Blurring the Lines - Music Room Chamber Players Series

Silvio Pupo, Max Kasper, and Tom Roach are playing The Peggy Corkum Music Room on Wednesday, October 14, as part of the Music Room Chamber Players Series. It's a piano, bass, and drums trio, and the whole night is built around a single idea: blurring the line between written and improvised classical music. The three of them spend the evening working that gap, moving between the notes on the page and the ones they make up on the spot.

The programme pulls from a few different worlds. There's Manning Sherwin's A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square, arranged by Don Thompson, and Duke Ellington's A Single Petal of a Rose from The Queen's Suite. From Astor Piazzolla, they're playing Kicho and Oblivion, and the set closes with Arturo Márquez's Danzón No. 2, arranged by Kelsea Hopkins. It's a mix of the Great American Songbook, Argentine tango, and Mexican concert music, all played by a trio that's as comfortable with a score as it is with an open end.

The concert is part of the Music Room Chamber Players Series, which stages 16 chamber and classical music concerts in Halifax from September to April, all in the intimate setting of The Music Room. The 2026/27 season is led by Artistic Director Andrew Armstrong, and the series is supported by local sponsors Jennifer Bain, Daniel and Diana Burns, and Karen Woolhouse. This particular programme is one of the many the series brings to the city over the course of the season.

It runs from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Peggy Corkum Music Room, 6181 Lady Hammond Road. Individual tickets are C$35, or C$20 for anyone 35 and under; if you can't make it in person, livestream access is C$20.