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Soloist brings romance to stage Ensemble goes By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Cellist Rachel Mercer is returning to her Oakville roots to play in the Oakville Chamber Orchestra's upcoming romantic-themed concerts. The Romance Now & Then concerts will be on Saturday and Sunday (March 2 and 3). "I don't think I played that many concerts in Oakville when I was there," the now Toronto resident said. "For my friends in the audience who keep coming to my other concerts in Toronto and the surrounding area it's actually really nice for them to be able to come to a concert in Oakville." The concert will feature music that is both romantic and from the Romantic Era (1815-1910) "We're in a hangover from Valentines Day with this one," said music director Charles Demuynck, who will conduct the concert. "We've got a certain amount of music that simply sounds romantic. And there's a big period in history that is called the Romantic Era. String orchestra is a very important part of the romantic sound. There's romance associated with string orchestra. That's because the sound is just so very homogenous and it sounds great all by itself." The concert will feature music by Antonio Vivaldi, Edward Elgar, Georg Philipp Telemann, Alexander Borodin and by living Canadian composers Elizabeth Raum and Chan Ka Nin. Chan will be in the audience while Raum will play obo in the concert. He also taught Demuynck music theory at the University of Toronto. Demuynck said Elgar's Serenade For Strings and Borodin's Notturno from String Quartet #2 sound like typical romantic music. Other music, on the other hand, have the themes of romance. Raum's Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is about the King Arthur legends, featuring knights and damsels in distress and Telemann's Don Quixote Suite takes a more comedic approach to the knight theme. "Anybody who has romance in their life or wants to get some, this is a great concert. This is a great concert for couples to go to, definitely," said Demuynck. The orchestra invited Mercer to the concert because of her distinguished career in the GTA and for her Oakville roots. "She's someone that we as Oakville By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Artscene 25 · Friday, March 1, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com old school with Byrd and Bach Oakville Ensemble is going way back in time at its upcoming concerts with music from the Renaissance (1400-1600) and Baroque Era (1600-1760). The concerts will feature music by English composer William Byrd (Renaissance) and German composer Johann "The music is beautiful. Sebastian Bach. The Bach & Anybody who likes Bach or Byrd concerts are Byrd will really like those on Saturday and two pieces." Sunday. (March 2 and 3). "The music is Stéphane Potvin, artistic director beautiful. Anybody Oakville Ensemble who likes Bach or Byrd will really like those two pieces," said artistic director Stéphane Potvin, who will conduct. "I love classical music. It's so poignant, so full of emotions, so full of passion of values." The music will be sung by choir accompanied by cello and double bass. Potvin said all but one piece in the concert is written for five vocal parts, while the other is a duet by Bach. "That (duet) movement, which is from Cantata #78 is lovely. There's beautiful dialogue between the double-bass and the cello and the two vocal parts on top of that," Potvin said. The concert will also feature music from Bach's Jesu meine freude, which was written for a funeral. "Within the motet, he touches on a wide range of emotion. Some of it is very peaceful. Then it's almost devilish. There's rage," Potvin explains. "It's very passionate. There's a lot of contrast in the music, in the sound and in the words." The concert will start with Byrd's Mass for five voices. Potvin said the concert will be a good introduction for anyone who is curious about classical music. It will run for just a bit more than an hour, to make it more accessible for more audiences. "I'm biased, but we have some great singers. The cello and bass players are top notch. I think it's going to be a great concert," he said. The Saturday concert is at Grace Lutheran Church, 304 Spruce St., at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday concert is at Mary Mother of God Church, 2745 North Ridge Trail, at 3 p.m. Advance tickets cost $30 for regular admission, $25 for seniors, $15 for students or $60 per family. Tickets at the door cost $35 for general admission, $30 for seniors, $15 for students or $70 per family. For tickets and more information, visit www. oakville-ensemble.ca. submitted photo on the cello: Oakville native Rachel Mercer will be performing the cello as a soloist at a pair of Oakville Chamber Orchestra concerts this weekend. citizens could be proud of and we're pleased to present her to her hometown," Demuynck said. Mercer said she's looking forward to playing in Oakville and to playing for Demuynck, with whom she has worked with before. She has also played with members of the orchestra in the past. She will perform Vivaldi's Cello Concerto and Chan's Soulmate piece. "Vivaldi wrote tons of concertos for cello so we got to pick one of the more fun, lively ones. It's beautiful, lively music," she said of the music. "Soulmate by Chan Ka Nin was originally for a bigger orchestra piece and written to accompany figure skating. It has this element of drama and you can really imagine skaters dancing and skating to it. This is his arrangement for cello and string orchestra." Mercer invites everyone to come out to the concert, where they will be able to hear a variety of classical music and music by Canadian composers. The Saturday concert is at Central Baptist Church, 340 Rebecca St., at 7:30 p.m. The Sunday concert is at St. Simon's Anglican Church, 1450 Litchfield Rd., at 3 p.m. Admission costs $30 for adults, $25 for seniors, $20 for students, and $15 for children. For tickets and more information, visit www.oakvillechamber.org.