Grand Salon Orchestra

Ottawa’s sold-out Viennese ball celebrated its 15th anniversary Saturday looking renewed, rejuvenated and ready to dance until the wee hours in the gorgeous Great Hall of the National Gallery of Canada. … CBC TV’s Adrian Harewood MCd the $400-a-ticket dinner, and the Grand Salon Orchestra and The Stevens & Kennedy Band filled the hall with beautiful and fun music all night long.
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Kerry Stratton will lead his Grand Salon Orchestra in performances throughout southern Ontario, including Milton (Oct 29) and Orillia (Nov 7): We’ll Meet Again: a tribute to Vera Lynn with mezzo-soprano Barbara Sadegur. In Markham (Feb 4, 2011), Grand Salon performs A Night in Vienna, and plays in Ottawa (Feb 5) for the Viennese Winter Ball.

“The Grand Salon Orchestra, under the director of Kerry Stratton, performed at the Ball Pologne on April 21, as Polish Orphans Charity celebrated its 10th anniversary by donating scholarships to deserving orphans in Poland and surrounding countries.”

“Kerry Stratton has the pizzazz that classical music needs,” says Barbara Johnston of the Brockville Concert Association, which is responsible for bringing the Grand Salon to Brockville. “We need more people like him – people who are dedicated to keeping good-quality music alive.” Ask Kerry why he formed the Grand Salon, and he’ll tell you that he was trying to recreate a piece of “North Americana.” The Grand Salon brings to life the music of a gentler age in music when, as Kerry explains, it was cherished and wasn’t a disposable commodity. “The salon era was a time before radio, and it was a time when music was consumed live.”
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