Tag: Spain

Folk Concert 2014 – Cantar! Concert Roundup

On Saturday evening, we had our annual Folk Music Concert. This year, in honour of our tour last summer to Spain, we featured Spanish folk songs! We were thrilled to have Anastassiia Moussatova perform some amazing flamenco dance for us, and we were also very excited to have Brent Van Dusen on percussion, Michael Boyle on flamenco guitar, and our very own CCC alum Jessica Lutzak as a guest soloist! The evening was emceed by our wonderful Creative Consultant, Kat Long.

We began our day with a 10:00 dress rehearsal at the Rozsa Centre.

We came back at 6:00 that evening for a dress rehearsal, and then it was time for the concert!

(photography by Brieannah Mollison-Read)

We had so much fun at our Folk Music Concert! Thank-you so much to every one who came out to see us!

Tell us, what was your favourite part of the concert?

March 10, 2014
Flamenco Guitar

Continuing our posts about Spanish music, and in particular the Flamenco style from the Andalusian region, in today’s post we will be looking at the flamenco guitar!

The Flamenco guitar is quite similar to a classical guitar, in its structure, and sound. There are subtle differences, however, including the use of lighter woods than classical guitar, so that the top portion of the guitar plays with a ‘brighter’ sound. This is especially important for the more percussive section of Flamenco, when the guitar player taps the top of the guitar in time with the dancing! Flamenco guitars often have a section on top of the guitar that allows the guitarist to make these percussive sounds.

In general, flamenco guitars are constructed using harder woods. As well, their strings are not meant to sustain notes as well as classical guitars. This is because of the speed of flamenco, and its rhythmic quality. A lighter, faster guitar means that the flamenco music sounds crisp and patterned!

Have you ever heard flamenco guitar? What did you think?

March 3, 2014
Flamenco!

As our Spanish folk concert approaches, we are getting very excited about many of the interesting elements of Spanish culture that our touring choir experienced on our recent trip to Spain. One of those elements was the Spanish tradition of Flamenco!

Many people associate Flamenco with a style of dance, but that’s just one aspect of it. Flamenco comes from the Andalusian region of Spain and it incorporates singing, dancing, guitar playing, and hand-clapping! It is a form of Spanish folk music, that is often associated with the Romani people of Spain.

Stylistic features of the dance aspect of Flamenco include, stamping of feet, hand-clapping, and great use of both the arms and feet. It is a very passionate and exciting form of dance!

The musical aspect of Flamenco is very interesting, because it is modal. Flamenco generally uses the Phrygian mode. The music is often structured as a set of verses, interspersed with guitar solos. In Flamenco recitals, these solos can also be accompanied by the Flamenco dance. Thus, there is a great deal of room for variety, and improvisation in Flamenco!

Have you ever seen Flamenco? What did you think?

February 24, 2014
All Too Soon

We started our day at 9:00 in the morning, when we got on our tour bus to go to the El Prado Museum. We were all very excited because we had learned a bit about some of the paintings during our rehearsals in Calgary. While we were there, we all got to see some really interesting painted master pieces and detailed sculptures. Most of us got a few things from the gift shop and then we all headed out for lunch.

We walked to a little bistro in down town Madrid; some of us tried something a little different and got gazpacho (a cold vegetable soup that is a traditional dish in Spain), along with our choice of sandwich and drink. Then we had roughly three hours to wander around exploring and get that ‘shopping bug’ out of our system, or we could stay at the hotel and rest.

Later on in the evening all of the choristers got all dressed up (Yay! No uniforms!), and gathered in a room in the hotel to do a small skit night, and present chaperone gifts and a gift for our lovely guide, Adriana Matich. It quickly turned very sentimental when the choir sang one of our favourite pieces, All Too Soon for all of the choristers who wouldn’t be returning to choir next year.

After we had composed ourselves, we walked to Tablao Villa-Rosa for a nice celebratory dinner, and a flamenco show! Dinner was another traditional Spanish dish; paella, and it was delicious! Then we were treated to an AMAZING show. Three very talented dancers (2 female 1 male), an amazing traditional Spanish singer, and a fabulous guitar player were all part of the act. The costumes that they wore were very authentic, and one of the female dancers was sweating so hard during her piece that her eye makeup was running in rivers down her cheeks. Every single one of the dancers, and especially the singer, were so very passionate in their performance; they were truly singing (and dancing) for the joy of it!

We are all sad to leave Spain and end this amazing choir tour. We have all had a truly wonderful time full of fun, friends, and beautiful music! We are looking forward to a safe trip home, and are very excited to see our families!

– Kyla Fradette, Emma Kostynuik, Megan Link, Heather Louden

July 10, 2013