{"id":47085,"date":"2017-09-16T10:30:25","date_gmt":"2017-09-16T14:30:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=47085"},"modified":"2017-09-15T21:27:41","modified_gmt":"2017-09-16T01:27:41","slug":"whos-who-bravo-niagara-launches-voices-of-freedom-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2017\/09\/16\/whos-who-bravo-niagara-launches-voices-of-freedom-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO’S WHO | Bravo Niagara Launches Voices Of Freedom Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Catch Soprano Measha Brueggergosman as part of Bravo Niagara’s Voices Of Freedom Festival on Sept. 29, at Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

UPDATE FROM\u00a0BRAVO NIAGARA!<\/del><\/h1>\n

In honour of the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent (2015-2024), Bravo Niagara! will present the Voices of Freedom Festival to raise awareness of Canada\u2019s significant Black history and highlight the ongoing journey to freedom. Bravo Niagara! strives to foster intercultural dialogue through the arts and will present concerts featuring superstar soprano Measha Brueggergosman, jazz great Wycliffe Gordon, and Grammy Award-winning Cameroonian bassist and vocalist Richard Bona, in addition to a symposium, lectures at historic sites, and free programming for youth.<\/p>\n

VOICES OF FREEDOM CONCERTS<\/p>\n

September 29, 2017 \u2014 Superstar soprano Measha Brueggergosman<\/p>\n

7:30 pm, Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines<\/p>\n

Bravo Niagara! will present Canadian superstar soprano Measha Brueggergosman at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre\u2019s Partridge Hall in St. Catharines. Noted by the San Francisco Chronicle as \u201ca singer of rare gifts and artistic intensity\u201d and by the Miami Herald for possessing \u201ca superb voice capable of just about everything,\u201d Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman has emerged as one of the most magnificent performers and vibrant personalities of the day. She has won Juno Awards, been nominated for a Grammy, sung to a telecast of over 3 billion viewers at the opening of the 2010 Olympic Games, performed for the Royal Family and Westminster Abbey, and soloed in the great concert halls of Canada, the United States, Asia and Europe.<\/p>\n

On September 29, Measha will perform Songs of Freedom, an intensely powerful and spiritual collection of \u2018Freedom Songs\u2019 that emerged from Africa via the slave trade to America, then to Canada via the United Empire Loyalist migration and the Underground Railroad. Her latest album Songs of Freedom is a companion piece to the film of the same name, winner of three Canadian Screen Awards, which documented Measha\u2019s own journey of discovering her family\u2019s storied lineage from Cameroon, West Africa to Canada\u2019s Maritimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ancestors were stolen from Africa and sold into slavery in the United States before finding freedom in Nova Scotia…My people have spirituals, which played a huge part in how my ancestors came to be here \u2013 free no longer \u00a0owner, no longer stolen \u2013 on the east coast of Canada.\u201d \u2014 Measha Brueggergosman<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The performance will feature special guest Wycliffe Gordon. A veteran member of the Wynton Marsalis Septet and Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, jazz great Wycliffe Gordon has been named Downbeat Magazine\u2019s Critics Choice Award for Best Trombone (2012-13, 2014, 2016).<\/p>\n

Measha will also be joined by the Powerhouse Fellowship Soul Choir and Laura Secord Secondary School Concert Choir.<\/p>\n

October 6, 2017 \u2013 Grammy Award-winning bassist & vocalist Richard Bona<\/p>\n

7:30pm, Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines<\/p>\n

Bravo Niagara! and the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre will co-present the Ontario debut of Grammy Award-winning Cameroonian bassist and vocalist Richard Bona at Partridge Hall as the finale of the Voices of Freedom Festival. This concert will further illuminate the musical roots of Measha Brueggergosman\u2019s ancestral Cameroon.<\/p>\n

In the words of his manager and producer, the legendary Quincy Jones: \u201cRichard Bona is simply one of the most talented dudes on this planet!\u201d Bona has toured and recorded with Pat Metheny, Harry Belafonte, Quincy Jones, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Mike Stern, and Bobby McFerrin, to name but a few. He appeals to a multitude of audiences ranging from jazz, pop, bossa nova, traditional, afro-beat and funk.<\/p>\n

Fans call him \u201cThe African Sting,\u201d critics call him a pro, but it is his unique and electrifying style of connecting with his audience that titles him what he really is\u2014a true musician. Richard Bona\u2019s seemingly effortless voice, fierce skills on the bass, unique songwriting\/arranging expertise and ability to learn just about any instrument simply from watching, position him as a rare African artist to have established an unscalable reputation on an international platform. Seeking inspiration from his Cameroonian origins, the themes of Bona\u2019s songs address international issues which mirror his desire of using music to take a stance on issues affecting the oppressed.<\/p>\n

FREE OUTREACH EVENTS:<\/p>\n