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Festivals postscript and an impromptu singalong

Now both chamber festivals are over, I've finally had a chance to sit back and relax! As to which festival I most preferred, Music and Beyond and Chamberfest serve slightly different audiences and purposes; I found both immensely enjoyable. Chamberfest had the edge on big name stars, for example both Simone Dinnerstein, Marc-André Hamelin and Anton Kuerti on the piano side, along with groups such as the Nash Ensemble of London. Like Music and Beyond, I didn't go to a bad concert (there was some concert-goer discussion about the merits of Dinnerstein but I missed that show) so picking a clear favourite is difficult! In terms of innovation, Chamberfest's Late Night at the Kildare series was brilliant, with a wide range of 'fringe' chamber music. Cello grunge (courtesy of the Samurai String Squad), Lara St. John performing Stomp! and Starbachs: The Coffee Cantata were all fantastic. It's a great breakout too - smaller audience, more intimate feel, slight background chatter, a bar... A lot of the more 'mainstream' string quartet concerts were Haydn and Beethoven dominated, but there was a good percentage of new and more obscure music, for example Hamelin playing Stockhausen's Klavierstück IX and Trio Hochelaga's performance of Pierné's Piano Trio in C minor, Op. 45. The New Music Now series of concerts also had a very broad mix of pieces and instruments; one of my particular favourites was Rachel Mercer's performance of György Ligeti’s Sonata for Solo Cello. The overall feel of Chamberfest, though, was of an established, sophisticated, large scale festival; in contrast I definitely found an upstart, 'for the people' vibe to Music and Beyond, and Rachel Barton Pine's three concerts still rank as some of my favourites of the summer.

Looking forward to the autumn, and NAC single ticket sales start on 6th September. In other genres, the list of possibles includes Hey Rosetta!, Feist, Austra, Tasseomancy and more.

An impromptu weekend away in Eganville included a surprise acoustic concert. Local artist Julie Larocque happened to be playing a Saturday morning show at the Bonnechere Museum whilst we were there. Due to a misplaced cable, Julie performed the hour-long set at the Bonnechere Museum's piano. Some original songs, which in a voice/piano rendition had a relatively simple, relaxed feel, although from her website and myspace it seems that her recorded output is very varied. Most of the hour was then taken up with 'American songbook' style classics, such as Over The Rainbow, but well played and with some audience participation from the 15 or so attendees. As a complete newcomer to the Ottawa Valley, it was nice to see pianos in restaurants and the Bonnechere Museum's large folder of musicians and bands in the locale.

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