Violinist Timothy Chooi was only 13 when pianist Amanda Chan performed with him for the first time.
“It was like magic from the first moment,” she told the audience at the Raven’s Cry Theatre last week in a pre-concert chat for the Coast Recital Society (CRS). Though Chan performs as a soloist as well as teaches at the Vancouver Academy of Music, she and Chooi make a great duo and were the stars of the opening show of CRS’s 2014/15 concert season.
Now at age 20, Chooi displayed maturity in his elegant stance and style, and a youthful exuberance when interpreting the work of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 7 in C minor. He performed two solos — one from Canadian composer Serge Arcuri and another from a little known Belgian conductor and composer, Eugene Ysaye. A highlight was the combination of Chan and Chooi on Prokofiev’s Violin Sonata No. 2 in D major. The recital program by Chooi and Chan has been recorded in Vancouver for later broadcast during In Concert, Sundays on CBC Radio 2.
Chooi has been playing since the age of three when he imitated his older violinist brother by trying to make music from a pair of chopsticks. His violin is on loan for three years from the Canada Council’s instrument bank collection, and he obtained it by way of a competition that pit his application against many other musicians. He won first place and took his first choice: a 1729 Guarneri del Gesu from Italy. He refers to his violin as “dark” as it gives better projection on the lower strings.
While on the Coast, he and Chan kick-started the recital society’s outreach program for the season. They gave a performance for residents of Christenson Village, performed on Sunday in concert, and Chooi gave a master class for gifted Coast violin students on Monday, Oct. 6.
The opening concert of the fall/winter season was a tribute to the society’s founder and long-time supporter, Allan Crane, who passed away last June. In 1984, Crane initiated a series of concerts in Gibsons and later became artistic director of CRS. Sunday’s concert seemed an appropriate choice of musicians for this dedication because Crane always encouraged young people in their music and was instrumental in bringing the Steinway grand piano to the theatre.
The concert series continues on Nov. 16 with Les Violons du Roy, a chamber orchestra from Quebec City. See www.coastrecitalsociety.ca for tickets and more information.
