MIFF is back!

We would like to invite you to the 2011 Meaford International Film Festival, Meaford’s biggest event of the summer. MIFF runs from Thursday, September 1 through to Sunday, September 4, and is always a great way to celebrate the (almost) end of summer.

Once again, MIFF offers award-winning films from around the world. Our line up this year includes a Iranian film so powerful that its makers have been sentenced to prison, an extraordinary look at a little-known aspect of China’s economic miracle, an inspiring film from Africa based on a real story and, once again, the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film.

Wrap up the evening by walking the red carpet to a MIFF party, with food by one of Meaford’s outstanding caterers.

Ticket pricing has been held to last year’s levels, with an early-bird discount for people buying tickets on or before August 13.

For more details on MIFF 2011, please go to www.miff11.ca.

Tickets can be bought at Meaford Hall, or by phoning the Box Office at 1.877.538.0463

2011 promises to be an extraordinary year for MIFF. We look forward to seeing you at the movies!

Michael Anderson

Producer, Meaford International Film Festival

 
Also coming to the stage next week….

Marshall Dane Country
Thurs., August 4, 8pm   $32
Canada’s latest breakthrough country star, Marshall Dane, is also the hardest working musician in town.  In 2009 Marshall kicked the door open when he won Country 95.3 FMs Big Break competition and blew audiences away with his infectious live show opening up for Emerson Drive.  Marshall took his country soul mixed with rock’n’roll vibe down to Tennessee and began writing songs with Nashville hit makers Kris Bergsnes, Dan Murph & Canadian superstar Paul Brandt.  The result is his album, ‘Running Stop Signs’, kicking off with his first single ‘Love & Alcohol’ which embodies the reckless swagger yet humble blue collared appeal of the artist himself.  Presented by Meaford Hall.

www.marshalldane.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

TOPS ON 5376 Meaford appreciates the support of three local businesses and would like to say, “Thank you.”

TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) encourages men and women to take off pounds sensibly by changing their behaviours and attitudes around food and adding more activity. As part of a healthy lifestyle, which leads to a healthy body size, we encourage our members to find new ways of rewarding and giving themselves a pick-up rather other than resorting to “comfort” foods or plain old overeating.

TOPS is a not-for-profit member driven organization which supports members with their goal of a healthy lifestyle. Members pay a small annual fee to TOPS Inc. which includes a magazine issued ten times a year. They also pay minimal weekly dues of $2. Members are encouraged to weigh-in and attend the weekly meetings and to participate in the running of the meetings and the chapter.

Three Meaford businesses have chosen to support the local TOPS members as they lose on their way to a healthy body and mind. Derron Bodell, owner of the Flower Shop, ensures a beautiful single rose is prepared each week for the highest loser. Janine and Bryan Doucette, owners of Solitudes Spa and Tanning Studio, provide a gift certificate for a free manicure to our monthly high looser. Dr. Jodie L. Doran, DC and RMT, Yes! Chiropractic, is offering a massage for the winner of our three month lifestyle contest during which each member can gain up to five points a week.

All three businesses are offering an alternative to food rewards which supports good emotional and/or physical health. TOPS Meaford is very appreciative of these gifts. Thank you! You are part of losers being winners!

TOPS Meaford meets on Wednesday evenings at Bethany Church of the Nazarene at 34 Trowbridge St. W. Entrance at the back door (food bank). Weigh-in start at 5:45 pm with the meeting starting at 6:30 pm. For more information about TOPS, check our website www.tops.org or phone 226-668-0020. New people are welcome anytime. The first meeting is free.

Saturday June 18, 7:30pm  $100 (including a $50 charitable tax receipt) **HST included in price

Take this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear Grammy award-winning conductor Bramwell Tovey, Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony and Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Maestro Tovey performs on piano and shares stories of his incredible career that have taken him all over the world. In the second half of the performance, Tovey’s friend and SweetWater Music Festival Artistic Director Mark Fewer joins him on stage for what will surely be one of the most memorable and unique performances Festival fans will ever have the chance to experience!” Presented by Sweetwater Music Festival www.sweetwatermusicfestival.ca

Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre

office: 519-538-1060 Ext. 1203

www.meaford.ca

“Tovey melded rhythmic precision with long, lovingly shaped melodies, characteristics that prevailed throughout the evening”
Robert D. Thomas, Music Critic- Pasadena Star-News/San Gabriel Valley Tribune/Whittier Daily News
(Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl, July 2010)
Bramwell Tovey is Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony, a post he has held since 2000.  He continues as Principal Guest Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, and as founding host and conductor of the New York Philharmonic’s Summertime Classics series at Avery Fisher Hall.  In 2008, he received a Grammy award for his recording of the Barber / Korngold / Walton: Violin concertos with James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on the CBC Records label.
An esteemed guest conductor internationally, Tovey has made guest appearances with the orchestras of Baltimore, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Seattle, Montreal, San Francisco as well as regular visits to Toronto Symphony and he will make his debut with Cleveland in 2012/13 season. Recent successes in Europe and the UK, include concerts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Helsingborg and Bournemouth orchestras, all of which he returns to regularly.  In Asia, Tovey returns to the KBS Symphony every two seasons since making his debut in 2008 and to Shanghai Symphony and Guangzhou Symphony.  Having made a successful debut with Melbourne Symphony also in 2008 he returns each season to the orchestra and in 2009/10 he was appointed as curate for their contemporary music Festival – Metropolis. In 2011/12, he will make his debut with the Sydney Symphony.
During his time as Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Tovey has taken the orchestra on tour to China – the first Canadian orchestra to perform in China in 30 years.  Highlights of the upcoming seasons in Vancouver include Verdi’s Requiem, the Canadian premiere of Adam’s Dr. Atomic Symphony and a ‘Bach and Beyond’ series that will feature the music of Mozart, Schubert, Haydn and Mendelssohn topped with a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor.
With a profound commitment to new music, Tovey has established himself as a formidable composer and is the first artist to win a Juno Award in both conducting and composing. He has been commissioned by the Calgary Opera to compose the company’s third original full-length opera. Written with librettist John Murrell, this work is based on the extraordinary life of Alexander “Sandy” Keith, a notorious 19th century con artist and criminal from Halifax, Nova Scotia. An immense undertaking, the piece will premiere in Calgary in January 2011. Tovey’s other successes as composer include the well-received Urban Runway, co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra in 2008 and his Requiem for a Charred Skull, performed and recorded by the Amadeus Choir and the Hannaford Band in Toronto which received the Best Canadian Classical Composition 2003 Juno Award.
Previous positions held include Music director of the Luxembourg Philharmonic (2002 – 2006) and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (1989 – 2000).  Notable successes in Luxembourg include three tours in Europe, the Far East and the eastern United States, traveling to China, Korea, Germany, Austria, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Holland and Belgium; being awarded the “Orphée d’Or” of the Academie Lyrique Francaise, for their critically praised recording of Jean Cras’s opera, Polyphème in 2004 and in 2005 celebrating the opening of the new Philharmonic Hall (Luxembourg Philharmonie), with the world premiere of Penderecki’s 8th Symphony, composed especially for the occasion. In Winnipeg, he founded the highly regarded New Music Festival. A significant milestone in the ensemble’s exploration of new music, the festival premiered more than 250 works by diverse international and Canadian composers under Tovey’s leadership, with every performance broadcast on Canada’s CBC Radio.
In opera, Tovey’s repertoire includes works by Puccini, Strauss, Mozart, Menotti, Poulenc, Britten and Stravinsky. In 2004, he premiered a new opera by John Estacio, jointly commissioned by the Banff Centre and the Calgary Opera, which he reprised for the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in 2005.
Tovey has also built a strong reputation as an accomplished jazz pianist with two recordings to his name and has made memorable appearances on television, including two documentaries with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and a 1996 CBC TV broadcast of Victor Davies’ Revelation, a full-length oratorio based on the Book of Revelation, with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has also recorded several DVDs, of works including Holst’s The Planets Suite with distinguished guests such as percussionist Evelyn Glennie, amongst many others.
Tovey has an extensive back catalogue including recordings with the London Symphony Orchestra, Halle and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As mentioned above, his most recent recording gained a Grammy for the Barber / Korngold / Walton: Violin concertos with James Ehnes and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on the CBC Records label. Current recording projects include the orchestral works of Edward Gregson with the BBC Concert Orchestra on the Chandos label.
Awarded numerous honorary degrees, Tovey has received a Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Music in London, honorary Doctorates of Law from the University of Winnipeg, the University of Manitoba and Kwantlen University College, as well as a Fellowship from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. In 1999, he received the M. Joan Chalmers National Award for Artistic Direction, a prestigious Canadian prize awarded to premier artists for outstanding contributions in professional performing arts organizations. Date Last Edited: 20th September 2010

Come to Ted & Joan Brown’s magical farm in St Vincent for a return of a popular and spectacular day in the country!

Riverside is a major fundraiser for the Meaford Hall & Culture Foundation. All proceeds of the day will help pay for the Foundation’s mandate of supporting arts and culture in Meaford.

A $100 donation will get you a ticket to the party, plus a $75 tax receipt.

To get a ticket to this limited-entry event, you can:

Phone the Foundation office (519.538.6766), or visit our office at Meaford Hall. Office hours are 11:00 – 3:00 each weekday. Or go to the Chamber of Commerce office on Trowbridge Street.

Tickets ordered by phone can be picked up when you arrive at the Riverside Gate.

Visa, Mastercharge, Amex are all accepted.

Click here to see the amazing line up of food and entertainment on offer. Your ticket gives you free access to all of this!

There will also be a fabulous silent auction - click here to see some of the items waiting for your bidding.

Riverside Farm is at 125698 13th Sideroad, Meaford.

mhcfoundation.ca

Hosted by the Meaford Museum

Tickets for the Canada Day 60’s Dance being hosted by the Meaford Museum go on sale today. The dance, the finale to a fun filled Canada Day Celebration going on in Meaford, is being held to celebrate the Meaford Museum’s 50th Anniversary.

Opened in July 1961, the Museum’s collection started with gifts from the Sing and Godfrey families. Since that time the number of artifacts being cared for has increased exponentially to over 10,000 pieces with hundreds more arriving each year. The Museum’s services have also increased as the building now operates year round.

Celebrating the decade in which the Museum was inaugurated, the Board and Staff of the Meaford Museum invite people to come and help celebrate this milestone with a rocking evening of 60’s music provide by the band ‘Route 66’, previously known as the Cadillacs. In addition to being in the PERFECT spot to view the Kinsmen Club’s wonderful fireworks, the dance will include a 60’s costume contest, Hula hoop contest and spot dances.

The Rotary Club of Meaford will be running a food booth to provide roast beef on a bun and hot dogs along with a variety of refreshments. This is an age of majority event.

Where: Meaford Harbour Pavillion

When: July 1st, 2011, 7:30 – 11:30 pm

Tickets: $18.00 ahead or $20.00 at the door.

Available at:

• Meaford Museum (VISA/DEBIT available)
• Stuff to Read
• Chamber of Commerce
• Meaford Library
• Museum Board Members
• Bobbi’s Play School
• Memorial Park Office

By Chris Fell -

A team of local organizers has been working for the past couple of months to put together plans to make July 1 one of the biggest parties of the year in Meaford.

Chamber of Commerce President Shirley Keaveney has been chairing the Canada Day committee and is excited about the events and festivities that are coming together for the big day.

“There are all kinds of events going on. Its a neat thing for Meaford that all of these groups are working together to plan Canada Day,” she said in a recent interview. “Its going to be the biggest Canada Day event in Meaford in a long time,” Keaveney promised.

For the past few years Meaford has been relatively quiet on the day of the Canadas birth. The fireworks displasy have continued at the harbour, in Annan and Bognor, but there have been few events during the day to the lead up to the fireworks.

Keaveney said on Canada Day in 2010 she had people in Dairy Queen asking here what was going on and why there wasnt some sort of party. She knew then that a party needed to be organized for this year.

“Everybody has stepped up. Its going to be a really big event,” she said.

via Simcoe Article: Big plans for Canada Day.