Les Voix Baroques to Close the Music at Sharon Festival, 7/4

The Music at Sharon Festival, under the new leadership of Co-Artistic Directors Rick Phillips and Larry Beckwith, opened with a recital featuring mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta and pianist Steven Philcox. Concerts are Sundays at 3 PM. The audience is encouraged to bring a picnic lunch, and is invited to pre-concert chats (included in ticket price) with Rick and/or Larry at 2:30 PM in the Temple. When possible, featured soloists will join in. All concerts feature a post-concert reception for the audience to meet the performers.

June 13: Ensemble Polaris: Ensemble Polaris (Alison Melville, Katherine Hill, Ben Grossman, Marco Cera, Margaret Gay, Kirk Elliot) explores the music of Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Scotland, and Canada. With their varied instruments (mandolin, accordion, fiddle, recorder, voice, hurdy-gurdy, percussion), the group will offer a mixed programme of composed and improvised material, taking advantage of the superb acoustics.

June 20: Tokai String Quartet with pianist Anton Kuerti: The quartet will perform Haydn's String Quartet, Op. 50, No. 6 "Frog," and Brahms String Quartet in C, Op. 51, No. 1. Anton Kuerti will join Tokai in Schumann's Piano Quintet in Eb, Op. 44.

June 27: Alexander Seredenko, solo piano recital: Winner of the 2009 Toronto Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, Mr. Seredenko's recital features Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 in D Minor, Op. 31 No. 2, "Tempest", and the Piano Sonata No. 27 in E Minor, Op. 90. All four Chopin Scherzi are being performed to mark the composer's 200th anniversary of his birth.

July 4 - Les Voix Baroques: Montreal's Les Voix Baroques (Artistic Director and countertenor Matthew White; Catherine Webster; Colin Balzer; Lawrence Wiliford; Sumner Thompson; Suzie LeBlanc; Tyler Duncan) sing Latin oratorios by Baroque composers Giacomo Carissimi: "Job" and "Jepthe"; and Marc-Antoine Charpentier: "Le reniement de St. Pierre". Guests include soprano Shannon Mercer and harpsichordist Alex Weimann. The temple's acoustics will be used to the fullest.

To get to 18974 Leslie Street, Sharon, Ontario, take Highway 404 north to its end. Turn left (west) on Green Lane for 1 km. Turn right (north) on Leslie for 2 km. The Sharon Temple is on the west side. There is ample free parking. General admission tickets can be purchased by calling 416 872 4255, or online at www.roythomson.com. Tickets are priced $45-$35. For more information on Music at Sharon, please visit www.sharontemple.ca/Programs/Music-at-Sharon.php.

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