Last spring legendary Ontarian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith released Carousel One, his 14th studio album and one of his finest to date. Immediately, critics noticed a change in his tune. Longtime considered a perpetual sad-sack, Sexsmith’s Carousel One was filled with much more levity and bounce. The track, “Saint Bernard,” especially showed a lighthearted approach to song composition and […]
Rebecca Cohn Auditorium
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Measha Brueggergosman celebrates Christmas in Halifax
It’s coming on the holidays, and while some are putting up reindeers, others are planning a quick last-minute trip to Norway and touring the Maritimes with a preschooler and infant in tow. Though she’s touring her Christmas album (named, simply enough, Christmas), opera and classical singer Measha Brueggergosman says, “I’m not a big Christmassy person, […]
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Where I work: Ben Caplan
WHO HE IS Halifax singer-songwriter Ben Caplan is back for two 10-song concerts with Symphony Nova Scotia this weekend. He performed three songs with the symphony in 2012, “and it just whet my appetite,” he says. “This feels way more substantial.” It’s a rare occasion to see Caplan in town, so we caught up with […]
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Review: Rich Aucoin & Purity Ring, Halifax Pop Explosion
Saturday night was a bittersweet affair. While it is always sad to say goodbye to HPX, the Pop lifestyle is not a sustainable one. You can only crawl home at 3am just to wake up mere hours later so many consecutive times before it begins to take its toll on your sanity (and liver). That […]
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Rich Aucoin
Four years ago, Rich Aucoin put on one of HPX’s most memorable shows: a full-record performance of his just-released album We’re All Dying to Live at St. Matthew’s Church, featuring nearly 80 musicians and vocalists on-stage. Now he’s set to one-up that count this year with the help of Symphony Nova Scotia. “I think the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Rich Aucoin’s really REALLY big show with the Symphony
Four years ago, Rich Aucoin put on one of HPX’s most memorable shows: a full-record performance of his just-released album We’re All Dying to Live at St. Matthew’s Church, featuring nearly 80 musicians and vocalists on-stage. Now he’s set to one-up that count this year with the help of Symphony Nova Scotia. “I think the […]
Posted inArts + Music
Reverse engineering Buck 65
Seven years ago, Buck 65 and Symphony Nova Scotia delivered a legendary concert of orchestral hip-hop. They’re plotting another this weekend, and The Coast caught up with Buck 65 to chat about how he’s been prepping and if that night seven years ago can possibly be topped. How did you decide what new songs to […]
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Whitehorse in Halifax October 8
I can’t even believe I’m even typing the word “October” right now, but apparently it’s a real month that exists (lalalalala), and it’s coming. To soothe the thought of October’s brisk winds before we’ve even felt June’s balmy breezes is the prolific husband and wife duo of Whitehorse, riding in to town on a white […]
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Gimme Lisa Fischer
Talking with Lisa Fischer about singing is a spiritual experience. Both an accomplished backup singer and a solo artist, Fischer’s views on both types of performance veer close to Errol Morris-documentary-subject territory. Sure, she’s talking about singing, but she’s laying down some pretty heavy truths about life. You may recognize her from 2013’s Oscar-winning 20 […]
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Bahamas in Halifax July 21
Still soaring on the high of Bahamas is Afie and two 2015 JUNO Awards for adult alternative album of the year and songwriter of the year, Bahamas (AKA Afie Jurvanen) makes another Halifax appearance on Tuesday, July 21 at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium. Tickets are on sale Friday, March 27 at 12pm, $26.50 in advance […]
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Playing Video Games
For three evenings, Symphony Nova Scotia will forgo Beethoven, Mozart and Stravinsky in favour of Mario, Sonic and Zelda. Video Games Live features music from video games played by the Symphony and a choir, combined with lights, video screens, a stage show and interactive elements like a costume contest and Guitar Hero battle. Tommy Tallarico, […]
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Symphony NS launches 2015/16 season with a free show
Symphony Nova Scotia is putting on one of the best concerts of all the concert types. A free one. At LUNCHTIME. Wednesday, March 4 at 12:30pm at the Rebecca Cohn, Symphony NS will launch its 2015/16 season with a free lunch, door prizes, an hour long preview of the classical-packed season and a special appearance […]
