Saturday July 3rd at 8pm
Tickets are $20.00/ $16.00 student

Lorne Elliott

Canadian born, LORNE ELLIOTT has performed from Newfoundland to New York City, from Los Angeles to Australia and points in between."I started going on stage at a time when hair like mine was fashionable, and I hung a guitar hung around my neck to complete the look. Somewhere around that time people started laughing at me, and I saw no reason why I shouldn't join them." The outcome of such a training is a very special show of comedy and music, totally original, entertaining, up-lifting and foolish enough to make everybody laugh. Along with his unique and wacky performance style, it is the timelessness of his material, joined with keen observations of today's trends that make LORNE ELLIOTT's work so special.

Saturday June 26th at 8:00pm
Tickets are $18.00 and $14.00 student

Melanie Doane

Juno-Award winner Melanie Doane moves between instruments (guitar, violin, mandolin, ukulele, piano, and bass) as swiftly and effortlessly as she sings with her rich and clear voice (an instrument in its own right). It is a great pleasure to have  Melanie come to Chester to perform with her trio.
The product of a musical family, Halifax-born Doane has spent a large portion of the last ten years on the road supporting her numerous solo albums. The release of ADAM’S RIB in 1998 brilliantly showcases Melanie’s flair as both an instrumentalist and songwriter, featuring punchy-relevant lyrics laced with strong musical wit. What followed the albums release is nothing short of extraordinary: four top 40 singles, a Juno Award for Best New Artist, a Canadian Radio Award for Most Charted Rock Artist, over 200 shows in Canada and the U.S. with the likes of Jann Arden, Sarah McLachlan's "Lilith Fair", and Great Big Sea, and a Gold record award.

Saturday June 12th at 8pm
Tickets are $16.00/ $12.00 student

Ian Sherwood & Coco Love Alcorn

Award winning songwriter, Ian Sherwood mixes catchy melodies and heart-breaking stories with intricate guitar loops, saxophones and pop/rock/jazz grooves to create music that has been described as “Traditional singer/songwriter style at it’s essence.” His live show can make you weep for goats, sing to Jesus and hop a boxcar to the Yukon.

Coco Love Alcorn has gained an incredible and loyal fanbase while touring across Canada numerous times, playing an abundance of music festivals (including the female inspired Lilith Fair) as well as community performances. Her latest album Joyful (Sound of Pop/Fontana North) is a sparkling alloy of jazz, soul and contemporary folk melded seamlessly into Alcorn’s own distinctive and unique sound. Her writing about love, life and social awareness creates new fan favourites including ‘Intellectual Boys’ ‘Revolution’ and ‘I Got a Bicycle’ which resonate uplifting, strong and passionate lyrics.

Friday May 21st at 7:30pm
Tickets are $10 adult/ $7 student

Maritime Marionettes

Maritime Marionettes presents the favorite folktale of an aging donkey who follows his dream to become a musician. On the road to Bremen town, he befriends a dog, a cat and a rooster, who like him, are no longer needed as farm animals. Together they form a comical quartet and a bond that will last the rest of their lives.

The visuals of the show are performed with eloquent shadow puppets, exquisitely made marionettes and the Taylor's masterful manipulation. The inspiring soundtrack combines bedtime story style narration, whimsical music and side splitting animal sounds.

From the opening scene to the hilarious and touching ending, this timeless tale of friendship and enthusiasm for life will inspire and entertain the child in us all.

May 15th at 8pm
Tickets are $16.00/$12.00

Pat Watson and Marko Simmonds

Presented by the MSN Bringin' It Home series

Pat recently won "The Rising Star" award for 2009 presented to her by the African Nova Scotia Music Association. She was also invited to perform on the Discovery Stage for new artists at the East Coast Music Awards this year.

Pat will be performing with John Bird (keyboard), Dave Harrison (flugelhorn), Luke Domm

(saxophone), Steve MacNeil (bass), Dave Skinner (drums), and The Chester Studio Singers.

You are in for an incredible musical experience

An award-winning Artist and Graduate of Berklee College of Music, Marko is certain to make an impact on the music industry and the lives of Canadians.With his music, he is certain the world will become inspired to love again, live again, dream and dance. Marko acknowledges, “I am here to simply help someone else through my music.” Marko embarked on a spiritual journey that has brought him to this space, at this moment, and he will undoubtedly be remembered for it.

Thursday April 29th at 7:30pm
Tickets $18.00/ $14.00 student

SHAKESPEARE ON TRIAL

Writer Bill Shakespeare encounters four of his own most famous characters: MacBeth, Iago, Hamlet and Juliet up-close, personal and ticked-off, in a new one-man play that explores the Bard’s accessibility and relevance in the world today.Shakespeare has to defend his own writing as the four fictional characters challenge the author to write in a modern way, arguing that no-one understands them anymore.

Shakespeare On Trial is a one-act, fast-paced play created to introduce audiences to the Bard’s words and to help those words find an ear today. The play features a ‘greatest hits’ of famous Shakespeare quotes, speeches and the occasional soliloquy (featuring scenes from Romeo & Juliet, Othello, MacBeth and Hamlet.) The show becomes interactive for the last 15 minutes as Shakespeare calls upon students to help prove his point: “The play’s the thing…”

Thursday April 22nd at 7:30pm
Tickets $24.00

Reservations are required for this performance. patrons are asked to preselect their preferred seating.

Please see the Seating plan

The Spinney Brothers & JP Cormier
The Maritime Acoustic Tour 2010

The Maritime Acoustic Tour 2010 is a musical union like no other.  Audiences are to expect a high energy show of close vocal harmonies and precision instrumentation.   Whether a traditional air or newly written ballad, The Maritime Acoustic Tour will deliver music with a timeless and well known feel.   You will be thoroughly entertained.

The Spinney Brothers are the most awarded act in Maritime acoustic and bluegrass music history.  Brothers Allan & Rick were raised in Nova Scotia’s Annapolis Valley and have taken their music all across North America.   The Nova Scotia Legislature has recognized them as “Ambassadors of Nova Scotia”.     

The Spinney Brothers have garnished an industry reputation of being top notch professionals.  Attention to detail has brought an impression list of performance opportunities.  They have shared the stage with county music star Ricky Skaggs, the Grammy nominated Cherryholms, and Grand Ole Opry legend Del McCoury.  
For more information on the Spinney Brothers please visit www.spinneybrothers.com.

JP Cormier: Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, sideman, innovator, recording artist, award winner. His names are many, but underlying that is a young man with an ancient soul who has traveled the world for the past 25 years bringing his unique brand of joy to audiences wherever he goes.

Cormier has releasedthirteen award winning recordings.  J.P.’s impressive body of work has earned him a vast and loyal fan base, and multiple award nominations and wins, including, 12 East Coast Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Award, 5 Music Nova Scotia Awards, Juno nomination, Commendations from the Governor General of Canada and Premier of Nova Scotia.
For more information of JP Cormier, please visit www.jp-cormier.com

SOLD OUT!

Friday April 16th at 8:00pm
Tickets $22.00 /16.00 students

Reservations are required for this performance. patrons are asked to preselect their preferred seating.

Please see the Seating plan

OLD MAN (CHRIS) LUEDECKE
Molly Thomason - Opening

Old Man Luedecke, is one of Canada’s best loved and most intriguing roots singer-songwriters. “An original, he is a musical singularity to be savoured and shared”, says the Vancouver Folk Festival. His memorable melodies, poetic sense and easy charisma appeal to anyone searching for new growth from old roots. He has made his home for years in the music rich maritime province of Nova Scotia, on the east coast of Canada. There his music has been wholeheartedly adopted and is becoming representative for its traditional storytelling folk elements. It speaks to a new generation of people craving such meaning in their music

.Molly Thomason from Kent, England, via Antigonish, Nova Scotia, is a singer/songwriter who taught herself guitar when she was eleven. She is now 15. Her single, “Untitled #2 (Kiss Me),” is one of the most complete, and commercially viable tracks I’ve heard by an artist her age. Replete with the characteristics that radio embraces (quick intro, short verses, strong hook, and high production values – thanks to Tim Feswick) Molly knocks a home run her first time at bat with this one.

Saturday April 3rd at 8:00pm
Tickets $25.00 / 20.00 student

Reservations are required for this performance. patrons are asked to preselect their preferred seating.

Please see the Seating plan

JOEL PLASKETT

It all started simply enough. Joel Plaskett noticed that he had three songs coming together where each title was one word repeated three times: the hillbilly stomper “Rolling, Rolling, Rolling”; the soulful electric-piano ballad “Rewind, Rewind, Rewind”; and the aching folk-pop of “Gone, Gone, Gone.” “I was like, well, I’ve got these songs that roll in threes,” says Plaskett. “Maybe I should do a whole album of songs where every song title is the same word three times. Then I thought, well, I’ve got all these other songs that aren’t like that, but I also want to put on a record… so I’ll just make a triple record! The idea came pretty quickly.”