The Good Lovelies

June 5th 2021
As refreshing as a summer breeze and as colourful as a brilliant autumn day! Recorded at The Barn in September 2020, this digital concert features the ever-colourful Good Lovelies amidst the beauty of one of the most colourful Northumberland autumns in memory. Three guitar-wielding songwriters and goose-bump-raising three-part harmony at The Barn – Colour it with a smile!

Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough, Susan Passmore

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Ken Tizzard & Music for Goats

May 15th 2021
Join us for the premiere at 8 pm! The Westben Barn stage becomes a friendly living room as rootsy singer-songwriter Ken Tizzard brings some of his best friends together to share some of his favourite music. Loaded with originals, the party spills out onto The Meadow as the sun sets, before ending up at dusk for a little Ron Hynes around the campfire. Heartwarming and deeply satisfying.

Ken Tizzard, Ken Grant, Neil Lucy, Steve Dagg

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New Orford String Quartet

April 17 2021
A special performance of the third movement from Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15 in A minor, Op. 132. Dubbed “Heiliger Dankgesang” (Holy Song of Thanksgiving), Beethoven composed this piece upon recovering from a serious illness. Embracing hope for the future, principal players of the Montreal & Toronto Symphony interpret this magnificent piece amidst the restorative beauty of the Westben grounds.

Jonathan Crow, Andrew Wan, Douglas MacNabney, Brian Manker

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The Fitzgeralds

March 13 2021
World champions at the Barn! Even the crickets and birds stop for a moment to watch in amazement. Dazzling footwork, fantastic fiddling and limitless energy pour out of these incredible musicians who share traditional and original Celtic-based music from Old Time fiddling and step-dancing to their own evocative arrangements.

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Barbra Lica

February 13 2021
Joining Barbra are favourite bandmates Tom Fleming and Michael Eckert, along with up-and-coming songstress Sammy Jackson.

What could be sunnier than a day on the Westben Meadow with Barbra Lica? Known from Japan to Manhattan, this internationally acclaimed Toronto-based singer-songwriter shares favourite pop-jazz chestnuts and brand new songs - some literally from the isolation of her basement!

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Tree of Light

A Christmas Special, December 12, 2020
Featuring: Chris Cameron: author, Donna Bennett: soprano, Brian Finley: piano, Frank Moore: narrator, Rosanne Warren: flute, Dan Foster: tenor, Dave Mowat: autoharp, along with the Westben Youth, Teen & Adult Choruses and Dreamers.

Based on a short story by Christopher Cameron which appeared in last year’s Christmas issue of Watershed, Tree of Light is about an old Northumberland father who decorates the tree in his front yard, yet again, in the hope that it will once again guide his children back home for Christmas. Of course, he knows full well that this will not be the case this Christmas, but he feels the urge to continue this important tradition with unflagging hope in the future…

Story adapted by Christopher Cameron.

This production was conceived and directed by Brian Finley.

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Jordan Mowat

Natural Beat premiered November 21, 2020
Jordan Mowat, Singer-Songwriter & Mississauga Drummer
Beautiful and powerful music from the heart. Singer-songwriter and Mississauga drummer Jordan Mowat explores a multi-faceted perspective through traditional and new Round Dances and originals for voice and acoustic guitar. Throughout, Jordan graciously shares a uniquely beautiful voice and the gently confident, natural beat of possibility.

"Music has always been an outlet and a positive coping mechanism for me. I never really understood how it could be looked at as medicine until I started to experience that medicine myself. Through each chord, lyric and song, I always feel a sense of comfort knowing that I'm expressing myself in a way that I know how - whether it's with my guitar or drum." ~ Jordan Mowat

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Brian Manker

Cello at The Barn premiered October 17, 2020
Brian Manker, solo Cello
In the spirit of Casals and Rostropovich, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s principal cellist Brian Manker presents a soulful search for solace using only his cello. Exploring themes of both exile and oasis, Brian shares the music of Bach, Britten and Albinoni while reflecting on stories ranging from the fall of the Berlin Wall to The Cellist of Sarajevo. There is even The Song of the Birds by the Westben willow.

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For The Birds

For the Birds premiered September 19, 2020
Debra McGrath, Colin Mochrie, Chick Reid, Tom McCamus & Friends
Is this thing on? Two of Canada’s most revered improv artists are at The Barn – but where is the audience?? Join Deb McGrath (Little Mosque on the Prairie), Colin Mochrie (Whose Line is it Anyway?), actors Chick Reid and Tom McCamus (Stratford & Shaw Festivals) and a meadow full of musicians and dancers in a merry search for new meaning. (Also featuring Mateusz Swoboda, cello; Luke Mercier, fiddle; Stephanie Booth and Rebecca Baptista, Northumberland Contemporary Dance Collective; and Jana Reid, singer).

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Valerie Milot

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Harp at The Barn premiered August 15, 2020
Valérie Milot, solo Harp
What better way to bring a summer breeze to life than through the sound of a harp? Quebec harpist Valérie Milot shares an array of beautiful music ranging from Debussy’s Clair de lune to Elgar’s Nimrod theme. Winner of the coveted Prix d’Europe, Valérie plays an “Apollonia” harp, one of only thirteen in existence worldwide, crafted by the Italian luthier Salvi. Exceptional beauty in the meadow!

Brian Finley

Mount Carmel premiered May 26, 2020
Brian Finley, piano
Mount Carmel (from Preludes to Canada by Brian Finley) Saskatchewan is not known for its mountains! But rising just behind the tiny town of Carmel (close to Humboldt) is Mount Carmel on top of which is a shrine to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. From this vantage point, one can look out for miles over the seemingly infinite and stunningly beautiful prairies. Yet it is not just the land which is so remarkable, it is also the endless sky! Always changing, the sky is alive with colour and energy; with the sun’s help, it seems to animate the fields below. It is an unforgettable experience to witness a distant rainstorm gather, unleash its torrent and dissipate, all without a sound! This is Mount Carmel, Saskatchewan.

Preludes to Canada (Brian Finley) – Written between 1998 and 2016, Preludes to Canada is a 13-movement journey across Canada for solo piano. Originating as a musical journal of impressions and feelings from cross-Canada travels hand in hand with Donna, each Prelude evokes one special place in a vast country bursting with special places. I also wanted to acknowledge Stuart McLean whose wonderful book Welcome Home about his travels in small town Canada greatly influenced this project by inspiring me to share my own observations of this wonderful country in a deeply personal, meaningful, positive and, dare I say, Canadian way. No apologies for that! Only deep thanks…

Ben Finley

Co-presence premiered April 20, 2020
Ben Finley, bass
Within the spatial isolation caused by the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, music has also mostly gone indoors. In this piece, “Co-presence”, Ben Finley composes, performs and improvises solo in the Westben barn—but hardly solo! The wind, red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, highway car-thrushed bends, soil alive in a handful of billions, crispy to melting leaves, ravines, fields, trees/barn timbers, a horse—even a miniature donkey—form an interspecies landscape ensemble to remind us of our co-presence!

At this time of societal isolation, separated from the felt “in-the-room” presence of our communities, how can digital music help us connect not only with each other, but perhaps with other forms and systems of life? Here’s an interesting perspective from ecomusicologist Jeff Todd Titon where he explores the idea that sound inherently has something within it that signals our connection through the mutual experience of sensing sound itself: “Sound connects. From a scientific viewpoint, sound consists of vibrating molecules that travel in longitudinal waves, through a medium such as water, air, and beings—including, of course, human beings. Sound signals presence and connects beings viscerally through mutual vibration... This interconnection is experienced as co-presence.” (Jeff Todd Titon in Cultural Sustainabilities: Music Media Language Advocacy)

Does this link of sound housing a direct felt presence perhaps allow us to viscerally sense community with each other and other beings? Even while distanced? “Co-presence” plays with the relationship of human and nonhuman soundscapes around the Westben Barn in Campbellford, Ontario. It was recorded in early April 2020. Just as spring collaborated.

Thank you to Ben Finley for this creation. Visit https://www.benfinleymusic.com/ for more of his work!