A number of opportunities are coming up in April to support the The Okanagan Symphony Orchestra including a masterworks concert, a special piano recital and a fundraising event.
“We have such an exciting month ahead,” said Rosemary Thomson, Music Director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. “Enjoy and attend our masterworks concert, a piano recital and a fun and unique fundraiser; so many ways to support your local professional orchestra.”
The month kicks off with the April Masterworks concert Dynamic Duo this Saturday at the Cleland Community Theatre in Penticton. Guest artists Guy Few and Nadina Mackie Jackson bring an unusual duo of trumpet and bassoon which they perform with brilliance and “infectious high spirits.”
Few is a prolific recording artist who has released albums on numerous labels and his recording awards include a Grammy for Penderecki Credo. He has performed with Canadian and U.S. symphonies as both trumpet and piano soloist and is an intensely dedicated teacher at Wilfrid Laurier University. Mackie Jackson tours and records worldwide on both modern and historical bassoons. She also teaches at the University of Toronto and the Glen Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music.
Their virtuosity is showcased in solo and double concertos. The pair were nominated for a 2014 Juno Award with their album Canadian Concerto Project. On Saturday, music from the baroque era shares the stage with more contemporary repertoire of great beauty that is sure to delight. Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the Penticton Wine Information Centre, by phone 250-276-2170 or online via the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra website at www.OkanaganSymphony.com.
Canadian pianist and international star Louis Lortie will take the stage for one night only at the Mary Irwin Theatre in the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna on April 16.
The piano that is being brought over from Vancouver is a seven-foot Fazioli F212 and has a list price of $169,999 — around double the price of the corresponding Steinway Model B, which incidentally is exactly the piano that is getting rolled out of the way at the Mary Irwin Theatre for the arrival of the Fazioli piano.
“Steinway is like the Rolex of the piano world,” said Showcase Pianos store owner Manuel Bernaschek.
Join the OSO for this one-night-only performance, tickets are $40 and can be purchased at www.selectyourtickets.com or by phone 250-717-5304.
To close off the month the OSO will be holding the first of their annual fundraisers on April 25 at the Laurel Packinghouse – BLINGO! Tickets are $90 and include an evening of bingo like you have never experienced before.
