Ladom Ensemble is set to perform at the Norman Ritchie Community Centre on Feb. 7. Group members (left to right) Adam Campbell, Michael Bridge, Pouya Hamidi and Beth Silver are now touring in Alberta as they make their way to Saskatchewan for a series of performances.

Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion

Music lovers in Kindersley can see a one-of-a-kind musical performance next week when the Ladom Ensemble comes to the community.

Ladom Ensemble hits he stage at the Norman Ritchie Community Centre on Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m. The concert is being presented by the Kindersley & District Arts Council in association with the Prairie Debut organization as part of the arts council’s Stars for Saskatchewan series.

Prairie Debut aims to promote classical music across the prairie region. Ladom Ensemble consists of Pouya Hamidi on piano, Adam Campbell on percussion, Beth Silver on cello and Michael Bridge on accordion, and their diverse backgrounds offer a range of musical traditions and an identity unto their own.

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The group’s unique blend of acoustic chamber and world music has been touted as passionate, sophisticated and wild. With members hailing from Toronto, Prince Edward Island, Alberta and Iran via Toronto, the group draws on a wide range of backgrounds.

Tickets for arts council shows are available at Lela’s Music Centre, LaBelle Boutique and Integra Tire. Tickets are also available online at www.ticketpro.ca or at the door if the show has not already sold out. People could still purchase a five-pack of tickets online to see the five remaining concerts in the arts council’s 2018-19 season.

Bridge, the accordion player for Ladom Ensemble, said he was born in Regina and raised in Calgary. The group is currently on a three-week tour with only two days off in that time. The group’s tour includes shows booked after appearing at an Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC) showcase.

According to Bridge, the group had three days off on a tour in Quebec and the members flew to Regina for the OSAC showcase during that time. He said the members are looking forward to performing in places they would likely never see if not for OSAC.

“We’re really looking forward to it because getting to see Canada through music is an incredible experience,” he said, recognizing that the group is going coast to coast and the shows provide a great opportunity to experience the cultural differences from region to region.

He noted that each member of Ladom Ensemble has studied classical music at the University of Toronto where he is currently working on a doctorate. The group formed in 2007, but members have come and gone and the group’s current line up has been in place since about 2016. Bridge said Hamidi is the only original member.

The ensemble has started to tour more over the past three years, so the members have been taking a more serious approach with respect to sharing their talents, he said. The group’s mix of instruments sets Ladom Ensemble apart from all other ensembles.

“As far as we know, we are the only ensemble in the world with this exact instrumentation,” he said, recognizing it is pretty wild for the group to be able to boast such a thing and it allows members to present their “own style of music.”

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Ladom Ensemble