President’s Message – December 2021

Diane Bond

Dear Friends, 

I trust many of you enjoyed the recent performances by the Gryphon Trio! We are so pleased that they offered the matinee and evening options, which let us accommodate all our renewed and new members while staying within public health rules. We hope we have seen the end of capacity constraints – though we may well be living with the BC Vaccine Card for some time to come.

It was gratifying to see so many familiar faces at the Mary Irwin Theatre on November 26. And the response to our membership renewal campaign was really wonderful, considering the pandemic circumstances and the lapse of 20 months since our last pre-pandemic performance. One of our Board directors, Darlene Samin, spoke with a number of non-renewed subscribers in August or September, and she heard that some of our previous members were waiting for greater clarity from public health officials before venturing back to public performances. 

We certainly understood this “wait and see” approach. If you are now thinking that you will be ready to return to the theatre in 2022, please see below for a special discount offer on the remaining three concerts of the 2021/22 season available only to past CMK subscribers and our valued Newsletter readers through January 15, 2022. 

In the meantime, you will want to learn about a very special non-subscription concert being planned by Denise Griswold with generous help from Rosemary Thomson, Music Director of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. This concert honours beloved local pianist Arnold Draper and is part of our continuing effort to raise the profile of the Arnold Draper Fund for Young Artists with the Central Okanagan Foundation. It takes place at 2 pm on Friday, December 31, 2021 at St. Michaels Cathedral. Details of the program and tickets are provided by Denise (see link here).

As we look back on the past year, we are mindful of both an ever-present pandemic anxiety and the natural disasters that have befallen so much of our province this year. But we also find solace in one of the places it can be reliably found—in great music. We look forward to enjoying it together in 2022.

On behalf of our volunteer Board, we wish you a peaceful and joyous Christmas season and trust that we will gather in good health and spirits in the New Year!

With all best wishes,

P. Diane Bond
President, Chamber Music Kelowna Society


For the record…

On November 26th, the Gryphon Trio announced their revised program from the stage and we have had some requests for the playlist in writing. Here it is:

Matinee Performance (2 pm)

  • W. A. Mozart: Divertimento, K. 254 – 1st movement
  • Valentin Silvestrov: Fugitive Visions of Mozart – 1st and 6th movements 
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano trio, Op 1, No 1 – 4th movement
  • Rebecca Clarke: Piano trio – 2nd movement 
  • Kelly Marie Murphy: Give me Phoenix Wings to Fly – last movement
  • Astor Piazzolla:  Milonga, followed by Muerte 
  • Johannes Brahms: Piano trio No 1 in B major, Op 8

Evening Performance (7:30 pm)

  • W. A. Mozart: Divertimento, K. 254 – 1st movement
  • Valentin Silvestrov: Fugitive Visions of Mozart – 1st and 6th movements 
  • Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano trio, Op 1, No 1 – 4th movement
  • Rebecca Clarke: Piano trio – 2nd movement 
  • Astor Piazzolla:  Muerte 
  • Johannes Brahms: Piano trio No 1 in B major, Op 8