Shadows and Light

Ensemble Polaris brings together a group of talented and experienced musicians from a wide array of backgrounds in their journey of exploration of the music of the North. Sharing this unusual and exciting journey with them on that lovely evening in Middleton took us through a repertoire of music from Scandinavia, the Baltic countries, Scotland and Canada. View the photo gallery here or read more below.

Ensemble Polaris in Middleton, Nova Scotia

This was an absolutely delightful concert of the highest calibre brought to us courtesy of Musique Royale. One of the wonderful things about it was that it was offered absolutely free to whomever wanted to experience a performance of this quality. The audience, comprised of music lovers of all ages was truly appreciative of this opportunity and filled the venue. There were many special moments, one most memorable where a small child was needed to teach Kirk Elliott how to play the violin (see the images on the gallery). I must say, he learnt quickly, catching on as soon as she told him to ‘Stick the black bit under your chin!’. No doubt this has advanced his career beyond measure! The photo gallery of this performance can be viewed here with the track “Polska Efter Byss-Calle” from their CD “Vikings on Vacation” playing over the images.

This was a wonderful evening. The musicians were Terry McKenna (guitar); Ben Grossman (hurdy-gurdy, jaw harp); Margaret Gay (cello); Jeffrey Wilson (percussion); Katherine Hill (voice, nyckelharpa); Kirk Elliott (violin, harp, agpipes, psaltery, accordion); Alison Melville (flutes, recorders, seljefløte); Colin Savage (clarinet, bass clarinet, recorders); Thanks to all of the musicians, the folks at the Evergreen and to Musique Royale for bringing us this concert. Visit the Ensemble Polaris website here.

Ellie