Jennifer King, piano

We are celebrating Canada Music Week this year with a special concert on Sunday, November 27, 2:00 PM at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. This concert will be a collaborative event with the Contemporary Showcase Festival, Maritimes and we are delighted to join forces and to be able to perform in the lovely Lilian Piercey Concert Hall.

The first part of the concert will be performers from the Festival entries that are chosen by the adjudicators of that event, which happens November 20-23.

After that, our guest artist, Jennifer King, a well known pianist, educator and recording artist, will introduce and perform selections from her latest recording - “O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition.” This recording features 12 contemporary piano works, some of which Jennifer commissioned from Atlantic Canadian composers. The pieces are linked to the monthly full moons and their names in both Mi’kmaq culture and folkloric tradition. We are very excited to have Ms. King introduce us to her album Canadian music which has received a nomination for Classical Album of the Year with Music Nova Scotia.

After Jennifer King’s presentation, we will hear students of Halifax Chapter teachers performing Canadian or original compositions. We will also hear some winners of the Nova Scotia Student Composer Competition.

Please come join us in celebrating Canadian composers!

The third fall performance in our series of Sensory-Accessible Concerts, presented in partnership with the Halifax Central Library, brings cellist India Gailey together with our host, curator, and pianist Jennifer King. The pair will perform a warm and intimate program containing Dutch-Jewish composer Henriette Bosmans' hauntingly beautiful 1917 work "Arietta", Erik Satie's atmospheric "Gymnopedie" No. 3, and the airy yet intricate "Halcyon" by Canadian composer Jocelyn Morlock. Also featured is French composer Nadia Boulanger's post-impressionistic 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano I. Modere, and set of traditional Spanish songs arranged for cello and piano by the composer Manuel de Fallaas, as well as works by composers who are always audience favourites, including Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, and Antonio Vivaldi. Sensory-Accessible Concerts are designed to be welcoming, friendly, and accessible for autistic, neurodivergent, and intellectually disabled community members of all ages and their families. They are open to the public free of charge on select Sunday afternoons at the Halifax Central Library's Paul O'Regan Hall. Seating is limited, and registration is required.

India Gailey is a cellist and composer who performs most often in the realms of classical and experimental music. Named by CBC as one of 2022’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” she has been the recipient of numerous honours, including awards from Arts Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Canada Council for the Arts, and McGill & Acadia Universities. She is a member of the improvisational quartet New Hermitage and frequently works with living composers, visual artists, filmmakers, and dancers to create exploratory works of interdisciplinary art. Energetic and insightful, Jennifer King is a versatile, award-winning pianist who is equally at home as a soloist or a collaborator on the concert stage. With a career spanning almost three decades, she has established herself as a sought-after performer and recording artist in the region. She performs with many respected soloists and multidisciplinary artists throughout the Maritimes.

For tonight’s program, three of Halifax’s finest musicians bring us a program of romantic and lush music for piano trio: a brief gem from Schubert; French lyricism from Mel Bonis; and Anton Arensky’s impassioned and generously melodic Trio No. 1.

Isabelle Fournier, violin; Hilary Brown, cello; Jennifer King, piano

Franz Schubert - Notturno in E-flat major, Op. 148, D. 897

Mel Bonis - Soir et Matin, Op.76

Anton Arensky - Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 32