PrettyInScarlett

After my hectic July and more relaxed August, M and I saw out the summer with a trip to Folkfest yesterday (Day 3). Initially tempted to attend by Basia Bulat's inclusion on the Ravenlaw stage, we had a fun and relaxing day in the sun. I now know more about banjos than I did on Friday, thanks to the afternoon workshops; we also saw the end of the Song Maps workshop.  The Moon stage - The Little Stevies As a Folkfest first timer, I can't comment on the new site vs old site, but there is certainly plenty of room at Hog's Back Park. Our only real complaint features the main CUPE/SCFP stage area. Whilst the rest of the site had a great laidback, fun vibe, the CUPE/SCFP stage was much more anonymous and less laid-back. The division of the main stage audience area into (presumably) VIP/seating and general was quite weird. Whilst the Moon stage  - smaller acts from other stages doing short inbetweeny sets - is a great idea, the CUPE/SCFP stage just wasn't inviting. The...

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 ba...

All of a sudden I am now covering Chamberfest for The Festival Goer as well. No complaints here! Another varied festival program with some very interesting sounding concerts. Cello grunge? Yes, the Samurai String Squad are performing a late night 'classical grunge set'. New artists, new music and free events too - including New York's Asphalt Orchestra. The programme can be viewed online ; further details about the Asphalt Orchestra's street performances in Byward Market will be posted onto Chamberfest's Facebook page . Check The Festival Goer for further updates.

The whirlwind that was Music and Beyond has now finished. My final tally was 24 events, pretty much all of them excellent. Perhaps the only disappointing show was Don Campbell's 'Beyond the Mozart Effect', which whilst having excellent musical performances, was rather more an illustrated history of Mozart than an evening about The Mozart Effect . Top marks to Igudesman and Joo for their hilarious 'A Little Nightmare Music' - I highly recommend their online videos! Of the more traditional style concerts, The Jupiter String Quartet were amazing, as was Stéphane Lemelin, who looked and sounded as if he was having a great time. The Music from Turkey concert with Tahir Aydoğdu on kanun was riveting and highly entertaining, as well as the 'tango' concert from Les Violons du Roy and Tango Boreal. From the closing gala, I also really enjoyed Marc Djokic's performance from Richard Mascall's Labyrinth . Reminded me of Nicolas Bolens ' Tempus Fugit . ...

A short break from Music and Beyond took M and I to The Elmdale Tavern for another gig by The PepTides (of Jazzfest fame ). Firstly, it was very refreshing for us Brits to find a 'pub' style bar venue, where one can buy a drink at the bar without getting funny looks. Big tick. We arrived earlier than the show start time, which turned out to be fortuitous, as the stage area had been rearranged to accommodate singers + band. Quite a few people were standing at the back by showtime. The whole place had been decked out in quirky vintage gear, from old radios lining the stage to bakelite-style telephones (the ones with a rotary dial - a real blast from the past). The PepTides The PepTides did not disappoint, earning raucous applause from the crowd. Having listened to FTHHHI (albeit only once - busy busy!) and now having seen them again, the structure of the songs and lyrics becomes clearer. You either 'hear' and boogie along without necessarily finding the deeper mean...

Ottawa chamber festival Music and Beyond starts today with a highly anticipated event featuring renowned Canadian actor Christopher Plummer. Sadly, I'm not going, as I only have  a 'standard' pass. Not to complain, though, as there are 72 concerts on offer between today and 17th July!  I am covering Music and Beyond as official 'reader-blogger' for the Ottawa Citizen. Their reader-blogger page, The Festival Goer , features blogs from JazzFest, BluesFest and Music and Beyond, with ChamberFest and Folk Festival still to come. My posts are under 'MusicBeyondBlogger'. As an aside, M and I plan to attend The PepTides ' next Ottawa show tomorrow (8th July) at the Elmdale House Tavern. 

First up, another plus from the diplomatic circuit. After last November's popular free concert at the National Gallery of Canada, the Embassy of Japan (this time in collaboration with the Embassy of Austria ) hosted an evening of Austrian and Japanese music for violin and piano on 30th June, once again at the National Gallery's Auditorium. This time, reservations were mandatory and the event seemed much better organised. From the programme details and introductory remarks, the two soloists (Mayumi Seiler, violin, and Kyoko Hashimoto, piano) are both Canadian residents and (if I remember rightly) German speakers. After the speeches, including a brief history lesson on the links between Austria, Japan and European-ism by His Excellency Ambassador Ishikawa, the concert commenced. The works, listed below, were each introduced by Mayumi Seiler, which was a nice touch: W.A. Mozart, Sonata for piano & violin in A major, KV.526 Toru Takemitsu, Distance de fée for violin & pi...