Centre Updates
Ben's Pen / November 2008
Here it is. The breakdown, the goods…the stuff that matters. Items to make you proud, events to think about, golden nuggets to make you smile when that annoying sound on your computer says, “you’ve got mail.” Welcome to Updates from Ben’s Pen, news you can use from The Segal Centre for Performing Arts.
Welcome to the NEW segalcentre.org
We hope you’ll take a minute to browse, get a feel for its new…feel, get a sense of where information can be reached, how tickets can be purchased, courses registered for and sure, why not, donations made. Here you’ll be able to access more in depth information about the Centre and its activities than ever before: Watch behind the scenes videos with artists performing at the Segal Theatre and our artists of the future performing at the Academy; download podcasts of Sunday @ the Segal lectures and interviews with performers; see photo galleries of the people and events that help make the Centre the inspiring place it is! And, there will always be something fun happening, prizes to be won, exciting things taking place on the Segal Centre site to make you want to come back on a regular basis.
with Gisèle Rucker at the Helm!
The halls and performance spaces of the Centre are once again alive and buzzing with activity coming from our Academy of Performing Arts. I asked Gisèle Rucker, the Academy’s new Director, what the public should come to expect from the Academy in the weeks and months to come.
"First of all, I feel privileged to participate in the growth taking place at the Centre. At the Academy specifically, I have the pleasure of working with seasoned professionals, artists in the fields of music, theatre, circus and video production and am totally inspired when I see our students, of all ages, exploring their inventiveness and resourcefulness. I invite all in our community to experience what we’re building at the Segal Academy – a place of learning and discovery of one’s creative power through direct involvement in the performing and media arts.".
Indeed, there is much on offer at the academy, check it out here at segalcentre.org.
is at the Segal Centre...CinemaSpace!
Hello, Ben's Pen readers!
It's Ezra Soiferman here, director of the Segal Centre's CinemaSpace, and I wanted to let you in on a few events happening at CinemaSpace in the coming weeks. We don't just have Canada's only hemp fabric cinema seats, we also have great movies for you too!
On Wednesday, November 12th, our classic film series The Film Society/Cinéclub returns with David Lean's HOBSON'S CHOICE. British legend David Lean (Lawrence of Arabia, Bridge On The River Kwai, Doctor Zhivago) would have been 100 this year and we're celebrating with an original 16mm print of one of his more obscure masterpieces... On Sunday, November 9th, we're pleased to be showing a Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre presentation of the award-winning documentary INHERITANCE, the story of Monika Hertwig, the daughter of Amon Goeth. Goeth was the prominent Nazi leader and commandant of the Plaszow Concentration Camp who was portrayed in Schindler's List.
If you're up for behind-the-scenes film exploration, CinemaSpace, the RIDM and the Montreal Film Group are pleased to be offering a Master Class with celebrated Israeli doc filmmaker Dan Geva. "NEVA' SAY NEVA': DOC TALK WITH GEVA" will take place on Thursday, November 20th. All are welcome: not just filmmakers but film lovers too! Coming up in December (Dec 1-4), CinemaSpace will host the MONTREAL ROMANIAN FILM FESTIVAL. Four days of Romania's best new docs and features, all with English subtitles.
For complete CinemaSpace movie listings, synopses and show times please visit the CinemaSpace web page on the Segal Centre's web site. Thanks, film fans! See you soon at CinemaSpace.
With Jazz At the Segal Centre!
Now this is really exciting! On September 28th, the Segal Centre innuagurated what we hope will become Montreal’s next great jazz venue, with a brand new series presented by Power Corp: La Série Power Jazz Series. I talked with the series’ producer, our own George Doxas, who told me that the goal was really to bring the best of jazz to Montrealers all year round. "The Jazz Fest is a two week phenomenon in the summertime," he said "and of course our good friend Joel Giberovitch at Upstairs Jazz Bar and Grill does a great job promoting the scene year round. But his is a small club in the downtown core. The city, the Jazz artists themselves, need a variety of places to perform, in particular a first class concert venue which the Segal Centre now provides." George is the paterfamilias of the great Doxas music clan, with sons Chet (tenor sax) and Jim (drums) considered two of the hottest young stars on the Canadian Jazz scene today. In fact, The Chet Doxas Quartet featuring both Chet and Jim, was the inaugural concert in the series. The series continues November 23rd at 8pm with the Remi-Jean Leblanc Ensemble , featuring Yannik Rieu. Check out the rest of the concerts at segalcentre.org!
The Segal Centre for Performing Arts
Leanor and Alvin Segal were the proud hosts. Mayor Gerald Tremblay came to pay tribute, the evening co-chairs Simon Brault (President, Culture Montreal); Isabelle Hudon (President and CEO The Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal) had seen nothing like before; Christine St. Pierre (Minister of Culture and Communications, Quebec) and Raymond Bachand (Minister of Tourism, Minister of Economic
Development, Innovation and Export Trade, Quebec) spoke passionately about the place of the arts in our society as Bryna Wasserman, our Artistic and Executive Diretor beamed with humble pride. And a who’s who of Montreal’s private, artistic and business sectors celebrated the official launching of Montreal’s newest performing arts centre, one that the Segals presented as a gift to the community. One that all of us will hopefully nurture for the future.
