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A Passage To India
THE JUNGLE BOOK
With the participation of narrators from the Brock University Drama Department; Virginia Reh, director
SATURDAY, MAY 2, 2009 - 8:00 P.M.
SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2009 - 2:30 P.M.
Pre-concert talk - 45 minutes prior to performance
Join the Orchestra as it travels to India through the magic of Miklós Rózsa’s narrated musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s THE JUNGLE BOOK, Rimsky-Korsakov’s famous SONG OF INDIA and other well-known 'western style' compositions. Experience the 'real' India with a special guest appearance by Indian artists. A colorful spectacle for the whole family!
Featured artists:
VIRGINIA REH
Virginia’s multi-faceted career embraces directing, acting, teaching, theatre, music theatre, opera, film, T.V. A former Artistic Director of the Gryphon Theatre and founding Co-Director of Script Lab, she has worked with the Shaw Festival, Edmonton, Canadian and Vancouver Opera Companies, Opera Lyra, Tapestry Singers, Theatre on the Grand and Shakespeare in the Square.
She directed several productions at Toronto Operetta Theatre, as well as adapting the libretto for the Canadian work Leo the Royal Cadet. Virginia is on the faculty of the Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University, where she teaches acting and directing, with a focus on lyric theatre. She has directed two DART productions in the SOS Theatre: Ring Round the Moon and Marat/Sade. She is currently in preparation for her fall production of Figaro Refigured, based on the Beaumarchais play and the Mozart opera.
Virginia has taught at the Banff Festival, Sheridan College, the Opera School at the University of Toronto, Keyano College in Ft. McMurray and at Theatre Ontario’s Summer and Youth Courses. She was drama coach and Production Manager for the Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus for 14 years and has been Dramatic Consultant to Opera In Concert for 25 years, working on over 50 operas. Ms. Reh also directs voices for cartoon and film dubbing, as well as appearing herself onstage and in film and television. A transplanted New Yorker, Virginia has been a champion of Canadian theatre, dramaturging and workshopping scripts for theatre, film and music theatre. She has worked in communities around Ontario as director, workshop leader, consultant and festival adjudicator. Virginia is a past recipient of Theatre Ontario’s Maggie Bassett Award, for her outstanding contribution to theatre in Ontario. She is particularly pleased to be working on this project with students she and her fellow faculty members have trained at Brock.
VINEET VYAS – Tabla
 Born into a family of traditional musicians and initiated into Hindustani classical music at the age of five, Vineet Vyas is one of Canada’s rising “new-generation” musical talents. A disciple of the legendary Tabla maestro, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Vyas has performed along side India's eminent classical artists such as Us. Amjad Ali Khan, Pt Rajan, Sajan Mishra, Us.Shahid Parvez, Us. Aashish Khan, Dr. L. Subramaniam and Kala Ramnath.
Now, with his industry anticipated debut CD “TAALWORKS” meaning rhythm-works, audiences have the opportunity to enjoy and explore the musicality, spontaneity, and creativity Vineet Vyas has become known for on international stages. Featuring North Indian tabla solo compositions combined with the melodic instrumentation of the cello, flute, piano, sarod, and sarangi “TAALWORKS” presents original tracks such as In the Beginning (Uthaan) inspired by the Benares gharana of tabla playing and Bring on the Rain depicting the many moods of the Indian monsoon season. “As a young boy studying tabla in Benares, I often walked along the ghats of the Ganga River where so many Hindus come to wash away their sins” explains Vyas. “One of my favorite tracks, Benares Dawns on Me tells of the clamor of street sellers, sadhus, local inhabitants and foreigners while being embraced by the underlying peace or ‘shanti’ of the Ganga River...the arrangement itself weaves everyday commotion into a journey of the mystically profound”
Bringing tabla and dance to center stage, join Vineet Vyas and Bageshree Vaze 6pm on Sunday November 18th at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto, to celebrate the launch of their new landmark album, "TARANA", a collection of songs adapted and arranged for Indian classical dance. "TARANA" is an album of 'visual music' capturing the beauty of melody, rhythm and movement in the North Indian classical tradition. This promises to be an exhilarating evening to hear and see Canada's "new generation" artists rising on the international circuits.
BAGESHREE VAZE
 Born in Pune, India but raised in Canada, Bageshree Vaze was destined to live a life influenced by different cultures. Since her early teens, she has studied North Indian classical vocal music under her father, Dr Damodar Vaze and in 2000 she began advanced music studies with one of India's foremost vocalists, Smt. Veena Sahasrabuddhe. At the same time of course, Bageshree was soaking up western pop, dance and electronica and developing her own unique musical vision. But what makes this multi talented artist really unique is her extensive training in Indian classical dance.
Completing her Arangetram (dance graduation) at 16, she has studied in India with the late Guru T.K. Mahalingam Pillai, Guru Vempati Chinna Satyam and the living legend of Kathak, Pandit Birju Maharaj, under various scholarships and awards. Bageshree is an in demand choreographer and performer known for bringing together various styles into a cohesive whole. And so it is with her music. Released in Canada in 2002, and released in South Asia by Crescendo Music in January 2004, 'Bageshree' is a bold move onto the modern world music stage. A world-class video by Flirting Vision (cinematography by Binod Pradhan) of the first single 'Deewana', had massive airplay in India, and Bageshree was named MTV India's 'rising star' for February.
Bageshree has started working on new material for a second album, and plans are underway for a second video. Last year her track 'Bhakti' was licensed for a compilation on the Tokyo-based Dakini label. |
