Mon, Oct. 5

12:00 - 1:00

Admission:

$5.00

Noontime Concert Co-presented by

Quality Foods

SHARON KREBS-soprano and HARALD KREBS-piano       (CLASSICAL)                    

A delightfully unique program called “Lieder at Lunch”, in which this wonderful Victoria duo presents “Speiselieder/Food Songs” with ample and entertaining explanations and Power Point projections

Sharon and Harald Krebs have been presenting the series "Lieder at  Lunch" at the University of Victoria since 2001.  The purpose of the series is to introduce students and the broader community to the rich repertoire of German song.  Sharon and Harald give three to four of these recitals per academic year at UVic, and also regularly take "Lieder at Lunch" on the road throughout North America and Europe.  
Each of the recitals is based on a theme; past themes have included "Bug Songs" (Songs about Insects);"Fish Songs"; "Cuckoo Songs"; and "Mom and Pop Songs".  The recitals are enhanced by informative, yet entertaining narration ("affable banter", one of Harald's colleagues calls it) and by a colourful PowerPoint presentation, which includes translations of the texts.  The recital ("Food Songs") to be presented at the Harvest of Music was prepared for a conference on the theme of food in the arts at the University of Bangor (Wales) in 2007, and has been performed to great acclaim in Canada and Germany as well. The program includes songs by Schumann, Wolf, Mahler, Strauss and others. Audience members have responded with comments such as "I have never enjoyed Lieder so much", and "This is the most ingenious way of presenting Lieder that I have ever encountered."

Harald Krebs obtained his PhD in music theory from Yale University in 1980. He held a Killam Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of British Columbia, and taught at UBC and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a sessional instructor. He joined the music faculty at the University of Victoria in 1986, where he is Professor and head of the theory section. He is the author or editor of several books, and has published widely on the tonal and rhythmic structure of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century music in Canadian, American and European journals and in numerous collections of essays. He is a frequent presenter at conferences, and has been invited as a guest lecturer at many universities throughout North America and Europe. He is active as a collaborative pianist. With his wife, soprano Sharon Krebs, he frequently performs German Lieder, both in recital settings and within conference presentations and guest lectures. With Sharon, he initiated the series Lieder at Lunch at the University of Victoria. Sharon and Harald take their Lieder at Lunch recitals into the community, performing at several seniors’ residences and hospitals each year.

Sharon Krebs holds degrees in Human Physiology and Germanic Studies. She has published several articles on topics ranging from music education in the public schools of British Columbia to Bertolt Brecht to the 19th-century song composer Josephine Lang. Her most recent publication is a book entitled Josephine Lang: Her Life and Songs (co-authored with Harald Krebs), which appeared with Oxford University press in 2007. She is currently researching the nightingale metaphor in relation to singing. The German Lied is her favourite genre; she has performed Lieder in Germany, Poland, France, England, Wales, as well as in the US and Canada.

Mon. Oct. 5

7:00 - 8:00

Admission:

$10.00

THE PASTORAL PLAYERS (Mime, Dance, Music & Narration)     

Distinctive Family Entertainment—An Enchanting Presentation of “Gauche, The Cellist”,  the Famous Story by Kenji Miyazawa Inspired by Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony               

Yayoi Hirano-mime/dance, masks;  Lori Hamar-masked mime/dance; Satoko Ōmuta-kuroko/puppetry; Wilmer Fawcett-bass; Kelby MacNayr-percussion, ; Ron Hadley-narration/piano  Brief, introductory talk/demonstration about the Sixth Symphony by Prof. Harald Krebs

(CLICK HERE for Performer Bios)

Gauche, the Cellist by Kenji Miyazawa (Translated and Adapted for Double Bass by Ron Hadley)
Gauche, the Cellist, a short story written in the 1920s by the well-known Japanese poet and author Kenji Miyazawa (1896-1933) will be presented as a multi-disciplinary (narration, mime, dance and music) performance on Monday, October 5 at 7:00 PM

Although this story is most often categorized as children’s literature, it has exhibited lasting, worldwide charm and appeal to people of all ages.  Gauche, the Cellist is about a frustrated cellist in a semi-professional small town orchestra that is rehearsing for its upcoming performance of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony (the Pastoral Symphony). Each night when Gauche returns home to his shabby, little shack next to an old watermill to practice and practice into the wee hours after another day of being scolded for his incompetence by the conductor, the cellist is visited by various local animals. These strange and enchanting dreamlike visitations gradually transform Gauche’s frustration into a more constructive and beneficial awareness of how music and compassion can bring contentment and good health to all beings in the world.
The performance troupe is called The Pastoral Players, and its members are Yayoi Hirano (an internationally celebrated mime and dance artist and mask-maker from Japan who now resides in Vancouver; Yayoi has created four delightful animal masks for this presentation.), Victoria dance and movement artist Lori Hamar, Vancouver double bassist Wilmer Fawcett (acclaimed for his work as Principal Bass in the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and Viveza), Qualicum Beach jazz pianist and freelance Japanese translator Ron Hadley (narration and music) and Victoria percussionist Kelby MacNayr. A kabuki and/or bunraku theatre dimension will also be provided by Satoko Ōmuta, a young mime artist from Japan who will work as a kuroko (the clad-in-black, “invisible” stage hand so characteristic of those well-known forms of Japanese theatre). In addition, the October 5 performance will be preceded by a brief talk/demonstration about Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony by University of Victoria School of Music Professor Harald Krebs.
During the Old School House Art Centre’s Harvest of Music, Gauche the Cellist will be presented in every school in District 69. However, children, adults and families who are unable to get to one of the school performances will want to be sure to attend the public performance on Monday, October 5 at 7:00 PM.  Tickets are only $10.00 and are available now at the Arts Centre.