What if we told you that you could hear classical music outside of reruns of Bugs Bunny? The Imperial Theatre in Saint John have partnered with Debut Atlantic to bring a bit of culture to those of you who, not so long ago, were receiving their bulk dosage via Saturday morning cartoons. Their upcoming presentation of Sound Bites is geared towards young people, and hope to expose them to the oft overlooked genre.
Sure, classical music might not be for everyone, but we think we can largely divide people into two camps these days: those who have developed a serious appreciation for it, and those who refer to Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” as “The Helicopter Song.”
To entice young people to move from that second camp into a personal age of enlightenment, the Imperial Theatre are hosting Sound Bites to make the transition as painless as possible.
“Sound Bites is new this season and was created to entice young people (and all people really) to try classical music,” explains Imperial Theatre’s Assistant Executive Director Bethany Stout. “We stole the idea from a friend at a BC theatre (with their blessing). It has been a great success for them and we wanted to give it a shot.”
Sounds Bites will be performed by the celebrated, but still relatively young, Marie-Ève Scarfone on piano and Cellist Stéphane Tétreault. Also, as the name implies, the evening of music will be paired with some delicious food from a yet-to-be-revealed caterer.
“We can assure you it will be a high standard and not your typical dull cheese plate offering,” says Stout. “Not that there is anything wrong with a cheese plate! We just want to be sure that we are offering that little extra.”
“Stéphane and Marie-Ève are so wonderful and accessible. They talk about the pieces and their enthusiasm for the music is contagious. I am not a classical music fan (more indie rock) but when I heard them play I cried and thought “we have to bring them to Imperial!”
To make things that much more palatable, the shows will be broken down into a manageable 50 minutes. So not much longer than your average episode on Netflix and you get a snack. If they let you show up in your pyjamas with your cat, it wouldn’t be all that much different from what you had planned for the evening anyway.
While Sound Bites is currently a standalone performance, Stout says the theatre may consider running it as a series if the first show proves to be popular.
Sounds Bites takes place on Thursday, September 27th, 2018. The show will be broken up into two showings, with the 1st Sound Bite happening at 5:00pm featuring pre-show appetizers with the artists, while the 2nd Sound Bite happening at 8:00pm with post-show desserts with the artists. Tickets per Sound Bite are $40 for Adults or $35 for Subscribers.
Tickets can be purchased online at imperialtheatre.ca