Paul Mercs Concerts is pleased to announce the Canadian 2015 tour dates of Alexander McCall Smith, the beloved bestselling author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series, 44 Scotland Street & The Sunday Philosophy Club Series.

Alexander McCall Smith has written and contributed to more than 100 books, including specialist academic titles, short story collections, and a number of immensely popular children’s books. He is best known for his internation­ally acclaimed and bestselling No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, which currently has 14 volumes. The series has now been translated into 45 languages and has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. The first episode of a film adaptation, directed by Anthony Minghella, and produced by the Weinstein Company, premiered on HBO in March 2009. The 15th book in the series is The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café.

Another series, beginning with The Sunday Philosophy Club, about an intriguing woman named Isabel Dalhousie, appeared in 2004 and immediately leapt onto national bestseller lists, as did its sequels, the tenth of which, The Novel Habits of Happiness, will be published in summer 2015. McCall Smith’s serial novel, 44 Scotland Street, was published in book form to great acclaim in 2005; the ninth book in the series, Bertie’s Guide to Life & Mothers, is due in February 2015. Corduroy Mansions, a series depicting the lives of the inhabitants of a large Pimlico house, was printed and podcast by the UK’s Daily Telegraph, and is now published in three volumes. In addition, McCall Smith’s German professor series, beginning with Portuguese Irregular Verbs, now has four volumes, including Unusual Uses for Olive Oil (January 2013).

McCall Smith’s modern retelling of Jane Austen’s Emma was published in April 2015. He has writ­ten three solo novels, La’s Orchestra Saves the World (2009), Trains and Lovers (2013), and The Forever Girl (2014). His e-book original, Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party was available in August 2014. A non-fiction book about W. H. Auden entitled, What W. H. Auden Can Do for You was published in September 2013. He is also the author of several children’s books, including a mystery series about Precious Ramotswe as a young girl, the Akimbo series, about a boy in Africa, the Harriet Bean series, the Max & Maddy series, and The Perfect Hamburger and other Delicious Stories. Pantheon has also published Alexander McCall Smith’s collection of African folktales, The Girl Who Married a Lion. In addition to his novels, he has written libretti for two operas, The Okavango Macbeth – the trag­edy as played out by a troop of baboons, and Blunt, a story based on the life of the spy, Anthony Blunt.

McCall Smith was born in what is now Zimbabwe and was educated there and in Scotland. He became a law professor in Scotland, and it was in this role that he first returned to Africa to work in Botswana, where he helped to set up a new law school at the University of Botswana. For many years he was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, and has been a visiting professor at a number of other universities elsewhere, including ones in Italy and the United States. He is now a Professor Emeritus at the University of Edinburgh.

In addition to his university work, McCall Smith was for four years the vice-chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the UK, the chairman of the British Medical Journal Ethics Committee, and a member of the International Bioethics Commission of UNESCO. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including The Crime Writers’ Association’s Dagger in the Library Award, the United Kingdom’s Author of The Year Award in 2004, the Saga Award for Wit, and Sweden’s Martin Beck Award. In 2007 he was made a CBE for his services to literature in the Queen’s New Year’s Honor List. He holds honorary doctorates from 12 universities, most recently from Southern Methodist University, Dallas. In 2010 McCall Smith was awarded the Presidential Order of Merit by the President of Botswana.

Alexander McCall Smith currently lives in Edinburgh with his wife Elizabeth (an Edinburgh doctor). His hobbies include playing wind instruments, and he is the co-founder of an amateur orchestra called “The Really Terrible Orchestra” in which he plays the bassoon and his wife plays the horn.

Vancouver, BC, June 15, 2015 – Paul Mercs Concerts is pleased to announce the above tour dates of

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS – The Musical!   For the first time ever, Alvin & The Chipmunks will hit the road on tour.

Produced by Iconic Entertainment Studios, Alvin & The Chipmunks The Musical is an interactive experience featuring world-class production, music, special effects, and immersive interactivity to encourage audience participation.  Expect a pop concert and theater event show in one.

The story of Alvin The Musical begins when Ian, an evil record company executive, gets back into business. He has a scam set to use Alvin & The Chipmunks in a scheme to put on a benefit concert to save the original site of the legendary Woodstock, but the only one who is going to benefit is Ian. To prep for the concert, Ian sends the Chipmunks and the Chipettes on a cross-country warm-up tour. They stop to play shows in Nashville, Chicago and Las Vegas – but at each stop things never go quite as planned as Alvin manages to create some of his typical chaos.  The benefit concert, Chipstock, is a huge success and foils Ian’s scam – allowing the proceeds to save Woodstock! After the long journey, the Chipmunks make it home to celebrate with a giant pillow fight, inviting the audience to join.
The concert-filled show will feature the Chipmunks and the Chipettes performing classics, original songs, and pop hits – including music by One Direction, Maroon 5, Christina Aguilera, Elvis Presley and more.  One audience member will be invited to join the band and play drums for a song.  The show’s world-class team includes TONY winning Lion King costume designer Michael Curry, and the production team that won Billboard Touring Creative Content award for its show Yo Gabba Gabba.

Vancouver, BC, September 14, 2015 — Paul Mercs Concerts is pleased to present the following concert dates for 2CELLOS:

Young Croatian cellists Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, together known as 2CELLOS, have achieved sensational success by taking the cello to a new level. Their playing style has broken down the boundaries between different genres of music, from classical and film music to pop and rock. 2CELLOS have no limits when it comes to performing live and are equally as impressive when playing Bach and Vivaldi as they are when rocking out AC/DC.

2CELLOS rose to fame in 2011 when their version of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” took the world by storm. The YouTube video became a massive viral sensation leading to a record deal with Sony Masterworks and an invitation to join Sir Elton John on his worldwide tour.
Aside from their huge online following where they continue to amaze with new YouTube hits, 2CELLOS main focus has always been playing live. In addition to many sold out solo tours (US, Japan, Europe) the duo have also appeared on major TV shows such as The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (multiple times), ABC’s The Bachelor and many others. 2CELLOS were also the first instrumental act to ever perform on the hugely popular TV series GLEE, where they appeared as special guests in the Michael Jackson tribute episode, performing “Smooth Criminal”. The 2CELLOS’ arrangement of the song, which featured Naya Rivera, debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 Digital Songs Chart and landed the 2CELLOS’ debut album in the Top 100.

Together with the Chinese classical superstar pianist Lang Lang, they appeared at the CCTV New Year’s Gala for more than 1 billion viewers. Performing with Sir Elton John on his tour, they have traveled around the globe several times playing with him and opening the shows in massive stadiums and appearing at prestigious venues and events such as Madison Square Garden, Paris Olympia, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and the Emmys in L.A.

Earlier this year, 2CELLOS released a new music video for their unique version of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck.” Created with the look and feel of the Baroque era, the video finds the guys in a formal concert setting. What begins with a classical cello performance quickly turns into a high-octane, head-banging rendition of “Thunderstruck.” The audience is stunned! Check it out here. Their rendition of “Thunderstruck” is available for purchase as an audio track at all digital service providers.

They have also released two albums – 2CELLOS and IN2ITION – which are available on Sony Music Masterworks. IN2ITION, their second album, was produced by the legendary Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Alice Cooper, Kiss, Deep Purple) and features an eclectic group of vocal and instrumental guests including Elton John, Steve Vai, Lang Lang, Naya Rivera and Zucherro.

2CELLOS create a new dimension with CELLOVERSE ALBUM available now. NEW MUSIC VIDEO FOR “SHAPE OF MY HEART”

“…Go and see them live, because it really is astonishing! I can’t remember seeing anything as exciting as them since I saw Jimi Hendrix live back in the 60’s…”

• Elton John