You know the Canada Day concert is coming up, right?
On Friday July 1 the Lakeshore Chamber Orchestra will be giving a free (yes, free!) concert as part of the overall Canada Day celebrations in conjunction with Pointe-Claire Village. We do this every year, and it’s always terrific fun. Our conductor is the justly famed Stewart Grant, who is phenomenal.
This year’s energetic programme features:
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Mozart: Magic Flute overture
Schubert: Unfinished Symphony
Strauss Jr: Emperor Waltz
Strauss Sr: Radetzy March
Strauss Jr: Pizzicato Polka
Strauss Jr: Die Fledermaus overture
The concert begins at 20h00. As always, this Canada Day concert is being presented at St-Joachim church in Pointe-Claire Village, located right on the waterfront at 2 Ste-Anne Street, a block and a half south of Lakeshore Road. The 211 bus from Lionel-Groulx metro drops you right at the corner of Sainte-Anne and Lakeshore. Here’s a map to give you a general idea. I usually encourage those facing public transport to get together and coax a vehicle-enabled friend along by offering to buy them an ice cream or something. It works nicely, and it’s fun to go with a group. And hey, you can’t beat the price. Be aware that if you’re driving, parking will be at a premium because of the whole Canada Day festivities thing going on. Give yourself extra time to find a parking place and walk to the church, which will be packed with people.
As it’s a holiday, the village will be full of various celebrations, booths, food stalls, and the like. You might want to come early and enjoy what’s going on.
Free classical music! Soul-enriching culture! And as an enticing bonus, the fireworks are scheduled for ten PM, right after we finish, and the church steps are a glorious spot from which to watch them. Write it on your calendar, tell all your friends and family members! The more the merrier!
And a random observation: You know you’ve got just about a month to go before your baby’s born when you’ve extended the cello’s endpin as far as it can go to make a more pronounced angle so that the back of the instrument doesn’t lie on your bump, and as a result the fingerboard angle is all wrong and your shifts and basic intonation go into the toilet.
(Or maybe that’s just me.)
One more dress rehearsal! One more concert on Canada Day! And then I can hang my bow up and put my cello in its box stand till a couple of weeks after the baby is born. I just have to make it through the next ten days…
Yesterday afternoon all three kindergarten classes got together and presented a little concert for their parents, got certificates, and then there was cake.
