Thanks to one of my favourite little museums in the area, Hutchison House spread the word through Facebook and made me aware that today was the day to celebrate World Tourism. (Folks interested in a unique historical venue for small wedding receptions and other events should check them out at HutchisonHouse.ca) In this part of the world, there are a number of interesting festival-type events for folks touristing around, and today is nestled nicely into Artsweek here in Peterborough specifically. Overlapping nicely with that is this weekend's Culture Days featuring yours truly with The Ancient Airs Players in a small early music consort ensemble with our October Airs at Peterborough Square Saturday, October 1st from 11:30am and over the lunch hour.  

It really does seem to be the harvest season, not just for produce but for all the fertile imaginations of creative folk and their fans! Our event is FREE as are all Culture Days events, which you can find by clicking on their "Find an activity near me" with a choice of goodies to indulge in. Kid wranglers know that many schools have a P.A. day on Sept. 30th so that works out great for checking out fun stuff on the Friday.

So if you find yourself - kid free or in tow - Saturday morning having visited the Farmer's Market or needing to visit the library (which is now situated at Peterborough Square) you will find yourself serenaded by an autumn soundtrack. One might even say transported to another place and time...our gift to you as you play the tourist this week, vacation or staycation as you like. Stay downtown for lunch afterward and drift over to Millenium park for Artsweek's New Moon Afternoon which sounds like a cross between cirque du soleil and nuit blanche.

Enjoy!

​-Tori

August is a funny time for musicians to start anything.  If you're a classical music lover/liker you may already have noticed that any regular season of concerts a) is split over two calendar years and b) runs from Fall to Spring.  Mysteriously, it's been that way for many years, at least in the western classical tradition.  There's speculation as to why, but I might entertain a few of these as contributing to the truth: 

1. The tradition of patronage meant that orchestras traveled with their patrons/nobles from winter residences to summer residences, perhaps with a reduced or just different performance schedule. (historical)

2. Independent performers realized that their concert goers changed their entertainment habits in the summer... (traditional?)

3. Festivals and other one-off opportunities arise and for various reasons, attract musicians to drift where they are being held, often with great potential for networking, developing audience and other economic and musical reasons. (pretty modern)

So August, being at the end of the "off" season is a time of opportunity, preparation and "oh yeah, the Fall is coming" realization.  An elided month, if I can borrow a musical term.  So on top of some lovely gigs I recently enjoyed, such as the Annual Garden Party at Rubidge Retirement Residence (2nd time the trio played there) thanks to General Manager Ella Hewitt who appreciates the special magic live musicians can bring to an event - and a lovely outdoor wedding at the Ecology Park that we performed at as a wedding gift surprise for the bride - I look forward to the Fall and don my KYO hat in preparation for the start of their season.  

The photo here is a mini-banner about their September 8th auditions for the season - spread the word, and give me a call on the KYO cell at 705.957.8499 if you'd like to book a spot for an aspiring musician!  Or even just to find out more about the process and I can also direct you to a private teacher to help your musician prepare for it.  You can click on the photo to open the Auditions page on the KYO website.

Adieu, friends and until next time keep your horn in your face and keep blowing.

T.