The shores of Georgian Bay will be the setting for a week’s worth of imaginative musical programming this July as the Collingwood Music Festival returns for its fourth iteration under Founder and Artistic Director Daniel Vnukowski.
The festival will run from July 8 to 15, and kicks off with a sunset concert on the shores of Georgian Bay at Millennium Overlook Park. Here’s a look at what’s in store.
The Program
July 8: The National Academy Orchestra and Special Guest Jeremy Dutcher
Maestro Alain Trudel will lead the full 65-piece National Academy Orchestra of Canada in an outdoor concert with special guest Jeremy Dutcher. Polaris and Juno-award winning artist Jeremy Dutcher will perform songs in the near-extinct Wolastoq Indigenous language that were inspired by his roots in New Brunswick’s Tobique First Nation. In addition to Dutcher’s songs, the program includes Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 “Pastoral” I. Allegro ma non troppo; Vivaldi’s “Spring” from The Four Seasons (Concerto in E major, Op. 8 No. 1, RV 269); Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, Op. 14 IV. March to the scaffold; Johann Strauss Jr.’s iconic Blue Danube Waltz, Op. 314, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, Op. 74 “Pathétique” Allegro molto vivace.
July 9: Toronto Mass Choir
The Juno-award winning Choir will be accompanied by a five-piece band for a program titled Stories of the Underground Railroad. Director Karen Burke is a Professor of Music at York University, and together with her husband, Oswald Burke, Executive Producer, they bring cutting edge gospel and music with a Caribbean flavour to the stage.
July 10: Dévah Quartet
The electric Dévah Quartet takes the string quartet into the 21st century, accompanied by drums, for a program that ranges from acoustic classical to jazz to 70s rock and contemporary pop. It’s a kid-friendly concert featuring imaginative arrangements of familiar pop and rock songs and more.
July 11: Peter Stoll and Daniel Vnukowski
A Classical & Jazz Jam features virtuoso clarinetist Peter Stoll with Daniel Vnukowski in both classical and jazz works that date from the early 1700s to the 1900s. That includes gems by composers from Giuseppe Tartini to Wolfgang A. Mozart to the late 20th century, including iconic works by George Gershwin and Benny Anderson.
July 12: Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music
The two-time JUNO-nominated multi-instrumentalist and lyricist Beny Esguerra and New Tradition Music get together for a concert that blends spoken word with hip-hop, and the influences of Colombian Afro-Indigenous música de gaita. It’s music and multimedia with a message about justice, the environment, and reverence for ancestors and land treaties.
July 13: collectif9
Montréal’s collectif9 have made their name with unique arrangements of standard classical repertoire. Their Rituæls program, first released as a filmed concert, includes works from the Middle Ages to the 21st century. The program features: Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179):O vis aeternitatis; Arvo Pärt (born in 1935): Psalom and Summa; Nicole Lizée (born in 1973): Another Living Soul; Bryce Dessner (born in 1976): Aheym and Tenebre; Michael Tippett (1905-1998): Lament; Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023): Exaudi.
July 14: Gryphon Trio (feat. James Campbell, Daniel Vnukowski)
The Three-Time Juno Award Winning Gryphon Trio are joined by James Campbell on clarinet for Olivier Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time”. The work, which explores the composer’s relationship with the Divine, premièred at the Nazi prison camp Stalag VIIIA in 1941. Daniel Vnukowski joins Campbell to open the concert.
July 15: Adi Braun
Vocalist Adi Braun and her trio of Don Breithaupt (piano), Pat Collins (bass), and Daniel Barnes (drums), pay tribute to Noel Coward, Cole Porter and Kurt Weill in a program titled “Mad about the Boys!” She’ll cover well known hits like Night and Day and Mack the Knife in a salute to the melodies and lyrics of the three iconic composers.
Tickets and more information about the Collingwood Music Festival are available [HERE].
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