From Bieber to Bagpipes - it was a diverse weekend

On Friday at the Galaxy Theatre in Nanaimo I caught the première performance of the Justin Bieber 3-D documentary film Never Say Never. Being an early afternoon matinee, I figured I could avoid the screaming teeny-bopper hordes who’d be showing up later in the day when school let out. Good choice as there were only about 15 souls in the theatre – those teens playing hooky and myself. I’m sure the youngster at the box-office was confused as to why a mature gentleman could possibly want to subject himself to Bieber’s new flick. Baffling him further was my request for a ticket to the Metropolitan Opera’s 

performance of Nixon In China scheduled for 10 am the following morning. “What’s an Opera?” he asked. 

Having been assaulted of late by the media hype surrounding the ascendance of pop culture’s latest superstar Justin Bieber, I had to find out for myself what all the fuss was about. Still in high school when Elvis wiggled his way into my young life, I’d moved on to Music College in California by the time Beatlemania had laid waste to the music I’d grown up with. My musical heroes were the Big Bands of Stan Kenton and Woody Herman and the small instrumental combos of the West Coast cool jazz movement led by the likes of Dave Brubeck, Gerry Mulligan, Stan Getz, Shelley Manne and countless others. I digress.

Does Justin Bieber pack the durable musical clout that Elvis and the Beatles brought to the rock scene in their time? Will Biebermania have the impact upon pop culture that Michael Jackson’s first solo appearances had? The jury is still out on that one. However, after seeing the Bieber film I have a needling inkling that the teenager could be more than a flash in the pan.

At the risk of being ostracized by my musician colleagues, I must confess I enjoyed the Bieber concert film immensely. Yes it was loud, so much so I had to wrap my Vancouver Olympic jacket’s heavily padded hood around my head at times to dull the volume. The Galaxy Theatre’s Dolby Sound System was definitely dialed to maximum. I could feel the concussion of the bass speakers impacting against my chest. It would come as no surprise that one of these days there’s going to be a class-action suit against the marketers of rock by a generation of deaf concertgoers whose hearing has been permanently destroyed. 

That aside, what I did enjoy about the film was watching the seasoned pros of the music business develop (from scratch) an instantaneous superstar. The band musicians, the backup singers, the dancers, the producers and managers - everything was absolutely first class. Especially interesting were the interviews with Bieber’s 60-year old vocal coach Jan Smith whose responsibility was to give the young singer the vocal skills needed to get through a grueling 80-event schedule. At one point, with Bieber’s voice strained to the point of breaking just before his Madison Square Garden show, Smith gives the young singer a stern directive: “Do you want to stay in the game, or do you want to go back home to Canada?” Backed with the advice of a throat specialist and her own knowledge of the singing voice, Smith orders Bieber’s management to cancel a number of shows. “It’s cancel a few shows now, or be faced with a cancelled tour,” she tells the production team.

Through it all Justin Bieber seems like a nice kid. He’s still very much a child prodigy, a mimic of sorts who flawlessly has the standard rockstar moves down pat. Backed by proven professionals, his concert presence certainly excites his young fans. The film’s cover story of the family support network supplied by his mother, grandparents and school friends didn’t appear to me to be a sham. However, who knows in today’s world of slick cut & paste production techniques. The reality of it all could be easily hidden. Hopefully this 15-year old Canadian will be able to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen the likes of Michael Jackson and numerous others. I wish him success and a better life, and hope he will not be just another exploited talent tasked with making other people rich. 

Saturday morning I took my time returning to the Galaxy for the 10 am simulcast from New York’s Metropolitan Opera House of Nixon in China. The movie theatre now assigns reserve seating so opera fans no longer have to arrive an hour early to stake out a prime seat.  As I’ve written in previous blogs, attending these live satellite opera broadcasts is the next best thing to being there, in many respects even better. The close up camera shots of the Met’s wonderful pit orchestra, the interviews with the cast, and watching the backstage crews move the enormous sets between acts are worth the price of admission alone. For this opera the set included a full-size mock up of Air Force 1, the presidential aircraft that carried Nixon to China in 1972.

Scene from the Met’s production of Nixon in China. James Maddalena played Nixon, Janis Kelly (Pat Nixon), Robert Brubaker (Mao), Russell Braun (Chou En Lai), and Kathleen Kim (Mao’s wife Chiang Ch’ing).

About the Met’s production of Nixon in China, The New Yorker magazine music critic stated: “Not since Porgy and Bess has an American opera won such universal acclaim”. The production’s director Peter Sellars who was interviewed between acts on Saturday said: “Nixon in China shows you what opera can do to history, which is to deepen it and move into its more subtle, nuanced, and mysterious corners.” 

Making the opera simulcast special Saturday was the announcement that the composer himself would be in the pit conducting the marvelous Met Orchestra. John Adams’ Nixon in China was groundbreaking when it debuted in Houston 24 years ago. Today the work is performed worldwide. Some blog readers may have seen the Vancouver Opera’s presentation during last year’s Olympic Games. There is a production this very week in Toronto by the Canadian Opera Company.

The Overture to the opera is hypnotic with its overlapping patterns of ascending minor scales punctuated by fractured bursts from the brass section. As Nixon’s plane descends to stage level, the score suddenly erupts with rock-like riffs and bits of fanfares. Nixon and wife Pat soon appear at Air Force 1’s doorway and the opera is off and running. For the next four hours I was completely mesmerized. Having said that, such atonal music is not to everyone’s taste. The tradition-rooted opera fans seated behind me didn’t know what to make of it all. I had the feeling they’d be making for the exit before intermission. However if you’d like to stretch your musical imagination, Nixon in China plays an encore performance at the Galaxy on Saturday March 12 at 10 am.

After the performance I just had time to pick up my wife Pat and catch a 3pm ferry to Vancouver. We were off to hear the Vancouver Chamber Choir perform their annual National Conductor’s Symposium concert.  Pat had been selected to conduct the Vancouver choir in concert at this symposium earlier in her career and was invited on the weekend to a reunion of past participants.  

In the world of choral music the Vancouver Chamber Choir is considered one of Canada’s national treasures, an outstanding professional vocal ensemble noted for its diverse repertoire and performing excellence. World wide, their musical director Jon Washburn is a highly sought after authority on choral music. The choir itself has performed in over 16 different countries. However no one is immune to our present provincial government’s philistine attitude towards the arts. The VCC is a victim of the gaming-based grant cuts along with the rest of us. Best I not go there. Again I’ve digressed.

Saturday night’s concert entitled The Magnificent Madrigal was beautifully performed. This year five young conductors directed the choir – three Americans: Brandon Dean (Florence, KY), Brett Karlin (Tampa. FL), Brian Schmidt (Denton, TX) and two Canadians: Cathy Klodposhak (Calgary, AB) and Sara Brooks (Ottawa, ON). The concert concluded with Jon Washburn on the podium who brought out the inner nuances of the choir as only he can.

Pat with Jon Washburn, the artistic director of the Vancouver Chamber Choir following the choir’s The Magnificent Madrigal concert on Saturday

Outside our hotel off Granville Street, the 2010 Olympics’ 1st-year anniversary party animals hooted and hollered their way into the night. After having breakfast at Trolls in Horseshoe Bay on Sunday morning, we boarded the 8:30 am ferry home to Nanaimo as Pat had a number of students preparing for the Upper Island Music Festival. By 1pm I found myself back at the Galaxy Theatre. This time it was to view a single screening of a film entitled On The Day. The film filled a knowledge gap I’ve always had concerning the bagpipes as a musical instrument. 

Every August over 200 bagpipe bands from all over the world gather in Glasgow, Scotland for the World Pipe Band Championships. They converge on a vast field called Glasgow Green for a single day of competition. Over the years I’ve been aware that the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band has won this competition on a number of occasions. Beyond that I knew virtually nothing about competitive bagpipe festivals. What an eye-opener this film was! The camera follows an all-star band of world-class pipers and drummers from all over the planet who decided to meet in Scotland one week before the August world festival. Calling themselves The Spirit of Scotland, their goal was to reach the finals against other world-class pipe bands that have been playing together for years, even decades.

Musical performances in the documentary film are interwoven with individual stories about the musicians and their families. As the all-star band gets closer to the Worlds, these great soloists find they have to park their egos and put the band first in order to function as a unit capable of perfecting the perfect harmony needed to compete at such a high level. To my ears, the pure group sound they produced was unbelievable. After hearing them play I was expecting a Hollywood ending. However, The Spirit of Scotland did make the finals against 13 others, placing 11^th from an entry list that started out with over 200 bagpipe bands. Incidentally, the Simon Fraser University Pipe Band from Vancouver didn’t win the festival this year, coming in 3^rd overall. 

Seeing the film I gained an appreciation of a musical instrument I’d always considered to be, well, a little different.  

I’ve been asked by the Bard to Broadway Theatre folks in the Parksville/Qualicum area to place the following information in today’s blog. How would you like to take part in Canadian’s longest running musical? The B2B society in Oceanside is looking for male singers for this summer’s production of Anne of Green Gables. Parts are also available for female singers who are not teens. Rehearsals begin about April 1^st. Performances run from July 1^st to August 6^th (possibly Aug 13^th). Gas/mileage stipend provided. After taking last summer off I’m returning as the company’s musical director, an assignment that includes putting together a 5-piece combo to ape the 18+ musicians used in the original Anne of Green Gables score. Am I crazy or what? If anything it should kick my creative juices up a notch. Singing actors interested in auditioning can contact the director Eileen Butts at 250-248-3782 or by email at ebutts@telus.net