June 20, 2022

SOUNDS OF SILENCE THING OF PAST AS JOYFUL MUSIC, MERRYMAKING CONTINUES CANADA DAY WEEKEND

MUSKOKA — Maestro! If you please ….

After two years of the sounds of silence (with all due respect to Simon and Garfunkel) it’s show time again.

Concert season has already begun; but the best is yet to come starting with a busy Canada Day weekend where you’re encouraged to “Take Back the Flag” and celebrate again with the sweet sounds of summer en masse and triple forte.

So dust off your lawn chair and be ready.

In south Muskoka a unique new offering to the musical landscape will be a new joint tri-town ukulele choir.

A couple dozen four-stringers have been gathering outdoors at the Muskoka Wharf Thursday nights at Coburn Square in Gravenhurst rehearsing for the big red day July 1.

They will be playing at the Wharf that Friday — with the time to be determined.

**Here’s a request? How great would it be if the ukes played the Uke-krainian national anthem?**

That same weekend, the Muskoka Concert Band resumes its bandstand return.

Friday afternoon at Bracebridge’s Bandshell, at Memorial Park, conductor Fran Harvey will bring down the baton at the cosy confines also at 2 p.m.

Harvey promises another outstanding outdoor show that’s always a popular feature of the downtown landscape.

This year they will debut two pieces commissioned and written for them through their membership with Canadian Concert Band Association.

One is entitled Once Discovered Never Forgotten, named after the G8 Summit slogan and penned by young 22-year-old composer Evan Tanovich.

And a second selection by Darron McColl entitled Muskoka March.

The Muskoka Concert Band continues its summer play list the following three Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. across the north and east of the district on a waterfront hopefully near you:

July 6 — Dwight Beach

July 13 — Port Sydney Beach

July 20 — Huntsville Docks

Also Canada Day weekend, the Gravenhurst Bifocals Band will be on the other side of town at Gull Lake Rotary Park Sunday, July 3.

After a scorching pre-pandemic afternoon performance on the Barge, they’ll be up in the more comfortable and cool gazebo, which also makes for a more intimate and enjoyable concert venue for both the band and the 40 musicians.

Join them at 2 p.m.