It was a last minute thing when I found out I’d be photographing Rich Aucoin with Symphony Nova Scotia. I was happy to have the opportunity as I had photographed a few other shows at The Rebecca Cohn. It’s a beautiful venue! For anyone who doesn’t know or hasn’t been there, the Rebecca Cohn is an amazing place. It’s one big sound room. The odd shape and style of the venue was due to it being designed for specifically for sound. After all, it was the home of Symphony Nova Scotia (SNS) Pair the beautiful acoustics with Rich Aucoin and you have a winner! Rich is a Canadian indie pop/rock musician, based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He has a unique style of music and loves to mix it with visuals and the urge to interact with his audiences.
Rich Aucoin’s page
The pairing of Rich and SNS was interesting to me. I tried to imagine what his music would sound like with a symphony. He wasn’t going to use his normal digital music samples. Instead, the music would be covered by himself, SNS and a few special guests. His slew of guests would be doing everything from back up vocals, to playing stand up bass and filling in on the piano while he sang or played trumpet.
The extended symphony was conducted by Martin MacDonald and the arrangements were from both Rich as well as Halifax’s own David Christensen. The show was a pleasant surprise. The music sounded better than I had anticipated. Not that I expected it to be bad. I just couldn’t quite wrap my head around what I was about to hear. It had a cheery fun tone with a hint of power. I’m not sure this mashup will ever happen again, but if it does, I’d definitely check it out.
