Are you planning to be a classical music tourist this summer? To pack your shades, shorts and flip-flops and hit the road in search of fresh air, sunshine and great music? CBC Music is all over this idea. To get you better acquainted with some of the classical music festivals happening in Canada this summer, we’ve been running SPF ’12: Summer Preview of Festivals. In today’s instalment, we visit Manitoba’s Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival.
Manitoba’s Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival runs from Aug. 21 to 26 and offers a tantalizing mix of classical music and jazz, under the artistic direction of pianist Alexander Tselyakov. The concerts are held in Onanole, population 104 (350 in the summer), at the south entrance to Riding Mountain National Park, established by Parks Canada in 1933 as “an island of wilderness surrounded by a sea of farmland.”
For seven years, the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival has been luring people to this beautiful concert setting from all over Manitoba and beyond. The Onanole Community Centre, where the concerts take place, boasts a unique cathedral style of architecture, with hardwood floors, fir beams and cedar planking.
Tselyakov has been the artistic director since the festival’s beginning. His wife, Alla Turbanova, helps make it all happen. Many of the participating musicians have been there from day one, including Tselyakov’s son, Daniel. New artists this year include trumpet player Aaron Hodgson, violinist Meredith McCallum, mezzo-soprano Chelsea Chimilar, jazz bassist John Baron and flamenco dancer Megan Jersak.
According to Tselyakov, the setting plays a big role in the success of the festival.
“The artists enjoy the surroundings so much," he says. "They are relaxed, which almost always results in a special performance, but also they are only there to play. There aren't any other distractions, past the beautiful scenery and clean air.”
While the beautiful surroundings help the musicians focus on their music, Tselyakov says it’s also easier for the concertgoers to relax and enjoy it as well. “Our hope is that they get to hear music that inspires them in ways that are similar to the landscape; that the music compliments and reinforces the beauty of the surrounding countryside,” he says with certainty.
Between concerts, visitors to Riding Mountain National Park can enjoy the park’s vast array of wildlife, vegetation and hiking trails, including a visit to Grey Owl’s cabin.
Here are CBC Music’s top three Clear Lake Chamber Festival picks:
Tuesday, Aug. 21, 7:30 p.m.
Piano Extravaganza: 20th century classics meet jazz
Alexander and Daniel Tselyakov, pianos
Aaron Hodgson, trumpet
Joyce Lai and Meredith McCallum, violins
Ian Clarke, viola
Rafael Hoekman, cello
Catherine Wood, clarinet
Colette Simonot, host
The opening night concert features a two-piano transcription by Percy Grainger of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess, as well as piano and trumpet works by Glazunov and Rachmaninoff. Daniel Tselyakov will perform Carl Vine’s Piano Sonata No. 1. Rounding out the program are works for clarinet and strings by Prokofiev and Canadian composer Allan Gilliland.
Thursday, Aug. 23, 7:30 p.m.
Sensuous sonorities of Debussy
Alexander and Daniel Tselyakov, pianos
Joyce Lai and Meredith McCallum, violins
Ian Clarke, viola
Rafael Hoekman, cello
Naomi Forman, soprano
This concert will showcase some of Debussy’s most famous works to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth. As a backdrop to some of his vocal, chamber and piano masterpieces, there will be a slideshow featuring impressionist paintings of the time.
Sunday, Aug. 26, 8:30 p.m.
Festival encore: jazz cruise concert
Greg Gatien, saxophone
Eric Platz, percussion
John Baron, bass
Hop aboard The Martese at the marina for a romantic and relaxing festival encore.
Related:
SPF’12 Summer preview of festivals
Top 10 Canadian music festivals this summer
Electronic music festivals this summer