Arts Scene

BY WENDY ELLIOTT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

Series to open

The Acadia Performing Arts Series is pleased to open its 2007-08 season with Maestro Bernhard Gueller and Symphony Nova Scotia, and featuring young pianist Lucas Porter.

The orchestra performs this first concert at Convocation Hall in Wolfville Saturday, Sept. 29 at 8 p.m. From Port Williams, Porter is a 16-year-old pianist currently studying with John Hansen at Acadia University.

Tickets are $32 ($22 for students) or purchase a subscription and save 25 per cent, the equivalent of seeing two concerts free. Call 542-5500 or visit the Acadia box office in the arena complex. This concert is sponsored by Michelin.



Spinneys backing

The Spinney Brothers are opening for the American Bluegrass band Cherryholmes Friday, Sept. 28 in Greenwich.

Until April of 1999, the dynamic family band known as Cherryholmes did not exist, and half of its youthful members hadn't even picked up an instrument.

In five short years, this Nashville-based band was named 2005 Entertainers of the Year.

All six band members pull their creative ideas to form their own new brand of bluegrass music. Every member takes a turn singing lead and showcasing their abilities. Their live shows include twin fiddles, Irish step dancing, classic country yodeling and old-time claw hammer in addition to their dynamic bluegrass.

Cherryholmes is coming to Nova Scotia direct from Dollywood and is playing two nights in Yarmouth prior to arriving in the Valley.

The 7:30 p.m. concert will take place at Horton High School. Tickets are $30 and can be obtained from Bill Dempsey at 847-3740.

Local favourites the Spinney Brothers Band are performing in Indiana this month and will travel to Missouri and Nashville next month. Their fourth annual Bluegrass in the Valley concert is set for Oct. 28.

McDades appear

The winners of the 2006 Canadian Folk Music Awards for Best World Group and Best Instrumental Group will be in Wolfville Thursday, Oct. 4.

The McDades will give a concert at the Al Whittle Theatre at 8 p.m. They’re highly acclaimed, winners of the 2007 Independent Music Award for Best World Album Traditional. They also picked up a 2007 Juno Nomination for best Roots/Traditional Album Group.

Punching through the walls of tradition, The McDades' Celtic-rooted music fuses the spontaneity of jazz improvisation with infectious global rhythms. Their cutting edge sound is the perfect complement to their fiery performances.

At the heart of the group are siblings Shannon, Solon and Jeremiah, who grew up playing Canadian folk music alongside their parents and among artists from around the world, a unique upbringing that led to a love and respect for all music.

The siblings are joined by Andy Hillhouse, a multi-faceted guitarist whose influences range from mariachi to funk to choral music, and Francois Taillefer, a magnetic hand-drumming nomad who has traveled the world studying ethnic rhythms on percussion. The musical diversity of this tight-five piece band celebrates the very idea of what it means to be a Canadian musician.

With vocal harmonies that can only come from a family and an obvious love for each other and their music, The McDades' sound is immersed in the spirit of improvisation. Featuring energetic instrumentals and sensitive vocals performed in English and French, this compelling and dynamic group have released their second CD Bloom.

Just Us! Coffee Roasters and Union Street Cafe are presenting the concert. Admission is $12 advance available at Just Us Cafe or $15 at the door

Elements of Light

The Acadia Art Gallery will open a new exhibition Sept. 28 entitled “The Minas Basin: Elements of Light”.

Geri Nolan-Hilfiker creates images with a hand-crafted pinhole camera that uses neither a lens or a viewfinder. Instead, she uses a simple box with a black interior and a tiny hole at one end.

This exhibition features work of the familiar shoreline and waterways near her home along the Minas Basin. The opening is set for Friday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m.. An artist's talk will take place Oct. 19 at 2 p.m. The show runs until Jan. 9, 2008



Celtic Vespers

A unique service will take place in Kentville this Sunday. Music will be provided by local musicians Hannah and Jessy Sinclair, John Kavanagh and Mary McFarlane, and the Ward Family, with musicians Ardyth and Jennifer and author/poet Mel Malton.

It’s planned for Sunday, Sept. 30, 4 p.m. at St. James’ Anglican Church, Kentville. Freewill offering.

Take a course

Leading Nova Scotia writers are coaching the next generation with workshop sessions at the Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia this fall.

WFNS is also offering Rural Writes sessions in Cape Breton, the Valley and Truro, including Floating Fictions with Susan Haley in Wolfville, at The Box of Delights Bookstore.

For information, call 902-423-8116 or e-mail talk@writers.ns.ca

Tickets available

With his unique poetic style and performance-driven physicality, comedian Ron James catapults audiences everywhere into paroxysms of wheezing delight. Tickets will go on sale for a double show Nov. 10-11 in Wolfville.

His newest special, East Coast Bound, filmed in Halifax, will air nationwide on CBC-TV Dec. 31. However, live is where his comedy sings the loudest. Reserved seating ranges in cost between $40 to $42.50. He will appear at the Festival Theatre.

Box office phone is 542-5500.

Sisters to sing

The MacLean Sisters will perform at the Greenwich United Church Sunday, Sept. 30 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $10 and are available at Hennigar’s or Noggins Farm or at the door.

Don Ross in Windsor

Two innovators in the genre of progressive acoustic guitar, Don Ross and Andy McKee, will team up with Prince Edward Island singer/songwriter Brooke Miller for a much-anticipated concert at the Mermaid Imperial Performing Arts Centre in Windsor. It’s set for Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m.

Don is also offering a workshop for intermediate and advanced guitarists at 2 p.m. at the Imperial Theatre Loft. Call (902) 798-5841, ext. 2 for more info.

Tickets are $20, with a discount to $12 for students (school, university or guitar workshop) and are available at Moe’s Place Music Sales in Windsor (798-5565).

In concert

The Nova Scotia Youth Choir will be in concert Saturday, Sept. 29 at the Wolfville Baptist Church. Tickets for the 8 p.m. concert with the Annapolis Valley Honour Choir are $10 at the Box of Delights (cash only) or at the door.

This is a fundraising event for the AVHC trip to France and the Czech Republic, next July.

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Cheryl and Bruce Harding will perform Tuesday, Sept. 25 at St. Paul and St. Stephen United Church in Kentville. The concert is set for 7:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $10.

Film booked

Fundy Film begins its Autumn Edge Series with a sweeping and gut-wrenching drama, After the Wedding, beautifully realized by Susanne Bier, one of Denmark’s foremost filmmakers.

This latest work is yet another masterful exploration of the muddy moral ground between good intentions and human failings.

It will screen in Danish, Swedish, Hindi and English with English subtitles at the Al Whittle Theatre in Wolfville Sept. 30 at 4 and 7 p.m.

Due to the fact that Fundy Film couldn’t show the film Ten Canoes scheduled for last weekend, it has switched places with The Namesake. Ten Canoes is now scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 7 and Monday, Oct. 8.

For further information, see www.fundyfilm.ca or call 542-5157. Tickets ($8) are available 30 minutes prior to the film.

Coming up

Sept. 28

Cort Delano, Union St. Café, Berwick

Sept. 29

Hal Bruce, Union St. Café, Berwick

Until Sept. 29

Sylvia, CentreStage Theatre, Kentville, 678-8040

Until Oct. 26

Christine Ross exhibit, Ross Creek Art Gallery, near Canning

Oct. 28

Spinney Brothers, Horton Performance Centre, Greenwich, 7:30 p.m.