Music is essential to feeling and being human – everybody needs music. It builds community and contributes to a sense of health and well-being. However, the way live music concerts are traditionally offered means they are not always accessible to everyone. Led by award-winning pianist Jennifer King and Certified Music Therapist Anna Plaskett, Department Head of the Maritime Conservatory's Music Therapy Program, this series of Sensory-Accessible (formerly Sensory-Friendly Concerts) classical music concerts is designed to make classical music accessible to everyone, including autistic, neurodivergent, and intellectually disabled community members of all ages and their families, as well as seniors with age-related changes in hearing and vision that can make loud noises and bright lights uncomfortable, or for anyone with underlying conditions that can affect their sensory processing and make traditional concert environments challenging. These concerts are designed to be inclusive, accommodating, and enjoyable for everyone in a welcoming and friendly environment. They are open to the public free of charge on select Sunday afternoons at the Halifax Central Library's Paul O'Regan Hall.

Noise-reduction headphones will be available for use, as well as an adjacent “quiet room” with sensory manipulatives for audience members who need a break from the concert environment. Lighting in the concert hall will be on at a low level. Those with hyposensitivity to sound are encouraged to come onto the stage floor during the performance, where the volume is louder. Audience members are also invited to move their bodies, and/or vocalize along with the music freely. Silent hand-clapping will be used to applaud the performers after each musical selection. Trained volunteers will assist in facilitating these interactions so that family members and caregivers can relax and enjoy the performances. Parents and caregivers are responsible for those whom they bring at all times, but we hope that parents/caregivers can sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance, as well as enjoy a social environment where their loved ones can enjoy being in an inclusive and sensory-friendly musical space.

Music is essential to feeling and being human – everybody needs music. It builds community and contributes to a sense of health and well-being. However, the way live music concerts are traditionally offered means they are not always accessible to everyone. Led by award-winning pianist Jennifer King and Certified Music Therapist Anna Plaskett, Department Head of the Maritime Conservatory's Music Therapy Program, this series of Sensory-Accessible (formerly Sensory-Friendly Concerts) classical music concerts is designed to make classical music accessible to everyone, including autistic, neurodivergent, and intellectually disabled community members of all ages and their families, as well as seniors with age-related changes in hearing and vision that can make loud noises and bright lights uncomfortable, or for anyone with underlying conditions that can affect their sensory processing and make traditional concert environments challenging. These concerts are designed to be inclusive, accommodating, and enjoyable for everyone in a welcoming and friendly environment. They are open to the public free of charge on select Sunday afternoons at the Halifax Central Library's Paul O'Regan Hall.

Noise-reduction headphones will be available for use, as well as an adjacent “quiet room” with sensory manipulatives for audience members who need a break from the concert environment. Lighting in the concert hall will be on at a low level. Those with hyposensitivity to sound are encouraged to come onto the stage floor during the performance, where the volume is louder. Audience members are also invited to move their bodies, and/or vocalize along with the music freely. Silent hand-clapping will be used to applaud the performers after each musical selection. Trained volunteers will assist in facilitating these interactions so that family members and caregivers can relax and enjoy the performances. Parents and caregivers are responsible for those whom they bring at all times, but we hope that parents/caregivers can sit back, relax, and enjoy the performance, as well as enjoy a social environment where their loved ones can enjoy being in an inclusive and sensory-friendly musical space.

Join us for an evening of Canadian music and Romantic favourites with Jennifer King and Gillian Smith! Tickets: $20/adult, $10 student

Welcome to The Bessie Carruthers Study Club. It’s August 1919, and local Women’s Institute activist, Miss Bessie Carruthers of Kent Street in Charlottetown, has a very special guest for her weekly Study Club gathering: British musician, composer and renowned suffragette, Miss Ethel Smyth. While this is a fictional event, the characters are based on actual women. Bessie Carruthers played an important role in persuading political leaders of the era to grant women the right to vote on PEI. Ethel Smyth, now known as Dame Smyth, has been rediscovered as an important and significant composer of the last century, as well as a formidable voice in the work of British suffragettes. Produced by local company Pirate Jenny Productions, The Bessie Carruthers Study Club stars Suzanne Campbell as the titular suffragette with Jennifer King as English composer Ethel Smyth. Mezzo-soprano Suzanne Campbell teaches singing to students of all ages, appears as a frequent soloist around the Island, and sings as a member of the award-winning women’s vocal ensemble, Sirens, who recently won Choral Recording of the Year at the 2023 ECMAs. Halifax-based Jennifer King is a pianist, educator, host of Cecilia Concerts Sensory Accessible Concert series at Halifax’s Central Library and a recording artist. Her latest recording, O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition, was the recipient of the 2023 ECMA Classical Recording of the Yyear. Described as a “playfully thoughtful and amusing look back at women’s earlier struggles, made more appealing by the Campbell/King duo’s fine singing and King’s formidable piano skills.” (Sean McQuaid, The Buzz) The Bessie Carruthers Study Club was one of nine shows selected to be part of the 2019 Island Fringe Festival where it performed to a sold-out, standing-room-only audiences throughout the festival. Audience members of all ages enjoyed the portrayal of Bessie Carruthers and Ethel Smyth as well as the audience-participation aspect of the show. —- The Souris Show Hall Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to staging live performance events, and maintaining the 132 year old theatre in Souris, PEI. There will be a 50/50 draw at intermission in support of the hall's activities and to continue the renovation and restoration of this historic property. Ticket sales are also an important part of keeping the Souris Show Hall open and operating, as well as paying the talented artists who grace our stage. That said, we want our whole community to be able to enjoy the events at the Souris Show Hall, so if ticket price is an issue for you for any reason, please use the promo code CHEAPSEAT to save 50% on a ticket to any of our events. 10 concession tickets will be available online in advance, and 10 will be held at the door while supplies last. For this performance we are also offering a 50% discount on tickets for those under 30. Use the promo code SOURISYOUTH at check out to save on your ticket!

Welcome to The Bessie Carruthers Study Club. It’s August 1919, and local Women’s Institute activist, Miss Bessie Carruthers of Kent Street in Charlottetown, has a very special guest for her weekly Study Club gathering: British musician, composer and renowned suffragette, Miss Ethel Smyth. While this is a fictional event, the characters are based on actual women. Bessie Carruthers played an important role in persuading political leaders of the era to grant women the right to vote on PEI. Ethel Smyth, now known as Dame Smyth, has been rediscovered as an important and significant composer of the last century, as well as a formidable voice in the work of British suffragettes. Produced by local company Pirate Jenny Productions, The Bessie Carruthers Study Club stars Suzanne Campbell as the titular suffragette with Jennifer King as English composer Ethel Smyth. Mezzo-soprano Suzanne Campbell teaches singing to students of all ages, appears as a frequent soloist around the Island, and sings as a member of the award-winning women’s vocal ensemble, Sirens, who recently won Choral Recording of the Year at the 2023 ECMAs. Halifax-based Jennifer King is a pianist, educator, host of Cecilia Concerts Sensory Accessible Concert series at Halifax’s Central Library and a recording artist. Her latest recording, O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition, was the recipient of the 2023 ECMA Classical Recording of the Yyear. Described as a “playfully thoughtful and amusing look back at women’s earlier struggles, made more appealing by the Campbell/King duo’s fine singing and King’s formidable piano skills.” (Sean McQuaid, The Buzz) The Bessie Carruthers Study Club was one of nine shows selected to be part of the 2019 Island Fringe Festival where it performed to a sold-out, standing-room-only audiences throughout the festival. Audience members of all ages enjoyed the portrayal of Bessie Carruthers and Ethel Smyth as well as the audience-participation aspect of the show. —- The Souris Show Hall Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to staging live performance events, and maintaining the 132 year old theatre in Souris, PEI. There will be a 50/50 draw at intermission in support of the hall's activities and to continue the renovation and restoration of this historic property. Ticket sales are also an important part of keeping the Souris Show Hall open and operating, as well as paying the talented artists who grace our stage. That said, we want our whole community to be able to enjoy the events at the Souris Show Hall, so if ticket price is an issue for you for any reason, please use the promo code CHEAPSEAT to save 50% on a ticket to any of our events. 10 concession tickets will be available online in advance, and 10 will be held at the door while supplies last. For this performance we are also offering a 50% discount on tickets for those under 30. Use the promo code SOURISYOUTH at check out to save on your ticket!

Renowned pianist Jennifer King and violinist Gillian Smith touring along the South Shore and northern Nova Scotia.

Spanning from May 25 to June 2, their five-concert series will enchant audiences with a delightful program featuring Canadian and romantic favourites for violin and piano, along with solo violin and solo piano performances.

King and Smith have been collaborating since 2014 and earned nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs).

The tour showcases compositions by talented Nova Scotian artists, including Amy Brandon, Derek Charke, Carmen Braden and Adam Vincent Clarke, alongside works by Kevin Lau, Debussy, J.S. Bach and Eugène Ysaÿe.

King is a spirited and sensitive pianist who has dedicated over three decades to exploring classical music in the 21st century.

Her exceptional talent and artistry have earned her numerous accolades, including an Award of Appreciation from the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

Smith is a rising star in the classical music scene and has captivated audiences as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Nova Scotia.

Her album, Into the Stone, featuring compositions by five Canadian women composers, garnered praise for her exceptional skill and interpretation.

Renowned pianist Jennifer King and violinist Gillian Smith touring along the South Shore and northern Nova Scotia.

Spanning from May 25 to June 2, their five-concert series will enchant audiences with a delightful program featuring Canadian and romantic favourites for violin and piano, along with solo violin and solo piano performances.

King and Smith have been collaborating since 2014 and earned nominations and awards from the East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs).

The tour showcases compositions by talented Nova Scotian artists, including Amy Brandon, Derek Charke, Carmen Braden and Adam Vincent Clarke, alongside works by Kevin Lau, Debussy, J.S. Bach and Eugène Ysaÿe.

King is a spirited and sensitive pianist who has dedicated over three decades to exploring classical music in the 21st century.

Her exceptional talent and artistry have earned her numerous accolades, including an Award of Appreciation from the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.

Smith is a rising star in the classical music scene and has captivated audiences as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Nova Scotia.

Her album, Into the Stone, featuring compositions by five Canadian women composers, garnered praise for her exceptional skill and interpretation.

Jennifer King:

Pianist Jennifer King is known as an energetic, insightful and versatile musician who is at home as a collaborator, soloist, and speaker on the concert stage. Her performances, as they have been described in reviews of her recorded albums, are “…dramatic out-of-this-world sonic listening featuring contrasting harmonic textures. King’s sensitive performances make for moving moonlight listening.” (The Wholenote) “King creates an introspective and meditative universe, both serene and lively. Contrasted both emotionally and aesthetically, …[it] soothes and brings warmth to the cold winter.” (Panm360) And: “One can only be charmed by the calm and meditative sweetness that emanates from her piano interpretations. Modern musical language often takes us out of our comfort zone and brings with it its share of anxieties, but it can also be intoxicating when the pace quickens. There are many moments when the music reaches heights of vitality. One can say that the album breathes renewal.” (La Scena)

Gillian Smith:

Hailed as a “rising star” by The WholeNote magazine, Nova Scotian violinist Gillian Smith Gillian Smith has performed widely throughout Nova Scotia as a solo and chamber musician with Musique Royale, the Music Room Chamber Players, Open Waters Festival, Shattering the Silence Festival, and Sunday Music in the Garden Room, among others.

Her album Into the Stone, which was released on the Leaf Music label in 2019, features works for solo violin by five Canadian women composers. La Scena Musicale wrote of the album, “Gillian Smith demonstrates a great skill and mastery…magnificently appropriates Canadian repertoire”. Into the Stone was nominated for an ECMA award for Classical Recording of the Year in 2020 and has been heard on radio broadcasts across Canada and in the U.K.

Don’t miss the final performance of the season in our series of Sensory-Accessible Concerts, co-presented with the Halifax Central Library. This fun all-ages program invites you to move and groove as our host and pianist Jennifer King is joined by the multi-talented Anna Plaskett on guitar and vocals, and the expressive dance artist Véronique MacKenzie. Delight in an eclectic program featuring classical masterpieces such as Erik Satie's mesmerizing Gnossiennes No. 3, Dmitri Kabalevsky's dynamic Prelude No. 8 from his collection of 24 Preludes, Georges Bizet's whimsical “Les Bulles de Savon” from Jeux D'Enfants Op. 22, and Frédéric Chopin's enchanting Mazurka Op. 30 No. 3. The program also offers a heartwarming selection of family-favourite tunes, including the fun and timeless "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," the soothing "The River She is Flowing," Kira Willey's inspiring "Kindness Mantra," and the tranquil "Peace Like a River." Plus we will have a special musical arrangement of Nova Scotian author Sherree Fitch's timeless classic "If I Were the Moon."

FREE OF CHARGE/REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Come celebrate this year's ECMA nominees for Classical Recording of the Year, Choral Recording of the Year (new this year), and Classical Composer of the Year.

Hosted by Allegra Swanson, this FREE event is presented in partnership with Canadian Music Centre and Debut Atlantic, and will feature the presentation of these three Classical East Coast Music Awards, as well as showcases by:

Atlantic String Machine Christina Raphaelle Haldane with Carl Philippe Gionet Deantha Edmunds with the Blue Engine String Quartet India Gailey and Edward Enman Jennifer King SHHH!! Ensemble Greg Harrison with Maureen Batt Andrew Staniland with Michelle Gott