Two Saturday matinees
Hi friends,
I’m playing my last two concerts of the regular orchestra season on the next two Saturdays! As always, if you attend, come say hi if you can!
Saturday, May 17th, at 2pm - Brahms Requiem
United Commons (the church at the corner of Quadra and Balmoral), entry by donation
Brahms wrote this requiem in memory of his mother, and unlike most other requiems, it’s sung in German instead of Latin.
This is a memorial concert for George Corwin, who was a huge part of the music community in Victoria. Dr. Corwin passed away shortly before I moved here, so I never knew him, but I am glad to be contributing to a community that has given me so much in such a short time.
This is a performance with a full orchestra, a full-size choir, and two outstanding soloists, one of whom is Dr. Corwin’s granddaughter, who has come from Montreal to sing. If you don’t come for any other reason, come to hear Charlotte Corwin, and Steven Price, our baritone soloist.
Saturday, May 24th at 2pm - Civic Orchestra of Victoria
Dave Dunnet Theatre
Here’s what we’re playing for you in a couple weeks for our last concert of the season:
Gary Kulesha — Celebration Overture
A piece written during my lifetime, by a Canadian composer! I like playing music written in years I lived through because it is a part of the aesthetic of an era that I have personally experienced. Kulesha wrote this in 1986 and its rhythmic energy is just so 80s. It’s driving, peppy and upbeat. Pop this cassette into your boombox.
Jean Sibelius — Violin Concerto
The Sibelius concerto has the honor of being on one of the only CDs I have ever worn out. This is the first time I get to accompany a soloist on it. We’ll be the backup band for the fabulous Megan Karls on violin.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky — Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture
This is one of those ones that I have performed at least twice already and I still love. You have probably heard the main theme from this somewhere; my favorite use of it is in A Christmas Story:
I like it here so much because they include the strife filled lead-in that Tchaikovsky wrote, and because the famous love theme is literally Romeo and Juliet seeing each other for the first time - using that for a kid’s fantasy about schoolwork is hilarious. It definitely deserves a major award.
Helena Munktell — Bränningar
A woman composer! Helena Munktell was Swedish, and the title of this piece translates to “crashing waves”. You can hear the sea in it, whipping wind, whitecaps, glittering calm water, huge open views. Like a bunch of clashing waveforms, the sections of the orchestra sometimes play together and sometimes oppose each other, and that makes it tricky to put together. You can get lost in this (the trick is for the musicians not to). As a person who lives on an island, I think she got this one just right.
Come for the pre-concert talk at 1pm with our music director Grant Harville; I attended the previous one and learned a bunch of things that I didn’t know about the music I was about to play and the people who wrote it, so I highly recommend it.
Learn more and get your advance tickets here.
Finally, I’ll close with some pictures of the shows I played a couple weeks ago. Two different vibes, both very rewarding experiences.
