On Friday January 29th I had the pleasure and honour of attending a performance of the Tokyo String Quartet with Andrew and Karen Dawes. This was very exciting as Andy was frist violin of the Tokyo for more than a year touring and concertising. It was also fitting that while Andy was on tour with the Tokyo, present first violin Martin Beaver filled Andy's position at the University taking on Andy's students.
We pulled up the the Church, which was packed, and we went immediately backstage where there was much good cheer at the reunion of these musicians.
In the presence of legends: Ian McDougal and Al Kay
I had my first experience at ther Jazz Cellar Sunday January 24th and it was awesome. McDougal and Kay were smooth as silk and played as effortlessly as the swaying hips of the girl from Ipanema. Their sound was fluid and easy while ringing true with bell-like clarity, the upper registers were like the smoothest trumpets you ever heard and the lower registers were sonorous and warm. I was mesmerised by the astonishing technique of these artists as they wove up and down and inside each others musical lines, trading melodies, and creating harmonies with impeccable balance and timing.
What a thrill to be at the inaugurual concert of the brand new National Broadcast Orchestra held at the Chan Centre for the performing Arts, January 8th, 2010.
It was with great pride that I listened to Phillpe Labelle (President, Board of Directors) speak about the monumental achievement of bringing the vision of the NBO to fruition, and how fantastic it is that this national institution, indeed national treasure is being based in Vancouver!
Looking back on 2009 I can list many outstanding performances that enthralled, moved and inspired me, but today I will speak of just one. For me, the Vancouver Opera production of Salome was the most intensley memorable. I was playing in the orchestrra for this production, I remember the first rehearsal, it was daunting, coming into CBC studio 40, I walked into a virtual sea of musicians, all with scores so technically difficult, rhythmically complex and harmonically challenging it made my your head spin. At the helm, ever so calmly and gracefully Maestro Jonathan Darlington gently began pulling out threads of music, first from the violas, then the oboe, the flute, the horns and so on...
What a fantasric way to kick off the new decade, i am so fortunate to be performing in, producing, and attending three wonderful concerts in this first week of the new year. I am happy to be joining all of my favorite colleagues from the Vancouver Opera in a Salute to Vienna. I am always inspired and moved by the excellence surrounding me. Under the direction of Hans Richter, the orchestra will sparkle, and dazzle like a multi-faceted gemstone, dashing off warp speed polkas, fiery csardas, and the oh-so-romantic Lehar. Ari Barnes takes our breath away with his beautiful and sonorous cello solos, while the singers and dancers sweep us off our feet.
I am very happy to be producing this concert for Melody Lee. Two years ago, in January 2007, Melody attended a recital by another of my alumni, Jaewon Bang, who was also at Colburn. Jaewon was performing as soloist with The Mozart Festival Orchestra in California and asked if I could organise a concert for her as a dry run. Well..........this turned out to be an incrediable event. We were packed out and had to turn people away!! Jaewon was dazzling, and had everyone spellbound. When I met with Melody in the summer, she talked of this recital, and asked if I could put together a concert for her. I have known Melody for many years and it is a pleasure to watch her grow and develop, she has an exceptional talent, and it is already a violinist of note.
I'm very excited to be bringing Patricia Hoy and Melody Lee together to weave wonderful magic, through the music of Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and the violin great Henri Wieniawski.
This will be an amazing experience!
MELODY LEE VIOLIN
Melody Lee, age 19, is currently a third year student of Robert Lipsett, on full scholarship at the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles. She is originally from Vancouver, BC, where she began studies in violin at age 6 with Erno Kabok, and from 1997 to 2007 under Toni Stanick, during which time she won many first place victories at competitions including Kiwanis, Coquitlam, Performers Guild among others, appered as soloist with both the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Youth Orchestra playing the Mendellsohn violin concerto, was a finalsit in the BC Provincial Open Category and a winner of the Burnaby Clef concerto competition. As a chamber musician, Melody and her trio won the Friends of Chamber Music Competition two years running and won scholarships from the Elsje de Ridder chamber music competition. Melody has played in masterclasses for Pinchas Zuckerman, Arnold Steinhardt, Sidney Harth and Vadim Gluzman. Melody also attended the Colorado College Summer Music Festival on full scholarship in 2006, and in 2009 spent her second summer at the Aspen Music Festival with an Academy of Conducting Fellowship.
PATRICIA HOY PIANO
Pianist Patricia Hoy has been featured as a soloist with such orchestras as the Montreal Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Quebec Chamber Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra and the Ventura Symphony. She has been a featured pianist on CBC, PBS and WCXR. As a chamber musician, she is frequently invited to collaborate on a wide variety of projects ranging from performances of the established repertoire to the commissioning and performance of new works by North American and European composers. Foe the 2009/2010 season she will be performing both as chamber musician and soloist in Canada, California, Alaska, and Germany.
In addition to her performing career, Dr. Hoy has served as faculty and program coordinator at the Banff Centre for the Performing Arts. She is a faculty member at the Young Artists Experience a summer program designed to train and mentor gifted students. Dr. Hoy is also a member of the UBC Faculty of Music where she coaches and lectures on chamber music.
