Divertimento has another great concert coming up April 25 and 26. The feeling is a little different from the last show. To give you some idea, here’s the poster:

You can use the QR code to order tickets.

We had another fun concert — the music was hard, but the result was rewarding. We had a great turnout on Saturday.

Now we’ve got to start practicing for the next show. Here’s what we’ll be playing:

• Dvorak, The Wild Dove tone poem Op. 110 — I hadn’t heard this one before. It looks mostly ok for the cellos, but definitely has some fast bits.
• Chaminade, Concertino for flute and orchestra — This looks particularly challenging for the first flute.
• Brahms, Symphony no. 4 — I have played this one with Divertimento before. I remember having to take many shortcuts last time; we’ll see if I can do any better this time around. 🙂

It’s less than two weeks until the next Divertimento Orchestra concert. The program this time is incredible; it’s literally some of the hardest music we’ve ever played. Definitely worth seeing.

The first rehearsal for the Fall 2023 Divertimento concerts was last Thursday.

The program is…

• Brahms, Academic Festival Overture, Op.80
• Chopin, Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op.21 (1st mvt only)
  (Laura D’Souza piano soloist)
• Gounod, Faust: Ballet Music
• Chausson, Symphony in B♭, Op.20, 35 minutes

Most of these we’ve played in previous seasons, but there’s a ton of good music here. The Chausson, in particular, has some great cello parts.

The soloist for the Piano Concerto won the honour of playing with us by taking first place at the Ottawa Piano Festival in May of this year.

Concert dates are November 10 and 11. Hope to see you there.

[man, I really have to blog more often]

The Divertimento Orchestra in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic, is proud to present a program of Czech music, this Thursday and Friday (April 20 & 21, 2018) starting at 8PM. The concert venue is:

Woodroffe United Church,
207 Woodroffe Ave.

The program is going to be great:

Smetana — The Moldau

This piece, originally titled “Vltava”, is a beautiful tone painting that charts the course of the Vltava river. It has a very busy and difficult cello part.

Dvořák — Slavonic Dances, Op. 46

These dances are wonderful, exuberant splashes of music. They contain numerous parts that are extremely difficult to play.

Dvořák — Symphony No. 9 “from the New World”

I love this symphony. The oboe part at the start of the second movement is definitely on my “goosebumps” list.

Tickets prices are…

Adults: $20
Students/Seniors: $10
Children 13 and under: FREE

Please come listen to some wonderful music, including my minor contributions from the back of the cello section.

It’s that time again! I’m very pleased to say that I will be playing in the Spring Concert of the Divertimento Orchestra, April 28th and 29th, 2017. We’re playing three pieces:

Halifax Harbour by Elizabeth Raum

As part of the Canada 150 celebration, we will be playing this fun piece (with a great cello part 😉 ) by Canadian composer Elizabeth Raum. Shhhh! Rumour has it that depending on the night, you might see her in the audience.

Tres Danzas Españolas by Enrique Granados

Enrique Granados was born the 27th of July 1867, 150 years ago. The three pieces that we’ll be playing are orchestral arrangements (by J. Lamote de Grignon) of three of the “12 Danzas Españolas” a piano work published in 1890. There’s a strong Spanish feel and some great solo playing (not by me <g>).

Symphony No. 3 in Eb, Op. 97 “Rhenish” by Robert Schumann

This Schumann Symphony is big, deep music, with complexities that you probably don’t hear on the first listen through. It really wasn’t until I’d played the cello part in context that I felt like I understood it. Very cool!

All and all, it should be an excellent show. And given my recent health issues, I’m particularly glad that I’ll be able to participate. By all means, come and give us a listen.

Here’s the poster for the show. Feel free to print this out and post it wherever people might see it. We love playing for a full house!