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June 2 marks Turning Point for LCMS

Concert will link music of jazz icon Thelonious Monk with influential Canadian composers

Langley Community Music School (LCMS) welcomes The Turning Point Ensemble to their stage on June 2, at 7:30 p.m.

The concert will link the music of jazz icon Thelonious Monk with one of Canada’s most influential composers — Rudolf Komorous — in this special presentation, Round Midnight, being held in the intimate Rose Gellert Hall.

“We’re delighted that Turning Point Ensemble is returning to the Rose Gellert Hall this year,” said Elizabeth Bergmann, artistic director concerts for LCMS.

“We continue to foster a relationship with these exceptional musicians who spent last year as our resident ensemble, and we are so pleased to present this unique program in our intimate setting for all to enjoy.”

In Beyond Midnight, the Turning Point Ensemble links two iconoclasts whose music has a unique signature and startling originality.

Thelonious Sphere Monk, with his quirky genius and sharply chiseled music, is influential to jazz musicians and contemporary composers alike. Rudolf Komorous, who recently turned 80, is one of Canada’s most inventive and influential composers. His music, with its melancholy and strange beauty, has a Monk-like purity and individuality.

The concert includes Komorous’ Strange Sphere based on Blue Monk, and 23 Poems about Horses for narrator and ensemble based on the Tang dynasty poetry of Li Ho.

An assortment of the West Coast’s most distinctive musicians including Christopher Butterfield, John Korsrud, David MacIntyre, and Tony Wilson pay homage to the music of Monk and Komorous with new works. In addition, the TPE will premiere Fantasy on Themes of Thelonious Monk by Paris-based Monk scholar and jazz musician, Joe Makholm.

Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Turning Point Ensemble is a large chamber ensemble (core 18 instrumentalists) recognized for its outstanding musicianship.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for seniors, and $15 for students. Call the box office for tickets at 604-534-2848.

The Rose Gellert Hall is located at 4899 207 Street in Langley.