PAST EVENTS
Check out previous years' great performances!
Sophia Makela, soprano
Cheryl Emery-Karapita, piano
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 – 7:30pm
Casa Arts Centre
Introducing this year’s Primo Music Association’s scholarship award winner, Sophia Makela, earned for her outstanding performance at the Lethbridge & District Music and Speech Arts Festival! Sophia is a recent graduate of the University of Lethbridge Department of Music where she attained her Bachelor of Music Degree. Comfortable with both art song, and musical theatre repertoire, Sophia will serenade patrons with a program of Schubert, Debussy, Merikanto, and Sondheim.
Joining Sophia is pianist Cheryl Emery-Karapita. Having extensive experience with vocal operative coaching and art song, Cheryl’s career has taken her from Montreal to Europe and back. Currently a faculty member of the University of Lethbridge Conservatory of music, she maintains a successful teaching studio in addition to her collaborations with Juno nominated Luminous Voices (Calgary), and FOURtitude (Lethbridge).
2023 Centric MusicFest String Quartet
Alina Khvatova, first violin
Eva Toncheva, second violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Michael van der Sloot, cello
Thursday, July 6, 2023 – 8pm
Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
The Centric MusicFest String Quartet returns to the splendour of the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden. Enjoy curated acoustics and crystal-clear sound through our specially prepared wireless headphones as you relax in one of Lethbridge’s iconic outdoor locales.
2023 Centric MusicFest String Quartet
Alina Khvatova, first violin
Eva Toncheva, second violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Michael van der Sloot, cello
Friday, July 7, 2023 – 7:30pm
The Venue of New Hope
The Centric MusicFest String Quartet performs in the rustic and comfortable Venue of New Hope, less than 15 minutes’ drive outside of Lethbridge. Appetizers and drinks will be available for purchase.
jamani duo
Cheryl Emery-Karapita, piano
Ryan Kolodziej, piano
Saturday, July 8, 2023 – 7:30pm
Casa Arts Centre
Click here to download the event program in PDF
We are excited to welcome back the jamani duo: Jodi Groenheide (flute, percussion) and Matt Groenheide (percussion). Whether it’s groovy Brazilian, zen Japanese, or neo-classical Prokofiev, festival patrons will remember this duo for their fun, upbeat style and the variety of instruments and genres that they’re comfortable playing! Joining them are pianists Cheryl Emery-Karapita, and Festival Artistic Director Ryan Kolodziej, with several works for percussion and piano, flute and piano, two pianos, and culminating with a concerto for two pianos and percussion by French-Canadian composer Roger Matton!
Brad Parker, piano
2023 Centric MusicFest String Quartet
Alina Khvatova, first violin
Eva Toncheva, second violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Michael van der Sloot, cello
Sunday, July 9, 2023 – 2pm
Casa Arts Centre
Click here to download the event program in PDF
Our final event turns the spotlight on Lethbridge’s up-and-coming talent during the first half of the concert. After intermission, we welcome pianist Brad Parker to his first main stage concert with Centric MusicFest to perform with the Centric MusicFest String Quartet. Together, they will perform Fauré’s sublime Piano Quintet No. 1 in D minor.
2022 Concerts
Distinction
Alina Khvatova, violin
Cheryl Emery-Karapita, piano
July 5, 2022 at Casa
$5 from every regular adult ticket sold will be donated to the Canada-Ukraine Foundation for relief efforts.
Seating will be distanced and masks will be available for patrons who wish to wear one.
Our opening night concert pays tribute to the continued tragedy in Ukraine by symbolically separating the Ukrainian and Russian repertoire. Violinist Alina Khvatova, and pianist Cheryl Emery-Karapita, will perform a distinctive program of Ukrainian, Polish, and Russian music, featuring Lyudkevych, Latoshinsky, and Wieniawski, and Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Tchaikovsky.
Music in the Garden
2022 Centric MusicFest String Quartet:
Laurie Syer, violin
Eric Auerbach, violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Julie Amundsen, cello
July 6, 2022 at Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
*Tickets are limited for this event*
Centric MusicFest and the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden are partnering to produce this exclusive concert! Enjoy an evening in one of Lethbridge’s beautiful outdoor locales while your visit is enhanced with music streaming live to wireless headphones, as performed by the 2022 Centric MusicFest string quartet. This year’s quartet is composed of Lethbridge musicians, Gabe Kastelic and Julie Amundsen with visiting colleagues, Laurie Syer and Eric Auerbach. Enjoy an uplifting and soulful program of music by Borodin, Barber, Glass and Haydn. Wine, spirits and sake will be available for purchase.
*Please note: In case of poor weather, the event will be moved indoors at the same location.*
Music in Nature
2022 Centric MusicFest String Quartet:
Laurie Syer, violin
Eric Auerbach, violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Julie Amundsen, cello
July 8, 2022 at Helen Schuler Nature Centre
*Tickets are limited for this event*
The Centric MusicFest quartet will perform a second concert amongst the beauty of the Helen Schuler Nature Reserve in Lethbridge’s iconic river valley. Enjoy an evening in one of Lethbridge’s beautiful outdoor locales and while your visit is enhanced with music streaming live to wireless headphones, as performed by the 2022 Centric MusicFest string quartet. This year’s quartet is composed of Lethbridge musicians, Gabe Kastelic and Julie Amundsen with visiting colleagues, Laurie Syer and Eric Auerbach. Enjoy an uplifting and soulful program of music by Borodin, Barber, Glass and Haydn.
*The Outdoor Classroom features built-in seating but concert-goers are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or portable seating for their own comfort.
*Please note: In case of poor weather, the event will be moved indoors at the same location.*
Rising Stars / Passion of Brahms
Alayna McNeil, violin
assisted by pianists John-Paul Ksiazek & Deanna Oye
2022 Centric MusicFest String Quartet:
Laurie Syer, violin
Eric Auerbach, violin
Gabriel Kastelic, viola
Julie Amundsen, cello
with Ryan Kolodziej, piano
July 9, 2022 at Casa
Seating will be distanced and masks will be available for patrons who wish to wear one.
The final concert of our festival features the inaugural winner of the 2022 Centric MusicFest/Primo Music Association scholarship: violinist Alayna McNeil, as recommended by adjudicators and the scholarship committee of the Lethbridge and District Speech Arts Festival. She will be performing some of her winning repertoire, including works by Prokofiev, Bach, and Brahms with pianists John-Paul Ksiazek and Deanna Oye.
This concert is shared with the 2022 Centric MusicFest String Quartet, composed of Lethbridge musicians, Gabe Kastelic and Julie Amundsen with visiting colleagues, Laurie Syer and Eric Auerbach. They will be joined by artistic director, pianist Ryan Kolodziej, in a performance of Brahms’ dramatic Piano Quintet in F minor.
Join us in the heart of our community for lunch-time musical interludes – free!
Buy lunch from the Pop-Up’s lunch sponsor and enjoy your meal with live music!
Contact us with a receipt showing a purchase of $10 or more on the same day as the pop-up concert from that event’s lunch sponsor for a special discount on tickets to the July 5 and 9 concerts.
The Strike Five
July 6, 2022 at Festival Square
Omni Percussion Duo
July 5, 2022 at City Hall
Theo Lysyk, percussion
July 7, 2022 at City Hall
FOURtitude with guest, Kevin Ngo
July 8, 2022 at Festival Square
Gallery
Our Festival
Since its inaugural event in 2014, Centric MusicFest has become a permanent fixture in the City of Lethbridge's flourishing art and music scene. Building upon the success of its founder, Jesse Plessis, the annual summer classical and art music festival has grown under the stewardship of Artistic Director Ryan Kolodziej to feature a combination of local and visiting world-class Canadian and international musicians from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Read more...
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