LCMS Celebrates BC Youth Week with Weekend of Music

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 23, 2015

Langley Community Music School Celebrates BC Youth Week with Weekend of Music

Coming May 1 to 4, 2015, Langley Community Music School (LCMS) celebrates a weekend full of music. Following a Night Café Classico concert with Joe Trio at 7:00 p.m. on Friday evening, May 1, 2015 (CROSSLINK), LCMS welcomes two more concerts to celebrate BC Youth Week. On Sunday afternoon, May 3, 2015 at 2:30 p.m., the violin/fiddle duo of Marc Destrubé and Jaron Freeman-Fox will present “J.S. Bachwards,” a stunning re-imagining of the works of Bach, Biber, and Baltzer. And on Monday evening, May 4, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., the acclaimed Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir will join LCMS Children’s Choir to perform Canadian traditional, folk and popular songs, including a joint performance of this year’s Music Monday anthem “We Are One.”

BC Youth Week is a provincial celebration of youth held annually during the first week of May. It is a week of fun, interaction, and celebration intended to build a strong connection between young people and their communities and to profile the accomplishments and diversity of youth across the province. Learn more at www.bcyouthweek.com.
Music Monday is the world’s largest single event dedicated to raising awareness for music education. Launched in 2005 by The Coalition for Music Education, this annual event engages hundreds of thousands of students, educators, and music makers in a simultaneous nationwide concert performance of an original song written by a Canadian artist. The 2015 Music Monday Anthem, “We Are One,” was written by 16-year old Canadian singer/songwriter Connor Ross. Learn more about Music Monday at www.musicmonday.ca.

“Langley Community Music School is thrilled to bring two special concerts to our community at the start of BC Youth Week,” says LCMS principal Susan Magnusson. “When I learned that Early Music Vancouver was presenting Marc Destrubé together with his former prodigy Jaron Freeman-Fox, I had to invite them to also perform in Rose Gellert Hall. The timing, coinciding with BC Youth Week, was perfect, and the program is very appealing. But also making this very special, Jaron is the grandson of one of our school’s most dedicated volunteers, Ronnie Cook Freeman. We are very pleased that with the support that we receive from the Province of BC, we can bring this special concert to Langley, asking only for admission by donation.”

The J.S. Bachwards concert features renowned baroque specialist Marc Destrubé and his former student, genre-breaking fiddler Jaron Freeman-Fox. Together, they explore beautiful solo violin variations of the compositions of Bach Biber and Baltzar, combined with a futuristic electro-acoustic re-imagining and improvisation of this early music. Jaron describes his music as “contemporary world music … or maybe music for hot air balloonists.” Jaron adds that he has worked to learn this early music inside out and “for this concert, I’ll be doing just that — turning it inside out!”

The Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir is looking forward to delivering the “choral power and passion that only a male choir can deliver!” It will be the perfect accompaniment to the angelic voices of LCMS’s Children’s Choir. Audiences assert that the Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir is “So excellent! Thoroughly enjoyable! Excellent conducting and accompanying. The joy they also feel conveys itself to the hearts of the audience.” Exceptionally moving, listeners attest “I was not prepared to feel the emotions each and every song stirred up.”

 Another participant agrees, “It moved me to tears they sang so beautifully.” As a proud supporter of a mentoring program, the Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir is looking forward to performing with the LCMS Children’s Choir and to creating “marvelous entertainment.” Learn more about the Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir at vancouverorpheus.org.

“LCMS has a wonderful connection with the Orpheus Choir through its music director Liana Savard, who is also a member of the school’s voice faculty,” says Magnusson. “We are thrilled to be joining with them to be a part of the nation-wide Music Monday celebrations. It will be a very special experience for our Children’s Choir, as well as for the audience!”

Tickets for the “We Are One” Music Monday concert with the Vancouver Orpheus Male Choir are $15 for adults, $10 for students, and $2 for children under twelve. Admission to the Sunday afternoon J.S. Bachwards concert is by donation. Call the box office at 604-534-2848. The Rose Gellert Hall is located at 4899 207 Street, Langley, BC.

ABOUT LANGLEY COMMUNITY MUSIC SCHOOL
Langley Community Music School (LCMS) is a non-profit organization and registered charity that is committed to providing the highest quality of musical education to students of all ages and levels, from early learning to pre-professional and adult programs. With the support of the community, LCMS has become one of the largest non-profit music schools in the province, earning both national and international acclaim for their comprehensive and innovative programs. Learn more about LCMS programs, scholarships and bursaries.

The Langley Community Music School hosts multiple musical concerts from October to May, including the Rose Gellert Hall Series, a Saturday evening concert featuring renowned Canadian and international musicians, as well as the Concerts Café Classico Series, a Sunday afternoon concert series featuring stellar local and touring musicians playing classical, jazz or contemporary works.

Visit langleymusic.com or call 604-534-2848.

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