February 26, 2015

HALIFAX, NS – Nova Scotia native, pianist Lucas Porter, is quickly gaining recognition across the country and internationally with media outlets such as The Montreal Gazette describing his double octaves as being “the fastest since Horowitz, and even cleaner.” With an exhilarating program featuring Chopin’s 24 Préludes, Op.28 , Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor, S.178 and even one of Porter’s own compositions, Debut Atlantic is delighted to bring this outstanding artist to communities throughout the Atlantic Provinces from March 13 – 29, 2015.

Beginning his tour in Moncton NB, at a special concert celebrating the 80th anniversary season of the Moncton Community Concert Association, Lucas’s program will be complimented by a special collaboration with clarinetist Luc Vailliancourt, winner of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra’s (NBYO) concerto competition. The NBYO will also be guest performers and open this special evening. Lucas’ tour includes concerts in Sackville, NB and Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador as well as appearances in his home province of Nova Scotia where he will perform in communities including Antigonish, Yarmouth, Wolfville, Chester and Indian Brook, Cape Breton.

In addition to his recitals, Lucas will be working with young students and performing for schools throughout the region. He will also participate in a videoconference session hosted by Newfoundland’s Centre for Distance Learning and Innovation (CDLI). This workshop will take place at 11:30am AST on Wednesday, March 18 and will be broadcast live on the internet.

The CDLI session can be viewed live at: http://www.cdli.ca/backstage

Please see the enclosed list of tour dates and artist biography and join Lucas as travels home to share his artistry with audiences across Atlantic Canada!
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One of the most respected music touring organizations in the country, Debut Atlantic’s first season in 1979 featured then-emerging and still-unknown artists, pianist Jon Kimura Parker, tenor Ben Heppner, and Canada’s Baroque orchestra Tafelmusik.

Full details on Debut Atlantic’s concert seasons and education programs can be found at www.debutatlantic.ca

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For further information, please contact:

Mhiran Faraday – Executive Director or
Erin Sparks – Program Officer
Debut Atlantic
902.429.6812
mdfaraday@debutatlantic.ca
erin@debutatlantic.ca

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Tour Schedule – Lucas Porter, Piano – March 2015

Moncton, New Brunswick
7:30pm, Friday March 13, 2015
Moncton Community Concert Association
First Church of the Nazarene
21 Fieldcrest Drive
506.852-4491
monctonconcerts.googlepages.com

Antigonish, Nova Scotia
8:00pm, Saturday March 14, 2015
Antigonish Performing Arts Series
Immaculata Hall, St.FX University
902.863.1639
http://people.stfx.ca/msteinit/schedule.htm

Happy Valley-Goose Bay , Newfoundland and Labrador
8:00pm, Wednesday March 18, 2015
Lawrence O’Brien Arts Centre
12 – 21 Voisey Drive
709.896.4028
http://www.obrienartscentre.ca

Sackville, New Brunswick
8:00pm, Friday March 20, 2015
Mount Allison Performing Arts Series
Brunton Auditorium
134 Main Street
506.364.2662
mta.ca/performingarts

Wolfville, Nova Scotia
2:00pm, Sunday March 22, 2015
Acadia University School of Music
Garden Room, K.C. Irving Environmental Science Centre
902.585.1512
http://music.acadiau.ca/

Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
7:00pm, Wednesday March 25, 2015
Hear! Here! Society
Yarmouth County Museum
22 Collins Street
902.649.2996
Cecil_day@eastlink.ca

Chester, Nova Scotia
7:30pm, Friday March 27, 2015
Chester Playhouse
22 Pleasant Street
902.275.3933
chesterplayhouse.ca

Indian Brook, Nova Scotia
1:30pm, Sunday March 29, 2015
Arts By the Brook Society
Colouratura Fine Art Gallery
45943 Cabot Trail, Cape Breton
902.929.2721
http://www.cabottrailart.com/classical_music_on_the_cabot_trail

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Lucas Porter, piano
Biography

Nova Scotia native pianist Lucas Porter, is quickly gaining recognition across the country and internationally. This past winter, he completed a tour of 21 concerts under management of Jeunesses Musicales of Eastern Canada. In 2013, he performed Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 with Symphony Nova as well as Prokofiev’s Concerto No.3 with the “Mihail Jora” of Bacau Orchestra in Cantu, Italy. This past summer, he was accepted into the International Mendelssohn Akademie in Leipzig and studied with world renowned pedagogues Jacques Rouvier and Arie Vardi.

A graduate of the Glenn Gould School’s Bachelors of Music Program, he is the youngest student, to date, to win the school’s concerto competition. Other competition highlights include his success at the Montreal International Musical Competition where he was an audience and media favorite. The Montreal Gazette described his double octaves as being “the fastest since Horowitz, and even cleaner.” Mr. Porter also won the Canadian Music Competition in both 2007 and 2010, as well as the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition in 2007. As part of his prize, he performed Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F with the orchestra in a joint concert with the Symphony Nova Scotia (SNS). This was not Mr. Porter’s first performance with SNS, as he made his orchestral debut in 2007 playing Shostakovich’s Concerto No. 2.

Chosen to represent Canada at Expo 2005 in Nagoya, Japan, he took part in a series of concerts along with Canadian soprano, Measha Brueggergosman. At the invitation of the Honourable Peter McKay, he played for Condoleezza Rice at the Halifax 9/11 Ceremony in September of 2006. He also performed in the 2011 Canada Winter Games which were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Also a composer, Lucas has written for piano, orchestra, and film. He won the Notions
Realize Music Challenge, an international composing competition sponsored by Virtuoso Works Inc. receiving first place in the 18 and under category for best Orchestral Composition. The premiere of his Port Williams Overture was performed by the Nova Scotia Youth Orchestra. He also wrote the score for Canadian director Navin Ramaswaran’s short film “A Fork in the Road” which premiered at “MIFF” (Mississauga Independent Film Festival) in September of 2011.