Music can uplift souls, and in this case, raise money to go towards The Mustard Seed. A good friend of mine had invited me to see this wonderful benefits concert at the Jack Singer Hall at the Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts. “Music for a Winter Evening,” in its 10th annual Christmas fundraising concert,…
Christmas is a merry time of good tidings and joy, and is also deemed “to be the most happiest time of the year!” It’s also that time to consider and reflect upon the year. There are so many great volunteer opportunities available in Calgary dedicated to spreading the cheer and Christmas spirit to those in need of…
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer of exponential talent, composing many operas, oratorios and concertos. Handel’s works are most famously attributed to his use of word painting, a technique used in music to have the melody mimic the literal meaning of the lyrics. Handel’s Messiah interprets the Christian view of the Messiah, or…
WeiJia and I will be able to have the great chance to see the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus and several soloists perform Handel’s Messiah in the Jack Singer Concert Hall. To ignite some Christmas spirit with song, here’s a uplifting video featuring the Chorus Niagara performing Handel’s Messiah, random flash mob style, in a food court with an…
The Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) is the home to approximately 65 world class musicians, and Robert Penner is one of them. Penner fortunately happened to be the father of a very good friend, and having been overwhelmed by the grand majesty of the CPO like in the Wonder of Chopin concert and the Mozart and…
It’s after dark, 5 p.m., and when I walked into the Calgary Zoo, I was greeted by an enlightening path of brightly lit red and gold candy canes. The bridge had been hung with ivy-like vines of blue lights and cute shapes of kangaroos and butterflies lit up the zoo. Quite amazingly, patterns of monkeys…
WeiJia, fellow blogger and I had the extraordinary chance to meet and interview Jan Lisiecki at the Wonder of Chopin concert playing in the Jack Singer Concert Hall. When do you have the chance to meet a 15 year old piano prodigy? Not everyday, at least for me, but perhaps for his friends at Western Canada…
The media is currently swirling around the issue of CEO Stephen Duckett’s controversial dismissal from the Alberta Health Services board. Angrily pushing off reporters and interviews while asserting he was eating his cookie, Ed Stelmach definitely did not sympathize with Duckett’s behaviour and termed it “offensive.” Now three members from the AHS board have resigned…
The world needs leaders, in whatever area of expertise individuals choose to pursue. Attending two Canadian Red Cross workshops, intending to train internal Red Cross volunteers to become facilitators, plunged me into becoming more engaged in world affairs. I had previously spoken about this in another post. It was quite intimidating, as I tried to…
A turtle, a Jack-O-Lantern, a piano, a balloon, and a dragon? When did these things ever come together in the same category?! At Empty Bowls, of course. Last Thursday, the Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) Steering Committee courageously headed down in the bitter cold to create ceramic bowls at the Wildflower Arts Center. Empty Bowls is a project that calls…
This well-known portrait of Mozart isn’t what Mozart actually looked like, due to the fact that his portrait was painted only after his death and using details given by his wife. Prior to a Mozart celebration concert by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO), Kenneth Delong, music critic, and the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus gave a brief introduction…
I’m dead serious, I consider workshops to be wonderful opportunities offered by volunteer organizations. You are to able learn and become engaged in very exciting and productive topics that usually raise the awareness of global issues. These presentations have been very useful to me in the past, touching upon the issues of racism, bullying, becoming a mentor, environmental leadership…
It’s a blissful life for a writer… or is it really? Yann Martel with his novel “Life of Pi”, image credit: Jonathan Evan WordFest WordFest, in its 15thyear, is an international writer’s festival that brought many great and interactive events between writers and readers! Over 65 events occurred, such as reading, poetry and spoken word…
The Last Dog of War The Last Dog of War is the personal narrative of a relationship between a woman and her father as they venture together to her father’s last squad reunion dating back to World War II. WeiJia (my usual partner in blog) and I had the most spectacular chance to watch this…
What is it like to be the daughter of a war veteran? Playwright Linda Griffith’s narrates her personal tale of the trip she takes with her father to his last RAF bomber squad reunion. A unique one woman show narrates the war of the then and now: of one between the Allies and Nazis and…