Each season, The Banff Centre looks to continue towards establishing links with new and favourite artists in an effort to bring as wide a variety of events to the public as possible.
The 2014-15 fall/winter lineup planned accomplishes this feat with 100 public events and more than 30 free events for all ages. We’ll see a number of shows that are featuring very distinguished alumni and shows that have a relationship in being developed at The Banff Centre.
“We’re starting off with a talk with one of Canada’s most famous and distinguished architects in Douglas Cardinal (Sept. 19), and are welcoming back opera superstar Richard Marginson and his daughter Lauren Marginson on Sept. 27,” said Casey Prescott, associate director, producing.
“This is an explosion of popular opera, but also folk and jazz and pop, it’s a real sort of mix. I think there is every chestnut on the tree that you would ever want to hear and it’s going to be sung by two of the most extraordinary vocalists in the country with a very appealing ticket price, I might add.”
The Wooden Sky will launch the Centre’s Big Rock Club series on Sept. 25 in The Club. “A really awesome band and it will ignite pretty much our most popular venue and they’re going to perform with the group High Ends, so that should be a cool night where you can grab a Big Rock beer and hear some awesome music,” Prescott said.
For cinephiles, the Centre will offer up White Lies: A Film & Conversation with New Zealand’s Witi Ihimaera, conducted with The Banff Centre’s indigenous arts director Sandra Laronde.
“Witi, of course, has a wonderful relationship with indigenous programming here,” Prescott said. “We screened some of his films here last year and he is an exceptional artist and he and Sandra no doubt will have a very provocative conversation.”
In October, the Reel Time series returns the first Monday of every month, and The Banff Centre will also run its family series, launching with the Green Fools Theatre and physical theatre with Gustavo The Impossibilist.
“Certainly our family series has grown to be quite a hit with locals and there will be a pre-show craft event at 3 p.m. followed by raucous Gustavo,” Prescott said. “We’re also launching our dance series with Toronto Dance Theatre with a piece called The Eleven Accords, which was created by Christopher House, who again is one of our most distinguished alumni, and that’s on Saturday, Oct. 11 in The Eric Harvie Theatre.”
There will also be an indie band showcase on Oct. 25 that will showcase four bands working at the centre for two weeks, recording and being mentored by some of the leading musicians in the industry.
“We’re also excited to be partnering with the Mountain Film Festival again,” Prescott said. “The event will offer live music on Nov. 7-8 with Mathew Barber in The Club and Jenn Grant in The Club on Nov. 8.
Also in November, Andrew Burashko is leading a residency around smart classical arrangements with pop songs. “There will be a lot of interesting material being shared with our audience and I think it will be again some catchy and interesting performances,” Prescott said. “And of course, we’re excited to welcome back the Famous Puppet Death Scenes with the Old Trout Puppet Workshop. A big hit in 2007, we sold out three shows; if you’re a fan of the fun and the absurd, I’d say it’s a show not to be missed.”
Canadian opera star Measha Brueggergosman will perform to coincide with her latest CD launch across Canada.
“She recorded about half of it here at the Banff Centre,” Prescott said. “She will tantalize you with all of the faves and I’d like to think on a date of Nov. 29, when the Christmas season is still new, it will be a wonderful night out. She will be with a five-piece band and for anyone who saw her in the amphitheatre in 2013, she puts on a very compelling show.”
Dipping into the new year, The Banff Centre will welcome famed CBC host Tom Allen, who many people know in the valley hosts the program Shift.
“He was actually commissioned to write a cabaret by Soulpepper Theatre called The Judgment of Paris and will be in Banff with a number of interesting collaborators, including Patricia O’Callaghan, who would also be known to a number of our audience.
“It’s a romp through gay old Paris during the 1920s with lots of fun, evocative music,” Prescott said. “We’re also excited to welcome back The Canadian Brass who are going to be here on Feb. 15. The Canadian Brass who are infamously famous actually started The Banff Centre’s brass program in the ’70s and it’s been a long time since they’ve been back. They’re going to be doing a special Valentine’s Day family weekend program and I think that will be a hot ticket.”
For the Legendary Leaders series, the one and only Whoopi Goldberg is coming in for a conversation. “We think that will be a raucous night as, of course, Whoopi is one of the funniest people on the planet,” Prescott said.
The Banff Centre’s family series will continue by welcoming back Mermaid Theatre and their presentation of Stella Queen of the Snow on Feb. 14.
“We’re also welcoming back Red Sky and they’re going to present a new piece called Mistatim which is set in southern Alberta. It deals with the relationship between a child and a horse and we think that will resonate very well with our audience,” Prescott said.
“As well, our dance programming continues with the incomparable Marie Chouinard, who is returning to do a double bill on March 7; two pieces which, for a legend like her, is not to be missed!”
Friday Night at the Rolston returns with new thematic concerts within that series, with one focusing on world music in March and another focusing on classical in February, with new performance interpretations testing the conventions of what a classical musical concert should or would be.
Visit, www.banffcentre.ca for listings, dates and to visit the box office for ticket purchases.
