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30 - The Oakville Beaver, Friday January 23, 2009 www.oakvillebeaver.com Artscene · FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 2009 Highfalutin Baroque masterworks on program Oakville flautist featured in Bach, Handel and Boyce By Tina Depko OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF If it's not Baroque, don't fix it. That could be the unofficial motto of the Oakville Chamber Ensemble's upcoming concert on Jan. 31. The orchestra will be presenting a program rich in treasures from the Baroque era, with works by Bach, Handel and lesserknown, but just as worthy of attention, William Boyce. "I love Baroque music and these pieces work well together," explained Stéphane Potvin, artistic director and founder of Oakville Chamber Ensemble. "Baroque music is beautiful and because today we've been taught and trained to appreciate music at an aesthetic level, Baroque music fits perfectly. It is all beautiful melodies, beautiful chords and it is easy to listen to." The concert's official title is Tutti Fluti, as the flute is featured in the selected works, including Bach's (we're talking the Bach of the Bachs -- Johann Sebastian) Orchestral Suite in B Minor, Handel's Water Music: Suite in G and Boyce's Symphony No. 1 and No. 7. "These are such beautiful pieces," Potvin said. "Bach has the right mixture of cerebral and passion, Handel is very lively and Boyce is more reserved, but for an Englishman, is still quite exuberant. Most people may not have heard of Boyce, but I know him, and love his music." It takes a skilled flautist to make the complex compositions seem like a breeze to play. For this, Potvin turned to Oakville flautist Linda Morgan. Morgan has been honing her skills on the flute for more than 25 years. She has a bachelor of music from the University of Victoria and studied under several reputable flautists, including Trevor Wye and the late Geoffrey Gilbert. She has performed in different local groups, but is marking her debut with the Oakville Chamber Ensemble. "I've gone to their performances because I love their quality and type of music they play, so it is a wonderful oppor- "I also love to be able to play for the people of my community. That makes it extra special." Linda Morgan Flautist tunity to play with the orchestra," she said. "I also love to be able to play for the people of my community. That makes it extra special." Potvin has worked with Morgan before and said she is the ideal flautist for the concert. "It is easy to work with Linda and she's a very good musician," he said. "She's also very intelligent and gets things very quickly, so it is a lot of fun working with her." Both Potvin and Morgan are members of the mutual admiration society, as the flautist says the conductor has an outstanding grasp on Baroque music. "I need to be challenged as a musician and he has that level of knowledge that challenges and yet encourages at the same time, so it is a joy to play for him," she said. "And he really knows his stuff when it comes to this era of music composition." Morgan, who teaches private flute lessons and plays in a flute-violin duo called the Champagne Duo, said she loves her instrument. "The flute is the closest you can get to the voice, so it is a very personal expression of music," she said. "I find it allows me the opportunity to connect with the audience on a very intimate and personal level." Morgan has been busy preparing for the concert. She has performed the Bach and Handel in concert before, but the Boyce is less familiar to her. "I've been practicing and practicing," she said. "I love them all, but the Bach B minor suite is my favourite. But there is no perfection in music, so every time I play the pieces I learn something new. My quest is to always make it sound effortless to the audience." The works on the program are written for chamber orchestra as they were intended to be performed in intimate settings. This means the seven-member ensemble and intimate setting of St. Simon's Anglican Church, which seats about 200 people, is ideal, Morgan said. "Historically, this was performed in courts and these composers were hired to play for people with smaller courts, so these were meant to be very intimate concert programs," she said. "The whole setting lends itself to a nice, cozy feeling." Linda Morgan See Popular page 31 Stéphane Potvin Making a statement at international indie film festival Local brothers' short film Captain Coulier screening at Sundance Festival By Ryan Bolton SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Conor Casey as Captain Coulier It might star a captain, but it's really about a team. A team of Oakville brothers, actually. Oakville has produced three 20-somethings that are currently at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. Their retro-space short, Captain Coulier (Space Explorer) has Conor Casey, 27, Dillon Casey, 25, and Lyndon Casey, 22, watching their film premiere at the renowned independent film festival. The film was plucked from more than 5,600 submissions for the festival's international short films. The Oakville Beaver caught up with the three locally raised brothers before they headed off on a young filmmakers dream. "It's definitely a collaboration, like 33.3 diverse set of intergalactic characters in a per cent as far as the creative is con- spaceship. cerned," said Conor of workWhen Anthony Coulier, the ing with his brothers, who, "I knew from day ship's captain, becomes restless together, founded Taryn one getting into with the loneliness of space Leigh Films. Conor leads in this business that travel, tensions (and allegories) the film playing the aloof my goal was to be hastily arise. Captain Coulier. "It's commenting on a making movies "What is really helpful in future that never was," laughs with my brothers. the creative process is that Dillon, who plays the film's you can be really honest The fact we made pragmatic character, Fred. "It with your brother," said one and got it into looks like a television show that Lyndon, who wrote, directed Sundance is validashould have never been made." tion." and edited the film. With a maple leaf on the "You can fight with your ship's sliding doors, a multicul Dillon Casey brother, and that is really tural space crew, an overly Filmmaker helpful." British mother and an affable Set as a 1950s retroCanadian approach to foreignspace flick, Captain Coulier (Space ers, the various Canadian attributes are Explorer) is a droll comedy following a See Casey page 31