|
|
|
|
|
4th Annual Fall Festival
|
|
This is the fourth year that Rosedale Presbyterian Church has thrown its doors open to young and old alike for a weekend-long arts festival.
"Art, Soul and Voice" is our theme for this year's festival and we believe it captures the spirit of this year's event which will focus on both the visual and musical aspect of the arts. An exhibition and sale of fine art by local artists will continue throughout the weekend and will include demonstrations of how their work is created. Artists will also be on hand to discuss aspects of their work. The event will also feature an art contest for small children. Musical activities include performances by the Shoestring Opera Company and a recital by the Penthelia Singers as well as a youth-oriented concert. Shoestring Opera's mandate is to bring the magic of opera to children everywhere. Using minimal props and costuming, stories and music from classic operas and newly composed works are brought to life in a lively and accessible child-friendly format. The performance will be a new piece called "Master Thenardier" based on a Japanese storytelling form called Rakugo. Written by Canadian composer/librettist Greg Robic it is a fictional retelling of the life of one of Victor Hugo's characters from his novel Les Miserables. Incorporating traditional Rakugo routines with his own absurd sense of comedy (along with a few tunes from the mega-musical), Greg Robic has created a fascinating hybrid of Orient and Occident, giving us a moving portrayal of a character both charming and tragic. Under the directorship of Rosedale Presbyterian Church's former organist and choir director Mary Legge, Penthelia Singers is a small women's choir based in Toronto. The group was named after Penthelia, an ancient Egyptian priestess-musician known to have celebrated the Trojan War in Homeric tradition. Penthelia's repertoire includes music spanning the Renaissance to the 21st century, in a multitude of languages and their performance will feature music from their upcoming Hungarian/Eastern European concert in Montreal and excerpts from their Celtic Solstice concert scheduled for December at the Church. The Hungarian repertoire will commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 after which many Hungarians fled to safety in Canada. On Saturday, a group of scholars and theatre artists from Toronto will present excerpts from a major research-performance experiment called Shakespeare and the Queen's Men which features portions of three plays from the repertoire of the personal acting company of Elizabeth I. It is believed that all three were borrowed and adapted by Shakespeare in later masterpieces, including King Lear and the Henry plays. A special church service is planned for Sunday and everyone is invited to attend -- our choir is working particularly hard for this event with music with the theme "Make a Joyful Noise" specifically chosen for the occasion. After the service, there will be a special "Blessing of the Pets" and all pets are reminded to bring along their owners! |
 Artist Jeanne Isley (left) with Mary Legge, Director of the Penthelia Singers at the 2005 Fall Festival Click here for more photos |
| Schedule of Events |
|
Friday, October 20 Saturday, October 21 Sunday, October 22 |
| home |
