George Laverock

George Laverock is the program director of Festival Vancouver. He is also married to pianist Jane Coop, who performs in the Happy Birthday Mozart! concert on August 12 at 8 p.m. at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, and in Coop on Mozart, August 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral.

GROUP HE'S MOST EXCITED ABOUT “There's a vocal group called Rajaton from Finland performing at Christ Church Cathedral on August 7 and 8 at 5 p.m. both times. We added the second concert because we expect it to be sold out. There are six singers and the sounds they make are unbelievable. They do ABBA and Beatles songs and a lot of their own, with very close harmony arrangements. It's sort of jazzy but verging on classical.”

MOST ANTICIPATED PROGRAM “The Happy Birthday Mozart! concert by the Tokyo Ensemble at the Chan [August 12, 8 p.m.] is already proving to be the bestseller. It may seem unusual to have Tokyo musicians play [Wolfgang Amadeus] Mozart, but most of them trained in Vienna, and even the conductor, Joji Hattori, grew up in Vienna, so he's been immersed in Mozart. The [piano] soloist is Jane Coop, and Joji is also playing a Mozart violin concerto.”

BIGGEST FESTIVAL COUP “Bringing an orchestra [Academia Montis Regalis] from Torino [Italy]. It's very expensive and it's a lot of travel....It's a rare opportunity for audiences to see this group [in Viva Vivaldi! on August 14, 8 p.m. at the Chan].”

FAVOURITE VENUE “The Chan Centre. It is just close to perfect acoustics for classical music, especially for small orchestras, and we've got these two different ones””one from Italy [Academia Montis Regalis] and one from Japan [the Tokyo Ensemble].”

John Korsrud

John Korsrud is a trumpet player, composer, and teacher at Vancouver Community College and Capilano College, in addition to being on faculty at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute. He is the leader and principal composer of the jazz/new-music ensemble Hard Rubber Orchestra, as well as the 20-piece Latin-jazz orchestra Orquestra Goma Dura, which will open for Arturo Sandoval on August 13. (See below.)

PERFORMER HE'S MOST EXCITED ABOUT “Arturo Sandoval [August 13, 8 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre] is this ridiculously virtuosic trumpet player from Cuba. He was here last year and it was really quite the buzz of the whole festival....Cuban music is really accessible, but at the same time very exciting and thrilling. People like Arturo Sandoval represent the most virtuosic and high-energy stream of it.”

SHOW THAT CAN'T BE OVERLOOKED “There's a big-band tribute to Paul Ruhland and the Composers' Jazz Orchestra at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre [August 14, 8 p.m.]....He's a beautiful composer. Most people in Vancouver don't know who he is, but every musician does. A group of musicians felt so strongly about Paul that they formed a band and commissioned work from him.”

FAVOURITE SERIES AT THE FEST “I always like the weekend series they have at the [First Nations] Longhouse out at UBC. It's always fun and eclectic....This year, they're having a percussion day [August 12, starting at 11 a.m.].”

MOST UNEXPECTED PROGRAM CHOICE “Palimpsest [August 17, 8 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral] should be a good concert. Composer Bradshaw Pack is reworking all these very famous early-music pieces, as well as some contemporary pieces [by composers] like John Cage.”

Sylvia L'Ecuyer

Sylvia L'Ecuyer is a musicologist and senior producer at the CBC, where she is head of music for the French radio networks. She is on the festival's board of directors.

PERFORMER SHE'S MOST EXCITED ABOUT “The return of [countertenor] Phillipe Jaroussky [August 12, 5 p.m. at Christ Church Cathedral] is a big event. Two years ago, when he came, there was a lineup going all the way around the block....We were very lucky to have him come back this year again because he's so much in demand now.”

MOST ANTICIPATED PROGRAM “The Academia Montis Regalis Trio [August 17, 10:30 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral]....This is kind of a re-creation of a concert that would be done at the time of Mozart, when he was in Italy. I like the idea of a concert that brings you somewhere, that brings you to visit a place and time.”

most anticipated COLLABORATION “[Violinist] Marc Destrubé and [fortepiano-player] Alexander Weimann together [August 11, 10:30 a.m. at Christ Church Cathedral]. I don't think they've done a duet like that together, just the two of them, and they're both so good. I love Marc, and Weimann is a prodigious musician.”

TAKING A CHANCE ON “I'm going to hear Simona Colonna [August 13, 3 p.m. at the First Nations Longhouse]. It's not normally the repertoire that I would go to, but I heard a bit of the recording and she's incredible....She does this scatting in Italian. It's completely crazy. She has a beautiful, floaty voice, and she's witty and funny.”

Sal Ferreras

Sal Ferreras is a local percussionist who performs in a number of musical collaborations. He is the World Music collaborator at Vancouver Community College. He performs with his group La Bomba De Puerto Rico on August 12 at 3 p.m. at the First Nations Longhouse.

PERFORMER HE'S MOST EXCITED ABOUT “Arturo Sandoval [August 13, 8 p.m. at the Orpheum] is capable of delivering extraordinary shows. He's a multi-Grammy-award-winner and...he just delivers the highest-calibre performance you could ask for.”

PERFORMER who CAN'T BE OVERLOOKED “I recommend the Anoushka Shankar show [see adjacent] for the opening act, which is called Dharmakasa. It's a trio with a particularly interesting player of the Japanese shakuhachi [flute], Alcvin Ramos. He's a beautiful player who delivers some very meditative, very evocative moments.”

MOST FUN SHOW “Celso Machado [August 12 , 11 a.m. at the First Nations Longhouse], no question. He's a Brazilian guitarist and percussionist and mad inventor, as I call him. He's one of the most musical people I know.”

MOST UNEXPECTED PROGRAM CHOICE “I'm perhaps the biggest fan of musica intima [August 14, 5 p.m. at the Chan]....I think they're a superb ensemble. It's just a gorgeous sound. It's a sophisticated blending of voices and choice of repertoire. I have nothing but tremendous admiration for them.”