Tuesday, May 25, 2010

The Poet Sings "Songs of Youth and Love"

Our spring fundraising concert takes place this Friday, May 28 at 7:30 pm in Stratford.
Location: Central United Church
Admission: $25 donation at the door ($10 for students)

This is the program we had originally scheduled for April 9, but one of our singers (& the pianist!) was ill so we had to cancel. We recently performed this show at Aeolian Hall in London, and are looking forward to presenting it to the home-town crowd!

Songs to texts of Goethe by Schubert, all the best English song repertoire for baritone, Ravel's "Valses nobles et sentimentales", some gorgeous songs by American Richard Hundley, & a wonderful set of Musical Theatre treasures....we really love this music & look forward to performing it again!

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Stratford Spring Concert date change

Due to illness, we are postponing our April 9th concert (this Friday) to FRIDAY, MAY 28, 7:30pm. Please pass this info on to anyone you may know who would be interested in coming.

Many thanks!

Monday, March 29, 2010

The Poet Sings in Europe


As a group, we as "The Poet Sings" are so thrilled about our upcoming opportunities for professional development this summer. We know that our rich experiences will enrich our performances together and we look forward to sharing the fruits of our travels with you next season.

Mark and Catherine are looking forward to participating in The Centre for Operatic Studies in Sulmona, Italy this summer. This one-month program is Canada’s leading and most comprehensive opera training program in Europe and involves some of Canada‘s most notable singers teachers, including Artistic Director, Darryl Edwards, Wendy Nielsen and Patrick Raftery. While in Sulmona, Catherine and Mark will participate in master classes, Italian language classes as well as several performances. A major part of their time will be spent preparing and performing opera roles. Catherine will focus on the role of the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro and Mark will do the roles of Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata, and Belcore in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore.

Sandra has been invited to perform in concert at the “Troldsalen” Concert Hall at the Grieg Museum “Troldhaugen” in Bergen, Norway. Grieg’s former home, is now a museum and centre for the study and research of Norway’s greatest composer. In Sandra’s words, “this is an opportunity to visit and perform at Grieg-Mecca”. Sandra’s European tour this summer will also include study in England and concerts in Latvia.

Sandra’s solo recital program for her European concerts will feature the music of Maurice Ravel and Edvard Grieg. Based on Ravel’s quote, “Next to Debussy there’s no other composer, whom I feel more related to, than Grieg”, the recital program blends the music of these two composers in a unique and unorthodox way.

In England this summer, Sandra will have the opportunity to work with Beryl Foster, author of The Songs of Edvard Grieg, and Vice President of the International Grieg Society. The focus will be on absorbing the nuances of the “Nynorsk” language in the Haugtussa cycle as well as the songs to texts of Vinje.

Sandra will then go to Latvia to take part in the 9th annual Young Musicians' Master Classes in Sigulda, where she will perform & teach. Another highlight of the trip to Latvia will be to give a solo recital in Valmeira, where her mother attended Conservatory until the age of 12.

These are all incredible opportunities to study, learn and grow as performers.

If you would like to be a part of our journey, please show your support by attending our concert on May 28th. If you are unable to attend or if you would like to go 'above and beyond' by contributing financially to our summer endeavors, we would very much appreciate it. We are most grateful for the support of our audiences.

Please contact us c/o Sandra Mogensen 519 275 2322 sandra@sandramogensen.com

April 9th Concert - postponed to May 28

Friday, March 26, 2010

Spring Concert: Stratford

The Poet Sings has lots of exciting news...stay tuned!

Just a quick note about our next performance: Friday, May 28, 2010 at Central United Church in Stratford, ON. 7:30pm. (this date has been changed from what was originally advertised)

More details to follow soon.