Brueggergosman returns for Bravo Niagara season
Two years after she played the Bravo Niagara! music festival, Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman will launch the 2019-20 season in October.
The Juno-winner returns for the festival’s sixth season Oct. 19 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines.
During the 2017 season, Brueggergosman anchored the Voices of Freedom series — a festival within the festival — celebrating Canada’s Black history. This time, her visit will be for an intimate recital.
The Voices of Freedom series also returns Nov. 7 to 9, curated by Celine Peterson, daughter of Canadian jazz great Oscar Peterson.
Pianist Monty Alexander will headline on Nov. 8, with Grammy-winning drummer Larnell Lewis opening for him. The show will also feature South African bass player Bakithi Kumalo and students from Laura Secord Secondary School.
The season continues Nov. 30 with a rare Niagara appearance by cellist Ofra Harnoy, a Member of the Order of Canada and fivetime Juno winner.
After a two-and-half-month break, the season resumes Feb. 14 with a Valentine’s Day show by Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Kurt Elling.
The festival’s Spring into Music series starts March 15 with a return visit from classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic, followed by the Ontario debut of the Brubeck Brothers Quartet’s Dave Brubeck Centennial celebration April 5.
The festival’s final weekend will feature From Broadway, With Love on May 2, with singers Jason Forbach, Siri Howard and Joseph Spieldenner. It’s followed May 3 with virtuoso musicians Cho-Liang Lin (violin) and Jon Kimura Parker (piano). Lin will be playing his 1715 “Titian” Stradivarius.
All shows take place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines and St. Mark’s Anglican Church in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Tickets for all shows go on sale Aug. 22 at 10 a.m. and can be bought at www.bravoniagara.org or by calling 289-868-9177.