Skip to content

Concert Grand celebrated

The Knabe concert grand piano, now at the Heritage Playhouse, has been thoroughly welcomed into its new home. At a two hour plus concert last week, organized by Sue Milne, a wide range of performers gave the full house a stellar show.

The Knabe concert grand piano, now at the Heritage Playhouse, has been thoroughly welcomed into its new home.

At a two hour plus concert last week, organized by Sue Milne, a wide range of performers gave the full house a stellar show. Though the audience may have been grey-haired, many of the performers were youthful, from the youngest, Rose Cardinall-Redfern, 7, to the older teens such as vocalist Claire McGillivray and pianist Emily Cardinall.

Piano technician Ken Dalgleish told the crowd that "an older piano [1923], like older people, has certain characteristics." He called the Knabe "mellow, sonorous and mid-range. It's aged well, like fine wine." Then, in the latter half of the program, Dalgleish expressed his emotion in a non-traditional arrangement of Cry Me a River.

Nicholas Simons on cello and Joy McLeod on piano opened the show with a slow, lovely and difficult Jewish prayer, Kol Nidrei. McLeod, who leads two choirs on the Coast, reappeared to accompany vocalists Edmund Arceo and Sean Veley who sung a delightful piece from Godspell. Several of the award winning performers from last April's music festival took turns. It was refreshing to see teenagers such as William McConnell and Anthony Willmer playing classical and jazz numbers composed long before they were born. Former band leader Joe Hatherill returned from his world tour to pick up the sax, and Erin Macdonald returned from music studies in Toronto to play viola.

Pianist Mark Andrews gave the piano a virtuoso workout while keeping up a reputation for selecting little known pieces of music. He had transcribed two Japanese pieces for piano, excerpted from animated films. He and Elizabeth Loewen Andrews on violin closed the first half with the sublime Meditation by Jules Massenet.

Anna Lumiere, playing in her bare feet, and Graham Ord on percussion and sax reminded the audience that jazz piano is the coolest. Other highlights included the Gemini duo of Valerie and Julie Rutter whose smashing performance elevated the energy in the room, and Leagh Gabriel's hypnotic Mysterium composed by John Burke. The show closed with the accomplished duo of Katherine Hume and Carl Montgomery who chose Beethoven and Bizet.

Fundraising for a concert grand piano began many years ago with a benefit performance from Mark Andrews and friends. Its realization owes a lot to the Rotary Club of Gibsons, the SC Music Society and especially the Andrews family. Terry Andrews was thanked for her quiet role in giving so much support to the cause.