A Grammy award-nominated trumpeter will return to Port Moody next week for a benefit supporting the city’s arts centre.
Jens Lindemann, an acclaimed musician formerly with the Canadian Brass, will take to the Inlet Theatre stage on Feb. 16 to perform Brassfire — a show he created while at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity to highlight the history of trumpet music: from Bach and Vivaldi to Louis Armstrong and Dizzie Gillespie.
Joining him for the Port Moody Arts Centre fundraiser will be violinist Barry Shiffman, an associate dean and director of chamber music at The Glenn Gould School who also serves as executive artistic director of Vancouver’s Music in the Morning Concert Society.
As well, Port Moody duo Shannon Gaye (vocals/percussion) and Kristian Alexandrov (piano/percussion/musical director) will entertain.
Co-organizer Valerie Simons, who is also the Port Moody Arts Centre board president, said proceeds from the gala will purchase capital items such as instruments and gallery lighting. “We have a wish list that never ends,” she said, noting the board hopes to raise about $20,000 from the gala.
Simons said when she and fellow organizer David Bassett were brainstorming last year, they thought of Lindemann’s show from 2014 when he played a world jazz concert with Gaye and Alexandrov at the PoMo ArtsFest gala.
They asked Alexandrov to tap Lindemann again “and he said, ‘Of course.’ He was such a popular draw for us and gave a really energetic show.”
A former student at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City and now professor of trumpet at UCLA, Lindemann was the first classical brass soloist to receive the Order of Canada.
Today, he plays in concert halls around the world; last week, he was in Israel for a performance.
While in B.C. next week, Lindemann will also play Brassfire with Gaye and Alexandrov in White Rock.
• Presented by TD Bank and sponsored in part by The Tri-City News, the Port Moody Arts Centre gala starts at 7 p.m. on Feb. 16 with a cocktail reception, appetizers from Christine Catering and music from Chico and Tim. Brassfire begins at 8 p.m. Audience members can meet the musicians afterward. Tickets at $125 (including an $80 tax receipt) can be bought via pomoarts.ca.
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Q+A WITH JENS LINDEMANN
1. What is Brassfire?
Brassfire is a show which celebrates all styles of music from jazz to blues to classical and Latin. Multiple trumpets are used
2. Who is performing it with you in Port Moody?
Kristian Alexandrov is the leader of the band and is a brilliant keyboard player, percussionist and arranger. He is literally one of the most talented all around musicians I have met anywhere in the world! Joel Fountain is the brilliant drummer with amazing energy and focus. Ben Harris on bass and Shannon Gaye on vocals and percussion. Shannon is also one of the most soulful R and B singers I have ever heard
3. What are some of the works you will perform? Why these songs?
The idea of the 'Brassfire' show is to dispel some sterotypes of brass trumpet in particular. The trumpet is capable of playing any stye of music and has actually been integral to more styles of music in the last 350 years than any other instrument. We will play everything from Johann Sebastian Bach to Duke Ellington's Blues, Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World to South America's Astor Piazzolla and even the Broadway hit 'Riverdance'. These tunes show a wide array of styles that all feel right when put together in the propoer order
4. Will you also be playing elsewhere while in B.C.?
The following night will be at the Blue Frog in Whiterock which will be a different setting. Smaller and intimate so an entirely different kind of experience for the listener.
5. Where else will your schedule take you this year?
My travels this year will take me to Israel, Japan, China, Germany, Spain and South America. Along with concerts all over the US and Canada, concerts and masterclasses keep me very busy. However, I must say that the beauty of this lifestyle is that it is a privilege to share music with people around the world and realize that we all have so much more in common than we may think.
