These first few weeks of April mark the end of the semester at Memorial University where we both teach. There are many juries and recitals to help prepare our students for, and many of these recitals are the first outings of this magnitude for some of them. Through extra lesson, dress rehearsals, etc., we do our best to help “prepare them for the unexpected,” knowing of course that, in a live performance, anything can happen. (For example, when Nancy was an undergrad, she miraculously moved her bridge a centimeter to the left during vigourous up bow in a thankfully not-too-public performance of the Tchaikovsky concerto.) This universal truth –that anything can happen at a performance– was shown to be true in a unique way during a grad student’s recent recital. During the final bow (it was a lovely recital, btw), the student’s boyfriend strode onstage, flowers in hand, got down on one knee, produced a ring and – yes, you guessed it – proposed in front of the entire audience. This was definitely a first in the history of our School of Music! (She did say yes…)
Our own slightly less glamorous preparations are underway too – for five concerts coming up in the 3rd and 4th weeks of April. We are practicing a number of different programs which encompass the six violin and keyboard sonatas by Bach, a Beethoven sonata, and new Canadian works by Gougeon, Crawley, Schafer, Morlock and David Jaeger. The Morlock and Jaeger are new to us. Living composers are generally awe-inspiring and, as performers, we are especially grateful for the really good ones! Jocelyn’s Petrichor came to us a couple weeks ago (its premiere will be on April 26 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, and we will play it again on April 27th at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto), and it is beautiful – well-crafted and elegantly, idiomatically written for the instruments (always appreciated, though not totally necessary). Jocelyn really has a unique harmonic language and sincere musical voice. The soul/message of this piece spoke to us immediately and becomes clearer to us each time we rehearse it. We are so enjoying the process of learning this work!
We are also enjoying getting to know David Jaeger’s music! As many of you may know, David has been selflessly promoting, championing, supporting, fighting for, etc. other Canadian composers and their music for years and years through his work as a senior producer at the CBC radio. (He “retired” last December.) He made a monumental impact on the careers of young composers and performers in this country through programs such as the Two New Hours (woefully, it is no longer) and the CBC commissioning program to name but a couple. But now we have the pleasure and honour of playing his Sonata Tristan and Isolde at the Canadian Music Centre on April 27th. How many of us even remember that David began his career as a composer? Well, he did, and we’re very excited to play this wonderful piece filled with lyricism, energy and drama. (On our last three recording, we were fortunate to have David as the producer. This includes our new complete Beethoven sonata album. We celebrate its release with a performance at the Gallery 345 in Toronto on Monday April 22 at 8 pm! All are most welcome….)
So, to summarize what we’re gearing up for this month –
Monday, April 22: Performance and Beethoven album release celebration at Gallery 345 in Toronto, 8 pm.
Wednesday, April 24: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, The Music Room, Bach’s Sonatas nos. 1, 5, and 3 for Violin and Keyboard as well as Clifford Crawley’s Bach-inspired Comme de longs echos (2012), 8 pm.
Friday, April 26: Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber Music Society, The Music Room, Bach’s Sonatas nos. 2, 4, and 6 and the world premiere of Jocelyn Morlock’s Petrichor (commissioned with the generous assistance of the Canada Council), 8 pm.
Saturday, April 27: Benefit concert for the CMC at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto. Works by Gougeon, Morlock, Jaeger, Bach, Beethoven,7:30 pm.
Sunday, April 28: Cecilia by the Sea series, St John’s Anglican Church, Lunenburg NS, 7:30. Concert to be broadcast by CBC on a future In Concert.