Jane and Frank will treat us to the special sounds of some of the great compositions of the klezmer (Eastern European Jewish wedding music) repertoire including Bulgars, Horas, Terkishers and Chosidls. They will also dip into classical compositions inspired by Jewish folk music, performing The Suite Hebraique No. 1 by Srul Irving Glick. You will also hear the challenging Musiker Suite as played by Sam Musiker, Macedonian folk melodies and even a John Zorn composition.

 Frank Rackow is a saxophonist and clarinetist. He has studied and performed with top klezmer artists in Canada, including Allan Merovitz, Henri Oppenheim and Martin Van De Ven.  He is the founding conductor of Calgary’s Vocal Latitudes World Music choir, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary. He performs as a saxophonist with bands big and small and has played festivals and clubs across Canada and is also an active clinician on both saxophone and clarinet. He holds music and music education degrees from Concordia and McGill Universities.

Jane Perry is a classically-trained pianist who spent twenty years in Ottawa as a music-maker before moving to Calgary in 2011.  She has just completed her fourth season as music director at the Unitarian Church of Calgary and the artistic director of both Calgary Renaissance Singers & Players and One Voice Chorus.  Jane holds a Master of Music degree (chamber music performance) from the University of Ottawa and an Associate diploma (piano performance) from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.  In autumn 1998, she was an Artist In Residence at the Banff Centre for the Arts.

This concert is the first in a series of five World Music Concerts being presented during 2015 by ProArts@Noon Concert Series, and is generously sponsored by the: