By Jessica Corriveau
Great applause was heard as Quinte Symphony and the Quinte Irish Canadian Society Session Players played to their heart’s content at Boston Pizza last night, raising funds through the symphony’s March Break Pizza-cato Fest.
“We raised $407.56. It’s our best year in the six years we’ve been doing this,” said Linda Minty, principle cellist in the Quinte Symphony. “We were hoping to raised $350 to $400, based on previous years.”
Boston Pizza donates 10 per cent of their profits from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., while the musicians play for their patrons.
“The turnout was phenomenal,” said Christina Publow, a manager at Boston Pizza. “Everyone enjoyed themselves. The restaurant was full; a packed house.”
The symphony is in its 52nd season, and fundraisers like this, along with community partnering and private and corporate donations, make up two-thirds of their revenue.
Minty, on cello, and Concertmaster Marion Stratton on violin, opened up the fundraiser with a handful of classical favourites, warming up the crowd that was quickly pouring into the Bell Boulevard restaurant.
Tucked into a corner, they played merrily next to each other, with friends and family stopping by between songs to give them quick words of encouragement and support, bringing smiles to their faces.
Following Minty and Stratton came Janice Ley, a cellist with the symphony, who picked up her accordion and began to play. Ley wandered up the aisles of the restaurant, to the delight of the patrons giving applause between bites.
After Ley came the first set of the Quinte Irish Canadian Society Session Players, bringing together Minty, Stratton, and Carroll Leafe on the fiddle, Bill Tucker on bodrhan and whistle, Ed Fowler on bouzouki and vocals, Paul McAllister on flute and whistle and Bill McKim on concertina. Carrying peppy Irish folk tunes, they quickly had the restaurant tapping their feet, with a mother and her baby coming up to get a closer look and bounce to the music.
Following the lively group were Andrew Morgan and Shane Dunne, giving another lively handful of songs for the patrons.
To wrap things up, the Quinte Irish Canadian Society Session Players performed another set of songs, ending the night on a high for entertained diners.