Third Signature: Unfinished Business
Table of Contents
President’s Remarks
Reid Parker
Last month, I reminded everyone of the December 1st deadline for Symphony New Brunswick Foundation to apply for matching funds from the federal government. The Foundation’s objective was to raise $150,000 for this year’s application. I’m pleased to report we are
close to that objective and I want to publicly thank all those who have helped in this mini-campaign. Although this amount sounds small in the context of what has become a multi-million dollar fund, if matched according to recent government practice, our endowment will have grown by a quarter of a million dollars which enables a perpetual increase in annual funding for Symphony New Brunswick of at least $12,500, not an insignificant amount.
Our next priority is ensuring Symphony New Brunswick has enough direct funding to balance its books for the current season. So, I once more prevail upon your generosity to help in the coming months. Watch our e-mails and social media posts for news about our progress.
This week’s concerts are very special and I refer you to the program notes for more detailed information. But I want to draw special attention to Kelsey Jones’ Peter Emberley, the moving central movement of his Miramichi Ballad composed in Saint John in 1953. Jones was the founding conductor of the Saint John Symphony Orchestra in 1950 and went on to a successful career as a composer, performer and teacher in Montreal. The Ballad is widely-known and has been performed in many places. More importantly, it is symbolic of the seventy-five year struggle to sustain live orchestral music in our province and Symphony New Brunswick reserves the right to call this music its own.
Reid Parker
President
Welcome Message
Mélanie Léonard, Music Director
Dear friends,
It is always with great anticipation that I invite you to discover what we have in store each season. It feels a bit like watching a friend unwrap a gift that has been chosen with great care. This season, we invite you to be moved by The Power & The Pasion of timeless masterworks and thrilling discoveries and to share unforgettable moments together.
The Force will be with you as the orchestra transports you to a “galaxy far far away”: from Star Wars to the cosmic majesty of Holst’s The Planets. Through the unfinished or radiant symphonies of Schubert,
Mendelssohn, and Beethoven, we offer you a journey tothe heart of emotion. You will also hear Elgar’s touching Nimrod, and the grandeur of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, presented in collaboration with Choeur Louisbourg.
We are especially proud to shine a light on Canadian and Indigenous voices. You’ll discover Airat Ichmouratov’s (Canada) viola concerto, performed by soloist Elvira Misbakhova, and Rachel Laurin’s (Canada) concerto for marimba and vibraphone, featuring none other than our own principal percussionist, Joël Cormier. Juno Award-winning Inuk soprano Deantha Edmunds will also join the orchestra to share her own latest compositions.
Thank you for your loyal presence in supporting your orchestra. It is thanks to you that music continues to resonate with power and meaning.
I look forward to seeing you in the concert hall!
Mélanie Léonard
Music Director
Biography: Mélanie Léonard
Born in Montréal, Mélanie Léonard is Music Director of Symphony New Brunswick and Assistant Professor of Instrumental Conducting (Contemporary Music) at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. She was previously Resident and Associate Conductor at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director at the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, she has worked with many institutions including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, Orchestre Métropolitain, and the National Arts Center Orchestra, as well as symphony orchestras in Edmonton, Regina, Victoria, Winnipeg, Québec, and Nova Scotia.
Maestra Léonard has conducted orchestras on soundtracks for Aura at the Montréal Notre-Dame Basilica, Paradise City in South Korea, and for Cirque du Soleil’s Land of Fantasy in Hangzhou, China. Over the course of her career she has founded three contemporary music ensembles: Prima Ensemble, Wild West New Music Ensemble, and the Calgary New Music Festival. During the 2024-25 season, Maestra Léonard will make her debut with Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, the Chants Libres opera company, and Orchestre Classique de Montréal.
Mélanie Léonard was the first woman to complete a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting at Université de Montréal. In 2012, she received the Canada Council for the Arts’ Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting.
www.melanieleonard.ca
Partners & Acknowledgements
Symphony New Brunswick wishes to thank and acknowledge the following partners:
Support Your Symphony
Donations to SNB directly fund operations. By supporting today you are helping us continue to present top-notch performances and expand our dynamic programs, including those in schools and communities. Thank you for helping more people to experience the beauty and power of live orchestral music!
Guest Artist
Elvira Misbakhova, Viola
Elvira Misbakhova is a renowned musician celebrated for her versatility as a soloist, orchestral player, and chamber musician. Born in Tatarstan, Russia, she began violin studies at seven. After earning her master's degree from Kazan State Conservatory, she moved to Canada in 1999 to study with Eleonora and Yuli Turovsky. She completed a second master's and doctorate in musical performance from the University of Montreal in 2005, winning numerous scholarships and a prestigious concerto competition.
Misbakhova has performed extensively across Canada and internationally, collaborating with orchestras including the Orchestre Métropolitain, I Musici de Montréal, and the London Symphony Orchestra. She has also appeared with orchestras in Drummondville, Trois-Rivières, and state ensembles from Tatarstan and Belarus.
Currently, she serves as principal viola of the Orchestre Métropolitain under Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Orchestre de chambre Nouvelle Génération. She joined I Musici de Montréal in 2022 as both soloist and ensemble member.
Recording is central to her work. She recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra for Chandos in May 2022 and with I Musici de Montréal for ATMA in October 2022. Her 2019 Chandos album received widespread acclaim in The Strad, Gramophone, and MusicWeb.
Beyond orchestral work, Misbakhova is passionate about chamber music, regularly performing in duos and small ensembles with renowned artists across contemporary and classical repertoires.
Through her talent and dedication, Misbakhova has become a leading figure in Canadian music. She plays a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume viola (1860-65) with a Louis Basin bow, generously loaned by Canimex.
Special Guests
3rd Field Artillery Regiment Band (The Loyal Company), RCA
The Loyal Company of Artillery was established on May 4, 1793, in Saint John, New Brunswick, as a defense against potential French privateer attacks. In 1838, all artillery batteries in New Brunswick were constituted as the New Brunswick Regiment of Artillery, making it the oldest continuously serving artillery unit in Canada. In 1962, it transitioned to its current form as the 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (The Loyal Company), Royal Canadian Artillery.
Since its formation, the Regiment has upheld its role as a reserve force, ready to defend Canada at home and abroad. In recent decades, this mission has expanded to include support to augment regular force Royal Canadian Artillery batteries in peacekeeping, peace-enforcement, and stability operations.
The 3rd Field Artillery Regiment Band was formed in 1948 at the request of Brigadier Philip W. Oland. Over the years, the band has played many military, civic and public concerts, including performances for members of the British Royal family, as well as other Canadian and foreign dignitaries.
The band plays a variety of musical styles, including classical, marches, pops, show tunes, novelty numbers, and solo features. The band is composed of Primary Reserve Musicians and is also supported by associate members. Musicians from the band have performed in the Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo, Ceremonial Guard on Parliament Hill, and also help to support full-time (regular force) bands across Canada and abroad.
To learn more about exciting career opportunities as a military musician, please refer to https://forces.ca/en/career/musician/
Programme
3rd Field Artillery Regiment Band (The Loyal Company), RCA
Bdr. Ashley Robinson, Band Master
Kenneth J. Alford
Voice of the Guns
Jacob de Haan
Ammerland
Lt.-Col. Douglas A. Pope
Nightfall in Camp (The Last Post)
Traditional
Roust
Roger Barsotti
British Grenadiers
Symphony New Brunswick
Mélanie Léonard, Music Director
Kelsey Jones (1922 - 2004)
Miramichi Ballad
ii. Peter Emberley
Airat Ichmouratov (b. 1973)
Viola Concerto no. 1
I. Andante
II. Recitativo
III. Allegro – Presto
Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)
Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished)
I. Allegro moderato
II. Andante con moto
Program Notes
Reid Parker
Kelsey Jones (1922 - 2004)
ii. Peter Emberley (from Miramichi Ballad)
In 1952, Kelsey Jones, the first conductor of the Saint John Symphony Orchestra, was approached by Louise Manny of Newcastle who, at the urging of Lord Beaverbrook, had collected and recorded a wealth of lumberman's songs from the Miramichi region. After examining the material, Jones wrote the lovely Peter Emberley adagio which forms the second movement of what would become the Miramichi Ballad.
Later, the composer met Lord Beaverbrook in the Admiral Beatty Hotel in Saint John. Beaverbrook insisted that Jones write two more sections to frame Emberley. The complete work was premiered by the Saint John Symphony on April 26th, 1954 during the final concert conducted by Jones before he left Saint John for Montreal.
Peter Emberley was a young Prince Edward Islander who died tragically at a logging camp near the Miramichi in 1881. His friend, John Calhoun, wrote several verses honouring Emberley which were subsequently set to a traditional Irish melody. Jones’s orchestral arrangement of the music is a haunting epitaph for the many anonymous young men and women who lost their lives in New Brunswick’s pioneering days.
The Miramichi Ballad is the best-known composition by Jones and has been performed throughout Canada and in many other countries. It is an iconic piece for Symphony New Brunswick, every performance of the work a celebration of its own history and of the many people who have kept symphonic music alive in our province for seventy-five years.
Airat Ichmouratov (b. 1973)
Viola Concerto No. 1
Few concertos for viola were written prior to the twentieth century, a common belief being the low-pitched subtle tone of the instrument did not project well over the power of the full orchestra supporting it. However, many major twentieth century composers ignored this fallacy and began contributing to the repertoire. Sadly, many of these fine works (which were written in modern idioms) are unapproachable to the average listener on first hearing. There are exceptions, notably the concertos of William Walton and Ralph Vaughan-Williams of England and Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, to name just three. What was lost in the nineteenth century time warp was the composition of many inspirational works, romantic in character and instantly appealing to the listener.
Russian-Canadian composer Airat Ichmouratov has done his best to fill this void with his remarkably beautiful Viola Concerto No. 1, a work so profound and inspiring that Chandos recorded it with the London Symphony Orchestra. Critics may say that there is nothing new here, a slightly modernized throw-back to the romantic age long past; program music without a program; warmed-over Tchaikovsky; klezmer music without the wailing clarinets. But, few concertos for any instrument written in the twentieth or twenty-first century equal it in emotional beauty. The slow second movement is sublime. In the finale, we hear shades of Shostakovich lurking around, but the language, although reflecting the composer’s Tartar roots, is fresh and original.
Of all the stringed instruments, the viola can be the most sensual and mood-moving and Ichmouratov has shown he knows the potential of the viola like few other composers. He is also a master orchestrator, granting the big orchestra free rein when needed. Only in places does the soloist recede to the background. For the most part, the viola dominates the discourse as effectively as in any other modern viola concerto.
Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828)
Symphony No. 8 (Unfinished)
This symphony is the most frequently performed of the ten or more written by Schubert, although, as its nickname suggests, the composer completed only the first two movements. A partial third movement Scherzo exists in piano score but only two pages are orchestrated. However, the two completed movements form a cohesive whole and the listener is not left wanting more. Several reasons have been suggested for why Schubert didn’t finish the symphony – illness; distraction caused by his compulsion to write his Wanderer Fantasy; or some dis-satisfaction with the technical development of what he had already written – no-one knows for sure.
But this wasn’t Schubert’s only unfinished symphony. Four others exist; some sufficiently sketched that modern completions have been recorded. However, none were as extensively orchestrated by the composer as the B Minor Symphony. Several musicologists have prepared performing versions of the complete “Unfinished”. Most of the creativity occurred in finishing the third movement scherzo. Although the flow of the music was almost completed by Schubert, part of the trio section was missing and, as noted above, the orchestration had only been started. Many scholars believe he wrote the finale, but used it instead in the incidental music for the play “Rosamunde”. So, a four-movement work theoretically close to what Schubert intended has been cobbled together; but, to most listeners, it is an unnecessary academic exercise.
With the Symphony in B Minor, it might be said that Schubert escaped the clutches of Mozartean classicism and began embracing the romantic forces unleashed by his great contemporary, Beethoven. Tovey admitted as much in his analysis of this symphony, but took three pages of flowery fine print in so doing. This writer, however, having listened to the completion of Schubert’s Symphony no. 7 in E, believes, had the Seventh been fully orchestrated by the composer, it might rank in this respect with Schubert’s Eighth and Ninth.
Endowed Chairs
Second Chair First Violin
Dr Tom Condon Memorial Chair
Principal Second Violin
Miles and Eunice Kierstead Memorial Chair
Second Chair Second Violin
Li-Hong Xu Memorial Chair
Principal Viola
Dr. Mary Pedersen Endowed Chair
(In honour of New Brunswick's wonderful violists who weave the charm and mellow tones of the viola into the heart of the ensemble, casting a compelling magic that wondrously binds the music together)
Section Viola
Reid & Jaqueline Parker Endowed Chair
Principal Cello
BMO Financial Group Endowed Chair
Second Chair Cello
The Tom & Lisa Gribbons Endowed Chair
Section Cello
The Marion Isabel Pedersen
& Sister Marie Estelle Memorial Chair
Principal Flute
The Margaret and Wallace McCain Family Chair
Principal Oboe
Mary E. Pedersen MD, Prof Corp Endowed Chair
Principal Clarinet
In Honour of Suzanne Farrer Irving
Principal Bassoon
Pannell Family Endowed Chair
Principal Trumpet
Wallace, Norma and John MacMurray
Memorial Chair
Second Trumpet
The Saint Mary’s Band and Bruce
Holder Jr. Memorial Chair
Principal Timpani
Philip W. Oland Memorial Chair
Symphony NB Musicians
*Principal or acting principal, ^Core musician
Violin I
Nadia Francavilla*^,
Acting Concertmaster
Lucia Rodriguez
Hok Kwan
Timi Levy
Ali Leonard
Katherine Moller
Violin II
Victor Vivas*
Sara Liptay
Dmitry Myzdrikov
Hrvoje Tisler
Aida Tisler
Viola
Robin Streb*
Stephen Mott
Mark Kleyn
Cello
Chris Yoon*^
John Buckley
Ellen Buckley
Bass
Andrew Reed Miller*^
Mihai Onete
Flute
Karin Aurell*
Rachel Gibson
Oboe
Carlos Avila*
Daniella Tejada
English Horn
Daniella Tejada
Clarinet
James Kalyn*
Esteban Campo
Bassoon
Neil Bishop*
Yvonne Kershaw
Horn
Jon Fisher*
Peter Sametz
Olivia Blakney
Jeffrey Vezina-Goodwyn
Trumpet
Rob Dutton*
Brian McAuley
Trombone
Aaron Good*
Graham Kidd
Richard Kidd
Tuba
Pierre de Villers
Timpani
Joel Cormier*^
Percussion
Owen Melanson
Luc Poirier
Harp
Dorothy Brzezicki
Lifetime Members
David Adams - Concertmaster Emeritus
Sonja Adams - Principal Cello Emerita
Christopher Buckley - Principal Viola Emeritus
Symphony NB Donors
Symphony New Brunswick warmly thanks all of its donors for their generous support in the last 12 months.
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Johnny B Chamberlain
Maria Theresa Daigle
Suzanne Irving
Ian MacFarquhar
Li Hong Xu
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Mary E Pedersen MD, Prof Corp
Friend of SNB
Ron Lees
Pannell Family Foundation
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Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception
Tim Blackmore
Jonathan & Haleen Franklin
Duncan MacDonald
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Sonja & David Adams
Michele & Anthony Flarow
James D & Lynn Irving
David & Judith Jamieson
Margaret & Bill Jones
Reid & Jacqueline Parker
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Anonymous
Joseph Aicher
Dr. J. Arditti
Dr Steven Bryniak & Dr Nancy Grant
William Costin
Peter & Alice Hyslop
David Marr
Brian McCain
David & Roxanna Meek
David & Roxie Meek Foundation
Susan & Winston Mott
Terry Nikkel
Allen & Carol Rosevear
Gerard Snow
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Anonymous
Lise Anderson
David & Jane Barry
Wladyslaw Cichocki
Kathryn Hamer Edwards
Martha Louise Harrison
Suzanne Irving
Jennifer Landry
Louise & Gordon Mason
Susan & Peter Sametz
Christine & Richard Sancton
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United Way (Moncton)
Iris E C Bliss
DIane Brideau-Laughlin
Muriel & Robert Buckley
Shirley Cleave
Anne Marie Creamer
Joan P. Creamer
Phil & Maxine Dadson
Jim & Donna Dysart
M. Eileen Gallagher
Grant Heckman
Philip & Roberta Lee
Peter Lyman
Darren McLeod
Katherine Moller
Brenda Noble
Vaughn McIntyre & Pat Pulley
Diana Rayworth
Angela Smith
Brian R Steeves
Tom Stewart
Judith Streeter
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Brunswick Brokers
N. Crevier C.P. Inc
Sussex Choral Society
Whittaker & Associates
Jim & Jane Baird
David Campbell
Margaret Graham
Susan Gray
Dana & Phyllis Hanson
David & Jane Hay
Lindsay Hazen
Joanne Keith
Kathleen Keith
Ursula & Tony Lampart
Lesley Lord
Barbara MacKay
Ugo Okoye
Cathy Rignanesi
John Scott
Linda & Greg Sprague
Hazel Webb
Judith Weiss
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Judith Begley
Carol & Paul Egan
Gail Everett
Keith Facey
Jasen Loiselle
Lindsay Mains
Tina McKay
Dr. Eckart & Donna Schroeter
Patricia Scribner
Liane Thibodeau
Symphony NB Foundation
Symphony New Brunswick warmly thanks all of its donors for their generous support in the last 12 months.
Our Mission
The Symphony New Brunswick Foundation is an independent charity that supports Symphony New Brunswick through an endowment that is held in perpetuity. As its largest single annual donor, we give Symphony NB financial sustainability and, through its support, the Foundation enables the Symphony to deliver a more diversified musical program to the residents of New Brunswick. The Foundation’s endowment assets are held and managed by an independent Board of Directors.
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Bank of Montreal
Isles Foundation, on behalf of Mrs. Suzanne Irving
The McCain Foundation
The Pannell Family Foundation
Jonathan & Haleen Franklin
Tom & Lisa Gribbons
Ronald Lees & Miranda Lees
Donald G. Mitchener FCPA, FCA
Reid & Jacqueline Parker
Dr. Mary Pedersen
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The MacMurray Foundation
The Estate of Phyllis Sutherland
Doris Chesley
Lucinda Flemer
Kathy McCain
Frank McKenna
Derek & Jacqueline Oland
John & Lois Thompson
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Maple Leaf Homes
David & Sonja Adams
David & Jane Barry
Terence & Jane Bird
Lane & Diane Bishop
David & Peggy Case
Wladyslaw Cichocki
The late Marion Elliot
Kathryn Hamer-Edwards
Sadie Lu Harley
John Irving
David Jamieson
Margaret Keddy
Manon Losier
Ian & Carole MacFarquar
Eleanor & Trevor Marshall
Allison & Clare McCain
Susan Montague
Donne Smith
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Joseph Aicher
Ed & Melissa Barrett
William & Jocelyn Barrett
Francis Ervin Estate
Jane M. Fritz
Signe Gurholt
Gregor & Charlotte Hope
Peter Hyslop
David & Judy Marr
David & Roxie Meek Foundation
Geoff Mitchell
Ron Outerbridge
Gregory & Karen Parker
Cathy & Brian Rignanesi
Brian & Anne Wheelock
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Joshua Adams
Joseph Aicher
Katherine Asch
Susan Atkinson
Brian & Vicky Baxter
Wayne Bell
Denise & Geoff Britt
Ellen Buckley
John & Adrienne Buckley
Margo Campbell
Anne Marie Creamer
Sally Dibblee
J. Anthony Fitzgerald
Jane M. Fritz
Peter Gadd
Richard Gibson
Gerald Golschesky
David & Donna Goss
Kathryn Hamer-Edwards
David & Jane Hay
Daniel Lessard
Duncan MacDonald
Darren McLeod
Peter Lyman & Judith Moses
Dora Nicinski
David & Carolyn Nielsen
Gerrit van Raalte
Richard & Christine Sancton
Andy Savoy
Catherine Sidney
William & Joan Smith
Greg & Linda Sprague
Ian & Karen Stead
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Brookfield Infrastructure Partners
Les Religieuses de Notre-Dame du Sacré-Cœur
Lockhart Foundation
Sabian
Sisters of Charity of the Immaculate Conception
Diane Adams
David Addleman
Karin Aurell
David Beaudin
Ron & Janet Buckley
Nicola Carter
Michael Chandra
Richard & Yeonsuk Cho
Marilyn Dalton
Jacques & Bernadette DeGrace
Jocelyn Deichmann
Michele & Tony Flarow
Dwight Fraser
Macgregor Grant
Carolyn Irving
Suzanne Irving
Mary Ann Kneeland
Tyler Langdon
Jeanette Landry
Jennifer Landry
Paul Leger
Lise Legér-Anderson
Penny & Stephen McCain
Gunter Metz
Wendy Nielsen
Jim O’Sullivan
Margaret Roy
Barbara Smith
John Tidswell
Susan & Arthur Van Wart
Michael & Margaret Wennberg
R. Douglas Werner
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E. Gary Atkinson
Walter Ball
Edna Dibblee-Wellner
Ruth Frank
William Harrison Goodwin
Olga Grant
“Rory” Grant
Bernadette Hedar
Bruce Holder Jr.
Douglass Hughes
Barbara Jean
James Macgregor
Donald Marshall
Joan McCumber
David Nicholson
Nickolaj Holm & Marion
Isabelle (Murchison) Pedersen
Ann Marie Robertson
Tiina Hele Runkla
John Huggard Sherwood
Terrence Stewart
Joseph Francis Wagner
Patricia Watts
Erik T. P. Wennberg
Sandra Wright
Li-Hong Xu
Leadership
Honourary Patron
The Honourable Louise Imbeault
33rd Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick
Board of Directors, Symphony New Brunswick
Reid Parker, President & Board Chair
Cathy Rignanesi, Treasurer
Sandrine Siewe, Secretary
Edmund Dawe
Kathryn Hamer
Kenrick Hancox
Peter Hyslop
Lise Léger-Anderson
Gilles Melanson
Germaine Pataki-Thériault
Eric Savoie
Donne Smith
Kara Stonehouse
Michael D. Wennberg
Board of Directors, Symphony New Brunswick Foundation
Reid Parker, President & Board Chair
Susan Dewar, Treasurer
Jennifer Adam, Secretary
John Fitzpatrick
J. Paul Legar
Ron Outerbridge
Administration
Mélanie Léonard, Music Director
Peter Sametz, Director of Operations & Administration
Adam Masson, Manager of Marketing & Community Relations
Joël Cormier, Manager of Personnel & Production
Stephen Sametz, Stage Manager
Jon Fisher, Librarian
Volunteer Support
Rick Sancton, Donations
Linda Sprague, Friends of the Symphony (Fredericton)
Up Next
Capitol Theatre
811 Main St.
Moncton, NB
March 30 @ 7:30pm
The Playhouse
686 Queen St.
Fredericton, NB
March 31 @ 7:30pm
Imperial Theatre
12 King Sq. S
Saint John, NB
