-The Chamber Music Festival is a great addition to entertainment in the summer at Clear Lake. It introduces culture excellence to a segment of the population who otherwise wouldn’t be exposed to it. Also, for sale it is a way to introduce tourists (??) to talented, health professional musicians, many of whom make their home in Manitoba. As a summer resident at Clear Lake and a former Manitoban, I feel very fortunate and honoured to have these musicians perform for us in the summer.
-I love these concerts. Thank you, Alexander Tselyakov for your creativity. We should have had the composition of Hammer for your Thoughts 30 years ago when we build our first house. I could relate the sounds to different stages of construction. The Sonata for Cello and Piano was truly divine. Beautiful piece of music played by 2 very gifted musicians. Enjoyed the night immensely. Thank you thank you.
Special appreciation to Dr. Tselyakov for having the inspiration for this festival and the courage to go for it.
-Friday night: Kreutzer Sonata – very enjoyable and relaxing. Excellent opener. Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor – enjoyable evening, especially Daniel. Tselyakov – again very relaxing. The Penderecki String Quartet were very enjoyable throughout the whole evening. A different setting that would be more of Clear Lake and the park would enhance the evening as well as the other 3 concerts.
-Terrific musicianship
-Rachmaninoff Sonata for Cello & Piano, Op 19 Allegro – do love it so much I want some parts playing while being proposed to!
the jazz this afternoon was mellow, romantic, stylish
-I’ve heard Debussy before, but now I love him! Thank you!
-Parking! Need a bigger venue
-A wonderful day! We came to the Jazz concert and evening performance on Sunday. Came last year, so made a point of attending again. Thank you!!
-Sunday evening: fabulous performances, great atmosphere.
-It’s a lovely holiday event. I wouldn’t normally have an opportunity to see the chamber orchestra
-It was delightful to have this opportunity at Clear Lake – definitely a highlight of my holiday. I hope these concerts continue for many years to come!
-This festival (inspired by heaven) of chamber music has given me pleasure. I will treasure (back at the cabin) the music and cadences of Debussy, Beethoven, Peters, Carrabré, Schubert. I’ll dream enthusiastically, joyfully, nostalgically of cello, bass and violin. Piano too. Please do it again.
-Intoxicating! Thank you! Thank you!
-Excellent series!! David Playfair was truly delightful! The Jazz Concert was wonderful & what a setting!! It is wonderful to have this festival in the park!!! I hope it continues. The performances by the young people were a special treat. Thank you!
-Debussy – A beautifully musical polished performance; Peters – Grt. musical thrills. Wonderful co-mingling of talented youth and master pros; Schubert – Perfect finale to a fine festival
-Really enjoyed the whole event. Would like to get flexible family ticket packages. Say 10 tickets to be used at any or all concerts. We need a benefactor to build a Clear Lake Concert Hall. The festival deserves a bigger audience.
-Excellent presentation. Room seating – obviously theatre style re various levels would be more helpful. Enjoyed comments by Mr. Carrabré re musical history of composers. Excellent program guide to artists.
-What a fabulous opportunity this is! It was a brilliant evening of music. See you next year!
-Concert 4: Wonderful jazz music and beautiful setting. Thank you to Dr. Winburn for his generosity in lending his home as the stage. The only way to improve the jazz concert would have been to have a jazz singer. There is something about the entertainment of the human voice that adds to any performance. Concert 5: Debussy. Excellent. I love it when the artists show their love of what they do in their facial expressions and body movements. Intrada: Also excellent to see the young being mentored so well by their elders. Schubert: Danke fur ?????????
Really appreciate Pat Carrabré’s commentary with each piece. It is both educational and colorful and a real asset to the whole concert series.
-The stage should be 6 inches higher or the audience should be on an angel with stage
-Concert 3. Thoroughly enjoyed the concert. As someone who likes to sing, I especially enjoyed the singer, Mr. Playfair. His rendition of “A Christmas Carol”, doing all the voice, was especially wonderful and fun. Then Rachmaninoff was too beautiful for words. Thank you.
-Favorite movement after intermission: Yuri Hooker’s tongue! Thanks for a lovely evening. Very unstuffy, very accessible.
-“A Hammer for your Thoughts” is definitely the Pink Floyd of Chamber Jazz. Absolutely excellent!
-Great evening. Check out my blog: http://myprairiegazette.transycan.net
-1. I was agreeably surprised about the acoustics – rooms of this design are often dead. However, I found the chairs less than comfortable after a few minutes. 2. The mix of new & old & varied genres was excellent, although I wondered about the Rossini in a “chamber” context. 3. The jazz concert was wonderful! Great location, perfect weather. Just the right length for Sunday aft. 4. Overall – we had a great time!
-Had someone mentioned to me they would have liked the words to my poem as an insert or separate sheet… Next year, if you select a lyricist, perhaps consider this.
-Loved the weekend. Good idea the outdoor jazz at Jay’s. We (Grant McPhail & Dale Severyn) would be happy to host again next year. Congratulations to all involved!
-Concert 4: Music and location was super. Just me but I would like more of that jazz – 2 hours rather than one. Suggestion: using the grandstand over by Clear Lake for the whole concerts would be special – rope off location – people take their own chairs – could be additional chairs – could be done but much more work. Evening was also great. Extra special to have the younger people playing – great to have this
-Totally enjoyed it! Great variety of pieces. Excellent idea to come to Clear Lake. Please continue offering this music at Clear Lake. P.S. Thanks, BU for allowing the Baldwin to travel!
-1. For people unfamiliar with the Clear Lake region – a small map identifying where the Elkhorn Resort and the Jazz concert location are would be of great assistance to people like 2 ladies I met Saturday morning in Elkhorn – they noticed the Festival poster in a shop window, immediately expressed an interest and asked themselves where is the resort and I told them how to get to the Jazz concert. 2. Free concert appeared to be less well attended than last year. Most folks who come up to the Lake have breakfast later than normal and hence the 11 a.m. start may be too early. How about 1 p.m. or 12:30?
3. Jazz location was fantastic – setting like southern plantation – would be great to provide southern drinks – mint julep, etc. We love New Orleans and the southern cuisine. Possibly would need volunteer group – might be a means of raising more funds for the Festival. 4. Intro to the Fundamentals of jazz music for novices? 5. Pat makes an excellent Master of Ceremonies – good info laced with good humor etc. 6. Congrats to Alla and the volunteers – great job!
-very moving, very passionate. Beautiful – wonderful to have the opportunity to attend
-excellent ideas, great choices. Looking forward to seeing you next year.-Congrats on Year II! Bravo! Would it be possible to do a “thrust” stage? Theatre companies often use them at rehearsal halls where the room is long and narrow, and the seating isn’t raked. It makes the setting more intimate because of the shorted proximity to the musicians. Thanks. Great show tonight!! (There is a “picture” of the “thrust” stage on the back of the comment sheet)
-Who needs to fly when you can listen to this?
-The opportunity to attend and hear such fantastic & high caliber of music so close to home was amazing. To be encouraged by Andrew (16) to attend and listen to his friends as well as not to want to miss out on the opportunity was an experience I wish all had. The venues were superb and the music top notch. Hats off to all!
-1. Congratulations and sympathy to Laurie Block — maybe we at the Brandon Clinic could “point him in the right direction” 2. Alexander and Yuri were smashing!! (Both to the ear and the eye!)
-Good music, good variety. Need to put in brochure that the concerts are inside at the Elkhorn. It doesn’t say anywhere on brochure or web. Water and drinks would have been nice outside of venue.
-Penderecki String Quartet is excellent – remarkable. Room acoustic – excellent.
-I arrived at the Saturday night concert dreading the thought of an hour of “modern music” but I found the tense, odd sounds of ”A Hammer…” quite interesting. I would not play it while driving the “Mountain Road” (357) from Erickson to Neepawa, but if calmly seated in a hall, I would like to hear it again. I’m surprised at myself.
-How fortunate we have been, again this year, to attend the chamber music festival, to listen to music of such variety and high caliber beautifully performed and in such a beautiful setting of Clear Lake. Each and every concert was equally enjoyed. The addition of the Jazz Concert was a welcome addition as were the performances given by our youth – such talent and personality. One of our highlights, aside from the music itself, were the “Intros” given by Pat Carrabre. They were interesting and informative and given with a dash of humor. Saturday am one was definitely an icebreaker for those new to the chamber scene. No doubt they may even enjoy their “porridge” more. Suggestions are to continue your good work in bringing the Festival such top grade performers and of course those from our own Brandon University Faculty of Music. Again aren’t we lucky to have them. Good luck in future concerts. P.S. Can’t resist an extra comment on Sunday Jazz concert – Four fantastic musicians in an unbelievable and picturesque setting. Imagine your baby grand piano outside on your deck overlooking the lake!! Thank you Dr. Winburn.
-Concert 1: Penderecki Quartet: excellent music. Unfortunately it was so cold in the room that it distracted from full enjoyment of the music and musicianship. No. 2 The Chopin: Father and Son played beautifully. The highlight for me was the joy and pride that father had on his son’s playing…. Concert 2: 11:00 – 12:00 What delightful snippets of music. The Rachmaninoff was so romantic it transported me away. The music teacher with her pupils was such fun and to bring it altogether was the wonderfully articulate.
-Came from Edmonton especially to attend the concert and was impressed with faultless playing of Penderecki Quartet. Kudos to the young artist, Daniel. Impossibly difficult piano demands of 3rd movement so well executed. Fine evening of first class entertainment!
…dramatic, crispy and passionately played with conviction; driving rhythmic energy. Rossini – Fascinating to hear David’s voice warm up so beautifully into big, bold, golden tones – with great period/operatic theatrics. Peters – beautiful marriage of words and music. Very spiritual transcending this too too,…even unto the rolled R in prostrate! McAndrew – cute and well done. Dickens – refreshing to hear the words sung so clearly/naturally and with conversational rhythms and lifted up nicely by Megumi. Rach. – exquisite/rapturous/glorious. Sasha and Yuri great duo. Great festival programming, terrific support from Pat. Congrats to all!
-From an audience perspective, it would be much more comfortable if your swung the set up 90 degrees. Right now, beyond the 4th row, it’s very hard to see or hear for that matter when the mike’s not used. Great music!
-very enjoyable
A wonderful weekend of great music. I hope that the festival becomes an annual event. The 1st part of the 3rd concert was fun and entertaining. Loved it!! Rachmaninoff was awesome!!!
-I especially liked the Rossini one and the Rachmaninoff one. All were wonderful! I hope this is going to be an annual event.
-Thank you for the beautiful concerts. All the performers were consummate musicians who put their hearts and souls into their contributions, which resulted in fabulous concerts! P.S. Please advise dates of next year’s series.
-The jazz was a wonderful addition this year and the venue was spectacular! That said, for me there was some tonal quality lost to the great outdoors – particularly for the bass and drums. Perhaps the sound man could work on that another year. I also thought that David Playfair was a delightful addition last night! I think variety is going to be the success of your ongoing success. And you will continue to be successful!!!
-An interesting program – talent galore. It was so nice to be able to have a program like this – close to home.
-I felt this concert was meant for me possibly “my name sake”. Add 2 more letters to the word Kreutzer and, would you believe, you have my maiden name of Kreutzeger. I am immensely enjoying the festival, performers and vocalist. A very entertaining, gifted performer. The location is perfect, lovely music. Perfect way to spend a long weekend. Keep up the porridge!
-A very enjoyable variety of pieces. Some intricate and haunting mixtures from someone who knows very little about music; only the pleasure of listening, absorbing the moods and pathways through the maze of music.
-Evening 1 – Ring side seat. Am spell bound by all musicians command of material and instruments. Evening 2 – Yes I’m amused. Voice – excellent – control and expression. Evening 2 after intermission. Rachmaninoff splendid team work. A blessing to be sure. Musical performance by artists. Beautiful. Thank you for the autobiographical comments and humour along the two performances.. appreciated. See you for evening #3.