Blog Archives

After a gap of way too many years, Italian pianist Andrea Lucchesini returned to the VRS in 2018 and played such a wonderful concert that we immediately re-engaged him. Unfortunately, his 2021 concert was another casualty of the pandemic, but we are so pleased to welcome him back for this performance.

BEETHOVEN: Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2  “Moonlight”
SCHUMANN: Fantasie in C major, Op. 17
LISZT: Piano Sonata in B minor, S.178

“A refined touch and a beguiling sense of Schubertian style.” — The Telegraph

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $63 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: Ann Harding

Additional Support:

ISATA KANNEH-MASON, piano
BRAIMAH KANNEH-MASON, violin
SHEKU KANNEH-MASON, cello
KONYA KANNEH-MASON, piano & violin
JENEBA KANNEH-MASON, piano & cello
AMINATA KANNEH-MASON, violin & piano
MARIATU KANNEH-MASON, cello & piano

VRS patrons are very familiar with two members of the prodigiously talented Kanneh-Mason family: cellist Sheku and pianist Isata, who made their Canadian debuts in a sold-out recital on our stage in 2017 (the duo returned in 2019, and Isata performed a solo recital in 2022). Incredibly, there are five additional Kanneh-Mason siblings, ranging in age from 11 to 24 years old, all of whom play either violin, piano or cello. They have won many prizes and awards and appeared in numerous television shows. In October 2020, they released their first album ‘Carnival’ on Decca Classics to great critical acclaim, and in May 2021 received the Global Award for Best Classical Artist. All the children attend or have attended London’s Royal Academy of Music and its Primary and Junior Academies, except pianist Jeneba who has progressed to London’s Royal College of Music for her undergraduate studies.

BEETHOVEN, MENDELSSOHN, RACHMANINOV, SHOSTAKOVICH, BRAHMS & MORE

“Probably the most talented family in the world.” — Simon Cowell

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $74 C: $63 D: $45 E: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

Series Sponsor:

Concert sponsor:

Supported by:

Additional Support:

Ready for something a little different? George Hinchliffe’s Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain is a group of all-singing, all-strumming ukulele players whose concerts are a funny, virtuosic, foot-stomping obituary of rock-n-roll featuring the “bonsai guitar” and a menagerie of voices. Formed in 1985 as “a bit of fun”, the orchestra’s first gig was an instant sell-out. The ensemble has gone on to play concerts around the world at venues such as the Sydney Opera House, The Royal Albert Hall, and Carnegie Hall. By royal request, the orchestra proudly performed at a private 90th birthday party for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. With a love of irreverent wit and a penchant for reinterpretation, their catalogue is a collection of rock, pop, jazz, blues and classical music. You won’t want to miss these pluckers!

“Absolutely the best of British.” — Michael Palin of Monty Python

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $74 C: $63 D: $45 E: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

Click here to download the concert program booklet

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: The Martha Lou Henley Charitable Foundation

Additional Support:

Media Partner:

CANADIAN DEBUT!

22-year-old Tom Borrow is precisely the kind of young artist we get excited about. Described as “the very definition of ‘one to watch’” (International Piano Magazine), he was named a BBC New Generation Artist for 2021-23, a coveted and prestigious designation that has earned him engagements at Wigmore Hall and appearances with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. In July 2022, Tom made his debut at the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall to critical acclaim. He currently studies at the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music at Tel Aviv University, and is mentored by Murray Perahia through the Jerusalem Music Centre’s program for outstanding young musicians. Catch him in his Canadian debut and say “I heard him when…”

J.S. BACH: Italian Concerto in F major, BWV 971
FRANCK: Prélude, Choral et Fugue, FWV 21
SCRIABIN: Sonata No. 5, Op. 53
RACHMANINOV: Variations on a Theme of Corelli, Op. 42

“Tom Borrow will become a major star.” — La Scena Musicale

Ticket prices: A: $63 B: $48 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Next Generation Artist sponsor: The Estate of Edwina and Paul Heller

Concert sponsor: John C. Kerr Family Foundation

Additional Support:

The 2022–23 Season marks the 20th Anniversary of the formation of the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet. We are thrilled to bring them back for the third concert in their international commissioning project, Doppelgänger. This innovative and daring project pairs four world premieres from four renowned contemporary composers — each piece co-commissioned by the VRS — with the four major Schubert works that inspired them. This time around “the Danes” will pair Schubert’s “Rosamunde” Quartet with a work by Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdóttir, one of the most original voices of her generation who possesses “seemingly boundless textural imagination” (The New York Times).

SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 13 in A minor, D. 804 “Rosamunde”
SCHUBERT: String Quartet No. 12 in C minor, D. 703 “Quartettsatz”
ANNA THORVALDSDOTTIR: Rituals (new work for String Quartet)
SCHUBERT: “Gretchen am Spinnrade“, Op. 2, D. 118 (lied arr. by Danish String Quartet)

*Rituals is commissioned by the Danish String Quartet with the support of Carnegie Hall, Cal Performances, Vancouver Recital Society, UC Santa Barbara Arts & Lectures, Washington Performing Arts, Flagey and Muziekgebouw aan’t IJ.

“They are today’s best hope for the future of the string quartet.” — Wall Street Journal

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $74 C: $63 D: $45 E: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: Sherry Killam and Mamie Angus

Additional Support:

Midori is a visionary artist, activist and educator who explores and builds connections between music and the human experience and breaks with traditional boundaries, making her one of the outstanding violinists of our time. This season marks the 40^thAnniversary of her career, which took off in 1982, when, at the age of 11, she made her debut with the New York Philharmonic. Midori performed for the VRS at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts in 1998. We are delighted to welcome her back in this program for solo violin.

J.S. BACH: Sonata No. 1 for Solo Violin in G minor, BWV 1001
JESSIE MONTGOMERY: Rhapsody No. 1
J.S. BACH: Violin Partita No. 1 in B minor, BWV 1002
JOHN ZORN: Passagen
J.S. BACH: Violin Partita No. 3 in E major, BWV 1006

“Midori is a violin superstar. The audiences love her not only for her technical brilliance and flawless playing, but also her personality.” — Die Rheinpfalz

Ticket prices: A: $90 B: $60 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: George Pick and Santi Pick-Pelaez

Additional Support:

This dynamic quartet brings “a shock to the ears of the best kind” (The Observer). Their 2021 VRS engagement was cancelled due to Covid-19 and we were determined to re-book them at the first available opportunity. Dubbed “a trailblazer for the authentic performance of High Classical chamber music” (Gramophone Magazine), this international ensemble performs music of the Classical and early Romantic periods on gut strings and with historical bows, producing a unique sound that has brought audiences around the world to their feet.

SCHUBERT: Quartettsatz in C minor, D. 703
BEETHOVEN: String Quartet in in F minor, Op. 95
MENDELSSOHN: String Quartet in A minor, Op. 13

“What was on display was, in short, a peculiar type of recreative genius.” — The Irish Times

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $63 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: Joyce and Tony

Additional Support:

THOMAS DUNFORD, lute and Artistic Director
LEA DESANDRE, mezzo-soprano
LOUISE AYRTON, violin
AUGUSTA McKAY LODGE, violin
MANAMI MIZUMOTO, viola
BRUNO PHILIPPE, cello
DOUGLAS BALLIETT, double bass
TOM FOSTER, harpsichord & organ

For their first concert in Vancouver, this astounding French ensemble, under the direction of lutenist Thomas Dunford (on his third visit to Vancouver), presents a vocal and instrumental program devoted entirely to the music of Vivaldi, based upon their multi-award-winning 2019 album ‘Vivaldi Jupiter’.

“Vedrò con mio diletto” from Il Giustino, RV717
“Armatae face et anguibus” from Juditha triumphans, RV 644
Lute Concerto in C major, RV 82
“Cum dederit” from Nisi Dominus, RV 608
Lute Concerto in D major, RV 93
L’inverno (Winter) in f minor, RV 297, Op. 8, No. 4
“Gelido in ogni vena” from Il Farnace, RV 711
“Gelosia, tu già rendi l’alma mia” from Ottone in Villa, RV 729
Cello Concerto in G minor, RV 416
“Onde chiare che sussurate” from Ercole sul Termondonte, RV 710
“Scenderò, volerò griderò” from Ercole sul Termondonte, RV 710

“Lea Desandre flies weightlessly around elaborate ornamentation, expressive and precise. The Jupiter players and Dunford excel.” — The Guardian

Ticket prices: A: $88 B: $74 C: $63 D: $45 E: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Concert sponsor: Lynn Kagan

Additional support:

23-year-old cellist Zlatomir Fung has racked up an impressive slew of coveted awards: in 2019 he was the first American in four decades and youngest musician ever to win First Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition, Cello Division, and was the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2020 and a Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship in 2022.

The Juilliard alum was originally booked to perform for the VRS in 2020 but the pandemic thwarted our plans. We are delighted to have been able to reschedule him, this time around with Israeli pianist Benjamin Hochman, who first performed on our series in 2003 with violinist Elisabeth Batiashvili. Benjamin is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Claude Frank, and the Mannes College of Music, where he studied with Richard Goode. This is a musical pairing you won’t want to miss!

LEO ORNSTEIN: 6 Preludes for Cello and Piano
NIKOLAY SOKOLOV: Romance for Cello and Piano, Op. 19
JUDITH WEIR: Unlocked for Solo Cello
GLAZUNOV: “Entr’acte” from Raymonda, Op. 57, arr. for cello and piano
BEETHOVEN: Sonata in A major, Op. 69

“At his young age, Fung seems to be one of those rare musicians with a Midas touch: he quickly envelopes every score he plays in an almost palpable golden aura.” — Bachtrack

“Hochman led the audience through this rugged, majestic landscape with such rhetorical authority that there was no hint of movement among his listeners when he paused between sections. The minute he was done, the audience launched immediately into ovations.” — The Washington Post

Ticket prices: A: $63 B: $48 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount
BUY 8 concerts or more and receive a 25% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Next Generation Artist sponsor: The Estate of Edwina and Paul Heller

Concert sponsor: Elizabeth Arnold-Bailey and Robert Bailey

Additional Support:

CANADIAN DEBUT!

American violinist Randall Goosby came to our attention when he won First Prize at the 2018 Young Concert Artists (YCA) International Auditions in New York. Since then, his career has gone into orbit: he signed a recording contract with Decca Classics in 2020 and was awarded a coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2022.

A protégé of the legendary violinist Itzhak Perlman, Randall is acclaimed for the sensitivity and intensity of his musicianship alongside his determination to make music more inclusive and accessible, as well as bringing the music of under-represented composers to light. For his Canadian debut, Randall will partner with pianist Zhu Wang, a YCA artist celebrated for his “technical mastery and deep sense of lyricism” (The Durango Herald).

LILI BOULANGER: Deux Morceaux
RAVEL: Violin Sonata No. 2 in G major
WILLIAM GRANT STILL: Suite for Violin and Piano
BEETHOVEN: Violin Sonata No. 9 in A major, Op. 47, “Kreutzer”

“Goosby plays like an angel with nothing to prove. A cool, calm, collected angel.” — Los Angeles Times

Ticket prices: A: $63 B: $48 C: $28

BUY 3 concerts or more and receive a 15% discount
BUY 5 concerts or more and receive a 20% discount

READ THE PROGRAM NOTES FOR THIS PERFORMANCE

Season Sponsor:

Next Generation Artist sponsor: The Estate of Edwina and Paul Heller

Concert sponsor: The Board of Directors of the Vancouver Recital Society

Additional Support: