Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Nov 17/00) - Dean, Riley, Murray and Braden -- you won't yet find these names in the history books alongside Bach, Mozart or Mahler.
But the four Yellowknifers do have something in common with the three greats: they compose great music.
At a performance this weekend featuring these four and many others, Yellowknifers will have the opportunity to join all Canadians in celebrating Canada Music Week.
First started by the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers in 196O, the week has since evolved to focus expressly on Canadian music.
In Yellowknife, the week will be launched on Sunday, Nov. 19 at the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre.
"This year, The NWT Music Teacher's Association and NorthwesTel Cable will be present the Canadian Composer Concert," says organizer Alice Hilchey.
"Yellowknife piano students will be joining together with Yellowknife's own musicians and composers to celebrate Canada Music Week, and raise funds for NACC."
Admission is by donation, notes Hilchey.
Bruce Bischoff, Loretta Isaac, Chic Callas, Therea Fehrmann, Sonia Zimmerman, The Yellowknife Choral Society, The Gumboots, Tracy Riley, Ryan Murray, Pat Braden, Ceilidh Friends, Northern Skies, the Sir John Franklin School Choir, the St. Patrick School Choir, Ardith Dean and Hilchey will all perform.
"I think it's wonderful that all our talented musicians will be performing their original compositions," says NACC's general manager Ina Murray.
Murray adds that the donation to NACC is generous and much needed.
For fellow organizer and pianist Ardith Dean, the concert is a fantastic opportunity for all Yellowknife musicians to get together.
"We discovered that since the big telethon (for Stanton Regional Hospital), we haven't really had that opportunity," Dean says.
It's also a great opportunity for all other citizens, musical or not, to get a real idea of the collective talent in Yellowknife.
The Canadian Composer Concert takes place at NACC on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 11:30, 2:30 and 7 p.m.
