Harry & Martha Cohen World Music Series 2015

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Harry & Martha Cohen World Music Series 2015

What: The Harry & Martha Cohen Foundation World Music Concert Series

Where: Cathedral Church (corner of 7 Ave and 1 Street SE)

When: Various Wednesdays – June 24 through to October 14, 2015

Tickets: Free to the public

The ProArts@Noon Concert Series is pleased to announce a unique series of five concerts featuring Calgary artists performing World Music repertoire.

The Harry & Martha Cohen Foundation recently awarded Calgary’s ProArts Society funding to undertake the World Music Concert Series, featuring a diverse selection of World Music genres. This special series will be part of the ProArts@Noon weekly schedule of Wednesday concerts.

Now in its thirteenth season, the ProArts@Noon Concert Series is a free, noon hour concert series presented by the ProArts Society who rent the historic Cathedral Church in the heart of Calgary’s Cultural District for their weekly concerts.

“For the average listener, the real value of World Music is ultimately the exposure it gives to non-Western sounds. Most of us have little contact with the music and instruments of Brazil, or India, or Ghana, as part of our daily routines. But like the Europeans in the time of the Crusades, many Westerners are now discovering, to their considerable surprise, that a number of other highly developed musical cultures do exist, and that some of them are more ancient, and, in the case of rhythm, even more complex than Western music . . . . Of all the new styles that have appeared recently, World Music is perhaps the most successful at crossing or ignoring musical and cultural boundaries.” From John Shaefer’s book New Sounds: A Listener’s Guide to New Music (New York: Harper & Row, 1987)

The Harry & Martha Cohen World Music Series 2015

June 24, 2015 | Frank Rackow’s KLEZMER PLUS

Frank brings with him an eclectic musical background – not only does he play a mean jazz sax, he directs the “Vocal Latitudes” World Music choir in Calgary. Frank will be performing Klezmer music, which originated in the villages and ghettos of Eastern Europe, where itinerant Jewish troubadours (known as ‘klezmorim‘) performed at joyful events, particularly weddings, since the early middle ages.

July 08, 2015 | Sterling Hunte (Caribbean inspired Steel Pan music)

Steel Pan musician Sterling Hunte got his start in Liverpool, England and has now been in the music business for nearly twenty years. He was honoured to perform in the 1988 Olympic cultural Festival, where I performed an original composition and also performed with the Nylons.

In 2003 Sterling produced his first recording  “Sterling’s Own” and since has produced “The Journey” in 2010 and his “The Journey Continues” album had a Song Of The Year Nomination in 2012 at the 34th GMAC Covenant Awards. His diversity playing steel drums, and other instruments, as well as song writing and his vocal abilities has made him a true crowd pleaser.

September 09, 2015 | Rembetika Hipsters (Rembetika: A popular genre of Greek music comparable to the blues)

The Rembetika Hipsters are a nationally acclaimed Greek music group based in Calgary. Since 1996, their repertoire has included authentic Greek Rembetika songs, original Canadian compositions in Greek, Balkan & Middle-Eastern styles, contemporary belly-dance instrumentals and jazz-influenced bouzouki pop. The music is characterized by its use of swirling Middle Eastern rhythms and modalities, and in the use of unusual stringed instruments such as the bouzouki and the tiny baglama.

September 23, 2015 | International Flamenco Festival (music and dance)

Calgary’s Int’l Flamenco Festival features a celebration of flamenco music and dance, passionate expression and innovative performance…especially vivid in the historic Cathedral Church with its remarkable acoustics! Featuring over 25 local, national and international artists; The Calgary International Flamenco Festival is one of Canada’s premiere annual Flamenco events.

October 14, 2015 | Spanish Music for Cello and Guitar (Brad Mahon, guitar/Kirill Kalmykov, cello)

Kirill Kalmykov and Brad Mahon met and first played together as graduate students attending the University of Calgary. Their professional relationship has continued as colleagues at Mount Royal University’s Conservatory and resulted in this rare program of Spanish and Spanish-inspired music for guitar and cello.