It’s going to be a bit of a zoo inside the Kwantlen Polytechnic auditorium on Nov. 25.
That’s the day the Kwantlen Polytechnic Orchestra in Residence, joined by musicians from Langley Community Music School and the Western Conservatory of Music, will present Saint-Saëns Carnival of the Animals during a trio of performances.
The piece is a musical survey of familiar zoo animals, said concert organizer and violinist Calvin Dyck, a Kwantlen music instructor.
But for this series of performances, they’ll add a few local species — a moose, a loon and skunk and a lawyer — to the mix, by incorporating elements of Cam Wilson’s Canadian Carnival.
“It’s really very entertaining, said Dyck of the show, conducted by his music department colleague Wayne Jeffrey, which will be performed twice by an 18-piece orchestra for local school children in the morning.
They’ve managed to secure a set of moose antlers and a stuffed toy skunk which will both make an appearance at some point in the show.
“I love this kind of stuff. I love to have fun with it,” said the musician who’s known for sporting a powdered wig while performing Mozart.
While Carnival was written for two pianos, this performance will feature 10 student pianists from the three participating schools on two grand pianos. Coached by Kwantlen piano instructor Jane Hayes, they will each get the opportunity to pair up and play a couple of movements, Dyck explained.
At the same time, local elementary students will help round out the show with their own artistic endeavours.
Blacklock Fine Arts Elementary School students in Grades 4, 5 and 6 are participating in the concert by writing poetry to accompany the music, as well as creating works of art based on the subject matter and performing a dance during the shows.
“Of course the students loved it, but the most effusive were the teachers. This is exactly the type of thing we like to have students involved with,” Dyck said.
“I see it as an incredibly collaborative project.”
The two morning concerts will be followed in the evening by a performance for the public. For that show the 45-minute Carnival will be fleshed out with the addition of a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, featuring Dyck as the violin soloist.
He performed the piece with the Terrace Symphony Orchestra earlier this month and was scheduled to stage it with the Vancouver Island Symphony prior to the Langley concert.
This is the first time the annual late autumn concert, which sold out in Surrey last year, will be performed in Langley.
Tickets for the evening performance are $25 for adults, $22 for seniors and $12 for students. Call 604-559-3315. Kwantlen Polytechnic University is located at the corner of Glover Road and the Langley Bypass.
