Works by Peter Knell, Bella Bartok, John Racaru, Alberto Ginastera, Saint Saens, Nicolo Paganini and Jeff Preslaff will be performed by John Racaru, Vincent Ellin, Cheryl Pauls, Natalia Zielinski, Jeff Preslaff, Lianne Fournier, Lucas Sader, Katherine Bonness and Edvany Silva.

Informations on  http://www.musicaspeciale.com/

You've heard it before but it bears repeating: there is an amazing abundance of options for classical music lovers in our city.

Passion fuels smaller local concert series, article by Gwenda Nemerofsky, for Winnipeg Free Press

"We all know the big players: Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Opera and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra; and many folks are devotees of the medium-sized musical series, such as Virtuosi Concerts, Women's Musical Club, Winnipeg Singers, Camerata Nova and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society.

But how many are familiar with the smaller outfits? These are ones that operate on shoestring budgets, with a few dedicated employees or volunteers securing venues, arranging rehearsals and pumping out the publicity solely because they care deeply about the music and feel it deserves to be heard.

I'm talking about groups like the Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society, Musica Speciale, Canzona, The Musical Offering, Westminster Concert Organ Series and GroundSwell. They may serve niche markets, but each has its own special flavour, focus and atmosphere.

Coming up in the next few weeks are three concerts that are a little off the beaten track. On Friday, Oct. 2, at 8 p.m. is Musica Speciale's season opener, Maximal Amplitude. You'd be hard pressed to find more diverse and unusual programming. This is totally by design.

"Our mission is to play unique, rarely played and heard music," says series founder and artistic director John Racaru in a phone interview. "We do all eras, from Baroque to modern, and all styles, including folk, classical and jazz."

This homegrown series originated in 2006. The brainchild of Romanian-born violinist Racaru, it boasts an average 200 audience members per concert at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

The October concert features well-known guest artists, including pianists Cheryl Pauls and Jeff Presslaff, bassoonist Vincent Ellin, percussionist Lucas Sader and jazz vocalist Lianne Fournier. Works by Bartok, Ginastera, Paganini and Saint-Saëns are planned, as are the Canadian premiere of composer-in-residence Peter Knell's String Quartet No. 2 and the world premiere of Racaru's own Underwater, inspired by this summer's wet weather.

"I compose a new work for each concert," Racaru said. "My inspiration comes just one or two weeks before the performance. I wake up in the middle of the night and go to the piano."

Advance tickets are $17 at McNally Robinson Booksellers, Croft Music or Pony Corral. They are also available at the door for $20; $10 for students.

Everything Guitar

On Saturday, Oct. 3 at 8 p.m. in the cosy ambience of the Planetarium Auditorium, the Winnipeg Classical Guitar Society (WCGS) kicks off its eight-concert season with Montreal guitarist Jerome Ducharme, first-prize winner at the 2005 Guitar Foundation International Classical Guitar Competition.

The WCGS's mandate is to promote classical guitar in Winnipeg. They bring in top-notch international guitarists to perform and give master classes to local students. They also showcase professional Winnipeg guitarists. Additionally, the society donates five guitar scholarships to the Winnipeg Music Festival.

"We are all volunteers," says society president Skender Sefa, himself an accomplished soloist and teacher. "What keeps us going is we love classical guitar."

And it shows. Sefa acts as a soft-spoken host and stagehand at each concert, and he and the guest artist(s) are always in the lobby meeting audience members after the show.

Russian Dimitri Illarionov and the Arc Duo (guitar and flute) from New York are just a sampling of the calibre of artists the WCGS will host this year. Tickets are $20 ($15 for members), $10 for students at the door, by calling 667-5250 or reserve at Această adresă e-mail este protejată împotriva spamului, JavaScript trebuie activat pentru a putea vizualiza pagina.

Newest New Music

If the latest in new music is your bag, look no further than GroundSwell. Curated by five Manitoba composers/musicians, GroundSwell puts on six concerts a season because they are "dedicated and passionate about the art form," says executive director Garth Hardy. "We're proud to be the only concert series in the city to present, year after year, exciting and innovative music that really has never been heard before in Winnipeg."

GroundSwell does outreach programming for children and young adults and even has a radio program, GroundSwell Radio, on Mondays from 2-3 p.m. on CKUW 95.9 FM.

Its season begins Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. in the newly renovated West End Cultural Centre with The Rehearsal's the Thing, curated by Diana McIntosh. It includes a chamber opera/musical play that takes a witty look inside the rehearsal process. Artists include Yuri Hooker, cello; Beverley Johnston, percussion; Laurel Ridd, flute; Pat Daniels, clarinet; Daniel Scholz, viola; Karl Stobbe, violin; Laura Loewen, Diana McIntosh, piano; and Michelle Mourre, conductor".

Source: Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 24, 2009 D5