When the Juno Award-winning Gryphon Trio visits UBC Okanagan on Nov. 13 for a Minds and Music series free public performance, they will also present a short workshop guiding a young trio from Vernon’s Community Music School in the performance of Old Photographs.
Composed by Christos Hatzis, Old Photographs was recorded by the Gryphon Trio in 2000 and is one of the group’s signature performances. Vernon high school students Ali Wasiliew (violin), Morgan Gauthier (cello), and Lauren Dvorak (piano) have studied music together for the past four years. As the Copernicus Trio, they’ve been working on Old Photographs for the past year under the tutelage of Vernon Community Music School chamber music instructor Bev Martens.
“Old Photographs is a piece all three of them love,” Martens observed. “The girls are excited about the possibility of spending time with their favorite piano trio. We had expected that an opportunity of this caliber would have only been available in major urban centers.”
That’s music to the ears of Dr. Manuela Ungureanu, who organizes the UBC Okanagan Minds and Music series.
“We started the series two years ago to help create new opportunities for the community to experience music in new ways,” she said. “We are very excited to welcome the Gryphon Trio — not only to share a performance with our community, but also to inspire and assist with the development of young musicians in the Okanagan.”
The Gryphon Trio’s 50-minute workshop with the student trio begins at noon. At 2 p.m., the Grypon Trio will perform themselves.
Both the workshop and performance are in the UBC Okanagan Student Services Centre Lecture Theatre, SSC026. Admission is free, and all are invited to attend both the workshop and the concert presentation.
Dame Emma Kirkby Masterclass and Performance Nov. 19
World-renowned soprano Dame Emma Kirkby will also perform and teach during a visit to Kelowna on Nov. 19, invited to the Okanagan by the Minds and Music series with help from UBC Okanagan’s Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Endowment Fund.
Kirkby will perform in the afternoon, then lead a master class with four voice students from the Okanagan region. The Nov. 19 Kirkby masterclass and performance will take place at Kelowna’s First Lutheran Church, 4091 Lakeshore Road. Tickets are $23, and are now available from TicketMaster. Proceeds from ticket sales go towards the purchase of a baby grand piano for the UBC Okanagan campus.
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