PREVIEW
Edmonton Youth Orchestra
Featured guests Jonah Hansen and Jacques Forestier
Sunday, Feb 24 at 2 p.m.
Winspear Centre
4 Sir Winston Churchill Square
99 St. and 102 Ave.
Tickets: $15 adults, $10 seniors/students. Call 780-427-1757 or in person.
At the wave of conductor Michael Massey’s baton, the 150 members of Edmonton Youth Orchestra meld the sounds of their instruments into a sweet classical performance.
The St. Albert conductor directs one of Canada’s most influential and accomplished orchestras and its performance on Sunday, Feb. 24, at Winspear Centre is a special occasion.
EYO features the 38th annual Concerto Competition winners in addition to the Intermediate Senior Strings. Special attention is given to cellist Jonah Hansen, 15, and violinist Jacques Forestier, 14.
The concert’s repertoire is broad ranging from Ludwig van Beethoven and Camille Saint-Saëns to Piotr Tchaikovsky and Edward Elgar.
Massey, who lately is mining his creativity as a composer, also wrote a new work. The Intermediate Orchestra will perform "Suite No. 1 “Reflections".
“I have tried to write a suite where each movement has a different musical idea to grasp while keeping the technical difficulty within the players’ current capabilities,” Massey noted.
During the first set, soloist Jonah Hansen plays Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, an innovative masterpiece with a light touch, yet it demands great expressiveness.
As a dedicated cellist, Hansen participated in the Kiwanis Music Festival for seven years and has received many scholarships including the Alexandra M. Munn scholarship. Eager to learn more master works, he hopes to stretch his musical muscles attending events such as Canadian Music Competition.
Jacques Forestier, on the other hand, tackles Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35. It is one of the Russian composer’s most creative and least pretentious works sporting beautiful, evocative melodies. One of the most demanding for violin virtuosos, it holds a place of honour among violin concertos.
Forestier, whose parents are both musicians, has played the violin since the age of two. Currently studying with Bill Van der Sloot at Calgary’s Mount Royal University, the teen is also part of the university’s academy for gifted youth. In September 2018, Forestier won first place at Lethbridge Symphony’s biennial Young Artist’s Competition and will return during the 2019-20 season to play Mozart’s 5th Violin Concerto.
For more information on the Edmonton Youth Orchestra, visit www.eyso.com.
