JAZZ
What: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Where: Hermann’s Jazz Club, 753 View St. (250-388-9166)
When: Saturday, 1:30 p.m. (doors at 12:30)
Tickets: $20 from Lyle’s Place or hermannsjazz.com
Why: Sean Drabitt’s series of A Charlie Brown Christmas concerts points to the enduring appeal of the soundtrack by the Vince Guaraldi Trio that accompanied the timeless TV special from 1965. Drabitt, a Victoria bassist now living in Incheon, South Korea, is home for the holidays and looking at four sold-out performances of A Charlie Brown Christmas with bandmates Brent Jarvis (piano) and Joe Poole (drums). He has added a fifth concert Saturday to meet demand, but if you don’t act quickly, your chances of seeing this will be thinner than the branches on Charlie Brown’s sapling.
CLASSICAL
What: Festive Cantatas: Christmas in Gabrieli’s Venice
Where: Christ Church Cathedral, 930 Burdett Ave.
When: Thursday, Dec. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $45 from Ivy’s Bookshop, Munro’s Books, the Christ Church Cathedral box office, or ticketrocket.co
Why: The Pacific Baroque Series at Christ Church Cathedral gets festive tonight with a night of seasonal music from Venetian master Giovanni Gabrieli, whose creations (along with those of his contemporaries) serve as the foundation for this program of motets, sonatas and canzonas for cornetti, trombones and strings. Celebrated cornettist Bruce Dickey will lead a roster of performers, including the Cathedral Choristers, through a spirited program of Renaissance music from the 16th and 17th centuries that would have filled the hallowed halls of Venice’s Saint Mark’s Basilica long ago.
CLASSICAL
What: Canadian Brass with the Victoria Symphony
Where: Farquhar Auditorium at the University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Rd.
When: Saturday, Dec. 21, 8 p.m.
Tickets: $45–$65 through the UVic Ticket Centre (250-721-8480) or tickets.uvic.ca
Why: The current version of the Canadian Brass (tubist Chuck Daellenbach is the lone founding member who remains) will fill the Farquhar Auditorium with festive music, much of which will be pulled from a deep catalogue of merry music by the Juno and Grammy Award-winning brass institution, which includes a half-dozen Christmas recordings. In concert with the full Victoria Symphony Orchestra, this will be a highlight of a month jam-packed with activity.
