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 Nova Scotia’s Rhapsody Quintet has performed
salon music, light classics, theatre music, and chamber music since the
mid-80’s, at concerts overlooking the ocean, corporate events, charity
fundraisers and dinners for royalty. They arrange and adapt orchestral and
piano music to suit their unique instrumentation, (violin, clarinet,
cello, piano and double bass), often working with local arrangers.
The members are: Anne Rapson, violin; John Rapson, clarinet; Shimon Walt, cello; Diana Torbert, Piano and David Langstroth, Bass, all important members of Nova Scotia’s professional musical scene. Rhapsody Quintet has released four CDs to date, firstly The Melody Lingers On, (1998) featuring musical theatre songs with Leslie Lake Searle and Ross Thompson. The Melody Lingers On was featured in Bravo TV’s Nova Scotia Ocean Fantasy video, and A Fantasy in the Making, a half-hour documentary both produced by New Scotland Pictures Inc. In 1999, the East Coast Music Awards nominated the second CD Café Chantant and other Salon Delights for Best Classical Recording. Kiss of Fire followed in 2001, and was given extensive airtime on the BBC on Brian Kay’s hour long Light Programme, a very popular Sunday afternoon show in the U.K. Rhapsody’s recordings are often played across Canada by the CBC, including a full-length program on The Transcontinental. The Quintet is featured on CBC Radio Maritimes’ compilation recording, Play it Again, Stan!
Rhapsody Quintet has appeared twice as guest artists with Symphony Nova Scotia in their Traditional Pops Series, receiving rave reviews and standing ovations. They performed in Ottawa as part of the National Arts Centre’s Atlantic Scene Festival, and were featured artists on Toronto’s Music Alive series. The Quintet was honoured to be invited to perform for the re-opening of both the historic Public Gardens and Point Pleasant Park in Halifax following the devastation of Hurricane Juan, and were proud to provide the music for the Premier’s Dinner in honour of the first recipients of the Order of Nova Scotia. The Quintet has performed on the Dartmouth Community Concert Series, the St. Bernard Concert Series in Church Point, NS, at PEI’s Indian River Festival, on the Mahone Bay Concert Series and the Acadia University Alumni Series. They’ve presented The Melody Lingers On show at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium in Halifax and the Imperial Theatre in Saint John, and performed in last summer’s Bishop’s Landing Series with guest soprano Sung Ha Shin Bouey. Rhapsody also played at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the opening of HRM’s MacDonald Bridge, along with The Cottars. Rhapsody’s recordings have been used in ballet performances and professional theatre productions, including the Atlantic Theatre Festival and Neptune Theatre, and most recently, Chester Playhouse’s 2006 A Pitiful Ambition, a comedy by Lorne Elliott. The Quintet is very pleased to have been invited back for a second year with the Moncton Community Concert Series in the spring of 2007, and will be making their debut at Truro’s new Marigold Centre for the Performing Arts. Rhapsody’s CDs are distributed independently, at the Symphony Nova Scotia Boutique, at a number of local outlets, including the Pier 21 Giftshop, Mills Brothers, The Madrigal, Sam the Record Man, CDs Plus and through amazon.com.
“This is a splendid
disc…superbly played…Waltz for a princess gives just the right
shimmering glimpse of the ballroom…” (Light Music Society
Newsletter, U.K., Spring, 2005) “Rhapsody Quintet
earned a well-deserved ovation from a large audience in the
Cohn…proving that the old show tunes from the first half of the 20th
century have lots of miles left in them…it was a sit back, relax and
enjoy kind of evening.” (Stephen Pedersen, Arts Reporter, The
Mail-Star/Chronicle Herald, Halifax, June 2002) “The production…is
immaculate…Elegant, polished and set off by delicate bursts of
ironic passion, (it’s) a musical adventure from start to finish.”
(Ron Foley Macdonald, The Daily News, Halifax, February,
2000) “Lush and lovely…beautifully paced…the group brings its obvious love of performance and high calibre of playing to this nicely delivered project.” (Sandy MacDonald, The Daily News, Halifax, January, 2002)
(902)
422-5403 (phone / fax) |
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The fourth CD, Rhapsody
in Red, was recorded in the Red Chamber of Province House, Nova
Scotia’s historic provincial Legislature, and released to a packed
house in December of 2004. This recording was made possible through
the assistance of the Canada Music Fund and the Music Section of the
Canada Council for the Arts and received support from the Province
of Nova Scotia through MIANS’ Export Development Program.
Rhapsody in Red won the Best Classical Recording CD
for 2005 at the Music Industry Association of Nova Scotia Awards and
was nominated for Best Classical Recording at the 2006 ECMA’s.
