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OLIVIA ZOLLINO TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
A monumental performance
There are many ways to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday, but with more than 300 orchestral musicians, a 120-voice choir, a commissioned piece by an Oscar winner and a Juno Award-winning soprano, Moncton set the bar high this weekend.
Measha Brueggergosman, a Fredericton-born soprano, put on a thrilling show for a crowd of thousands at Riverfront Park on Sunday evening.
Brueggergosman was joined on stage by the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra, as well as a 120-person choir, comprised of singers from the Harmony District Choir and the Jeune Chanteurs d’Acadie.
The highlight of the four-hour concert was “Sea to Sea”, an original song written by three-time Oscar winner Howard Shore for the event, which was performed by Brueggergosman, the choir and the NBYO.
Ken MacLeod, president of the NBYO, said the event - which also featured performances by the Sistema New Brunswick Children’s Orchestra and the Moncton Youth Orchestra - was a testament to the talent found and nurtured in New Brunswick.
“I don’t think anybody could top this,” he said.
Among those in the orchestra was 13-year-old Ejub Balihodzic, who plays the French horn.
“I’m really excited, this is my first year in the NBYO,” he said. “I’ve practised every day since I got in.”
During the concert, the Capitol Theatre, in partnership with the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s Tutta Musica, announced that Mary Poppins will be the next musical production to hit the stage in February 2018.
The groups have already collaborated on The Sound of Music and Oliver Twist in the past two years.
“This is professional actors, professional orchestra, other actors and musicians from the wider community, on the great stage at the Capitol,” said MacLeod. “We’re hoping to continue with the success of the first two years of musical theatre in New Brunswick.”
Also present at the event were Monton-River view-Dieppe MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor and provincial Finance Minister Cathy Rogers.
Petitpas Taylor reminded the crowd that one of the central themes of the Canada 150 celebrations was youth.
“What better way to celebrate it than to put them front and centre so we can witness what they can achieve,” she said, gesturing to the NBYO.
Moncton is the first stop on the orchestra’s tour. The NBYO will be heading to Montreal, Ottawa and St. Andrews.
After Brueggergosman, the NBYO and the choir took their final bow, the night sky erupted into a sea of fireworks.
“This is something you’d find in New York and London and Boston. But here it is, in Moncton,” MacLeod said.
