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This article was published 22/02/2018 (3001 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Tale of Two Cities: celebrating the Gabrielis

Italian composers Andrea Gabrieli and his nephew Giovanni Gabrieli are two of the most renowned members of the Venetian School of music, which held sway from the mid-1500s to the early 1600s. The two men, both organists, wrote polychoral compositions in the late Renaissance that widely influenced music written in other countries and made Venice a cultural hotbed.

The prolific composers’ work has never been performed in Manitoba, but early music/avant garde choir Camerata Nova is rectifying that situation with A Tale From Two Cities, highlighting the Gabrielis’ majestic, showy compositions. Featuring an expanded choir, four soloists and 10 period instrumentalists, the show will include parts of the Mass for 16 Voices by Andrea Gabrieli and Salvator Noster à 15 by Giovanni Gabrieli, among others.

The Gabrielis’ distinctive push and pull between singers and instruments, anchored by organ, was greatly influenced by performing in the basilica at Venice’s famed St. Mark’s Cathedral, where the vast space required composers to embrace delay.

The concerts take place on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 25, at 3 p.m. at Westminster United Church. Tickets ($30 adults/$25 seniors/$15 under-30s) are available at McNally Robinson Booksellers, by phone at 204-918-4547 or online at cameratanova.com.

Both concerts include a pre-performance talk (6:45 p.m. on Saturday; 2:15 p.m. on Sunday) by University of Manitoba professor James Maiello, a musicologist with a specialty in Renaissance music.

And if you’ve always wanted to try your hand at the sackbut, now’s your chance — Camerata Nova is holding a master class in early music on Friday, Feb. 23, at 3 p.m. in the choir room at Westgate Mennonite Collegiate, 86 Westgate. Hosted by conductor John Wiens, it will provide instruction and feedback in early music performance for voice and instruments.

— Jill Wilson

Music ‘n’ Mavens: Prairie Soul

Winnipeg musician Gerry Atwell’s roots will be showing when the Rady JCC Music ‘N’ Mavens daytime concert and lecture series presents Prairie Soul in Concert, Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Rady JCC Centre. The latest offering in the annual nine-week series, produced by Karla Berbrayer, features Atwell’s band Prairie Soul Collective and promises to whisk audiences on a whirlwind journey into the heart and soul of the African-Canadian musical experience, from the early 1800s to today.

The one-hour show, featuring Atwell (keyboards/vocals), Joe Curtis (guitar), Heulwen (Zilla) Jones (vocals), Ian Morris-Grant a.k.a. “Breeze” (keyboards/vocals) and Glen Matthews (percussion/vocals), also notably marks Black History Month, which is celebrated throughout North America each February.

“What we’re doing is showing the variety of musical styles that have grown from the African diaspora experience,” says Atwell, who also performs with local bands Eagle & Hawk, Rockalypso and Ministers of Cool, and moonlights regularly at Grant Park’s Pony Corral Restaurant & Bar.

“We’re basically starting with the American experience, and will be performing spirituals, gospel, blues, jazz, calypso, reggae, a little hip hop and rap,” he says of the eclectic program that includes an audience singalong to cap the afternoon.

But for Atwell, his latest gig is also personal. He admits his Music ‘n’ Mavens debut, and Prairie Soul Collective’s first concert date in years, will also be a heartfelt tribute to his ancestors — as well as his fellow bandmates — including his maternal grandmother Beatrice Brown (née Johnson), who arrived in Winnipeg at age 14 from the U.S. with her mother, Bell Johnson, and grandmother, Nelly Freeman, in 1905.

Atwell’s father George came later from Trinidad in 1949 to study architecture at the University of Manitoba, becoming instantly smitten with Atwell’s mother Frances after seeking shelter at “Grandma Bell’s” North End boarding house for rail station and hotel porters, located on the corner of Redwood Avenue and Charles Street, (“It’s still there,” Atwell says) on his second day in the city.

“A lot of people don’t realize there were already black people here at the turn-of-the-century,” Atwell says, noting that his great-great-grandmother Nelly, born a slave in Virginia, had escaped with her two sisters to St. Paul, Minn., before eventually arriving on Prairie soil.

Atwell also owes a debt of gratitude to Beatrice for his own musical DNA. His grandmother was a classically trained pianist thanks to her firm educational grounding received at the St. Norbert Convent.

His inspiring ancestor performed regularly for weddings, funerals and played for silent films and even toured with a band. She eventually established her own restaurant, The Busy Bee on Main Street, and worked as a stenographer, as well as volunteering with her Catholic church. Similarly, Atwell’s mother, Frances — who became a pharmacist — also became a classically trained singer and even took home the silver medal in the Winnipeg Music Festival’s 1948 Rose Bowl trophy competition.

Even in a country that prides itself on its multiculturalism, Atwell is keenly aware of cultural and racial divides — as well as the power of music to bridge those gulfs. He notes the common immigrant experience shared by African Canadians, as well as Jewish Canadians — and so many others — that have chosen to make this their home.

“We’re living in tumultuous times. There is a lot of division based on race, appearance and heritage. However, there is a lot to be enjoyed by the variety of cultures of people around us,” the genial artist says. “We’re honoured that a Jewish organization has invited us to share our art with its audiences, but this is really a show for everybody,” he adds.

“One thing about Winnipeg is that anybody will give you a boost if you need one. It doesn’t matter who you are — we’re survival people and when it comes down to it, we’re always going to help each other out,” Atwell says. “I feel very optimistic about that.”

The concert will take place Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 2 p.m. at the Rady JCC Centre, 123 Doncaster Street. For tickets ($7 Rady JCC Members/ $5 non-members) or further information, visit radyjcc.com or call 204-477-7510.

— Holly Harris

Ai-Kon Winterfest

If you happen to spot an oversized Pokémon or two wandering downtown this weekend, don’t be surprised.

Gamers, cosplayers and fans of all manners of Japanese culture will descend on the RBC Convention Centre on Saturday, Feb. 24, to attend Ai-Kon’s seventh Winterfest, a chance for both kids and adults to check out Japanese animation, video games and panel discussions, as well as screenings of movies and shows.

This year’s Winterfest video games lounge will feature a showcase of new games and products from Nintendo of Canada. The lounge is also running Mario Kart 8 and Dragon Ball FighterZ tournaments, as well as a handful of secret pop-up tournaments.

On the cosplay front, the numerous attendees sporting costumes of their favourite Japanimation or video game character will be able to strut their stuff on stage during the annual cosplay contest or fashion show. (There’s also the dance showcase event, which lets attendees cut a rug to some of the most popular current Asian music.)

The Ai-Kon Maid Café, meanwhile, picks up on the maid café trend in Japan, which features café workers dressed up in maid/butler outfits who act more like servants than servers.

Tickets are $24 plus taxes and fees for adults, and no charge for children 12 and younger. For tickets and additional information, visit ai-kon.org.

— Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

Wintertide

Winnipeg audiences will be treated to excerpts of Winnipeg composer Zane Zalis’s latest creation, Nostos: A Journey of Others when the Winnipeg Youth Orchestra (WYO) presents its inaugural Wintertide concert on Monday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. at Westminster United Church.

The WYO, led by Daniel Scholz, will join forces with Miles Macdonell Collegiate choir to perform two movements from Zalis’s self-described “modern-day oratorio”: Fences and The Quiet. Also being showcased is rising star cellist Juliana Moroz, top prizewinner in the WYO’s annual Scholarship competition (senior division), as well as second place winners violist Alexander Moroz and trombonist Micah Kroeker.

Nostos: A Journey of Others is a concert stage narrative work written in 11 movements for orchestra, chorus, and soloists,” says Zalis, whose prior oratorio i believe depicts the horrors of the Holocaust — and the rise of hope through humanity — and has been performed around the world. “Through music and words, a labyrinthine experience of life and identity are examined through the lens of human rights, immigration, politics, culture, religion and community.”

The stirring work that received its world première early February in Stuttgart, Germany, with the Solitude Choir, Symphony Orchestra of the University of Hohenheim (Klaus Breuninger, conductor) also featured soloists Arabella Fenyves (Vienna), Kai Preussker (Stuttgart), Marko Zeiler (Graz), with subsequent performances slated for Austria this summer.

For tickets ($18) or further information, see winnipegyouthorchestras.ca.

— Holly Harris