Malenfant and Campbelljohn at King’s Theatre June 9
The blues will rock the stage of King’s Theatre in Annapolis Royal on June 9 at 7:30 p.m. as two Maritime blues legends, Theresa Malenfant and John Campbelljohn, join forces for an unforgettable show.
Hailing from Dieppe, N.B., Theresa Malenfant grew up surrounded by a musically talented family. She made her singing debut at the age of 14 and was soon on stage, singing duets with the great Dutch Mason.
After many years of success, both in her native Canada and during a five-year stint living and performing in Europe, Malenfant has a number of critically acclaimed albums to her credit and 30 years of performing under her belt.
The vocal powerhouse in the tradition of Janis Joplin and Etta James has amassed an incredible career, one that shows no signs of slowing down. Her strong and powerful vocals will shake the King’s Theatre foundations.
King’s Theatre also welcomes the man with the soulful and rich voice John Campbelljohn, whose acoustic blues style and technique on either guitar or dobro lap steel is legendary. He ups the ante with an electric sound that will captivate the audience.
The rhythm Campbelljohn has set as the base for every performance is a telltale sign of his Cape Breton roots. He pulls strands from rock, reggae, roots, and pure country to weave his own brand of power blues.
Tickets are available at the box office at 902-532-7704 or online at kingstheatre.ca.
The West Kings auditorium was recently filled to capacity for the school’s first Scottish Gaelic Heritage Concert.
The concert, on May 25, was planned by the West Kings Gaelic Club and its instructor Don Hyslop. It was to raise awareness of Gaelic culture in Nova Scotia and celebrate Gaelic Awareness Month, which occurs every year in May.
The concert presented a broad spectrum of Scottish Gaelic culture and music. Performers included pipers, dancers and Gaelic singers. Students from Pine Ridge Middle School led the evening with four mouth music pieces. Sung in Gaelic, the idea behind mouth music is that if music instruments are not available, musicians can actually dance to the songs.
The 14 Wing Greenwood Pipes and Drums began its performance with a black light drum salute, which had the audience gasping in appreciation. It followed with several rousing, well-known pipe tunes. Before ending its set, Pipe Major Andrew Bruce played a beautiful upbeat solo on the Uilleann, or small pipes, to a very appreciative crowd.
Next up was the Amethyst Scottish Dancers from Halifax. This group of young women and men stole the hearts of those in attendance. Mixing highland, modern and tap dancing to traditional Scottish music, those in attendance were clapping and cheering as the dancers displayed precision choreography and outstanding athleticism in their routines.
Sixteen-year-old Nictaux resident Michael Trahan may have stolen the show with his set of brilliant solo piping inter-spaced with humorous banter between each of his numbers. His performance was amazing considering he has only been piping for three years.
The executive director of Gaelic Affairs of Nova Scotia, Lewis Mackinnon, was the final outside performer. He interspersed his Gaelic songs with stories of their historical background as well as informing the audience of steps being taken in Nova Scotia to promote and grow the Gaelic language.
The West Kings Gaelic Singers, all members of the school’s Gaelic Club, performed six numbers, doing two numbers after each of the outside performers. They also did a number at the closing of Mackinnon’s set. They closed the concert with a powerful rendition of the Gaelic song Chi Mi Na Morbheanna, which is usually played or sung at very solemn occasions.
At the conclusion of the concert, the audience gave the performers a standing ovation. On their way out of the school, many of the attendees stopped and asked Hyslop if he would make sure there was another concert next year.
Hyslop added the concert raised more than $700 for the West Kings Students’ Council to be used to help fund student activities.