Season 17 - 2025 - 2026
Winter Holiday Concert 2025
DNTS held a wonderful holiday concert on December 6th at the Jack Blanchard Centre. Many thanks to the members who helped organize, especially to provide a wonderful buffet of food refreshments ! The house was packed with friends and family who enjoyed a chance to take a break from holiday busy-ness and listen to wonderful music. Although we did not record a video, Marti Hopson manage to collect some audio files from the concert which can be listened to here. In addition to the full DNTS ensemble, the concert featured selections from our small group - The Voyageurs - as well as the brass section playing carols, and members of the string section playing traditional fiddle tunes. Proceeds from the concert were donated to the Upper Room Food Bank.
Concert Program
DNTS
O Canada - Calixa Lavallée
Singing in the Rain/Moon River - arr. Jan Wolters
Mozart Medley - arr. Jan Wolters
Voyageurs
Carol of the bells
Silent night
Good King Wenceslas
String Group -
Ashokan Farewell
Irish Washerwoman
Mrs. MacLeod’s Reel and St. Anne’s Reel
DNTS
Juba Dance - Florence Price
Enigma Variations - Edward Elgar
James Bond Theme - Monty Norman
Starlight Sleigh Ride - Mark Bisson
photo - during warm up , taken by Marti Hopson
Spring Concert June 1, 2005
The program included:
Sunrise from Also Sprach Zarathustra .... Richard Strauss (arr: Hopson)
Go West ! ..... .....Bernstein/ Morricone/ Frontiere (arr. Ford)
Symphony No. 7, second movement .... Ludwig van Beethoven (arr: Hopson)
Aragonaise from Carmen, Act 4 ............... Georges Bizet
Habanera from Carmen Suite No. 2 b............. Georges Bizet/Ernest Guiraud
Hungarian Dance No. 5 ...................... Johannes Brahms
Grasswalk from Plants vs. Zombies ............ Laura Shigihara
Themes from Scheherazade ...... Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (arr: Meyer)
Scene in B minor (Swan Lake) ...... Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (arr:Hopson
Underground .............................................Cody Fry
Firebird (Finale) .............Igor Stravinsky (arr: Glyn)
Season 16!!
Members of Definitely Not the Symphony (DNTS) are tuning up for the beginning of a 16th season of music-making. Led by conductors Marti Hopson, Lucy Morkunas and Travis Boudreau, DNTS is an eclectic group of music enthusiasts who gather to play instrumental pieces on a regular basis. We are 'the all-comers orchestra'. We are recruiting people interested in string, percussion and wind instruments and welcome all ages and musical abilities. Always wanted to learn a new instrument or brush up on your skills? Consider joining our group! The aim is to enjoy making music together, learn, and have fun!
The new season will begin on Saturday, September 7, 2024 with the orchestra meeting weekly on Saturday mornings (September to June) at the Benevolent Irish Society (BIS) located at 582 North River Road in Charlottetown.
Contact DNTSStratford@gmail.
DNTS Begins 13th Season
Members of Definitely Not the Symphony continue to make music together under the direction of our new conductor, Marti Hopson, and assistant conductor, Tim Fitzpatrick.
Practices were suspended in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 lockdown, however, we were able to re-assemble in October 2020 to begin practices once again while following mandated Covid protocols. A new location for practices had to be found. We were able to rent space at the Jack Blanchard Centre at 7 Pond Street in Charlottetown.
DNTS will begin its 13th season on Saturday, September 18, 2021. Due to space restrictions and the high number of returning musicians, we regret that we are unable to welcome any more new members at this time. However, DNTS is currently looking to replace the percussionist for the orchestra as our previous drummer is now playing the double bass. If you are interested please contact us .
CBC Mainstreet Interview
On Thursday, April 16th, the following interview with DNTS founder, Jenny Likely, and co-conductor, Liam Payne, aired on CBC Radio Mainstreet. The actual interview regarding the orchestra's search for a new conductor took place in March before the COVID-19 social distancing policy went into effect. The deadline for expressions of interest in the conductor position was March 31st.
CBC Radio Mainstreet Interview by Matt Rainnie
To learn even more about DNTS please visit us on Facebook or contact Chris (Second Violin) at 902-569-3818.
CBC Radio Mainstreet Interview by Matt Rainnie
To learn even more about DNTS please visit us on Facebook or contact Chris (Second Violin) at 902-569-3818.
Workshop and Practices - CANCELLED
Due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, today's scheduled workshop was cancelled. Additionally, all regular Saturday practices at Andrews of Stratford have been suspended until further notice.
Workshop Day
Please note that there will be no DNTS rehearsal at Andrews of Stratford on Saturday, March 14th due to the annual orchestra workshop taking place at the Cotton Centre in Stratford.
Saturday rehearsals will resume on Saturday, March 21st at Andrews.
Saturday rehearsals will resume on Saturday, March 21st at Andrews.
Passing on the Baton
The baton raps the music stand three times and Jan (Conductor) asks Susan (First Violin) to play an A. And the practice begins.
This is how Definitely Not the Symphony (DNTS) usually begins its weekly practices.
DNTS, however, is looking for a new Music Director/Conductor. Jan, who has been with the orchestra since its creation is planning on enjoying a well-deserved retirement from the orchestra and Liam, who began playing with the orchestra when he was still in junior high school, and has co-conducted for the past three and a half years is about to pursue graduate studies off-island. They will both be leaving the orchestra at the end of June this year.
DNTS celebrated its tenth anniversary last year and over that time the orchestra has tackled over 60 pieces of music. There are current members who started learning to play the recorder who are now playing the flute and violin.
We have orchestral instruments such as violin, cello, flute, clarinet, French horn, trumpet, and percussion. But we also have some unconventional instruments not normally found in an orchestra including: celtic harp, recorders, alto saxophone, keyboard, electric bass guitar, and acoustic guitars.
We have performed for cruise ships, the Superstore at Christmas, and Stratford City Hall, but mostly given concerts for the staff and residents of Andrews of Stratford who welcome us into their Activities Room every week and allow us to practice.
We have made a quilt, a musical travelogue and a soundscape composition and played kazoos in unison! We know each other by our instruments such as Ken (Flute) and Carol (Harp).
There has been the happiness of discovering that we could play something together, and sometimes disagreements about how this should be done. There has been moaning about having 37 bars of rests and anxiety about the challenges presented by a particular piece of music but there has always been mutual support and joy in playing music together.
There have been high school and university graduations, three weddings, five new babies, several new grandchildren, retirements, some great parties and plenty of laughter.
Some members have moved away, some have moved on, and some sadly have passed away but through all that there has been the musical oasis of DNTS every Saturday morning and the community that surrounds it.
We have played terribly and we have played well but we have always tried our best to learn and improve. The joy that music brings continues to hold us together and to now look for a replacement conductor to share our community with.
The deadline for expressions of interest in the Music Director/Conductor position is 31st March 2020 and may be submitted to Chris at dntsstratford@gmail.com.
If expressing interest please include a few words on what it is that interests you about the role and what experience you have that may be helpful in this position. We hope that you will want to join us and help keep this community alive.
To learn even more about DNTS please visit us on Facebook or contact Chris (Second Violin) at 902-569-3818.
10 Years and Still Going Strong...
In the spring of 2019, Definitely Not the Symphony celebrated its tenth year making music together. A concert celebration was held in June 2019 at Andrews of Stratford. That concert was a musical retrospective of where we started and how far we've come, beginning with some of the simpler pieces we have mastered and concluding with longer more complicated compositions that challenged us.
We are proud of the longevity this group has had and how many of our original members are still with us. We've learned and grown together and owe so much to our co-conductors, Jan Gomersall and Liam Payne, for supporting our growth as musicians and creating a real sense of community within the group by holding workshop days; providing time for individual and small group showcases; creating an original soundscape piece; and special concert themes, one of which resulted in the design and creation of a quilt and another for which we created an accompanying slideshow of pictures from around the world. We look forward to many more years of music and fellowship!
We are proud of the longevity this group has had and how many of our original members are still with us. We've learned and grown together and owe so much to our co-conductors, Jan Gomersall and Liam Payne, for supporting our growth as musicians and creating a real sense of community within the group by holding workshop days; providing time for individual and small group showcases; creating an original soundscape piece; and special concert themes, one of which resulted in the design and creation of a quilt and another for which we created an accompanying slideshow of pictures from around the world. We look forward to many more years of music and fellowship!
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| Paula (Guitar) Gauthier and DNTS co-conductor, Liam Payne |
Another Season Begins...
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| Some members of the DNTS strings section (photo by Ann Winslow) |
Saturday, September 2, 2017 will see members of Definitely Not the Symphony reconvene after our summer hiatus. Anyone interested in coming out to hear what we're all about, please do join us and bring along your instrument.
Practice will begin at 10:00 a.m., so arrive before that to give yourself time to introduce yourself to everyone and to set up and warm up. Please bring your own music stand.
Currently, our woodwind section is rather thin. Any clarinetists, flutists, oboists out there looking for someone to play with? We need you!
This year we'll be working on a medley of Strauss waltzes and eventually a medley of some of Andrew Lloyd Webber's compositions. We have a whole repertoire of other pieces, classical and otherwise, that we will continue to play.
We regret that we do not have any recent performance footage or audio files to share, but be assured that we have come a long way since our first practice in 2009. Worried about fitting in and not having what it takes to keep up with us? If you're a bit rusty and your instrument is a bit dusty, don't despair. We're improving each year, but we're still definitely not the symphony! Give DNTS a try. We play music for fun.
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| Co-conductor Liam Payne playing 1st violin (photo by Ann Winslow) |
DNTS Spreads the Love on Valentine's Day
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| DNTS performing Saturday, February 14, 2015 in our beautiful practice and concert space, the activity room at Andrews of Stratford |
Winter and love (not love of winter!) were the main themes of our latest concert held at Andrews of Stratford on Valentine's Day. We also threw in some dance pieces, folk tunes, and classical fare with Hadyn's St. Anthony Chorale and Beethoven's Choral Symphony Theme ("Ode to Joy"). The encore was Scot Joplin's "The Entertainer".
Don Mazer (alto sax), Pam Forrester (trumpet), our conductor, Jan Gomersall (flute), and Carol MacDonald (electric bass guitar) serenaded our appreciative audience with some old standards including, "Daisy Bell (Bicycle Built for Two)" and "Over the Rainbow".
We did not record this concert, but did receive a short clip of the orchestra playing Offenbach's "Can Can" recorded by an audience member.
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| We are a mix of both traditional orchestral instruments and non-traditional. |
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Multimedia Performance Captured on Video!
On
Saturday, June 14, 2014, DNTS wowed its audience with two slideshow
presentations: one set to live music; the other the premiere of a soundscape, a
creation of our own making. The season-ending concert closed with a sing-along
medley of well-known folk tunes. The entire concert was captured on video by Perry Williams of Virtual Studios and
has been uploaded to YouTube (click on this link to view).
The
first slideshow took the audience on a trip from Canada to Russia, Greece,
Italy, Scotland, Ireland, and finally, back to Canada. Many of the photos had
been taken by members of the orchestra. Musical selections were played to
accompany the photos from each country.
The
soundscape, which was created over a six-month period as a 2014 Project, was
called, "A Journey Through Stratford." Photographs taken by orchestra
members illustrated an original poem about Stratford written by a member of the
orchestra. The strings section provided musical accompaniment while the rest of
the orchestra used their instruments, feet, voices, and various props to mimic
sounds commonly heard in the Stratford area.
The
residents of Andrews of Stratford and other members of the audience were
invited to sing-along with the final selections presented at the concert. These
included, "The Log-Driver's Waltz," "Grandfather's Clock,"
"She'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain," "Clementine," and
"This Land Is Your Land."
We've come a long way in our 5 years together. What is next for this community orchestra?!?
We've come a long way in our 5 years together. What is next for this community orchestra?!?
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