The Border Concert Association is kicking off its 66th season this month.
Tickets are on sale for the five-show series that will start Sept. 28 and end May 1. Each year, the BCA Board chooses a handful of shows it hopes will entertain and engage its membership.
The shows are brought to Borderland by Allied Concert Services, an agency which has worked with the BCA Board for decades to scout and book each year’s talent.
The shows will include a variety of genres, including a bluegrass family band, a wordless comedy troupe, an accomplished pianist, an Irish entertainer and a trio of tenors.
All shows will be held in the Backus Community Center auditorium. The three Sunday matinee shows are new this year. Shows have previously been held in the evenings, but the BCA is trying out the new show time this year, which they note will be especially advantageous to concert-goers in the winter months.
Ticket prices for all five shows in the 2010-2011 season are U.S. $45 for adults, $10 for students, and $95 for a family. Canadian prices are $50 for adults, $15 for students and $105 for a family. Shows average $9 per adult or $2 per student.
Tickets may be purchased in International Falls at City Drug, SuperValu, Border State Bank and the Backus Community Center office. In Fort Frances, tickets can be purchased at Betty’s and the Fort Frances Museum. Tickets may also be purchased from Ethel Bujold in Devlin; the Emo Clinic, Cloverleaf Store and Emo Drug Store in Emo; and Rose Kreger in Rainy River. BCA directors and member representatives will also sell tickets.
Redhead Express, Sept. 28
Bluegrass, gospel and “old-timey music” band Redhead Express will open the 2010-2011 BCA season at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28.
The Walker family, a.k.a. The RedHead Express, from Alaska via Branson, Mo., are equally at home playing bluegrass as they are playing their own unique renditions of old-time and Gospel music.
While showcasing their four daughters’ harmonies and original songs, the mother and father add depth and backup, and occasionally feature their three young boys.
Parallel Exit, Nov. 14
Inspired by the classic physical comedy of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin, Parallel Exit creates wordless physical theater in which characters, emotions and narrative are communicated entirely through the performers’ bodies.
Allied notes that the show is guaranteed to draw laughs and has received great reviews in their native New York.
They will come to the Backus Auditorium at 3 p.m. Nov. 14, for the second show in the BCA series.
Cahal Dunne, April 9
Cahal Dunne, a songwriter, pianist, comedian and vocalist, will come to Borderland for a show at 7:30 p.m. April 9.
He has appeared with Bob Hope, Wayne Newton, Al Martino and Tony Orlando and performed for several U.S. presidents. He accompanies himself at the piano and is expected to entertain audiences with his Irish charm, Allied said. Dunne is a native of County Cork, Ireland and incorporates classic Irish tunes into his show.
Romanza, May 1
Three young Canadian tenors – Philip Grant, Frederik Robert and Todd Jang – make up the group Romanza. The men will perform a brand new show of ballads, love songs, arias and more from opera, movies and musicals at 3 p.m. May 1.
Likened to other popular tenor groups such as Il Divo, Romanza will provide a fitting and exciting end to the season, Allied said.
Ilya Yakushev, Feb. 27
Virtuoso Russian pianist Ilya Yakushev will perform in the third show of the series on Feb. 27 at 3 p.m.
Gold Medal Winner of the 2005 World Piano Competition, Yakushev is a fresh and exciting new presence in the piano world. He has performed at major venues on three continents. Yakushev is a native of St. Petersburg where he won his first award at age 12 as a prize winner of the Young Artists Concerto Competition.
A unique aspect of this show is a slide show of pictures shown alongside the music, which corresponds to the inspirations of the numbers.
