Music lovers in New Westminster have another season of concerts to look forward to.
The Music at Queens concert series is returning to Queens Avenue United Church for the 2016/17 season.
It kicks off on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. with a unique concert of music for two organs and four organists. Organists Suzanne Gibson Coulthard (St. Paul’s Lutheran, Chilliwack), P.J. Janson (St. James’ Anglican), Michael Murray (St. Philip’s Anglican) and Nicholas Fairbank (Victoria Conservatory) join forces for the concert, which will be played on the church’s own Casavant-Freres 46-rank pipe organ along with a Viscount Unico organ that will be brought in to the church for the occasion.
The church last hosted a two-organ concert 35 years ago, and a press release notes that it’s unique to have two organs of that size featured in the same concert.
Organ fans will also be able to enjoy a second organ concert, on Friday, Nov. 18, when the church’s organist, Rachel Alflatt, and her husband, Denis Bedard – organist at Holy Rosary Cathedral in Vancouver – team up for a concert of duets and solos.
The season also features three concerts (by donation) by the West Coast Symphony, the first on Saturday, Oct. 15, with two to follow in February and May.
Steve Maddock, well-known as a jazz singer and musical theatre performer – including a turn as Daddy Warbucks in the 2014 Royal City Musical Theatre production of Annie – will take to the stage in a tribute to the Music of the Rat Pack on Saturday, Nov. 5.
Carols and Bells, the popular Christmas concert featuring five handbell choirs, returns on Sunday, Dec. 4.
The new year also promises popular musical offerings, with the Irish Wakers set to return for a pre-St. Patrick’s Day outing on March 11 and the Lady Larks bringing their vintage swing sounds to the stage on May 27.
Queens Avenue United Church is at 529 Queens Ave., New Westminster. Tickets are available at www.queensavenue.org/musicatqueens/. Concerts (with the exception of the by-donation symphony performances) are $20 regular, $15 for students and seniors, and $10 for children.
You can also find information about the concerts on Facebook; search for Music at Queens.
