At a general meeting of a theatre group last January, the audience was bowled over by a brief performance from a newcomer to the Coast, Amelle Wick. She sang two operatic selections and earned some instant fans. This weekend, Wick will collaborate with two Coast musicians, Carl Montgomery and Katherine Hume, in a concert presented by the Sunshine Coast Music Society and sponsored by the Credit Union.
The début concert will be held in the intimacy of the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre in Sechelt tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 p.m. Trio Mélange, as the group calls themselves, features Montgomery and Hume playing piano solo and piano four hands with their new friend Wick, mezzo soprano, in a dynamic and exciting program.
Music from France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Russia is on the program: Bizet, Debussy, de Falla, Duparc, Donizetti, Mahler, Massenet and Saint-Saëns. The program opens with the romantics then moves to contemporary composers.
Living near Vancouver is an old dream, said Wick. She grew up in France and studied for a diploma at a professional music school near Avignon. At first she sang with different French chamber orchestras and also enjoyed jazz vocals before deciding to study opera seriously with an Italian teacher. After honing her vocal technique and acquiring professional experience in France, she and her husband decided they would like their four year old to grow up in Canada. They moved to the Coast last December.
Hume is a graduate of McGill University where she completed a BMus in performance and continued her training in chamber music and accompaniment in Switzerland and London. Hume has performed on CBC Radio 2 and with many different ensembles in B.C. She and her husband, Montgomery, opened a piano teaching studio in their home in Sechelt.
Tickets are limited and cost $15 each. Get them from the Volunteer Centre or Coast Copy Centre in Sechelt, Gaia's Fair Trade Gifts or Sew Much More in Gibsons.
