The Philly Fling is a beautiful summer musical extravaganza where professional and semi-professional musicians make Sooke Harbour echo with classical music. Staged at Ed Macgregor Park, the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra presents an afternoon of joyful music in the open air.
For the past 16 years, the SPO has been led by Maestro Norman Nelson and whether they perform in a concert hall or an amphitheater, Nelson conducts his musicians with aplomb and passion.
The Philharmonic Fling presents Pops in the Park on Sunday, June 13.
This year’s special guest and emcee is Sooke native Marion Newman. Newman is a mezzo soprano who has performed around the world. Her extensive repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, De Falla’s El Amor Brujo, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mozart’s Coronation Mass and Davidde Penitente, Copland’s In The Beginning, Bach’s St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Cantata No. 4.
Newman has also demonstrated her “luscious mezzo soprano voice and captivating vivacity” on television, having been featured five times as a soloist on CBC’s National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and opening the 2002 Royal Golden Jubilee Gala at Roy Thomson Hall, where she performed the National Anthem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Another feature is a young man who will entertain the multitude at intermission with some magic from his repertoire of tricks.
A world premiere is being performed, written by Adrian Dolan of The Bills. It’s a piece for two fiddlers and string orchestra. The soloists are two young prominent violinists from Victoria, Ceilidh Briscoe and Sarah Tradewell.
As usual, concert attendees are asked to bring their own seating, either a lawn chair or a blanket. You can also bring your own picnic and get there early (by 1 p.m.) to stake out your spot on the park lawn. The concert begins at 2:30 p.m. There will be food vendors on site as well as a 50/50 draw and a music quilt raffle.
If the rains threaten to dampen the spirits and the audience, the concert will be moved to the Sooke Community Hall on Sheilds Road. Ed Macgregor Park is located at 6751 West Coast Road. The concert is a family affair and is free. For more information call 250-419-3569.
The program:
Marion Newman, Mezzo-Soprano soloist/Emcee
Smetana - Bartered Bride (Dance of the Comedians)
Dvorak - Slavonic dance Op.46 (No.1)
Rossini - Naqui all’affano (La Cenerentola) - Marion
Berlioz - Le Spectre de la Rose (Les Nuits d’ete) - Marion
Leroy Anderson - Belle of the Ball
John Williams - Harry Potter Symphonic Suite
Rossini - William Tell Overture
Saint-Saens - Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix (Samson & Delilah) - Marion
Bruce Dunn - Songs of the Shamrock
Grainger - Irish Tune from County Derry (Danny Boy) - Marion
Enescu - Rhapsody No 1
Strauss - Tritsch-Tratsch Polka (Exit music)