Written & Performed by Bill Merryweather
Directed by Liz Clarke
Accompanied by Philippe Escayola

Friday, November 16, 2007
Saturday, November 17, 2007

Both shows start at 7:30 p.m.

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St.

Tickets: $25.00 and are available from either:

Bill
416-564-8083
fundyboy05@hotmail.com

Or

Liz
416-526-5436
liz@lizworks.com

Join Bill on a musical journey as he takes a look at Fundy Boy’s memories of Christmas growing up in rural New Brunswick and how as a gay man in his early…okay, late…forties he copes with the stress and insanity of the holiday season.

The show is a fundraiser for the Fife House Capital Campaign. Fife House provides secure and affordable housing and supportive services for people living with HIV.

NEWSFLASH … January 16, 2007 … Press Release Issued

Where:
Heliconian Hall, 35 Hazelton Lanes, Toronto

When:
Saturday, January 27, 2007 & Sunday, January 28, 2007
Both shows begin at 1:00 p.m.

Reception and Cash Bar to follow

Proceeds after expenses to support Lupus Canada (www.lupuscanada.org)

Beth Hanson, often seen accompanying soloists, ensembles and choirs like Singing OUT!, is giving two recital performances, January 27 & 28, 2007 at the Heliconian Hall, which is near Yorkville/Avenue Rd.  Each show begins at 1:00 p.m. The Heliconian Hall is a beautiful little space that seats 120 per performance – there is a fireplace, natural wood and lovely acoustics. It feels very “homey” and I am so looking forward to Beth filling the hall with music and eager music appreciators.

Details on the Programme:
Bartók: Hungarian Peasant Song #6 (based on ‘Angoli Borbála’ folk song)

Brahms: Opus 118 Intermezzos (1-6 inclusive – sample #3 here & #2 here)

Bartók: Piano Sonata (1926)

Liszt: Piano Sonata in B

Beethoven: Rondo a Capriccio Opus 129 (the Rage Over the Lost Penny Given Vent in a Caprice (sample)

Bio – Beth Hanson:
Beth Hanson hails from Thunder Bay, Ontario. It was still Fort William and Port Arthur back then. She started piano early, playing by ear the pieces her brother brought home from his piano lessons. More important, she did so dressed in her 3 year old concert attire of hockey sweater and helmet (brother’s), cowboy boots (her’s), six-shooter and holster (brother’s), and white dress gloves (mom’s). She did her best to avoid piano lessons, throwing out the group lesson application form that was sent home from school. However, soon after her clever ruse was discovered, she was conscripted into lessons at age 8 ½.  Years of ‘winging it’ (and getting away with it) brought her to Lakehead University to study with Heather Morrison, who soon had her doing Real Serious Practicing: Alexander technique lessons, ‘the ironing board technique’ and the ‘motorcycle technique’. The enigmatic figure, “Dr. ‘B’, was frequently mentioned. Dr. B, better known as Dr. Damjana Bratuz, brought a good portion of her studio with her for summer master classes where Beth was immersed in hours of piano duets, chamber music, sight reading, listening to recordings of Hungarian peasants and MORE Alexander lessons.

Emerging from Lakehead University as the first full-time music graduate, Beth continued her studies with Dr. Bratuz as she enrolled in the Masters of Music Performance programme at the University of Western Ontario. MORE Alexander lessons, plus the acquisition of a wealth of knowledge she is still pondering. After playing in a piano bar and choosing to earn minimum wage in retail in London and Toronto for a few years, she returned to Western, finished her degree while enrolling in the Bachelor of Education programme at Lakehead University. Over the years, she has entered and won Kiwanis competitions (which meant money for tuition, and a smaller student loan), accompanied instrumentalists, vocalists and choirs (Woodstock Fanshawe Singers, and Singing Out!, for example) and is presently at Huron Street Public School as a full-time music teacher – a vanishing species.

Favourite quotes by teachers and adjudicators over the years:
“do less”
“lotta notes….tough piece”
“you won’t fool anyone playing the piece like that”
“there were some unfortunate blemishes in your performance…”
“sewing machine music”

And, finally, from Dr. B herself …
“At last, Canada has a pianist.”