The Sweet Water Music Festival is heading in a new direction.
Artistic Director Mark Fewer says for this weekend’s 6th annual event, he’s decided to bring in two internationally-renowned guest directors.
Fewer says as far as he knows, this will be the only festival of its kind in North America to have a different director for each concert.
Fewer says with the success of the festival over the past five years, he is cautious about seeing it become “The Mark Fewer Show”, and thought this was a great way to keep the festival fresh and exciting.
For the Friday evening concert at the Historic Leith Church, the guest director will be Barry Shiffman, the Director of Programming of Music & Sound at the Banff Centre in Alberta.
Shiffman will present music by Gideon Klein, Osvaldo Golijov, and Mozart.
The second guest director is Adrian Butterfield, the Artistic Director of the Tilford Bach Society in England.
For the Sunday afternoon concert at the Leith Church, Butterfield will present music by Handel, Vivaldi, Couperin, Leclair, and Muffat.
Fewer is still directing the Saturday evening performance at the Division Street United Church in Owen Sound.
He says he has designed his program around the theme of obsession and will present music by Vivaldi, Leonard Cohen, Edith Piaf, and Phil Dwyer.
Dwyer, an award-winning jazz legend, is the commissioned composer for this year.
Fewer says not only will they be presenting the world premiere of Dwyer’s original piece, but the man himself will be there to hear it and will also perform with Fewer after the Saturday night show.
Fewer says it’s an amazing opportunity and just another example of the calibre and reputation of the Sweet Water Music Festival.
Also available again this year are the Masterclass Workshops with festival artists.
Local music students will have the opportunity to meet with and perform for the artists for free on Saturday morning at the Division Street Church.
Fewer says he hopes to continue building the success of the festival and believes it has the potential to be the best boutique festival on the continent.
Tickets for each concert are 25 dollars, while the Saturday evening show is 30 dollars and includes admission to the pre-concert chat, featuring a panel discussion by the three directors.