workshops

Our Calendar of Events



EHAC offers workshops and concerts each season, creating opportunities for artistic expression and skill development. Based on a curated mix of genres and popularity, and mindful of our superb acoustics, up and coming musicians are invited to perform in our extraordinary space. Workshops are offered whenever teaching professionals visit the Bight and express interest in sharing their craft. Or perhaps an artist in residence will offer a class. Every season is different. Have a look at this season's offerings.

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Events for August 2014

  • Aug 02

    Concert in the Harbour with Tuckamore Chamber Group

    7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    7:30 pm $20

    This will be a special evening at the Arts Centre. Will a baby grand piano fit through the door, we were asked??

    You won't want to miss hearing this first ever concert of classical music in our lovely old restored church, as the Tuckamore Chamber group fill the room with chamber music on their pre-festival tour.


    Duo Concertante (Nancy Dahn, violin and Timothy Steeves, piano) and Tuckamore Festival alumnus, pianist Timothy Brennan, will present a recital of chamber music on Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 pm at the English Harbour Arts Centre. It will be a delightful evening of solo and chamber music by Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Grieg, and Scriabin.

    Duo Concertante maintain a busy touring schedule, with frequent performances across North America, as well as in Europe and China. They have appeared at Wigmore Hall (London), Carnegie Halls Weill Recital Hall (New York City), Old First Church (San Francisco), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Los Angeles), Roy Thomson Hall and the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), the Forbidden City Concert Hall (Beijing), and the Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur (Montreal). Based at Memorial University in St. Johns, Dahn and Steeves are energetic, experienced teachers who have given hundreds of master classes and workshops across Canada, in the US, and in China. Their commitment to working with young musicians gave rise to the annual Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival, which they founded in 2000 to bring together young chamber music performers with world-class artists and ensembles for an intensive two weeks of learning and performance.



    Timothy Brennan is entering his fourth year as a Piano Performance major and composition minor at Memorial Universitys School of Music and studies with Timothy Steeves. He is on the Deans List and holds the Dr. David and Dorothy Peters Scholarship in Music. Timothy holds an
    Associate Performance Diploma (A.R.C.T.) in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He is a past winner of the Senior Instrumental Rose Bowl at the St. Johns Kiwanis Music Festival and the piano division at the NL Provincial Music Festival. In July 2013, Timothy received the Dorothy Buckley Prize for the Best Performance of a Canadian Composition at the CFMTA National Piano Competition in Halifax, NS. He has participated in the Piano Master Class at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Orford Arts Centres Piano Master Class, and New York Universitys Summer Piano Intensive where he had the privilege to
    perform in Steinway Hall. This summer, he will be attending the Art of the Piano Summer Program at the University of Cincinnatis College Conservatory of Music and the International Piano Festival at the University of Florida. Timothy is thrilled to be performing with Duo Concertante in the Tuckamore Festivals Outreach Concerts in August and is looking forward to returning as a Young Artist in this years festival.


    The 14th season of Tuckamore Festival will run from August 4 to 17 in St. John's.

    http://www.duoconcertante.com
    http://tuckamorefestival.ca



    more details...

  • Aug 09

    Concert in the Harbour with The Freels

    8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    $ 20 8 pm

    The Freels are an exciting addition to the Newfoundland folk music scene and have quickly earned a strong reputation for their unique sound. Performing regularly around St. John's, the group makes use of light harmonies and solid rhythms to bring energy and life into their playing. The dynamic balance of passionate ballads and fiery dance tunes offered by The Freels promises a show not to be missed. Members include: Andrew Fitzgerald (fiddle, bodhran, vocals), Danny Mills (flute, bouzouki, vocals), Marie Peddle (fiddle, vocals), Anthony Chafe (guitar, accordion, vocals) and Fergus Brown-O'Byrne (accordion, concertina).

    more details...

  • Aug 15

    Concert in the Harbour with Morgan Davis

    8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    8 pm $15

    Morgan Davis has been on the road for 43 years, playing traditional and original blues on guitar and 3 string cigar-box guitar. Over the years he has won several songwriting awards (he wrote "Why'd You Lie?", Colin James' first big hit) as well as the JUNO in 2003 for Blues Album of the Year.

    His performances are laced with a good dose of humour and many stories about the artists and history of the blues....don't miss it !

    more details...

  • Aug 17

    Concert in the Harbour with Fortunate Ones

    8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    8 pm $20
    Fortunate Ones are Andrew James O'Brien and Catherine Allan. Their earnest blend of acoustic folk/pop and roots, bare-bones arrangements and delicately precise harmony allows for the intimate musical conversations that make their performances so special.

    Most Canadian music fans are aware of St. John's, and the hyperactive pub scene that has produced so much music and theatre over the past two decades.

    Less known is Corner Brook, Newfoundland's other city, the sturdy west coast blue-collar mill town situated at the base of a breath-taking fjord. It is a city of contrasts the town and economy is built around a huge paper mill, there are no colourful row houses or winding lanes, and it is rarely featured in the provinces popular tourist ads. On the other hand, it boasts a site rich in natural beauty, and it is the gateway to Gros Morne Park, the Islands natural treasure. In winter it becomes a city of skiers and snowboarders filling the surrounding pine-hills and valleys with the energy of outdoor sports. And above the city sits the Grenfell campus of Memorial University, home to the provinces school of Fine Arts. In the past decade, this school has become a wellspring for artistic creativity, and now Corner Brooks millwrights and lumbermen have been joined by a growing population of dreamers.

    It is this city that gave birth to the Fortunate Ones.

    During my first semester I began writing songs and performing them live, Andrew says. "Through the course of my four years, acting took a significant backseat to music. I became more and more self-conscious as an actor and had trouble believing anything I was doing or saying. Conversely, my songwriting gave me an opportunity to be entirely honest, and left me with no choice but to believe in what I was saying."

    In 2010, Andrew recorded and released his debut indie album, Songs For Searchers. Intensely autobiographical, the album is a deeply personal expression that was masterfully written with lightness and beautiful melody. Somehow it managed to capture the timelessness of Newfoundland's west coast while sounding utterly contemporary. The album was an instant local sensation. Andrew began touring heavily, drawing on the skills he learned playing in Newfoundland's rowdy pubs. He has also become a cult favorite in the UK, recently supporting acts like Sharon Shannon and Paul Brady.

    Meanwhile, his future partner and Corner Brook native, Cat, was also finding her own voice. A member of a musical family, her natural diffidence had kept her offstage while she pursued her college degree.

    "I've always loved playing music, but for the longest time it was just something I kept to myself," she says. "I would quietly play keyboard and guitar in my bedroom and learn songs by The Beatles, Hawksley Workman, Feist, etc. I really enjoyed playing, and particularly enjoyed singing, but the idea of doing that in public terrified me. When I met Andrew, he had formed a band with my brother and some childhood friends, and one night while hanging out I sang along with a couple of songs they were playing. Two days later, I sang with the band at the Ship Pub in St. John's."

    Gradually, Andrew and Cat's artistic relationship blossomed into an off-stage romance, and now they make their music together under the name "Fortunate Ones." It is an apt name, as their music is what brought them together. Now it's not just a part of their lives it is their lives.

    Cat finds that their music has offered her the chance to become something she had never envisioned.

    Performing always used to frighten the hell out of me, and still does at times. But sometimes the things that scare you the most are the things that you need to challenge yourself with and will eventually make you grow as a person.

    Just as he does in his songs, when it comes to discussing music, Andrew wears his heart on his sleeve.

    For me, music is the one unwavering constant in my life. As a medium, it is transcendental and innately powerful, Andrew explains. It was the first drug I ever took and the most powerful I've tried. One of my favorite elements of listening to great music is the physical feeling of hearing something amazing a great lyric, a beautiful melody, the cadence of instruments blending perfectly provides a joyful pang, goose bumps, tears, sweat, laughter. It is physically all encompassing. It is a feeling I live for and have lived for since I was very little.

    Now recording and making songs together, the duo will be releasing a new album later this year.

    more details...

  • Aug 22

    Concert in the Harbour with Matthew Byrne

    8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    $15 8 pm

    Matthew Byrne was born into a family of music makers from Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, and his repertoire is heavily influenced by this unique singing tradition. It is a tradition that thrives on the song the weaving of a great story with a beautiful melody and Matthew's music reminds us how satisfying traditional songs can be when stripped down to these basic elements. His live performance offers tasteful and honest interpretations of folk music delivered with polished guitar work and powerful vocals. His repertoire transcends time and place and offers a collection of traditional songs from both sides of the Atlantic.
    Matthew is also bouzouki player and vocalist for The Dardanelles a super group of young traditional players from Newfoundland who've made quite a name for themselves throughout the North American folk festival circuit in only a few short years. Since his entry into the group in 2010, Matthew has performed at numerous notable venues including the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, UK, and The Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland, Australia.
    Matthew is currently promoting his brand new album, "Hearts & Heroes", which is now available in stores and online. Visit www.matthewbyrne.net for more info.

    more details...

  • Aug 26

    Concert in the Harbour with Rick Fines

    8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

    8 pm $15

    Rick Fines is a veteran of the folk and blues circuits in North America. He is an engaging storyteller and songwriter. He won the MapleBlues Award for Songwriter of the Year, Acoustic Act Of The Year (twice), and has received eight additional nominations. His song "Riley Wants His Life Back" won first place in the blues category of 2003 International Songwriting Competition, with B.B. King one of the judges! His work with Jackson Delta (for 15 years) brought nominations from both the Juno and the Handy Awards. He has played for legendary blues piano player Pinetop Perkins, songstress Colleen Peterson, folk icon Penny Lang and many others. He toured from Newfoundland to B.C. to the Arctic last year alone, bringing his understanding of blues, finger-style and bottleneck guitar.

    Rick is currently promoting "Muskoka Moon" a compliation of original songs and is busy recording his new CD due out this year

    more details...

  • Aug 31

    Concert in the Harbour with Fergus O'Byrne and Jim Payne

    8:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m.

    8 pm $15


    Two of Newfoundland's most respected performers combine
    instrumental prowess and humorous repartee, to cover a broad spectrum of Newfoundland folk culture, including songs, stories and dance tunes. Their repertoire includes rousing sea shanties and work songs, poignant ballads, comic ditties, folk tales and recitations, and toe-tapping jigs, reels and polkas on a variety of instruments.


    Jim Payne (vocals, accordion, mandola, guitar)
    A native of Notre Dame Bay, Newfoundland, Jim Payne is a leading performer, collector and producer of traditional Newfoundland music. He is also one of the province's most prolific songwriters, as well as being a singer of traditional songs, a storyteller, writer, actor, step dancer and instructor and caller of traditional Newfoundland set and square dances. He has performed extensively on radio and television both in Canada and abroad, and has toured throughout North America, the US, Europe, Japan and Australia.

    An ECMA nominee, Jim owns and operates his own record label, SingSong Inc., which has released twenty seven titles to date featuring traditional and contemporary music that reflects the Newfoundland experience. They include recordings by legendary Newfoundland traditional musicians as well as those by contemporary folk and traditional artists.

    He has appeared in most of Rising Tide Theatre's annual REVUEs, and is also member of the Newfoundland band A Crowd of Bold Sharemen. In April 2005, along with Fergus O'Byrne, he was the recipient of the inaugural Arts In Education Award by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. He is a recipient of the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council's Outstanding Cultural Achievement Award, and teaches a course in traditional Newfoundland accordion music at Memorial University's School of Music.

    Fergus O'Byrne (vocals, 5 string banjo, guitar, bodhran, concertina)
    Fergus, originally from Ireland, became a familiar voice on radio and television as a member of the renowned folk group, Ryan's Fancy, with whom he recorded 14 albums. Since then, he has followed a busy solo and freelance career, touring throughout Canada, the United States, Europe, Hong Kong and Australia. He can be heard on recordings by Newfoundland artists Great Big Sea, and he has contributed to several anthologies of Newfoundland music. Fergus has also developed a curriculum-based school production that he tours throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

    Fergus was a member of the celebrated Newfoundland traditional band Tickle Harbour, whose album Battery Included, besides being an ECMA nominee, won three awards at the 1999 Newfoundland Music Industry Association Awards. In 2001 he produced a Ryan's Fancy retrospective CD Songs From The Shows, featuring songs from the renowned 1970's CBC National television series, Ryan's Fancy and in 2011 he produced the highly acclaimed CD Ryan's Fancy & What A Time!

    In 2004, as part of Ryan's Fancy, he received the ECMA's Dr. Helen Creighton Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes an individual who has had a profound and lasting effect on the Atlantic Canadian Music Industry. In 2010 he was awarded Music Educator of the year by MUSICNL and in 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society. Along with Jim Payne, he is a member of the Newfoundland band A Crowd of Bold Sharemen. For the last thirteen years he has produced a program for young folk and traditional musicians under the auspices of the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Arts Society and other folk organizations around the province.

    more details...



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