Stir Cheat Sheet: Santour to string quartets, a few picks from Music on Main's Pop-Up Summer Concerts in Mount Pleasant Park
Saaz O Raaz, Orchid Ensemble, and more, with food trucks to fuel the outdoor experience
Saaz O Raaz’s Saina Khaledi at a past Music on Main pop-up. Photo by Jan Gates
Summer Pop-Up Concerts with Music on Main are at Mount Pleasant Park from August 14 to 16 and 21 to 23; concerts start at 6:30 pm
THEY’RE BACK: The impeccably curated outdoor concerts that echo through the East Side on summer evenings, care of Music on Main.
The free Summer Pop-Up Concerts hit the grass at Mount Pleasant Park (West 16th at Ontario) on six evenings, starting at 6:30 pm, with music spanning everything from world instruments to exquisite classical strings.
The festivities kick off August 14 with soaring strings: the Raincity Quartet features Brooklyn Wood and Yiyi Hsu on violins; Alex Beggs on viola; and Bruno Quezada on cello. Planted food truck is on hand with tasty veggie specialties like fresh falafels and warmed hummus.
From there, here are just a few of the highlights. And remember to bring a picnic blanket and look for food trucks each evening.
Saaz O Raaz
August 15
There’s something magical about listening to the cascading sounds of Music on Main regular Saina Khaledi’s santour spreading through the park; she plays the traditional Persian dulcimer with little wooden mallets flying in her hands. Saaz O Raaz is the ensemble she’s formed with Ali Sajjadi, Ali Razmi, Shanranjeet Singh Mand, and Sunny Matharu on equally mesmerizing instruments: the oud, tar, sitar, and tabla, respectively. Get the true global experience by hitting the Dos Amigos Tex-Mex food truck for tacos.
Sitka String Quartet
Sitka String Quartet
August 21
Here’s a story of a creatively fertile friendship. Sitka String Quartet is made up of colleagues from the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Jennie Press and Karen Gerbrecht on violin; Emilie Grimes on viola; and Olivia Blander on cello. Together they’ve joined forces to form a professional quartet that allows you to hear their honed and open-hearted playing in a smaller format, exploring repertoire across diverse genres. Planted food truck is back for this one. (Recommended: The Sabich Bowl, complete with hummus, tahini, tomatoes, cucumbers, pickles, fried eggplant, cauliflower, amba, pickled onions, zhoug, parsley, and house-made pita.)
Orchid Ensemble
Orchid Ensemble
August 23
The last evening offers a chance to catch one of the country’s most innovative East-meets-West ensembles outside of the concert hall. The critically lauded Vancouver trio is made up of musicians Lan Tung on the erhu and vocals, Dailin Hsieh on the Chinese zheng, and Jonathan Bernard on percussion, including the marimba. The evening concert will give you a taste of their wide-ranging styles, spanning classical Taiwanese, otherwordly new music, and improvisation. Pair the sounds with the vibrantly flavoured Filipino sandos from Shameless Buns food truck; every one is served on a homemade pandesal (the Philippines’ version of a fluffy brioche).
Find the full lineup here, and check out the trailer for the entire series below.
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