Bengal's Corner

October 20, 2007
151 Fountain Street
Pawtucket, Rhode Island

Doors open at 6h30 P.M. – Sandwhich Buffet at 7h00 P.M. followed by live orchestral music by Fleur de Lis. Quadrille dancing and instructions by caller George Ménard, Chansons à Répondre by members of Les Gais Chanteurs and the cammaraderie of members from various French organizations will make for a memorable evening! What else can we do to bring back a sense of fellowship at Le Foyer?

Come along, lead a song, tell a story, dance the night away! We will be raffling off some home made goodies (catsup rouge, sweet cucumber relish and French Canadian piccalily) made by some of our members including some jars of Eva Poirier's home made 'Boo Boo Salve' - Door prizes and split the pot as well! Invite your friends and relatives for an evening to enjoy and have fun.

Tickets are $14 / person or $25/ couple. Reserve a table of 8.
Limited seating – reservations are strongly encouraged by replying to this email or calling 401-728-8328. Reservations should be made by October 10.

Roger Bonin
President, Le Foyer
2 Foxx Dr
Lincoln, RI 02865
401-728-8328

Hello, everyone!

This is a quick note to inform about the Grand Isle Lake House concert, sponsored by Island Arts, that will happen this coming Wednesday, September 26, 2007: Michèle Choinière, Sabin Jacques, Rachel Aucoin, and Benoît Bourque - Contra and quadrille dances called by Benoît will follow the concert.

For more information, check the following:

www.michelechoiniere.com
www.grandislelakehouse.com

Bengal.

Hello, everyone!

Just a quick reminder about the Sierra Fiddle Camp. Check the list of teachers and you will know why we have to be there... :)

Bengal.

Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Camp in northern California invites you to a week of intensive study, recreation, and good times with people who share an interest in the music and dance traditions of Scotland and beyond. In 2007 camp will run from June 23rd to July 1.

Alasdair Fraser is recognized throughout the world as one of the finest fiddle players Scotland has ever produced; [his] name is synonymous with the vibrant cultural renaissance which is transforming the Scottish musical scene." —Scots Magazine

Pascal Gemme (Quebec) will be teaching at the Sierra Fiddle Camp! Since the completion of his degree in big-band arrangements and classical and jazz guitar, Pascal has been searching for seldom heard songs and melodies and interpreting his own compositions with a unique, unmistakable style. Inspired to take up the fiddle by the playing of his grandfather, he developed a solid technique and acquired a wide repertoire through the years. He has played with and has been inspired by many great Québécois singers and fiddlers. He gave some master classes in the USA in recent years and since 2003 has taught fiddle in a folk music school in Montreal (École des Arts de la Veillée). Pascal is also a great singer of Quebec folk songs with a rich and interesting style and repertoire, mostly learned from older singers. Pascal does most of the arrangements for Genticorum and was also the arranger/composer for the show Chantier by Zeugma, a Québécois-Celtic-World dance company. He’s also working as a producer for different musical projects and a studio musician for commercial radio and television

Also, Tony McManus will be there!! He is from Paisley, Scotland. In a relatively short time Tony’s music has come to define a new role for the guitar in Celtic music. He has come to represent Celtic music in the guitar world, making regular appearances at guitar specific events where just a few years ago jigs and reels would be unheard of. He is now invited annually to the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville, has appeared at Guitar Festivals in Soave and Pescantina, Italy; Frankston, Australia; Issoudun, France; Kirkmichael, Scotland; Bath and Kent, England; Bochum and Osnabruck, Germany and has taught at five of Steve Kaufman’s Acoustic Kamps in Maryville, Tennessee. He recently appeared at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville in the “All Star Guitar Night” featuring Steve Morse, Bryan Sutton, Muriel Anderson, Béla Fleck and Victor Wooten and headlined by the legendary Les Paul. In addition to his critically aclaimed guitar albums, he has released a much-loved joint CD, "Return to Kintail", with Alasdair Fraser.


Alasdair Fraser's Sierra Fiddle Camp
Shady Creek, California
JuneE 23rd to July 1st 2007

Attentions: Currently Accepting Applications

Do you know a visual artist who immigrated to the Nashville area from another country? If so, we are asking you to help us reach out to let them know we want to include them in these two special visual arts events. Metro Parks is seeking visual arts exhibitors and vendors for the Celebration of Cultures festival, which will be held October 6-7, 2007 at Centennial Park.

Additionally, the Centennial Art Center will feature artwork by the Nashville-area immigrant community. The exhibit, titled Nashville Internationals, will run October 5-26, 2007 and will include an opening reception honoring the featured local artists. If you are an artist or know an artist who could benefit from these opportunities, please call (615) 862-8442. For more information, please visit the Celebration of Cultures website or email brenda.mcsurley@nashville.gov or for specific information on the Nashville Internationals exhibit, please email lena.lucas@nashville.gov.

Hello, everyone!

This is a quick message from MariaPia. The traditional night of Tango at the Centennial Park is coming up this Saturday...

Bengal.

Tango by Moonlight ... with a Mexican Flair!
Free and Open to the Public

Saturday, May 5, 2007
7:00 to 10:00 PM
Event Shelter, Centennial Park
FREE!!
(Rain or shine: Event Shelter is covered)

Come out and enjoy a MAGICAL night with Tango Nashville, featuring:
- Tango Live music by Tango Trio PAD
- Tango Live dance performances by Tango Nashville’s Troupe
- An Introduction to Argentine Tango lesson by Tango Nashville’s own Artistic Director, MariaPia De Pasquale.

We will also have door prizes and Latin music with plenty of dance time! Bring your packed dinner and relax under a full lit moon with friends and family.

Dear all,

Today I had the opportunity to watch one of the Portland Symphony Orchestra performances in the morning. You read it right - in the morning. It's part of the Youth Concerts, a project that started during Arthur Bennett Lipkin's tenure with the symphony, as a resident conductor (1962-1967). The main goal of the program is to educate the young minds (8 to 13 years old) on "diverse styles of music, while learning about the elements of orchestral music and the instruments that perform it."

The theme for the series this year, Storm Chasers, is the weather and how it can be represented in a Classical repertoire. The concerts were held today at 9h30 and 11h10 am, at the beautifully architectured Merryl Auditorium and will repeat tomorrow at the same times. I was there a bit before the second performance.

I have to compliment the organization of the event for their ability in placing 800 children and their teachers (for each concert) into the auditorium in a very dynamic and efficient way - not an easy task - and even harder to remove them without much commotion and time between both presentations. The main entrance of the theater was surrounded by three-lanes of yellow buses.

Previously to the show, the teachers/schools had access to a pack containing some educational material and a warm welcome to the event by Heather Klenow, the Education and Operations Coordinator. In the material, you could find the program of the Youth Concerts, guidelines to prepare the children for the event with information on the orchestra instruments, the biography of the composers they would listen to, a glossary of musical terms, the artistic record of the performers (including guests), among other useful materials to make the experience pleasant and unique.

According to Normal Rapkin, one of the Orchestra board directors, who I met this morning, this project is presented to the local community twice a year. Once around March and then again around October. Today though it was the first concert where the Orchestra had a guest participating in the programme and he (Rapkin) seemed very excited about it. The guest he was referring to is the Québécois ensemble Le Vent du Nord (a local report on the band's shows with the orchestra can be found here).

Le Vent du Nord (Benoit Bourque, Simon Beaudry, Nicolas Boulerice and Olivier Demers) is in town since last Friday and gave two public performances over the weekend. These were Benoit Bourque's last public performances with the band, since he will start new projects soon. This farewell placed a sad note on the event for many fans that drove up (or down) here for the shows. I had the opportunity to meet some new friends, also talented artists and great people to be with. They told me how much Benoit's incredible energy, talents and stage presence will be missed.

This Québécois band, that has its name translated to English as "The Wind from the North", presented two of their compositions for the Youth Concerts Series together with the Portland Orchestra: Les amants du Saint-Laurent (N. Boulerice) and Gigue à trois (Trad/B. Bourque).

For the majority of the program though, the Classical agenda prevailed:

Wagner - Overture to the Flying Dutchman
Debussy - Nocturnes I. Clouds
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 4 "Winter" I. Allegro non molto III. Allegro
Beethoven - Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 "Pastorale" IV. Allegro "The storm" V. Allegretto "Joyous thanksgiving after the storm"
Straus - Thunder and Lightning Polka

Daniel Meyer conducted the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Le Vent du Nord with expansive, warm gestures and joy. Concertmaster Charles Dimmick led the Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, in this performance.

Daniel introduced the Orchestra percussion to the little ones in the audience while reproducing the sounds of a storm under formation. The following step was to request each part of the theater to reproduce some of these sounds with their hands and feet, complementing the auditory effect. The children around me in the orchestra section were delighted! Another act that completed the presentation was the comic entrance by meteorologist Kevin Mannix (WCSH Channel 6) to introduce one of the classical pieces, explaining the physics behind the storms. At this point, for the average age of the audience, I think terms as "electrical charges" could pass unabsorbed since the concept isn't much accessible to the children of that age (hey, I'm a Physicist). But overall, if the teachers did their work beforehand, I'm positive that the children had an educational experience today. I know for sure, after hearing to many comments, that they enjoyed the whole event. Comments as "If I learn the guitar I can play with a symphony!" (reference to Le Vent Du Nord's guitarist Simon Beaudry) or "I'll buy the CD and make sounds of rain with my family now!".

In terms of complaints, the ones I've heard were - "I wanted to hear one of the band's songs without the orchestra" (from one of the teachers), "we should have more time to let the kids explore the instruments presented like the [Le Vent du Nord's] hurdy-gurdy played today, that isn't a common one" and "the guests weren't called back to the stage for the curtain call". I'm curious about this last one too. Is this a change in the traditional structure of the concerts that they adopt for these series? I missed the reappearance of all the performers after the end of the concert for acknowledging the audience's applauses.

Still, I want to congratulate the Portland Symphony Orchestra and their boards and staff for the initiative on the Youth Concerts series.

Bengal.

Hello, everyone!

This Saturday (Mar.10 - 4 PM to 10 PM), a celebration of the Brazilian culture will be happening downtown Nashville, TN, through music, dances, ethnic food, door prizes and lots of fun. The exact location is the Global Cafe (on the corner of Broadway and 4rd). Bring your friends and spread the word!

Among the attractions are Capoeira (one of my favorites!) and also a band named Danny Salazar y Los Kuatro. OK. Obviously, they are not Brazilians... If they are like Pablo's ensemble then they will be playing a lot of Bossa. The event will have many more attractions reserved. I've heard about some type of parade that will open the entire party, thus probably they will need much more space than the Global Cafe and they might use the Front River area or close one of the streets there.

If you want to have some Caipirinhas and dance, that's the event!

Bengal.

Hello, everyone!

For those who couldn't make it to the Chantez-vous bien chez nous Festival in Quebec, another opportunity to appreciate De Temps Antan performance will be their show in Ann Arbor. My dear friend Anjili is one of the organizers and sent the following info on this event:

"French-Canadian roots and traditional musicians, De Temps Antan, play the Ark in Ann Arbor on Monday, March 5 at 8 p.m. The three members of the group, André Brunet (fiddle, guitar, tapping), Éric Beaudry (guitar, mandolin, bouzouki, tapping), and Pierre-Luc Dupuis (accordion, harmonica, jaw harp) are all current or former members of the internationally acclaimed folkloric group La Bottine Souriante. André Brunet will also be known to Midwestern audiences as a member of Kevin Burke’s Celtic Fiddle Festival, whose performance at the Ark last November received a warm and enthusiastic response from their audience.

De Temps Antan’s music is a rich blend of traditional French-Canadian and Acadian songs and original compositions by the artists. Their sets intersperse instrumental folkloric pieces with French-Canadian response songs — all driven by the energetic beat of French-Canadian 'podorythmie,' the foot-tapping that replaces drums in traditional music from Québec. The members of the band offer a fresh and vibrant perspective on the music of their ancestors—and on the joie de vivre that has come to define the music of their province."


THE ARC (March 5, 8 pm): De Temps Antan
316 S. Main St.
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Ticket price: $20
Tickets available at: The Ark Box Office, Herb David Guitar Studio, Michigan Union Ticket Office, or by phone at (734) 763-8587

For a sample of De Temps Antan’s music, visit this link.

Thanks, Anjili, for all the info!

Bengal.

Hello, everyone,

Andre Brunet from De Temps Antan will be interviewed today on a local radio station in Michigan, in a few minutes from now, on a show that goes from 6-7 pm (local time, I'm guessing), tonight.

"I don't know if they have en direct/listen live or not." (Lucy)

Flint, Michigan AM1570

I checked the link but there is nothing there so far. The locals can keep your eyes open, better, your ears...

Thanks, Lucy, for the information!

Bengal.