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The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra presents What Next? Festival: Sunday, February 6. 1pm, 2pm, 3pm shows.  Advance single tickets are only available by calling the HPO box office at 905.526.7756. Single tickets will also be available at the door.

What Next? is a festival that merges new classical music with genres and mediums from folk to electronic, to video and dance installations by acclaimed artists and performers. Hear it happening.

1pm: Panel Discussion: Dissonance. Why is so much new music so dissonant? How do our bodies and our brains respond to musical sounds? Is our sense of beauty ‘hard-wired’ ? Featuring guests from the McMaster Institute of Music and the Mind, Music Director James Sommerville and festival musicians.

2pm: Kiss On Wood: Chamber music for strings by Kotoka Suzuki, John Zorn, Toru Takemitsu, and James Macmillan. A concert for strings, performed by members of the HPO. Music from around the globe, inspired by nature, pop, cartoons and zen.

3pm: The Attar Project for violin, tabla and dance with Parmela Attariwala and Shawn Mativetsky. The Attar Project, developed by violinist Parmela Attariwala combines the sound worlds of the violin and the Indian percussion instrument the tabla through both improvisational and compositional means that also incorporates dance and South Asian aesthetics. The Attar Project engages both the ears and the eyes and challenges the boundaries between musical genres and artistic practices.

Tia McGraff and The Radical Road Band: Friday, February 4 at 8:00pm. $12 / $10 artists/students at the door. With special guests: Sakoieta Widrick and Dawn Antone.  Writing and recording since the age of 19, Tia McGraff’s heart-warming songs have been garnering her strong fan acclaim from her strong beginnings. The new album, ‘Diversity’, is climbing the charts and gaining rave reviews.  Here’s one: “Diversity is a great name for singer-songwriter Tia McGraff’s new album, because …. this collection of songs will appeal to fans of Adult Contemporary, Country Music and yes even to Rock music fans. This is not a contrived recording, designed to target definite commercial markets, but instead is the natural progression of an incredible songwriter and gifted singer, who collaborates with an equally gifted arranger, Scott Brasher and is complimented by (her) husband Tommy Parham, whose guitar playing takes these songs to another breathtaking level.” Riveting Riffs Magazine
“Tia McGraff is a fantastic singer with her own vocal personality which reminds me of an early Linda Ronstadt. She is a very intuitive songwriter who knows what a song needs to make it tick. A joy to work with.” – Randy Bachman www.TiaMcGraff.com

Russell deCarle: February 3rd, 8:00pm show. $20 at the door. Russell deCarle is a founding member, lead vocalist, bassist, and contributing songwriter to the multi-platinum, Juno award winning, country roots group Prairie Oyster. www.russelldecarle.com

As a solo artist Russell has appeared on CBC TV’s Songwriters Circle, opened for Merle Haggard on his cross-Canada tour, traveled coast-to-coast with Bluebird North Songwriters’ Tour, and was a featured guest on Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Café Christmas Tour. Russell has also appeared as a guest vocalist on numerous occasions (Bebop Cowboys, Rita Chiarelli, Terra Hazelton) and has won two SOCAN Song of the Year awards.

In 2010, Russell released his long-awaited and much-anticipated solo recording “Under the Big Big Sky”. deCarle penned nine of the eleven songs and is featured on vocals and rhythm guitar.

Art and Peace Education Exchange Event: Sunday, January 30th. 2pm-6pm. $10 per person at the door. (Reserve your tickets by email apexafpak@gmail.com or call 905-544-0050).

Art and Peace Education Exchange (APEX) is a new not-for-profit Canadian organization dedicated to taking the message of peace education to the war traumatized children of the Tribal Areas and the Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. APEX Canada works towards building bridges between Afghanistan and Pakistan through Children’s Art and Peace Education exchange!

We request you and your loved ones to become part of this successful story by attending the LIVE MUSIC, ART EXIBIT, ART SALE and FOOD EVENT. You will enjoy music of the talented musicians and singers including Neeraj Prem, Lil Acevedo, Leo Johnson, Chinese Band, Jehangir Khan and many more. You will have the opportunity to meet with authors and the Afghans and Pakistanis who have experienced violence and have transformed their lives successfully. (more…)

Jazz Connection Big Band: Friday, January 28. Doors at 8:30, jazz at 9:00 $15 at the door: They’re back and are gaining a bigger audience every time they play The Pearl! Made up of talented musicians from all over southwestern Ontario, the Jazz Connection Big Band is a 20-piece band dedicated to playing great, straight-ahead jazz. The JCBB, carrying us once again into the cool space of surround sound big band music! http://www.jazzconnection.ca

The Jazz Duo of Anne Power and Paul Taylor: Saturday, January 29. 8:00pm $15 / $10 Students/Artists: Anne Power jazz singer extraordinaire, with Paul Taylor, one of the finest jazz pianists in the area and an exceptional entertainer.  Paul has played various jazz festivals receiving much publicity on TV and radio.  The duo plays a mix of  jazz standards and original material.

AKA Jazz: Jazz/Rock/Fusion. Saturday, January 22, 8:00. $15 at the door. Adam Rawski – Guitar, Kilian Bamberg – Bass, Anthony D’angela – Drums. These three men in their 30’s gigged regularly under this name in Hamilton some ten years ago, then went their separate ways, joining up again in 2009. They are now moving away from the same old jazz standards pile, working up jazz/rock material, some covers, some original work…
Adam Rawski’s musical background is founded in the European classical guitar discipline but he feels at home in just about any idiom and setting. His playing style can be described in one word: eclectic. Inspired initially by Eric Clapton and Lee Ritenour, he has soaked up musical knowledge from many sources and has fused all the diverse elements into his own musical persona.
Bass player Kilian Bamberg, born in Berlin, Germany, began his musical career in the theatre. When Kilian came to Canada in the mid-nineties, he studied jazz bass at Mohawk College. While finishing his diploma, he became a member of this area’s jazz community and since then, has become one of the most heavily booked bass players in the Hamilton area.  www.reverbnation.com/akajazz#!

Spanjazz: Friday, January 21, 8:00. $15 at the door. Gary Santucci’s exciting world-beat jazz quartet with Jordan Abraham, keyboards, Kilian Bamberg, bass, Dave Jones, drums.
Bass player Kilian Bamberg, plays with Gary Santucci in Spanjazz but also has his own quartet (See AKAJazz below) Come see why he is one of the most heavily booked bass players in the Hamilton area.
We’re assuming that you already know about composer/guitarist Gary, co-owner of The Pearl… So let’s talk about Jordan Abraham, a passionate producer, an intuitive engineer, an accomplished musician, and an effective communicator through many mediums.  You’ve also seen him as the incredible accordionist in Zarabanda, again, with Gary Santucci.
Dave Jones has been the highly capable drummer for a number of Hamilton bands.  He’s another of those musicians who never stop working!

Lauren Best “Sticker Collection” Album Release: Saturday, January 15th, 8:00PM show, tickets $10 at the door, $8 in advance, $5 students. Self-producing her first album Sticker Collection with associate producers Tyler Wagler and Adam Hall, Lauren wrote all 12 songs by the time she was 17 years of age. She is backed on the recording by such acclaimed players as pianist/organist Michael Fonfara (Downchild Blues Band, Lou Reed), saxophonist Colleen Allen (Ani Di Franco, Anne Murray, Holly Cole) and award-winning jazz drummer Archie Alleyne. Accompanying herself on piano as well, Lauren’s alt-pop reveals a quirky and remarkably self-assured singer-songwriter, who skilfully draws from a wealth of diverse influences.

Recently back from her German tour, E-1 Recording Artist Melissa Bel will delight the crowd with her ultra-smooth vocal delivery.

Then, three-time Hamilton Music Awards Nominee Shelley Adams takes your breath away with her whimsical songs.

Lauren Best caps off this songstress celebration with a feature-set live performance of songs from the new recording. www.laurenbest.com

Cinema Insieme presents the controversial classic film  “Swept Away” (Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto) Monday, January 17, 7:00 p.m. Admission $10. A film by Lina Wertmüller starring Mariangela Melato & Giancarlo Giannini

Come see what happens when a rich, capitalist snob from Northern Italy is marooned on an island with a poor, communist chauvinist from Southern Italy. Reception and discussion following Film. Film is in Italian with English subtitles