What do you get when you cross an award-winning classical pianist with the former Canadian SLAM poetry champion? All We Will Miss – a collaborative event centred around Rachmaninoff’s Opus 32.
At 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17 at the Della Herman Theatre, pianist Sarah Hagen will perform all 13 preludes, interspersed with stories and poems inspired by the music from storyteller Brendan McLeod. The resulting journey travels through diverse topics in a show that provides an exciting window into the worlds of spoken word and classical music. Ultimately, it is a new experience of each – a novel form of cross-disciplinary collaboration meant to celebrate Rachmaninoff’s music.
Classical pianist Sarah Hagen has been heard in concert halls and on the airwaves throughout North America and Europe. Her interpretations have been described as “outstandingly inventive,” performed with “infinite skill.” A visionary and an idealist, Sarah’s performances are conceptually innovative, involving photography, dance and spoken word.
She is the artistic director for Pro’ject Sound, a performance project involving live piano with large-scale projected images. She curates, hosts, and performs on numerous concert series in B.C. and Alberta, sharing the stage with artists from around the world, including cellist Phillip Hansen, violinist Robert Uchida, tenor Benjamin Butterfield, Trio Accord, Ballet Victoria, and the Emily Carr String Quartet. Sarah has appeared as soloist with the Victoria, the Kitchener-Waterloo, and the West Coast Symphonies, and the Symphony Orchestra of the Pacific.
As a First Prize Winner in the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Hagen was awarded the opportunity to perform solo at New York City’s Carnegie Hall in May 2013. Her debut solo album, Glass House Dancing, was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards. In December 2013 she released her second album, Devoted: Music of Robert & Clara Schumann, featuring solo piano works and Clara Schumann’s Romances, Opus 22. Sarah has recently been heard nationally and in live recordings on CBC Radio 2’s In Concert and on CBC Radio One’s North by Northwest.
In addition to writing wine reviews for her blog, “ARTIST WINES! – Uncorking musician-priced cellar secrets,” Sarah composes silly songs for the ukulele and is an enthusiastic tap dancer.
Brendan McLeod is a multi-talented, multi-faceted marvel: poet, songwriter, musician, playwright, novelist and educator. He is the author of one novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, which won the International 3 Day Novel contest and a one woman play, The Big Oops. His most recent monologue is an award-winning piece on consciousness, Brain.
McLeod is the founder of The Fugitives, a folk group well-known to Bulkley Valley audiences from their appearances at Midsummer Festival and other venues. They are signed to Light Organ Records, tour internationally and have been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Western Canadian Music Award.
Brendan is a former Canadian SLAM poetry champion and World SLAM runner-up. He’s taught spoken word at Langara College and is an active youth educator with a variety of organizations. He was the 2012 Poet of Honour at the Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Poet of Honour at the Victoria Spoken Word Festival.
You don’t want to miss these fresh, engaging performers on Feb. 17!
The final performance in The BV Concert Association’s 55th season will be the tap dance/musical on Saturday, March 4, 2017, Danny Nielsen: Love.Be.Best.Free.
Tickets for all concerts are on sale now at Mountain Eagle Books:
Adult $25 Senior $20 (60 +) Youth $16 (18 and under).
Subject to availability, tickets may be purchased at the Della Herman Theatre from 7 p.m. on the night of the concert.
– Submitted by the Bulkley Valley Concert Association.
