James Nelson is from Sligo in the west of Ireland. But these days he lives in Wicklow south of Dublin. That location is important when you're a member of The Celtic Tenors. It's not too far from an airport that serves as a launching pad that
The Christmas album has almost become a banal cliche. But not to Ottawa native Chris McKhool and his band of merry music makers, the Sultans of String. For these players, it's go big or go home every time out and so this season they have released
Earlier this week, I was following a Twitter discussion about the unseemly length of many classical programs. Musicians and patrons seemed to agree that more concerts of an hour to 90 minutes would be ideal, especially when the evening includes several shorter pieces. The reasons
Singer-songwriter-teacher Megan Jerome's most recent album is 2017's Ooh Aah. She will be performing her music in concert on Monday at the NAC's Fourth Stage with her mates in the Together Ensemble. Before the concert, she answered some questions from ARTSFILE about her music and her life. Q.
Much about the National Gallery’s newest European painting is not what it appears to be. It appears to be a party of well-heeled people celebrating on the grass, but it is not. It appears to be set in the period circa 1795-1799, but it’s not. It
Amy Millan has a secret. She's a committed "thrifter." On tour with her band Stars, the singer and guitarist is known to frequent thrift shops, picking up this and that for herself, her mates and her kids. It's a fun "reuse and recycle" sort of thing. And the
There have been 26 members of the King's Singers over the past 50 years. That's four groups of six plus two spares, says baritone Christopher Gabbitas, all dedicated to the idea of ensemble singing. And there is little doubt it works. The six singers do dozens of
JW Jones spends a lot of time away from his home in Ottawa. The veteran guitarist and well-known bluesman is now back for more than a break. He's performing a holiday concert at Centrepointe Theatre this week with an eye on celebrating local artists as much
Twenty years ago, the film, The Red Violin, soared onto the big screen. It starred, essentially, a musical instrument, a violin stained red by the blood of a 17th century Italian woman who was the wife of the instrument maker. There was something enduring about that violin
The Hockey Sweater: A Musical, the decisively Canadian show now at the National Arts Centre, is risky business. Co-creators Emil Sher and Jonathan Munro have taken Roch Carrier’s simple, beloved story about a hockey-mad ten-year-old boy in a post-Second World War Quebec village and morphed it
