Greater Victoria music lovers can hear music from a renowned accordion player in Oak Bay this July at the fifth annual Oak Bay New Music Festival.
Dutch accordionist Erica Roozendaal will dazzle music lovers at the festival set for July 13-14, put on through a partnership between the Victoria Composers Collective (VCC), the Canadian Music Centre in B.C. and Oak Bay Music.
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The weekend starts with a coffee social at Good Earth Coffee House Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Visitors will have a chance to meet and chat with some of the upcoming performers and musicians.
“This will be the perfect opportunity for the public to learn more about the festival and about the ideas of the musicians/composers, in a relaxed and informal setting,” says VCC co-director Alex Jang.
On Saturday night, the first performance will feature performers from the Victoria Composers Collective and will include Infinity for Morton by Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, as well as works by composers from around the world including Galina Ustvolskaya (Russia) and Elisabeth Lutyens (United Kingdom).
Victoria composer Sylvia Rickard will also premier unperformed work by Décio Arapiraca (Brazil), grandfather to VCC member Maria Eduarda Martins.
| The fifth annual Oak Bay New Music Festival features work from local and international musicians and composers. (Facebook/Victoria Composers Collective) |
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Sunday’s two concerts will both feature Roozendaal, who is visiting Canada from the Netherlands.
“Around the age of 10, I realized that I wanted to be a musician…” Roozendaal said. “My biggest joy was writing my own songs, soundscapes, and learning to play all the music I heard and found in libraries and later on the internet.”
Roozendaal will play music by both Canadian composers and herself – many of her own melodies inspired by Dutch folk melodies.
The 2019 Oak Bay New Music Festival is on July 13-14 at St. Mary the Virgin Anglican Church – 1701 Elgin Rd.
Tickets are available online at brownpapertickets.com or at the door.
