Entertainment Beat

The Beach’s Water Brothers, Alex and Tyler Mifflin, are back for a third season of H2O-focused television, with a deal for a fourth season in place.

The pair’s popularity has soared, with deals inked for the show to be carried in more than 40 countries, including the US. The premiere of season three airs locally on the evening of April 7 on TVO.

With World Water Day and Canada Water Week just wrapped up, the brothers’ focus on water is well-timed, and the two are ready and willing to cover any issue dealing with this precious liquid resource.

Season three sees the Water Brothers travel to Ireland, Scotland, the Coco’s Islands, Israel, and even the NASA Space Centre to discuss the search for water in space with celebrity astronaut Chris Hadfield. With recent studies finding that millions of tonnes of plastic enter the oceans each year, the show is also timely in its exploration of the issues affecting water around the world.

Episodes will be online at TVO’s website after they air, and the entire first and second seasons are available to watch for free online.

 

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The final concert in the Kingston Road Village Concert Series will bring the lively sounds of a brass ensemble to Kingston Road United Church on March 29.

The 11-piece ensemble is assembled by Scott Good, the musical mind behind many projects including the popular Vonnegut and the Slaughterhouse Orchestra, which brought the literary works of Kurt Vonnegut to musical life at KRUC in a past concert.

Good is inspired by the sound of brass instruments, writing that “the nature of the sound is powerful and immersive. The trumpet calls and stirs the soul to attention, the horn implies majesty, the trombone enriches and intensifies, and the tuba, well, they are the ground from which all stirring and majesty may spring!”

The ensemble will perform music from several eras, with a focus on English and Italian renaissance composers John Dowland, William Byrd, and Giovanni Gabrielli. Newer chamber pieces including Bozza’s Sonatina and Michael Tilson Thomas’ Street Song will be heard, along with a Monteverdi-inspired work composed by Good.

Good invites music lovers to celebrate the arrival of spring with the literal sounding of trumpets. The concert gets underway at 3 p.m. on Sunday, March 29 at Kingston Road United Church, 975 Kingston Rd. Tickets are $20, and are available at the door.

 

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Toronto Beach Chorale will bring a bit of majesty to the Beach on Easter weekend, with a special performance of Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass on Good Friday.

The choir is an auditioned community choir in its seventh season under the direction of Mervin W. Fick. There are 50 members who perform a series of three or four concerts a year.

For the Lord Nelson Mass, the choir will be joined by special guest soloists including soprano Jennifer Krabbe, mezzo-soprano Jillian Yemen, tenor Stephen Harland, and bass/baritone Matthew Cassils, as well as a professional orchestra.

The mass has been called Haydn’s greatest composition, and offers a wide range of deeply felt emotion. It was written during a time of upheaval in Haydn’s native Austria, and is titled Mass for Troubled Times.

The Toronto Beach Chorale performs at 7:30 p.m. on Good Friday, April 3, at Kingston Road United Church, 975 Kingston Rd. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door, with discounts for youth.

 

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Havana, Cuba native Fernandez is bringing his comedy hypnotism show back to the Stone Lion.

First appearing on stage at the age of four with his hypnotist father, he has studied, and since performed, around the world.

Fernandez will mesmerize the audience on the evening of Sunday, March 29 at The Stone Lion, 1958 Queen St. E.

 

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The local non-profit community singing club Stadium Singers is inviting members to join the new chorus. The group meets most Sundays at Monarch Park Stadium from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Learn to harmonize on classic tunes like Under the Boardwalk or Country Roads and meet new friends. A minimum $5 pay what you can donation covers costs such as sheet music and refreshments. For more information email Carolyn or just show up on Sunday, March 29. The stadium is at 1 Hanson St., behind Monarch Park Collegiate Institute.

 

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Jazzy Sundays continue at Morgans on the Danforth, 1282 Danforth Ave., east of the Greenwood subway station. Sunday, March 29 will feature Lisa Particelli’s ‘Girls Night Out’ jazz jam – where gentlemen are welcome too! On Sunday, April 5, Freeplay Duo featuring Suba Sankaran and Dylan Bell will perform. Jazzy Sundays run from 2 to 5 p.m. with no cover charge.

 

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The Unit featuring Terry Logan on keys and vocals, David Hutchison on drums and vocals, and Chris Banks on bass play every Saturday from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at The Stone Lion,1958 Queen St. E. Coltrane, Hancock, Logan, Miles, and more are on the set list. Jazz players are invited to sit in for a few tunes.

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Greg Pilo brings live jazz to the Salty Dog Bar and Grill, 1980 Queen St. E., every Tuesday from 7 to 10 p.m. with no cover charge.

Tonight, Tuesday, March 24, will feature women in jazz, with Alison Young on saxophone, Stacie McGregor on piano, Neil Swainson on bass and Pilo on drums. Tuesday, March 31 will see Pilo joined by Perry White on saxophone, Lorne Lofsky on guitar, and Jeff MacLeod on organ.

 

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Chez Hélène’s Wednesday Night Salon runs weekly at 8:30 p.m. at Café Chez Hélène, 1437 Kingston Rd., just west of Warden.

The multilingual open stage is open to singers, musicians, dancers, rappers, poets, and other performers to take part in French or English, with hosts Jadzia Skye and Michael Oesch.

Participants get 10 minutes or three songs worth of stage time.

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