Zerf Productions
StiLLE Nag Review
The annual Stille Nag concert was held at St. Ansgar's Church on Saturday evening, January 31, 2010. The concert started with the Bells of St. Ansgar's ringing Silent Night, under the direction of Thomas Leslie, music director of St. Ansgar's. It was a magical evening and Pastor Samuel King-Kabu had some words of welcome for the audience, who braved the frigid weather. The theme of the evening was 'night'.
Buck Delaney and Mario Bard sang a beautiful duet, Star of Wonder, by T. Roche, followed by the ensemble singing Ave Verum by W. A. Mozart. Beverly McGuire, soprano, and Johanne Patry, mezzo, sang Belle Nuit (from les contes d'Hoffman) by J. Offenbach followed by Eric Legault, bass-baritone, singing Scintille Diamant (also from les contes d'Hoffman).
Aliza Thibodeau, violin, and Wilhelmina Tiemersma, organ played the lyrical Andante Cantabile (from string quartet #1, Op. 11) by P. Tchaikovsky. Everyone was mesmerized!
Next Colleen Bartley, soprano, sang Song to the Moon (from Rusalka) by A. Dvořák, followed by baritone Peter Blair singing the Nightmare Song(from Iolanthe) by Gilbert & Sullivan. Music director and tenor, Thomas Leslie sang Total Eclipse (from Samson) by G. F. Handel.
A rousing version of Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen was sung by the ensemble before the freewill offering, during which we were treated to Toccata V by J. Froberger, played on the organ by W. Tiemersma Money was collected for the children of Africa and Haiti.
After a special video presentation: Silent Shadows by Galia Benatuil & Wihelmina Fredericks, which described the work Zerf Productions does with the children affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS in Africa, the music program resumed.
Peter Blair sang His Eye is on the Sparrow by C. Gabriel and then Colleen Bartley came back with O Mio Bambino Caro (from Gianni Schicchi) by G. Puccini.
The tenor/baritone duo, Buck Delaney and Mario Bard were next with an excerpt from Amahl and the Night Vistors by G. C. Menotti. Eric Legault with his powerful voice continued with Ideale by F. P. Tosti.
Organist Wilhelmina Tiemersma delighted the assembled people with Weinachten, Op. 145 #3 by M. Reger before Beverly McGuire sang Sure On This Shining Night by S. Barber.
To finish off the concert, Thomas Leslie sang L'amour, l'amour (from Romeo and Juliet) by C. Gounod and the final piece, la pièce de résistance, was Silent Night, sung by the Zerf Ensemble.
This concert marks 21 years since Zerf Productions was founded. They have done and continue to do humanitarian work in Africa and in Canada. They use artists as a vehicle for fundraising and they pool their resources to produce and promote their work while helping others. In 21 years Zerf has earned many awards and have established teams in several countries, Australia Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Unted States.
A special thanks to the renowned and emerging artists who gave freely of their time and talent for this special event. Thanks to Pastor Samuel and the congregation for the use of their church and to the audience for helping our food bank and the children of Africa.
At the request of the performing artists, half of the freewill collection was donated to Canada for Haiti. As well, non-perishable food was collected for the NDG Food Bank. Donations are welcome to build a waterwell in Kikuhe, Tanzania
Jette Blair