The Agnes Society volunteers present a series of insider art talks, musical performances and tea in the historic Etherington House on the second Sunday of the month. The season kicks off with celebrated composer and pianist John Burge. This is a free and open event; all are welcome. Families take note: Creation Station is available concurrently with INSIDE AGNES through the winter.

Celebrated composer and pianist, John Burge, delights attendees to INSIDE AGNES, Winter 2019. Photo: Garrett Elliott

Sunday 13 January 2019, 2–3:30 pm
Features John Burge and Carina Magazzeni

John Burge is a celebrated composer and pianist. He holds three degrees in Composition and Theory from the Universities of Toronto and British Columbia and since 1987, has been teaching at Queen’s University, where he is a full professor. He has composed a large body of instrumental and vocal music in all genres and his work, Flanders Fields Reflections, for string orchestra, received the 2009 Juno Award for the Best Canadian Classical Composition.

Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts is just that: a growing, living, breathing exhibition with multiple activations. The exhibition takes the form of scores and at different moments during the exhibition these scores are activated by musicians, dancers, performers and members of the public, gradually filling the gallery and surrounding spaces with sound and action. In this INSIDE AGNES session, Carina Magazzeni, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art – Special Project, will discuss the exhibition in its current “first part” and the activations that are soon to follow.

Members of the Badass Chamber Collective, Hailey Philipps, Anja-Xiaoxing Cui and Jethro Moneo enjoy tea after an INSIDE AGNES session.

Sunday 10 February 2019, 2–3:30 pm
Features Badass Brahms Chamber Collective (Anja Cui, piano and Zoe Clarke, voice) and Shannon Brown

Badass Brahms Chamber Collective (BBCC) was founded in 2012 by a biology, a medicine, and two psychology students who are passionate about classical music. They explore not only works by Brahms, but also by a diverse range of other composers from Schumann to Hindemith to Khachaturian. Always open to unusual forms of chamber music, past groupings have included clarinet trio, voice with piano trio, or alto sax piano duo. For this concert, mezzo-soprano Zoe Clarke and pianist Anja-Xiaoxing Cui bring you a Valentine’s Day themed selection of songs which are so over love, songs that are quite in love, and songs about love.

Agnes Program Coordinator Shannon Brown has a background in and passion for the healing benefits of the arts. Join her for this talk on current practices in therapeutic arts around the world and an inside look at Agnes Arts and Wellness programming including the successful Art Hive @Agnes.

Binky Swings

Sunday 10 March 2019, 2–3:30 pm
Featuring a musical performance with Binky Swings (Val Hamilton, Sarah Gibson-Bray, Carl Bray, Alan Bronskill, vocals; Brant Anthony Peppley, bass and Doug Rooks, piano) and an insider art talk with Ella Gonzales.

Binky Swings is an SATB vocal jazz quartet featuring pieces by Manhattan Transfer and well-loved jazz masters from the twentieth century. Hot swing and memorable melodies make this group a wonderful musical treat.

Following tea, at 3 pm, Agnes Contemporary Curatorial Assistant and emerging artist Ella Gonzales will provide a snapshot of Kingston’s artist-run centres and art collectives and share how they have helped further her career as an artist.

The Kitchen Gypsies

Sunday 14 April 2019, 2–3:30 pm
Featuring a musical performance with Kitchen Gypsies and an insider art talk with Vanessa Nicholas and Lorna Rowley.

The Kitchen Gypsies (Suzanne Becker, violin and vocals; Ray Desrosiers, accordionist and vocals; Gary Greer, rhythm guitar, Ron Heidebrecht, lead guitar, vocals and Andy Rush, Bass) live in Kingston, Ontario and play the Gypsy Jazz (Jazz Manouche) style of music created by Django Reinhardt in France in the 1930’s. In addition to charitable functions, private gatherings and celebrations, they have performed at local events including open air markets, Skeleton Park Arts Festival, Art Among the Ruins and the Homegrown Festival.

Vanessa Nicholas and Lorna Rowley, the Isabel Bader Fellow and Graduate Intern in Textile Conservation and Research, will share what they have learned about the oldest garment in the Queen’s University Collection of Canadian Dress, a Regency style day dress that was once in Agnes Etherington’s possession. Their research on the provenance, style and material of this dress has taken them from the Cataraqui Cemetery to the colonial United States, and has piqued their interest in fashionable florals and silk worms.