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Music by Jeff Goffin Go For Baroque Saturday, April 1 Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall (U of C) If you were born in the 17th century, chances are baroque was your favourite kind of music. A few hundred years later, Calgary’s Foothills Brass is ready to re-introduce the era of corsets and powdered wigs in their new show Go For Baroque. Above all, it will be a classical concert easily accessible for anyone, as The Brass will perform selections by several baroque composers such as Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Pachelbel. "You’ll be very well entertained and most likely will recognize some of the tunes," says Ken Park, the concert director for Go For Baroque. "They are by some of the most famous composers of the era. That’s one thing we strive for is to have tunes played that people will recognize or appreciate and that’s why the Baroque period is so popular. It is a kind of music that is just nice to listen to." This is a very special concert from the Foothills Brass. Not satisfied with simply playing the music, the show will be a visual spectacle "never-seen-before" in Calgary. The Brass will wear baroque costumes designed by Dale Fea and Katharine Jepson, made specially for this event, which promise to be quite lavish and use material specially imported for historical accuracy. Chances are, if you attended a concert like this during the baroque era, listening to music would lead to dancing. While the audience at Go For Baroque won’t be asked to participate, there will be plenty of dancing. Under the direction of instructor Shirley Agate-Proust from the Alberta Ballet School of Dance, a group of dancers in period costumes will recreate baroque dances including a minuet and a gavotte. On top of all this, guest harpsichordist Christine Azad will join The Brass for special selections. According to Park, in keeping with the show being held on April Fool’s Day, the audience can look forward to comic high jinks before the concert begins. The intention is to reduce the air of seriousness surrounding classical music. The evening concludes with a candlelight reception, allowing the audience to meet all of the performers and admire their costumes. The Foothills Brass was formed in 1980. Since then Michael Thompson (trombone), Chris Morrison (trumpet), Rosalee Morrison (French horn), Philip Seguin (trumpet) and Kenton McPeek (tuba) have played their way across Canada numerous times and have made several recordings, including their latest CD Saturday Night Waltz. Their repertoire includes all colours of the classical spectrum as well as extending to jazz and country. Go For Baroque is the fourth and final show in this season’s series of evening concerts.

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