The patio to the Pender Harbour Music School and Performance Centre was enclosed giving the small concert venue more sheltered space. The audience for the opening night of the eighth annual Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival, Aug. 16, was already in their seats, arriving early in anticipation.
On stage, two grand pianos crowded the small area, one of them on loan, courtesy of the Sunshine Coast Arts Council.
The festival's artistic director, Alexander Tselyakov, sat behind one while pianist Catherine Ordronneau, acclaimed for her artistic integrity, sat at the other piano, and together the two musicians performed Fantasy on Gershwin's Opera Porgy and Bess composed by Percy Grainger. The familiar strains of the famous musical were woven into the piece by a composer who obviously loved Gershwin.
The evening's theme was Classics Meet Jazz and Gershwin shone again on Three Preludes this time with Guy Few on trumpet.
The sartorially splendid trumpeter comes to the festival from Ontario's Wilfrid Laurier University where he teaches trumpet and chamber music.
This year's festival fielded a great ensemble of musicians drawn together by Tselyakov to offer a diverse program.
One of the joys of this event is that, though all of the musicians are highly accomplished in their fields, they don't take themselves so seriously that they cannot bend in favour of entertaining the public with a few humorous and engaging pieces. In this case they drew in Sunshine Coast narrator Alec Tebbutt to recite Ogden Nash's comic ditties to the music of Anthony Plog.
The Jet Song from West Side Story saw the players on stage in black leather - and with bongos, man - to recreate the famous gang scene. This lighter side of chamber music was reprised the following day in the traditional free concert, Chamber Music Doesn't Bite that drew a full house with a few music newbies in the audience.
Marg Penney of the Friends of the Festival explained that the audience is surveyed every year and asked if they want more innovation or a wider range of instruments and players, and the answer has always been "Go for it." Thus, the festival introduced percussion this year from renowned musician Salvador Ferreras and his colleague Nicholas Jacques.
"We have an artistic director who thinks very broadly," Penney said of Tselyakov. "He likes to break down barriers between the public and chamber music."
Some highlights of the weekend's concerts for Penney included observing the great respect shown to clarinettist James Campbell by the other musicians, in his role as an elder statesman of the Canadian music scene.
A magic moment came in Saturday's programme with a little known piece of music by Paul Jeanjean, Capriccioso, originally songs that had been transcribed for trumpet and piano. Guy Few, with his musical theatre background, read the lyrics with feeling and raised tears in many eyes.
The Overture on Hebrew Themes by Sergei Prokofiev at Sunday's final performance brought the audience to its feet, and ready to sign up for next year's festival, Aug. 15 to 18.
The Friends of the Festival fundraising raffle offered a basket of books and the prize was won by a long time supporter, Bill Padgham. Music continues at the Madeira Park centre when the Pender Harbour Music Society hosts their fall concert series starting Oct. 21. See more at www.penderharbourmusic.ca.
