The stars shone brightly during the Sunshine Coast Music Society's Festival of Strings at the Heritage Playhouse in Gibsons last weekend - and most were local stars.
Three young Festival of the Performing Arts award winners played along with classical guitarist Paul Pinsonnault and his two sons on Friday evening. Each of them played classical style with no electronics. The combination of Julie Rutter on flute with Pinsonnault on guitar was mesmerizing.
Dan Richter's solo performance displayed the true spirit of a teacher as he chose a program that reflected different approaches to guitar music, introducing each piece in a relaxed, engaging way and using two of his own hand-crafted guitars.
On Saturday evening, Joel Fafard of Pender Har-bour put on a great one-man show of instrumental and vocal tunes while knocking out great music on resonator and acoustic guitar and keeping the crowd entertained with his stories.
Fafard joined the next act, the Rakish Angles, for a few numbers. The four person string band with bass, mandolin, violin and guitar are truly pushing the bar higher by introducing more vocals than before. Their version of Nature Boy (by Eden Ahbez that became a hit for Nat King Cole) used exquisite harmonies, and their own compositions were professionally rendered.
Serena Eades on violin has stepped up a notch in the area of composition, and she even gave a clogging demo to accompany her music. The group's Double Kick Reel & O'Trischka's, written by bassist Boyd Norman and Eades, was another highlight.
Sunday's concert of the Grace Notes, a classical string quartet, was not as well attended as the others, but rounded off a weekend of quality music.
