November Bonanzas 3 and 4: Sarah Fox; Peter Martens.

Third night in a row, this time back in Skipton for the next Skipton Music concert. The November concert was a song evening, featuring Sarah Fox accompanied by Alexander Taylor.

Normally I am not a big fan of opera and not always of classical song; but season ticket = no excuse! However it was a very enjoyable evening. Sarah programmed songs by Schubert, Richard Strauss, Duparc, Canteloube, Britten and ended with a selection of Cole Porter and Gershwin songs. The songs by Henri Duparc were super and had great piano parts too; and the selection from Songs of the Auvergne by Joseph Canteloube were great fun.

A few days' rest for the ears before another Leeds University lunchtime concert. This time the performer was South African cellist Peter Martens, accompanied by Richard Casey. The standout piece from this concert was the Sonata for Cello and Piano (2010) by South African composer Peter Klatzow. Peter Martens introduced the work, explaining that Klatzow is one of South Africa's most well known contemporary composers. The piece was in 4 movements with a dose of asymetric meters. Very listenable (recommended!) and in particular I enjoyed the 'andante tranquillo' and the 'vivace'. The 'vivace' incorporated a call-and-response dialogue found in many African genres - this neatly dovetailed with the book I am currently reading (which is also recommended): The Other Classical Musics contains a chapter about the West African tradition of Mande jaliyaa.

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Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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