Sounds for Summer is intended to be a lighter-weight, high-quality classical concert, says Gemini musician Valerie Rutter. The series opened at Living Faith Lutheran Church in Davis Bay on July 9 with Rutter in performance with Vancouver musician Angela Cavadas, a fine freelance violinist who is concert master of CBC Radio's and Vancouver's opera orchestras. Rutter, who accompanied Cavadas on piano, has been friends with the violinist for many years ever since Rutter performed with other string players in a group called Artemis Trio. The Rutter twins, Val and Julie, who together form the group Gemini, usually play pianos, flutes and recorders. They will be the feature attraction in the next Sounds for Summer concert this Saturday, July 23. The program will include a little bit of everything: a variety of music from the renaissance and baroque periods, some Bach for flute and piano, Dvorak's Slavonic Dance No. 8, Op.46 as a piano duet, recorder and harpsichord pieces and a touch of jazz from an original composition by Julie Rutter. It will also include dances, jigs and a folk medley and close with a Broadway section that includes classic favourites from Andrew Lloyd Webber and George Gershwin.
All this will be packed into one hour of non-stop music with refreshments and a chance to chat with the twins afterward. "That's the premise," says Rutter, "to make classical music accessible to everyone and suitable for children to attend." The two CDs from Gemini, Dances for Duo, voted best classical album at the 1999 West Coast Music Awards, and The Sound of Moosick will be available at the concert.
On Aug. 6, Julie Rutter will appear on piano and flutes with featured singer Wendy Humphreys on voice and harp. The program will be mostly Celtic music. Valerie Rutter plays piano again on Aug. 27 with Cristian Markos of the Vancouver Symphony on the cello. The Gemini twins plan to make the Sounds of Summer an annual event, to fill a gap when the Coast Recital Society is taking a break, says Julie.
Concerts at the Living Faith Lutheran Church start at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $12, available at the door and at Talewind Books and Coast Books.
