Page 16 l Kitchener Citizen - West Edition l July 9, 2015
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I LOVE LIVE THEATRE TICKET GIVEAWAY! WIN TWO FREE TICKETS THAT CAN BE USED AT ANY DRAYTON ENTERTAINMENT 2015 SEASON PERFORMANCE!
Send citizenwest@hotmail.com an email stating “I Love Live Theatre!” and we’ll put your name in a draw for two tickets to a Drayton performance.
Winning tickets may be used for any performance at any of the following Drayton Entertainment venues, during the 2015 season:* • Dunfield Theatre Cambridge • St. Jacobs Country Playhouse • Schoolhouse Theatre • King’s Wharf Theatre • Drayton Festival Theatre • Huron Country Playhouse • Playhouse II * Tickets must be booked in advance. Performance dates and times are subject to availability. To see what exciting shows Drayton Entertainment has in store for you this season call 1-855-DRAYTON (372-9866) or visit www.draytonentertainment. com. The ticket winners will be announced in the Kitchener Citizen each month.
June winner: Carole McNamara
Entertainment
OPUS ARCANA Local composer to create piano scores based on tarot cards By Carrie Debrone ocal composer Ian Ring hopes to take on the challenge of a lifetime – a twoyear project he’s dubbed Opus Arcana. His challenge is to compose 22 different classical piano solo works based on each Major Arcana tarot card. As far as he knows, no one has ever composed piano music based on tarot cards, which are said to reflect spiritual lessons in our life. His own interest in the cards, which are usually read by someone with psychic powers and used to predict a person’s future or interpret things that have happened in their lives, gave Ring the idea. With names like Lover, Fool, Judgment, Hanged Man, Hermit, and Wheel of Fortune, the cards each have their own interesting history and meaning, and some have multiple interpretations. Ring will use his research of each card as a catalyst to tap into his creativity and produce the piano scores. He intends the pieces to be performed by a trained pianist, but they will range from moderate to difficult and will not require exceptional virtuosity to play. Ring graduated from the University of Waterloo Music Department’s Conrad Grebel College in 1994 with a degree in Fine Arts and a minor in Music. Currently a software engineer for Netsuite in Kitchener, Ring has been composing since he was five years old. Writing classical piano and performing and arranging for a small jazz ensemble, he began selling his scores several years ago online through his “Scubbly” store. “I really want this project to be different. I am trying to do something a little more special this time,” he said. “I’m not a virtuoso and I want to create something that a piano player without superhuman abilities can perform,” he said. Inspiration comes to Ring at random times in the day. During our interview he leans over to produce a small, black notebook from his pocket. Blessed with the ability to write music on the spot, many of the notebook’s pages are filled with a few bars of music, hastily written as they came to him at
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Local composer Ian Ring hopes to soon begin a two-year long project to compose 22 piano solo works based on tarot cards. different times. “I will just see something and get a melody in my head. I always carry this notebook with me, so I can just jot down the tune in my head and not forget it,” he explains.
“I’m not a virtuoso and I want to create something that a piano player without superhuman abilities can perform.” Composer Ian Ring “I like to let composition happen naturally and organically,” he said, adding that he does most of his composing in his living room or the basement of his home using his laptop sequencer. Realizing he needed help to finance his Opus Arcana project, Ring initiated a Kickstarter fundraising campaign a few weeks ago. The money pledged would help him to purchase the music software he requires to produce
professional-quality scores and high-quality recordings. With a goal to raise about $5,800, the campaign ends July 14. “I’m learning to ask for help with things in my life. There are a lot of good people around and there have been so many people that have said yes to helping me,” he said, adding that Raymond Buckland, an esteemed author, occultist, spiritualist and expert on the tarot, has agreed to write a foreword to accompany Ring’s printed editions. Ring is offering many different options in return for funding and the finished collection will be delivered as either a printed book or printable PDF scores, depending on the level of the pledge. People, who pledge enough to be eligible for immediate access, will be sent a download token so they can access each piece as it is finished. “I feel confident that I can finish about one new piece every month,” he said. * * * For examples of Ring’s previous work visit www. ianring.com, or to pledge to his Kickstarter campaign visit https://www.kickstarter.com/ projects/440936161/opusarcana-piano-music-about-thetarot