Today On Radio 2 18/05/09

Victoria Day, you say? P'shaw. Here at Radio 2, May 18 is Handel-Palooza Day!

Tune in as host Julie Nesrallah today as Tempo marks the 250th anniversary of old George Frideric's death with five hours of the naturalized Brit's best loved music... and also some of the music he inspired others to write!

Joining Julie will be Montreal broadcaster Kelly Rice as they take a listen to a sampling of Handel celebration concerts from across the pond. A little thing we're calling Tempo Live: World Edition.

It's Messiahs and Water Music and so much more... on Handel-Palooza! Now THAT'S a cause for fireworks!

And how here's what the rest of Victoria Day is shaping up like on Radio 2:

Radio 2 Morning (6 a.m.-10 a.m.) Tom Allen brings you a deep blend of new and established artists across musical genres in a mix you won’t hear anywhere else.

Tempo (10 a.m. - 3 p.m.) See above...

Radio 2 Drive (3 p.m.-6 p.m.) All this week on Drive, we'll be highlighting some of the best of our live sessions in a series we're calling "Live Time Five". There's something really special about the stripped down performances that happen in the Drive studio - a different take on the songs we love, with an intimacy that is a lot of fun too. There's also Rich's way of getting to know our guests as only another musician could. Today, we begin with Melissa McClelland. It's Victoria Day, her new album is called Victoria Day, and coincidentally, it's her 30th birthday as well. Seems the perfect place to start.

Tonic (6 p.m.) Katie Malloch brings you a mix of Jazz, Soul and R&B to wind down your day.

Canada Live (8 p.m.) From Vancouver
Concert 1: BTU
Following one of the regular Bluebird North song circles organized by Shari Ulrich, Shari, along with Tom Taylor and Barney Bentall asked themselves the perpetual musical question: "Hey why don't we start a band?" And they did and it was good. These three Bowenians (residents of Bowen Island, BC) started to learn one another's songs and immediately started gigging on their home turf, as well as in Alberta. In the span of a few months folk band BTU has become a new group to watch. Each member brings a career's worth of music to the stage and here they are with their first show for Canada Live, recorded at Bowen Island Community School, on British Columbia's Bowen Island.

Concert 2: Headwater
Headwater gets its name from the Lynn Valley River Headwaters in North Vancouver where Jonas Shandel and Matt Bryant spent countless hours as kids. Jonas and Matt started learning to play music together, first in high school rock bands, and later met up with Patrick Metzger and Tim Tweedale at Café Deux Soleils on Commercial Drive where Headwater was born. In 2006 Headwater released its first CD, My Old Friend, followed by Lay You Down in 2009. Headwater's dream is to get their music onto the iPods of Gillian Welch, Peter Gabriel, and Doc Watson. This concert was recorded at Bowen Island Community School, on British Columbia's Bowen Island.

The Signal (10 p.m.) Brand new music on this holiday Monday, from Japanese avant-pop artist Tujiko Noriko. Ronley Teper takes a leap of faith on her latest album, and there's a concert from contemporary supergroup, Transmission, recorded live in Montreal. You'll also hear a beautiful piece of chamber music from Canadian composer Rodney Sharman called 'Incantation'.

Nightstream (1:00 a.m./1:30 NT) A mix of music from the full range of genres heard on Radio 2.