Adele has started her 2016 North American Tour! And she’ll be in Vancouver July 20, 21st, 2016.
AND I have the honour of being in her backing band for these fantastic performances! There’s only 1 French horn player, but I was lucky enough to be chosen for this great oportunity….see you all at Roger’s Arena. https://adele.com/home/
Orchestral Pow-Wow Collaboration Concert –
The Concert Bowl Stage
Every year, thanks in part to a generous Grant from the B.C. Arts Council, the Island Music Festival is able to bring in a group of performers early before the Festival so they can work together to create a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration just for the weekend. These collaborations often become life-changing experiences for the Artists involved creating new life-long friendships and musical partnerships and for our audiences, well, don’t miss the opportunity to witness such a creative endeavour!
This years collaboration leader is the amazing Cris Derksen and her (already genre-bending collaborative) group, the Orchestral Pow Wow.
Cris Derksen plays with the intensity of a young musician who’s living the dream of creating new music and getting the chance to bring live to people. At the same time, the “new music” she’s creating is based in centuries and even millenia of the Metis and Aboriginal culture across Canada. Cris Derksen’s one more living proof that the Metis and Aboriginal cultures in Canada are living traditions- thriving, vibrant and very much engaged in the modern world, and it’s a pleasure to welcome the Orchestral Pow-wow to the Festival.
For more information, go to:
I am pleased to announce that I will be teaching Alexander Technique once again at an international music academy in Quebec during the month of June. As such, Sound Being Studio, the Nanaimo centre for Alexander Technique, will be closed from June 2nd to June 19th, 2016. I am happy to answer any correspondence or questions by email during my absence. Private Alexander Technique sessions re-commence June 20th and continue throughout the summer of 2016 on a variable schedule. Please contact me for more information!
Domaine Forget is a world class music academy situated on the edge of the St. Lawrence river, east of Quebec City. The Brass & Percussion Session at Domaine Forget is designed for intermediate, advanced level students or semi-professionals, aged 15 years and over. Advocating access to different points of view by serving as a bridge between American and European approaches, le Domaine Forget offers young musicians the opportunity of benefiting from the enriching experiences of internationally renowned professors from both continents. For imformation about the international music academy where I will be teaching Alexander Technique: www.domainforget.com
Sincerely, Heather Walker
A Vancouver Opera Concert
Thursday, June 2, 2016
7:00pm
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Tickets: $25 | $50 | $75
604-683-0222
See four of Canada’s pre-eminent singers with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra and Chorus in a festive celebration of Jim Wright’s 17 years of service to VO and to the community,
Tracy Dahl • Daniel Okulich • Krisztina Szabó • John Tessier
Featuring opera excerpts by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Johann and Richard Strauss, John Estacio, and Ramona Luengen. The VO Orchestra will play selections by Johann Strauss and Pietro Mascagni and will accompany the VO Chorus in the stirring “Va, pensiero” from Verdi’s Nabucco and the “Humming Chorus” from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly.
Conducted by VO’s Music Director Jonathan Darlington.
Heather Walker is a core member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. When not playing music professionally, she teaches the Alexander Technique in Nanaimo, B.C. The Alexander Technique is an extraordinary method for learning to move with ease, efficiency and fluidity, thereby reducing pain, injury, and postural problems.
Saturday, April 23, 2016 | 7:30pm, Port Theatre, Nanaimo
GUEST ARTISTS
Scott MacInnes, Bass Trombone
VIS Symphonic Choir & VIS Children’s Choir
Patricia Plumley, Conductor
Nadya Blanchette, Soprano
Adam Dyjach, Tenor
Olivier Laquerre, Baritone
TRAD. (orch. Simard) • Carmina Burana
EDWARD TOP • Base Trombone Concerto (premiere)
ORFF • Carmina Burana
Orff’s monumental show piece for soloists, choruses and orchestra closes our season with a celebration of life’s pleasures, with earth-shaking rhythms, bright colours and thrilling sounds! VIS bass trombonist Scott MacInnes brings to life a new concerto by Marcus Goddard, and we start off the show with some revisited medieval madness. An event like no other!
When not performing music professionally, Heather teaches Alexander Technique in Nanaimo, B.C. Whether you are suffering from back pain, poor posture, stress-related symptoms, repetitive strain injuries, or many other problems, the Alexander Technique can help you. You will learn to “un-do” these habits of imbalance, tension, and inefficient use of your co-ordination and energy to rediscover poise and ease within yourself. More than a simple remedy for tension and poor posture, the Alexander Technique also changes ingrained thinking patterns and clears the way for a better quality of life. It can be used by anyone. For more information: 250-716-3464
Monday, April 18th, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver
The Progressives: Wagner’s Ring Without Words, Bramwell Tovey conductor/host
Richard Wagner
Liszt: Les Preludes
Wagner: Der Ring Ohne Worte (The Ring Without Words)
The final concert of the 2016 Spring Festival gives the last word to the Progressive camp, and the music of Liszt and Wagner. Liszt’s Les Preludes is a perfect appetizer for the Vancouver premiere of Wagner’s epic Der Ring Ohne Worte (the Ring Without Words), a breathtaking arrangement of all the main orchestral themes of Wagner’s extraordinary Ring Cycle of operas. And so the War of the Romantics ends – and though the argument may continue, the legacy of decades of some of the greatest music ever written is the most important, and forever satisfying, result.
When not performing music professionally, Heather Walker teaches the Alexander Technique to individuals who want to be free of tension, pain, bad posture, and injuries. Explore the possibility of lightness and freedom of movement using the Alexander Technique to expand your awareness. Use practical experiments to learn how to notice tightening, release muscle tension, re-establish better balance and move more efficiently. Anyone can learn to recuperate from stress, prevent undue wear and tear, relieve back pain, improve posture, and use less effort in daily activities
Performance Date: Saturday, Apr 9, 2016, 8pm, Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver
Lohengrin: Prelude Act III
Brahms (orch. Berio): Clarinet Sonata No.1 in F minor
Beethoven (arr. Mahler): Symphony No. 9 in D minor
The VSO performs the piece that started it all – the greatest music ever written, Beethoven’s extraordinary Symphony No. 9. Beethoven’s profound statement of hope, brotherhood and joy has echoed down through the centuries, and has never been more relevant and fresh.
Heather Walker is a professional french horn player. When not performing music, she teaches the Alexander Technique out of her studio in Nanaimo, B.C. Explore the possibility of lightness and freedom of movement using the Alexander Technique to expand your awareness. Use practical experiments to learn how to notice tightening, release muscle tension, re-establish better balance and move more efficiently. Anyone can learn to recuperate from stress, prevent undue wear and tear, relieve back pain, improve posture, and use less effort in daily activities.
Saturday, April 2, 2016 | 7:30pm, Port Theatre, Nanaimo
GUEST ARTISTS: Joe Trio
April’s Fool! Meet the court jesters of the classical music world; for more than 25 years, the members of Joe Trio have mixed together different music styles with wit, charm and virtuosity. Be prepared for a new appreciation of classical music as Bach meets Bond, Puccini fights with the Beatles, and other composers get decomposed as Joe Trio performs with the Vancouver Island Symphony.
Heather Walker is a professional horn player with the Vancouver Island Symphony. When not performing music, she teaches the Alexander Technique, a simple and practical method for self-improvement and self-help. With the Alexander Technique you can be poised without stiffness, move gracefully with less effort, and be alert and focused with less strain. Anyone can benefit. Reduce tension, strain, injuries, and back pain by re-educating your coordination. Breathing and speaking become easier, and movement becomes freer, lighter and more enjoyable. You can improve how you move, perform, look and feel. Please contact Heather for more information. 250-716-3464
In Italian with SURTITLES ™ projected above the stage
Saturday, March 5 • 7:30pm
Sunday, March 6 • 2:00pm matinée
Thursday, March 10 • 7:30pm
Friday, March 11 • 7:30pm
Saturday, March 12 • 7:30pm
Sunday, March 13 • 2:00pm matinée
All performances at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver. Approximate Running Time: 2 hours and 40 minutes, including 1 intermission.
In Nagasaki at the turn of the 20th century, a pleasure-seeking American naval officer named Pinkerton leases a house and marries a young geisha. He is only briefly enchanted with his “Butterfly”, but she is totally and forever committed to the marriage. When he abandons her and then, years later, returns to claim their child, Butterfly is devastated and makes a supreme sacrifice, in devotion to her ancestors. Puccini’s incomparably gorgeous opera never fails to give audiences a deep emotional experience. Directed by Michael Cavanagh | Conducted by Leslie Dala
Heather Walker is a core member of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra. When not performing music professionally, she teaches the Alexander Technique out of her studio in Nanaimo, B.C. Explore the possibility of lightness and freedom of movement using the Alexander Technique to expand your awareness. Use practical experiments to learn how to notice tightening, release muscle tension, re-establish better balance and move more efficiently. Anyone can learn to recuperate from stress, prevent undue wear and tear, relieve back pain, improve posture, and use less effort in daily activities.
Vancouver Island Symphony Education Program and Show “My Symphony”
This year the Vancouver Island Symphony’s outreach and education is continuing an integrated music program in partnership with school districts on Vancouver Island. On February 12th 2016, grade 4 students will be attending the Symphony at the Port Theatre to hear a special music education show. In addition, the Vancouver Island Symphony will be sending a musician to perform at each school prior to students attending the new show called My Symphony. “My Symphony will be introducing the musical instruments of the orchestra in a fun way to the students,” says Patricial Plumley, VIS Grade 5 Choir Conductor. “It features some of Rick Scott’s favourite music. Rick has eight award-winning children’s albums and several nominations for Juno Awards. Composer-director Nico Rhodes is doing the arrangements, Pierre Simard will be conducting the orchestra, and the Vancouver Island Symphony Grade 5 Choir will be singing along with Rick.”
Heather Walker is a professional horn player with the Vancouver Island Symphony. In January and February 2016 She will be doing musical presentations in 10 elementary schools to prepare the students for their symphony visit. She will also be performing in the education show at the Port Theatre.
When not performing music, she teaches the Alexander Technique. With the Alexander Technique you can be poised without stiffness, move gracefully with less effort, and be alert and focused with less strain. The Alexander Technique is a simple and practical method for self-improvement and self-help. Anyone can benefit. Reduce tension, strain, injuries, and back pain by re-educating your coordination. Breathing and speaking become easier, and movement becomes freer, lighter and more enjoyable. You can improve how you move, perform, look and feel.
