Romani music inspires the next Café Classico concert presented this weekend by Langley Community Music School.
The Neumann-Andrievsky Duo, composed of Alexdra Andrievsky on piano and Andrea Neumann on violin, will dig through years of European music about a much-romanticized and misunderstood people.
The Romani people, also known as the gypsies, migrated through Europe hundreds of years ago.
Over the years their music, dance, and clothing inspired artists and writers to adopt their own interpretation of the Bohemian lifestyle.
They created a vast repertoire of works portraying romanic versions of Romany gatherings full of music, dance, and singing.
The Neumann-Andrievsky Duo will take audiences through a tour of the romanticized side of the Romani culture.
The program will include works such as Brahms’ Scherzo, Bartók’s Roumanian Folk Dances, and Ravel’s Tzigane – Rapsodie de Concert.
The duo noted that investigating the influence of a particular ethnic group in music leads to questioning popular perceptions about them.
“Inevitably, there is a deeper understanding of their plight, and a more informed appreciation of the traditions that are unique to their culture,” Neumann-Andrievsky Duo said in a statement.
Andrievsky was born in Kiev, Ukraine and studied in England and Tel Aviv, has performed around the world, and currently teaches at Mount Royal University in Calgary.
Neumann comes from Calgary and studied in Toronto and San Francisco, and has played with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra.
There will be a pre-concert talk hosted by LCMS artistic director Elizabeth Bergmann at 2:30 p.m. The concert begins at 3:30 p.m. after a short break for refreshments.
Tickets for the May Café Classico concert are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, and $10 for students. Call the box office at 604-534-2848. The Rose Gellert Hall is located at 4899 207 St.
Call for entries
July and August seem far off but they will be here in a blink and the Fort Gallery is looking for 2D and 3D artists for the second annual juried exhibition.
People have until June 15 to apply at the gallery on Glover Road and they can submit up to three pieces.
The theme this year is the monarch butterfly as a global metaphor for metamorphosis, migration and endangerment. The works must touch on the broad themes but does not necessarily have to include a butterfly.
Learn more at www.fortgallery.ca which is also where the gallery has online forms and instructions.
Don’t be Lonely
Dream Baby, Only the Lonely, Leah, Crying and Pretty Woman are just a handful of the top selling songs of the late Roy Orbison.
The Lonely, a tribute to Orbison, performs at the Cascades Casino Summit Theatre at 8 p.m. on May 15.
“From 1960 to ’64 Roy Orbison landed 22 songs on the Billboard Top 40,” noted Rob Warwick, head of Rock.It Boy Entertainment.
Mike Demers leads The Lonely which offers a sensitive tribute.
“This phenomenal band has been selling out shows right from their debut,” Warwick said.
Tickets are $42.50 (plus facility fee and service charges). Contact Casino Guest Services, 604-530-2211, and www.ticketweb.ca. Go to www.thelonely.ca for more about the band.
Tribute tunes
A tribute to one of the most iconic pop acts of the 1970s is coming to Langley’s Cascades Casino Summit Theatre in Langley.
The May 19 concert by abra cadabra will showcase the hits of Swedish band ABBA.
Abra cadabra has been performing ABBA’s music around the world for more than a decade.
The band covers the hits, from Mamma Mia to Dancing Queen, Waterloo to Take a Chance on Me.
The members of abra cadabra don’t impersonate the original members of ABBA, but recreate and celebrate their music and performances. The band uses powerful vocals and skilled musicians along with costumes, dancers, and stories about the original Swedish group.
Tickets to the show are $39.50 plus fees and can be purchased from Casino Guest Services at 604-530-2211 or at www.ticketweb.ca.
For more information about the show, visit www.mooncoinproductions.com/stageshows/abbacadabra