Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Ken Lavigne Vancouver Island Tour - Let Me Be Frank!

For all the folks I know on Vancouver Island, and folks I don't know. He is terrific!
Starting April 26 through to May 11 - in communities from Victoria to Port Alberni, Campbell River, Parksville, Sidney and Chemainus. Evenings of pure delight!!



Deeply talented singer and composer, recording artist and charming entertainer, Ken Lavigne kicks off Spring with a seven-stop Vancouver Island tour.
 
This Spring Tour features Ken's latest concert creation, Let me be Frank! and celebrates the velvet tones of much-loved crooners from Frank Sinatra to Michael Bublé.
 
Audiences can expect to hear an excellent night of music! All their favourite songs – Fly Me to the Moon, All of Me, Sway, As Time Goes By, Ain’t That a Kick in the Head and Save the Last Dance and more… performed with undeniable style by Vancouver Island's favourite tenor, backed by a seven-piece band with all the classic arrangements we know and love.

 

“I love the timeless romance of the melodies and the unabashed sincerity of the sentiment in the lyrics...
Oh yeah, and the sense of swagger!"

~ Ken Lavigne
 
So, why a crooner tour?
Ken didn’t grow up with this style of music but he wasn’t very old when it caught his attention. “I actually fell in love with this style when I was in high school and Harry Connick Jr. was out touring with his brand of crooning style,” Lavigne explains. “I would put on a fedora and imitate my best Sinatra in front of the mirror … fuggedaboudit!”
 
For Lavigne, this music evokes a more romantic time in history, a time when dating and love were a little more mysterious, a little more special than simply a photo or status change on Facebook. “The crooners’ corner is all about simplicity, smooth vocals, and style,” he says. “For me it evokes a time when the anticipation of going out on the town came with a real sense of occasion, when air travel was glamorous, when being in love was worth singing about and the future was hopeful.”
 
The crooners and their timeless lyrics take the listener on an emotional ride from expectation and the thrill of a first kiss, to heartbreak and loneliness. And it’s all backed up with musical scores that melt the heart and sear the soul.
 
The "Let me be Frank!" Vancouver Island Spring Tour kicks off on April 26 in Victoria at Church of the Advent and include stops at Char’s Landing in Port Alberni on April 27th, Campbell River’s Tidemark Theatre on April 28th, Sidney’s Mary Winspear Centre on May 4th, Parksville’s Knox United Church on May 10th and a final two show-stop in Chemainus at the Chemainus United Church on May 11th.

Sunday, January 13, 2019

Discovery! A Tribute to Women Composers with the Vancouver Island Symphony

The Vancouver Island Symphony presents
Discovery! A Tribute to Women Composers
Saturday, January 19, 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. Pre-Concert Talk)
The Port Theatre, Nanaimo BC
 
Guest Artist: Paolo Bortolussi, Flute
Conductor: Pierre Simard
 
With works by:
Joan TOWER   For the Uncommon Woman
Cécile CHAMINADE   Flute Concertino, op. 107
Jennifer HIGDON     blue cathedral
Jocelyn MORLOCK     Ornithomancy
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV     Scheherazade, op. 35




Two American orchestral standards are performed alongside two short works for flute and orchestra, with soloist and VIS Principal Flutist Paolo Bortolussi. The program concludes with the greatest musical homage to women’s Grace, Beauty and Mind – Korsakov’s Scheherazade.

For tickets visit: Port Theatre TIcket Centre: www.porttheatre.com  or call 250-754-8550.
For more information visit: www.vancouverislandsymphony.com

For an interview article with Paolo Bortolussi visit: www.quillsquotesandnotes.com/ws-bortolussi-chang.htm .
 

2019 - a year of changes ahead - and positive vibration - Yeah!

Greetings readers,

And Happy New Year. 2019 is definitely going to be a year of change, in so many ways. Hold on to your hats!

While I don't get many readers, that I know of, I am continuing with this blog, posting whenever I get information, or find out about an event. Social media and arts promotion have really changed in the past few years and promotions are done through Twitter and Facebook, and many other means, however, I shall plod ahead with the 'old' way of blogging.

The Quills Quotes & Notes website (www.quillsquotesandnotes.com) has undergone huge changes to the design, updating the many articles about artists, and general interest subjects, and of course, on my own publications and works. I hadn't done anything to the site since 2012 so this is a wonderful make-over - and because I don't have any special programs to do the changes, every page is handled, one at a time. And I have included the latest news about the artists in the articles, such as Ian Parker, pianist and now conductor (www.quillsquotesandnotes.com/ws-parker.htm). I hope these articles continue to provide interest and promotion ideas.

So watch here for information on concerts and events.
Cheers
Rosemary