rolf blew into one end of a cardboard centre core used to wrap newsprint at the local paper mill. However, eventually his backup band scores did arrive and later shows were definitely superior. 

Over time, Rolf Harris became one of Britain's best-loved entertainers. A very talented artist, a large segment of his act on stage incorporated sketching cartoons and portraits on huge sheets of paper. In 2005 Harris was commissioned to paint a portrait of HM Queen Elizabeth II for her 80th birthday. Harris was appointed an MBE in 1968 and an OBE in 1977and received a CBE from the Princess Royal in 2006.

(Photo above): Rolf Harris painting a portrait of the Queen for her 80^th birthday celebration at a sitting in Buckingham Palace.

(Photo above): Dancers at the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular. The production plays out its final week starting tonight with six performances through Saturday. Tickets available through the Port Theatre in Nanaimo at www.porttheatre.com.

A busy concert weekend

On the west side of the hump in Port Alberni my wife Patricia is conducting the Timbre! Choir for its annual Christmas presentation. Soloists will be Michelle Weckesser and Elizabeth Grenon. Vancouver pianist Sarah Hagen is the accompanist. Performances - Sat, Dec 15 at 7:30 pm & Sun, Dec 26 at 2:30 pm.

On the east side of the hump I continue my gig at the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular this weekend with six performances thru Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets can be purchased online from the Nanaimo’s Port Theatre website at www.porttheatre.com. The production has just returned from a one-night performance at the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay with a sellout of 500 seats.

Seating configuration in ADSS Theatre in Port Alberni 

will be new to valley audiences

The design of the new ADSS theatre in Port Alberni is very different from the community’s old auditorium on Burde Street with its rows of plywood seats, and like driving a new car or installing a modern HDTV set in your home, there will be an adjustment for some patrons attending events in the new facility. 

The seating style in the 455-seat theatre is what’s known as Continental Seating. It’s not a new concept, an early example being Wagner’s opera house in Bayreuth, Germany which was built in 1876.  

Today across North America there are scores of theatres using the design. Three in Canada that I’ve attended concerts in are the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Farquhar Auditorium at the University of Victoria and the Centennial Concert Hall in Winnipeg. 

The concept behind not using an aisle to break the rows is to allow for maximum seating in front of the stage. To do this the aisle of the seats is made wider to allow for easier movement. Last week at the official opening my wife Patricia and I sat in the exact centre of the theatre’s second row. Due to an afternoon performance of the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular that I’m playing piano for, we had to leave a few minutes before the ceremony had finished. We had no problem reaching the side aisle. In fact the students seated in our row didn’t even need to stand up to let us pass.  

Another benefit of the new theatre is the generous slope giving from every seat, a direct line of vision to the stage.

The theatre is truly a remarkable achievement for the Alberni Valley considering the economic challenges faced in recent years.  For School District #70 (Alberni), a standing ovation is in order. 

New ADSS Theatre opens in Port Alberni

Friday morning my wife Patricia and myself entered the freshly finished ADSS Theatre in Port Alberni as invited guests at the Official Grand Opening of the community’s new high school. As a retired member of the school’s staff and having been a member of Alberni Valley Performing Arts Committee in 2008, it was an exhilarating moment. 

The performing arts committee was created following the Alberni School District #70’s success, after years of lobbying trying to convince the provincial government that the community’s high school needed to be drastically upgraded or replaced. However, a crisis for the performing arts community ensued when it was decided the new school would be built on property many blocks north of where the old school had stood since the mid-1950s. Attached to the school was a 1000-seat auditorium. The concern being, would it be torn down along with the rest of the old school buildings?

The committee, which was made up of representatives of local performing arts user groups, the city council and the school board, set a mandate to determine if any community agency was willing to take on the responsibility for preserving, upgrading and maintaining the existing auditorium as a stand-alone facility. To the arts community members it wasn’t rocket science to conclude that it would take someone with very deep pockets to upgrade and maintain such a large aging facility. 

The committee’s second mandate was to determine if community support could be generated to construct a new performing arts centre, either as a stand-alone facility or in conjunction with the new ADSS school. With help from theatre consultant Sandra Thompson, who had been involved with the construction of Nanaimo’s 800-seat Port Theatre, it soon became clear that building a similar facility in Port Alberni would cost well in excess of ten million dollars.

The Alberni Valley had, over the years with taxpayer support, constructed wonderful sport facilities. However, with the downturn in the forest industry we realized a city referendum for a performance theatre, akin to one that had seen a new hockey rink recently constructed, would have little chance of success. I recall writing on my blog at the time a quote from Peter Gzowski’s hockey book The Game of Our Lives in which a chapter was dedicated to the unique talents of Wayne Gretsky. Gzowski wrote, “the joy of it all is that we have found him, that the game is so much a part of our lives that when a Wayne Gretzky is born we will find him. The sorrow is that there may also be Wayne Gretzkys of the piano or the paintbrush who, because we expose our young to hockey so much more than to the arts, we will never hear about.” I digress.

I was at this point becoming quite discouraged. It was becoming clear I had to accept the inevitable. The community would lose the old auditorium that had served the valley performing arts so well for over 50-years and likely it would be replaced in the new school with a multi purpose classroom. 

Suddenly a ray of sunshine appeared. At one of the committee meetings the school board representative brought the news that funds expected from the sale of the property on which the old school stood could be earmarked towards a theatre in the new school. Although one or two citizens urged me in letters-to-the-editor to the AV Times not to abandon my original hopes that the ADSS Auditorium be saved, I’d come to the conclusion that the costs of preserving the old structure were obviously prohibitive and with no local arts group willing to own and run the original auditorium independently, a compromise was offered as a way forward. Taking into account available funds and some creative planning by the architect, a 500-seat configuration was affordable. 

Decreasing the number of seats from a 700 or 800 configuration meant it would be unprofitable for a national or international star with high fees to play the theatre. However, the majority of committee members felt that the benefits of having a fitting performance venue for student and community productions plus the potential visiting professional groups who would book a 500-seat theatre, far outweighed not having a proper theatre with a raked floor as part of the new school.

In my opinion supporting a 500-seater under the circumstances was not only the right choice, but, the only choice. Port Alberni now has a state-of-the-art theatre that will serve the school and the local artistic community and their audiences for years to come. For all those involved in pursuing the goal that a proper theatre be part of the new school, I suggest a standing ovation is in order, to celebrate this wonderful achievement.

Unfortunately we had to leave at the end of the ceremony and missed the luncheon. I had to scoot back over the hump to play an afternoon performance of the Yellowpoint Christmas Spectacular and Pat had a number of piano students waiting for her return. More on our Christmas concerts in my next blog.  

Photos from the Open House:

Photo above: The new ADSS Theatre chamber has comfortable soft seating with wide access to seats, a large stage area with an extensive apron, sizeable dressing rooms plus state-of-the-art lighting and digital sound system. My personal preference would have been an open sound booth at the back as it will be difficult for those running the equipment to hear exactly what the audience is hearing. Currently there is only one sliding window in the booth and consideration will need to be given to, at the very least, getting the other two windows to slide open as well.

The ADSS stage band under the direction of Sarah Falls tunes up before the official opening on Friday. The large screen in front of the band drops down for video and movie presentations. 

The ADSS Dance Team performs “Make You Pop”.

Timbre! goes Hollywood at the Capitol Theatre

Port Alberni’s community choir Timbre! and musical director Patricia Miller will be performing the first concert of their 40^th season with two shows, the first on Saturday evening, Nov. 3rd  at 7:30 and the second on Sunday afternoon, Nov 4th at 2:30. 

With the closing of the old ADSS Auditorium on Burde Street and the delay in the completion of the new ADSS Theatre, Timbre! needed to change the venue for their opening show. With a concert entitled CINEMAGIC – A Tribute to the Music of Hollywood, performing the show in Port Alberni’s heritage-designated Capitol Theatre seemed a natural segue. With the cooperation of the Portal Players Dramatic Society who now own and operate the old movie house as a live theatre venue, Timbre! was able to book a weekend time slot.

The first movie I recollect seeing as a child was at the Capitol Theatre on Argyle Street. My father had taken me to see Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Being the war years I recall Disney had included a trailer that had the dwarfs promoting the sale of Victory War Bonds as they marched off through the woods singing Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It’s off to Work We Go.

Next week Timbre! will rehearse in the theatre for the first time in order to get used to the acoustics of the building. With the Port Alberni Orchestra & Chorus’ grand piano in storage awaiting the opening of the new high school theatre, plus the fact the instrument is too large for the Capitol stage after factoring in the numbers of choir members and musicians, I’m using my compact electric piano as a stand-in. Joining me in the orchestra will be Port Alberni’s Dave Auld (drums), with Nanaimo instrumentalist Andrew Cullen (bass) and Karl Rainer (Violin). 

Long before movies could talk, they still had the power to tell a story – with music. In the silent era, Charlie Chaplin not only acted in and directed his own films, he also wrote music for them. In tribute to the era, opening Cinemagic will feature a special guest appearance by Qualicum actor Gary Brown who will perform the role of Chaplin Chaplin accompanied by two of Chaplin’s best-known compositions - Limelight and Smile.

Some of the greatest scores in film history are the product of a shared vision between directors and composers. When he made Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977, Steven Spielberg hired long-time collaborator John Williams to score the film before even one frame had been shot. 

Sadly today film scores generally comprise a very small portion of a film’s budget and are often commissioned so close to a release date that demands on composers can be brutal. When I was attending music college in Los Angeles in the late 1950’s and early 60’s, film studios still used large orchestras employing hundreds of musicians to record movie soundtracks. Today with such budget and time constraints and the convenience of electronic music, live scoring is fast becoming a lost art.

However, Cinemagic will take you back to the golden age of Hollywood, when the music composed for a movie meant more than a sound track littered with explosions and car crashes. 

Tickets are now on sale at Rollin Centre, Echo Centre, Somass Drugs and Salmonberry’s. You are encouraged to purchase your ticket in advance.  Due to the increased costs involved with 2 performances and reduced seating, Timbre! is unable to offer Season’s Passes this year. However, the price of Senior and Student tickets have been lowered to $10 and a Child 12 & under to $5. Adult tickets remain at a reasonable $15.

Qualicum based actor Gary Brown takes on the role of legendary film actor and director Charlie Chaplin at the Timbre! choir’s tribute to the music of Hollywood playing the weekend of Nov 3^rd & 4^th  at the Capitol Theatre.  Brown is co-founder of the Bard To Broadway Theatre in Oceanside and continues to act and direct for the well-known company.

Timbre! Choir starting 40th Season

The Community Choir Timbre! of Port Alberni is celebrating their 40th performance season. 

Timbre! encourages all singers who would like to join a group dedicated to producing a fine choral sound to contact them. We especially welcome teenagers who are interested in learning about and being exposed to fine choral singing. The choir is a four-part ensemble and welcomes choristers of all voice types - soprano, alto, tenor and bass. 

To try out for Timbre! or if you have any questions, please phone Karen Sparrow at 1-250-724-5244 (Port Alberni) or the musical director Patricia Miller at 1-250-390-7508 (Nanaimo). My wife Pat will set up a time with you to meet privately in order to determine your range, pitch and tonal control. Be prepared to sing a short solo of your choosing. It doesn't need to be elaborate - anything from O Canada to Silent Night will do and the conductor will even sing with you if you prefer. 

Pat and I spent two days in Vancouver at reading sessions put on by Northwest Music and Long & McQuade music stores choosing new choral publications for the fall. Timbre!’s first concert will be called Cinemagic and will feature music from the movies. As those blog readers in Port Alberni are aware, a new community theatre will be opening soon as part of the high school. However, the theatre will not be ready until later in November. Consequently, Timbre!’s fall performance will be held in the Capitol Theatre, which, being an old movie house, will fit in perfectly with the Cinemagic theme. There will be two performances, Saturday, November 3rd at 7:30 pm and Sunday, Nov 4th at 2:30 pm. More details on this concert later blogs.

On Labour Day I loaded my bicycle aboard the morning train to McLean Mill and rode back into town via Kitsuksis Road. Stopping at the Salmon Festival at Clutesi Marina, I lunched on a plate of delicious salmon at the Kiwanis Club Bar- B-Q. There was no line up to speak of at noon, not like the evening before when we went as a family and cued for over an hour. The salmon is so good that any waiting time is worth it. Retrieving my car at the E&N Station, I drove past the new high school. The front door was open so I had a peek inside. 

The common area inside the entrance is stunning. What a magnificent building.  Yes I know, so many of us were quite attached to the old school on Burde. However, it really was time to move on and the new facility can only be classed as one of the finest secondary school buildings in the province. Photos below:

 

PHOTO GALLERY - LABOUR DAY WEEKEND AT MCLEAN MILL (Port Alberni)

(Two photos above): The only operating steam donkey engine in Canada demonstrates the high-lead (pronounced leed) method of yarding in fallen logs to a landing by a series of cables and blocks suspended in the air from a spar-tree. The logs were then loaded on to a log truck.

(Left) The Alberni Pacific Railway loading passengers at the E&N Station in downtown Port Alberni for the trip out to McLean.

(Left) Visitors to McLean Mill get a close up view of high-lead logging powered by the only operating steam donkey engine in Canada

(Left) On the weekend I rode my bike on to the new floating dock at Harbour Quay in Port Alberni. The impressive $8.2 million dock stretches more than 400 feet out into the Alberni Inlet.