Where are they now, those young musicians who grew up on the Coast? Have they continued with their music? The Sunshine Coast Music Society invited many former students, home for the summer, whose youth was spent with such groups as the Coast String Fiddlers or the Community Orchestra, to give a Homecoming Concert last weekend.
Friday evening's performance was a solo graduation recital for Elizabeth Currie Buono, a soprano who has been granted her bachelor of music in voice at University of British Columbia. She gave a polished performance with piano collaborator Tom Kellough. Highlights included Mahler's Liebst du um Schonheit, Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro and Gershwin's Someone to Watch Over Me.
One member of the audience commented, "When she hit that high C in one of the pieces, it was as clear and on pitch as the best coloratura."
Sunday afternoon gathered together many Coast alumni for an eclectic concert. Young men and women who had - not so long ago - been performing as children on the same Heritage Playhouse stage now proved themselves aspiring professionals.
Elphi grad Emily Wood, who has finished her first year at McGill University studying jazz performance, performed on piano accompanied by Graeme McGillivray on guitar. Though she has a ways to go before becoming the next Diana Krall, I wouldn't put it past her.
McGillivray has frequently been seen on the Coast with the trio Stramash, a group that leans towards Scottish fiddle and folk tunes. He's now studying jazz guitar at the University of Toronto.
Peter Williams and Jeremy Williams performed annually in the Coast's Festival of the Performing Arts and often took honours. Now handsome young men, the brothers gave the audience the Largo from Vivaldi's Four Seasons and then invited their father, Tom Williams, on stage with his guitar to play traditional tunes.
Violist Erin Macdonald enjoys a professional career as a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra. Those who remember her as a wee bagpiper during Celtic events will know she's now grown into an accomplished musician who performed Bach's Suite No 6 in G Major. She is also the recipient of the Coast Recital Society's Allan Crane Award, given to only the most distinguished local musicians.
The concert's second half was unusual. Gibsons' Chris Rzepa on cello returned to the Coast with her Vancouver-based band, The Gentle Infidels, that included Edwin Bond on guitar and Ferdy Belland on fretless bass. Their intense music seemed to draw from classical origins but the lyrics and stage presence were contemporary. Rzepa's cello provided the necessary shading to give the group a unique sound, while Bond used several of his hand crafted guitars set to different tunings, to add to its complexity. The group joked that they were happy to play before an audience that actually listened - at other gigs the bar patrons would go on talking. This group should rise above the bar scene soon and be performing for real music fans.
