With a goal of presenting 90 world-class concerts over 17 days, some watchers doubted that Festival Vancouver would be able to pull off its debut season. But sales have been going well since the opening July 28, especially in last-minute sales to many to the classical, world music and jazz events. In fact, a lot of the late-night performances are selling out.

There are two noteworthy events to come this week. There are five performances scheduled for Game Misconduct, and new opera with music by Leslie Uyeda and libretto by Tom Cone. "Set against the backdrop of the rhythms of a hockey game, Game Misconduct... is a unique new opera that's not afraid to cross check." The cast includes sopranos Sally Dibblee and Heidi Breier, mezzo-sopranos Jean Stilwell and Wendy Hatala, tenors Benoit Boutet and John MacMaster, and baritone Gregory Dahl and bass baritone Brian McIntosh. Performances run Aug. 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19, 8 p.m. at the Vancouver Playhouse.

The main concert on Aug. 12th at the Orpheum, is A Tribute to Louis Armstrong, with the Festival Vancouver Jazz Orchestra. Jim Byrnes hosts with Clark Terry on trumpet and Dee Daniels on vocals.

While Festival Vancouver is a big hit with tourists and residents, other concert promoters, such as the long-established Vancouver Recital Society, are doing a little private grumbling. They've noticed this mega-production is sucking away customers and putting a dent in their sales. Publicly, they're trying to be charitable about the losses, saying the Festival is helping to create an appetite for classical music that hopefully will benefit them in the future.

A Call to Kensington
Lots of food, music and interesting activities are lined up for this weekend's Kensington Market Festival in downtown Toronto. Organizers are putting out the call to musicians who began their career in the market to return for a big jam session. In one of the planned events, former Shuffle Demon Richard Underhill will play with his new group Astrogroove, and do a joint show with dub poet Clifton Joseph. Also, a guided historical tour through the market (I did one of these about six or seven years ago with author Margaret Visser as guide, and it provided a fascinating glimpse of the city's history.) Check out the website for more details: