Symphony’s fundraising Music Marathon a delightful day of music
WATERLOO — Seven hours of music, three cosy venues and 296 professional and amateur performers add up to a musical experience unlike any other.
The 14th annual Music Marathon, presented by the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony’s volunteer committee, will be held on Saturday at First United Church, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with musicians in three locations within the church: Hilliard Hall, the sanctuary and the chapel.
This event has always proven to be a richly rewarding day of music, but this year there is a new element.
“Special this year is because it’s Remembrance Day, we will have one concert in the sanctuary,” said the event’s convener, Catherine Duval-Russell. Last year, the event netted $15,800 for the symphony.
The marathon usually has music playing in all three halls throughout the day, but for the Remembrance Day concert, everything else will shut down and the focus placed on the sanctuary from 11 a.m. to noon, with the entire program designed to honour the fallen.
Trumpeter Arno Krause will start the Remembrance Day concert playing “The Last Post” followed by two minutes of silence and a reading of “In Flanders Fields” by David Terry. Krause then plays “Revere” and organist Kathleen King Martin performs “O Canada” on the church’s magnificent Gabriel Kney pipe organ.
The one-hour Remembrance program will also include vocalist Abdullah Rehman singing Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”
“That will be a special hour,” said Duval-Russell, adding there will also be a display of photos and memorabilia reflecting the war eras, musically.
“Whatever happens in life gets expressed in music and arts,” she said.
Most of the music for the day will take place starting at 10 a.m., in Hilliard Hall featuring the KWS Youth Strings and KWS Youth Sinfonia, performing a big program, from Handel to Vivaldi.
“They’re all very gifted,” said Duval-Russell. “They’ll be playing a beautiful program.”
At noon, the hall will be rocking with the sounds of the University of Waterloo’s Engineering Jazz Band playing a variety of music including “April in Paris” and “Birdland” under the direction of Anthony Silvaroli.
The Sanctuary will feature violinists and pianists performing Bach to Mozart, from 10 to 11 a.m.
At noon, pianist Joanne Bender and an accompanist will perform several old-time favourites such as “I’ll Be Seeing You,” “We’ll Meet Again” and “What a Wonderful World,” and they’ll perform Rossini’s “William Tell Overture.”
The day’s highlights include young composer/pianist and marathon co-ordinator Keenan Reimer-Watts performing two of his original works, “For Waterloo, No. 1 Prelude for Places Seana” and “No. 34 from Preludes for People” at 1 p.m. in Hilliard Hall.
At 3 p.m. in the hall will be the professional chamber group Amati Ensemble, playing a variety of pieces, from Bach to Vivaldi.
The chapel concert program will only run music from 4 to 5 p.m. with the top students from Stirling Music Piano Studio.