Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC)

Supported by

RBC Foundation

Presenting Sponsor of the Alumni Gala Concert

Kun

Lecture Series Supported by

B&E Electronics

Official Calgary Airport Shuttle Service

Banff Airporter

Media Sponsors

CBC Calgary Herald
Required*
  • (Bi-weekly emails for upcoming events)
  • (emails on exhibits and public events)
  • (Festival Updates)

 


Personal information on this form will be used for the purposes of providing you information regarding events and event-related items. This information is collected under the authority of the Post-Secondary Learning Act that mandates the programs and services offered by The Banff Centre and will be protected by the provisions of the Alberta Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP).

BISQC Blog:

Paperclips and plexiglass

Posted by The Calliope Quartet
Tuesday, 24 August 2010

From Calliope Quartet, BISQC's Quartet in the Community:

Welcome to our second Callio-Blog! We had a very busy day yesterday performing in two beautiful outdoor venues. The weather cooperated for the most part, and we were able to perform in both locations.

Quartet in the Community on the shores of Lake Minnewanka, August 23, 2010. Photo by Don Lee

Our first performance was on the shore of Lake Minnewanka — the scenery there was absolutely breathtaking! We set up shop near the docks and surprised people who finished their boat tour with some great string quartet music. We played a couple new movements of Haydn, the second movement of our Bartók quartet, a Beatles tune, and a song from 'West Side Story'.

The outdoor venues offered some new challenges for us, as we had to deal with adverse wind conditions that left us struggling to keep our music on the stand and turned to the right pages.

The wind only got worse in our second venue, the Parks Administration Centre in downtown Banff. Our stands were loaded with large paper clips and plexiglass shields to try to limit our unintended page turns, but still we needed occasional intervention from Stuart! Despite these wind challenges, we had a very appreciative audience and we felt like we connected with them successfully.

We finished off our day by catching up with our friend Geoff over a beer, talking about curling, DeLoreans, and Wrestlemania 3.

One last thought: every day we look forward to the exquisite desserts in the Vistas Dining Room at The Banff Centre. Yesterday we were treated to chocolate pear streudel and Black Forest cake. Can't wait to find out what it will be today!

Schuyler and Tim

Next article: Banking with Bartók
Previous article: Have (red) van, will travel

Back to the blog… Back to BISQC

BISQC Blog Posts
Listen to the Concerts
Photo Gallery