The Harvest of Music Festival is back with four unique musical performances over three days with styles from all over the world.
Taking place at TOSH in Qualicum Beach from Oct. 13-15, the 13th annual Qualicum Beach Harvest of Music Festival features a multicultural range of artists, including musicians from Iran and China.
Friday, Oct. 13 begins with jazz with the Roy Styffe Sextet.
Saxophonist Styffe brings a scintillating ensemble fronted by three Victoria and Vancouver-based horn players with astounding musicality.
The sextet is made up of Styffe, Kevin Elaschuk on trumpet, Liam Hockley on clarinet, Ron Hadley on piano, Rick Kilburn on bass and Buff Allen on drums.
That performance runs from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $18.
Next are two performances on Saturday, Oct. 14.
First up at noon are Ali Razmi, singing and on setar, and Hamin Honari on percussion.
These two internationally-active and highly accomplished musicians from Iran (currently based in Vancouver) will take the audience on an enchanting and memorable journey through Iran’s rich musical past as they perform moving Persian traditional songs that are rarely heard in North America.
Admission is $12.
At 7 p.m. that evening, Razmi and Honari return along with the Silk Road Duo (Qiu Xia He on pipa and vocals and Andre Thibault on guitar, perfussion and vocals), Hockley on clarinet, Hadley on piano, Kilburn on bass and Allen on drums.
This performance — a celebration of Canadian multiculturalism — will begin in the first half with smaller combinations performing a wide spectrum of selections from all over the world. The second half culminates in a mesmerizing, full-ensemble intercultural jam session.
Admission is $18.
The festival finishes off Sunday, Oct. 15 with a pair of piano performances at 2:30 p.m. The first is by Eugene Skovorodnikov, followed by a 12-year-old student of his: Lin Kai (Sunny) Zhang.
Born in Ukraine, Skovorodnikov is a winner of that country’s N. Lisenko National Piano Competition.
He undertook his post-graduate course at the St. Petersburg conservatory in Russia, and has been invited to perform at famous music halls the world over.
The Vancouver-based, internationally-esteemed virtuoso will perform an all-Chopin program.
Lin Kai, born in Beijing, has been working with Skovorodnikov for nearly four years. Lin Kai has won second place at the Canadian Music Comnpetition in 2015, first palce in the Pacific Youth Piano International Competition in 2014, and first prize at the Seattle International Piano Competition in 2017.
Lin Kai will perform works by Bach, Mendelssohn, Shostakovich and Liszt.
Admission is $18. For tickets or more information, go to havestofmusic.com, or call 250-752-6133.
— NEWS Staff, Ron Hadley