The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

28 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday November 26, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Artscene · WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2008 By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Sign up now for guitar, bass, drums, and piano OAKVILLE'S MUSIC STORE Chamber orchestra strikes silver with Bach concertos I f you could compare music to football, the performance of all six of the Brandenburg Concertos in a single concert is like the Super Bowl. While J.S. Bach was a prolific composer, the six concertos are arguably among his most famous compositions. Oakville Chamber Orchestra is tackling the pieces this weekend, with audiences given a chance to see the players in action on both Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. "They're some of the greatest music ever written," said Charles Demuynck, music director and conductor. "Everybody would recognize some of these concertos. They're all extraordinary pieces and they are very popular. It is a big deal to hear them all at once, which isn't commonly done." A major event like this calls for some special additions to the team. Demuynck has called in several big names, such as trumpeter Norman Engel, violinist Stephen Sitarski, violist Douglas Perry and harpsichordist Ronald Greidanus. "We've hired some of the finest musicians around," said Demuynck. "Of particular interest is the trumpet solo in No. 2 and it is so high all the time. It's probably the most difficult trumpet concerto there is. We've hired the trumpeter (Engel) from Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, which is a world famous group." Regular members of the orchestra are also going to have their moment of glory. "There are 18 soloists," Demuynck said. "All of these Brandenburg Concertos have solo parts for very interesting combinations of instruments." NIKKI WESLEY / OAKVILLE BEAVER BACH FOR ANOTHER SEASON: The Oakville Chamber Orchestra rehearses on Sunday under conductor Charles Demuynck for the first concerts of its 25th anniversary season. The Nov. 29 and 30 performances will feature Bach's famous works, the Brandenburg Concertos. The Brandenburg Concertos date back to Bach's time at Cöthen from 1717-23, where he served as a court composer. During that period, he wrote a significant amount of instrumental chamber works. Bach composed the Brandenburg Concertos after performing for Margrave Christian of Brandenburg. The man was impressed with Bach and asked him to compose pieces for his orchestra. Bach made good on his promise, sending the six concertos to the margrave several years later. These works subsequently became known as the Brandenburg Concertos. While the pieces have won over audiences around the world for close to 300 years, it is unknown what the margrave thought of them. Anyone who has played Bach knows his music isn't easy. The concertos are no exception, but the community orchestra has stepped up to the challenge, according to Demuynck. "The level of playing at the orchestra is really extraordinarily high when you consider that they are not all paid $50,000 like the Toronto Symphony is," he said. This weekend's concerts mark the opening of the group's 25th anniversary season. The second set of concerts is set for March 7 and 8 and is entitled Exuberant. The concerts feature a work of the same name for cello and orchestra by Demuynck, as well as Haydn's Cello Concerto in C, Guelph composer Glenn Buhr's Jyotir (Brilliance), and Tchaikovsky's Suite No. 4. Cellist Jonathan Tortolano will be the featured soloist. See Group page 29