Christ Church Cathedral will be the host venue for Fredericton's 175th anniversary concert, A Celebration of Us, to be held on Tuesday, 08 August, 2023, 7:30 p.m. This article was shared in a recent newsletter from the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival.

Fredericton-based composer Christian David Bérubé has been commissioned to create a new work to celebrate the city's 175th anniversary. Partnering with the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival and Atlantic Sinfonia, Bérubé will bring a spark of celebration to the event and add to Fredericton's rich history of classical orchestral performance.

Bérubé began his composing career later than most, and he has more than made up for it with his wealth of credits which include film and video game scores. When asked about his entrance into composing and arranging, Bérubé states that “[he] began by writing piano arrangements for The Doors and Led Zeppelin, after finding [himself] unsatisfied with existing versions of [his] favorite songs.” Finding a love for the creative aspect of composition, he dove straight into the deep end by writing a piano sonata that won first place at the provincial music festival. Soon after, he switched from Biochemistry to Music at the University of Alberta.

This summer, Bérubé is writing a new piece for the Atlantic Sinfonia Orchestra, bringing local influences and an element of celebration to the work. He states that “it is a privilege to write a concert piece, and for instrumentalists to learn [his] work. It takes so many hours to create and rehearse something like this.” In early August, 13 musicians be at Christ Church Cathedral as the venue to perform a collection of Fredericton’s historical pieces, fan favorites, and Bérubé’s new creation. This event will be one of seven projects that received support from the City of Fredericton to mark the anniversary.

“I am looking forward to working with musicians, sitting in on the rehearsal progress, and hearing the final performance” (Bérubé).

Bérubé [has spent] two months creating and working with Atlantic Sinfonia and the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival. “[His] job in this case is to write a piece, an entertaining piece, a musically interesting piece, that is a celebration of us.”

Fredericton, A Celebration of Us takes place on Tuesday, August 8th, 7:30 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral. For more information, visit www.nbsummermusicfestival.ca.

Repertoire

• Now-Baroque Suite – Richard Gibson
• Aperture Akimbo – Christian Bérubé
• Subway Thoughts – Eldon Rathburn
• Song without Words – Robin Bayley
• Improvisations on Two Latvian Folk Songs – Janis Kalnins