You can find out more about this festival, which runs in Regina from July 5-10, by visiting the RCMF website. In a nutshell, it’s an offshoot of Regina Summer Strings which is a summer education program for students who play different stringed classical instruments.
“This is the first season of the Regina Chamber Music Festival, a very exciting project for Regina and the first quite like it,” says organizer Catherine Cosbey. “We’re really trying to rally the community around the festival so we can build
this into an important musical event for the Prairies.
“Regina has an incredible and unique classical music culture, particularly in training young musicians,” she adds. “We want to celebrate that culture by providing an opportunity to hear world class artists, and by bringing home excellent musicians who have vibrant careers elsewhere in the world in a dynamic, community oriented series of events. A mini Tanglewood on the Canadian Prairies. And the concerts are going to be incredible, accessible, interesting, and fun!”
This is the debut year for the festival, and plans are in the works to establish a non-profit organization, so the goal is to make it a fixture on Regina’s classical music calendar. Here are the performance highlights for RCMF 2015.
Sunday 5
(Opening Night) performance by Amy Hillis and Catherine Cosbey (violins), Jonathan Ward (viola), Marilyn de Oliveria (cello) and Katherine Dowling (piano) featuring works by Dvorak, Raum, Crum and Piazzolla at Westminster United Church (3025 13th Ave.), 7:30 p.m. $20.
Wednesday 8
Performance by Afiara Quartet [pictured above] featuring works by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Lau at Westminster United Church, 7:30 p.m. $20.
Thursday 9
Performance by students in the Regina Summer Strings program of classical favourites at Westminster United Church, 7:30 p.m. $20.
Friday 10
Performance by students in the Regina Summer Strings program in orchestral and small groups at Westminster United Church, 4:30 p.m. $10 suggested donation.
Gala fundraiser and chamber music party featuring a performance by Amy Hillis and Catherine Cosbey (violins), Jonathan Ward (viola), Marilyn de Oliveria (cello) and Katherine Dowling (piano) along with an open mike at the Artful Dodger (1651 11th Ave.), 7:30 p.m. $35.