This summer the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary on the weekend of Aug. 16 to 18 with five concerts of traditional and innovative music in Madeira Park’s School of Music overlooking the Harbour. Artistic director Alexander Tselyakov has invited a wonderful group of musicians to gather together to engage, delight, and transport audiences. Audiences can look forward to hearing the New Zealand String Quartet, violist Evan Hesketh, double bassist Dylan Palmer, Christie Reside and her flute, clarinettist James Campbell, Graham Campbell on guitar, and pianists Tigran Saayan and Alexander Tselyakov.
The Festival opens with High Tide, on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 16, featuring Festival musicians playing a range of selections from the chamber repertoire, including flamenco and tango. While High Tide is a free concert, seating is limited; tickets will be given out 45 minutes in advance of the performance.
Friday evening’s In the Fullness of Time offers Hoffmeister, Beethoven, and the spirited Clarinet Quintet in B minor, by Johannes Brahms. Saturday afternoon features music in the very heart of the noise (the phrase used by George Gershwin to describe Rhapsody in Blue), with lively tangos by Piazzolla, some contemporary compositions, and the West Coast premiere of Graham Campbell’s Pender Harbour Paradise – because an anniversary deserves a special commemoration! Graham’s commissioned piece will be performed by the New Zealand String Quartet, clarinettist James Campbell (Graham’s father), pianist extraordinaire Alexander Tselyakov, and Graham himself (an accomplished guitarist).
Saturday evening explores Tangled Passions, including the Sonata for viola and piano, Opus 147, by Shostakovich, and the exciting Raven and the First Men, inspired by the iconic Bill Reid sculpture of the same name and composed by Canadian Timothy Corliss for the New Zealand String Quartet and James Campbell.
What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than sitting in the School of Music with its generous view, listening to Wide Windows, a concert of Saint-Saens, Diabelli, concluding with the Mendelssohn Piano Sextet in D Major?
And what better way to celebrate 15 years of dedicated chamber music in August than to attend for the entire weekend? The Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival is supported by a devoted cohort of Friends of the Festival, sponsors, volunteers, and a loyal audience, many of whom have been there from the beginning.
Tickets go on sale for Friends of the Festival on June 7 and to the public on June 21. Afternoon concerts begin at 1:30 p.m. and evening concerts at 7 p.m. Please visit penderharbourmusic.ca for more information about the Festival and for online ticket sales, or call 604-989-3995.
– Submitted
