Wellington Water Week | Our Top 5!
Many Canadians visit Prince Edward County during the summer to experience its excellent wines, delicious local products, and vast sandy beaches. Wellington Water Week is one more reason to visit this scenic getaway in Ontario.
Like last year, the community is once more coming together for the Wellington Water Week. Inspired by Stockholm’s World Water Week Symposium, partnering groups in the city will unite from August 17-25 to transform the village of Wellington, Prince Edward County, into a festival celebration of music, visual arts, and environmental conservation.
Festival Players of Prince Edward County presents a series of concerts at the Wellington United Church that will include some of Canada's premier artists and ensembles, programmed by critically acclaimed and esteemed Music Director for The Canadian Opera Company, Johannes Debus and the award-winning violinist, Elissa Lee. Conservation groups, local businesses, and individuals will offer free events, exhibits, film screenings, and hands-on activities taking place at The Midtown Brewery, The Drake Devonshire, The Wellington Library, The Wellington Heritage Museum, The Festival Players Studio Theatre and other locations.
Here’s our Water Week Festival top five:
How Can I Keep from Singin'?
Saturday, August 17 - 5:30 PM - WELLINGTON UNITED CHURCH/243 Main St.
Opus 8 in concert - Eight of Toronto's finest ensemble singers offer a delightful evening of old and new a cappella folksongs, including rare works by Gombert and Marenzio as well as familiar pieces in brand-new arrangements by Director of Music, Robert Busiakiewicz. This concert has something for everyone.
Musical + Edible Promenade through Wellington
Sunday, August 18 - 3:00 pm starting at the Wellington United Church
Come for a walk through Wellington, and experience four miniature musical concerts in four different locations. This musical guided tour explores the concept of waves through sound and movement. Local plant-based chef Chris Byrne will delight you with four new edible creations to accompany each stop, paired with award-winning wine from Karlo Estates. Sanya Eng (harp), Elissa Lee (violin), Dr. Ryan Scott (percussion), Harihwawishon Joe Brown (traditional horn rattle), and Kanonhsowanen Dustin Brown (traditional water drum) will be serving up the music.
Concert + Dinner series: The Parcival Project with recipients of the Canada Council's Music Instrument Bank catered by Picnic and paired with wine from Karlo Estates
Tuesday, August 20 - 5:30 PM - WELLINGTON UNITED CHURCH/243 Main St
This concert features Montréal’s ensemble The Parcival Project and four recipients of the prestigious Music Instrument Bank from the Canada Council for the Arts. The program begins with Mozart’s clarinet quintet, one of the most beloved chamber works of all time and will end with the masterpiece “Quatuor pour la fin du temps” composed by Olivier Messiaen in a prison camp, a miraculous work that seems to transform the horrors of humanity into pure artistic and religious sublimity.
Baroque Salon "Duetto Violoncello" featuring Elinor Frey + Pheobe Carrai
Saturday, August 24 - 8:00 PM - FESTIVAL PLAYERS STUDIO THEATRE/310 Main St.
Canadian cellist Elinor Frey and celebrated performer Phoebe Carrai join together for a program of duo sonatas from the 18th century. The works bear witness to a time when the cello was becoming a prevalent and essential instrument throughout Europe. Giovanni Battista Cirri, Jean Thomas, and Giuseppe Dall’Abaco were each cellist-composers who wrote charming duets with equal parts. Violinist Hannah Tam, a multiple award-winning 13-year-old child prodigy and youngest member ever to be accepted into Philadelphia's Curtis Institute, will open for this event.
Exubérance et Nostalgie: Prix Opus Programme
Sunday, August 25 - 3:00 pm - Wellington United Church/243 Main St.
Created by artistic director James Darling for the final concert at the 2018 “Concerts aux Iles-du-Bic” chamber music festival in Quebec, “Exubérance et nostalgie,” won a prestigious Prix Opus from the Quebec Music Council for Concert. Strings, harp, and piano will animate the stage, culminating in Robert Schumann’s Quintet for piano in E-flat major, Opus 44. This prize-winning concert will close the festival with a wave of exuberance!
This exciting event features the incredible talents of Philip Chiu on piano, Sanya Eng on harp, Elissa Lee, Matilda Kaul, Kathleen Kajioka on viola, Tomas Djupsjöbacka and David Hetherington on cello, and child-prodigy, 13 year-old Hannah Tam on violin, awarded with the Audience Prize at the opening showcase “Mini Violini” of The Concours Musical International de Montréal 2019.
For more information, visit wellingtonwaterweek.org.
