Categories : Music Reviews.
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Reviewer: Trent Depue |
A joint venture between the cities of Windsor and Calgary in support of the Le Foyer des Filles Chretiennes Orphanage in Haiti, Calgary Artists for Haitian Relief was a veritable who’s who of the cities best performers, gathered together at the Epcor Centre’s Jack Singer Concert Hall in support of a great cause. The orphanage, in Port-Au-Prince was made unlivable by the recent earthquake in Haiti and all proceeds from the concert were directed to the orphanage to assist with the rebuilding costs.
Opening with a performance from fourteen year old classical pianist extraordinaire Jan Lisiecki and followed by an eclectic mix of talent, ranging from a spoken word piece from Sheri D. Wilson, an interpretive dance to one of the Polyjesters performances from Denise Clarke, a Classical performance from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and music encompassing rock, country, folk and indie genres.
An expectedly fantastic performance from Dan Vacon’s The Dudes was an early highlight to the evening. Following that came an uplifting performance from Michael Bernard Fitzgerald who was joined on stage by the twenty five member Loud Love Choir, and later on after a classical piece from the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra came one of the evenings surprise best performance when Kris Demeanor joined the Orchestra on stage and provided a sneak peak of what we can expect from their upcoming collaborative work slated for next years High Performance Rodeo.
Bringing the evening to a close was a performance from the evenings most high profile guest, Corb Lund who was an obvious crowd favorite and then an uncharacteristically minimalist performance from Woodpigeon, which saw the band forgo their normal orchestral compositions for a set featuring a guitar, bass and vocal harmonies only – a different, but still successful feel for the band.
Last but not least, what fundraising musical concert would be complete without bringing all of the artists back on stage for a sing-a-long of a classic feel good tune, Stand By Me. A surprise for both the audience and the artists alike, as it was clearly an unrehearsed performance. However, it was nonetheless a fitting end to a well organized, well presented and well directed charitable event.
