MEDIA RELEASE – Chamber Music Kelowna Season Opens October 28, 2022
Kelowna, BC – For its 2022-23 season, Chamber Music Kelowna will present a full series of five concerts
featuring outstanding Canadian and international artists. The concert series offers audiences a variety
of music, from the piano music of Chopin, to works for cello and piano by Beethoven, and music for trios
and quartets from a diverse range of other composers.
The season opens on Friday October 28 with a recital by the renowned Canadian pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin, the first Canadian pianist to be a top prizewinner in the Chopin International Competition. He
has performed with more than fifty ensembles, including most of Canada’s major symphony orchestras
as well as the Warsaw Philharmonic, Sinfonia Varsovia, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Charles
Richard-Hamelin has recorded more than ten highly-acclaimed albums, five of which are dedicated
primarily to the solo piano works of Frédéric Chopin. His Kelowna concert will feature music from Ravel
as well as Chopin’s Twenty-four Preludes, opus 28 (1835-1839).
Entering the holiday season, on Saturday December 3, Canadian violinist Jonathan Crow and pianist
Philip Chiu take the stage to present a program of beautiful and evocative music. The program, titled
“Two Canadians in Paris,” will include the Gabriel Fauré “Violin Sonata No. 1 in A Major, op. 13.” One of
Canada’s brightest talents, Jonathan Crow is the Concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra,
having previously held the same role with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. He has performed
as a soloist with many Canadian orchestras, and at chamber music festivals throughout North America,
South America, and Europe. Philip Chiu has become one of Canada’s leading musicians through his
infectious love of music and his passion for communication and collaboration. Lauded for the brilliance,
colour and sensitivity of his playing, he is particularly noted for his ability to connect with audiences
both on- and off-stage. (This program replaces the previously-advertised concert by the Rolston String
Quartet, whose appearance could not take place.)
The first concert of 2023 will be on Friday, February 3 with the Skride Piano Quartet – billed by
Gramophone magazine as a “multinational supergroup.” The group comprises four individual artists who
have achieved great recognition in their solo careers and are now performing as a piano quartet: Baba
Skride, violin; Lise Berthaud, viola; Harriet Krigh, cello; and Lauma Skride, piano. Their recent highlights
include performances at London’s Wigmore Hall, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, Melbourne Recital
Centre, the Library of Congress, and the Tanglewood Music Festival. The Kelowna audience will hear,
among other masterworks, Brahms’ Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, op. 26.
An all-Beethoven concert is in store on Friday March 10 with two US artists, cellist Robert deMaine and
pianist Peter Takács. Mr. deMaine is a highly sought-after solo artist and chamber musician, a frequent
guest artist at many of the world’s permier chamber music festivals, and has appeared on great world
stages including New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, and many others.
Mr Takács has appeared as guest soloist with major orchestras in the US and abroad, and has performed
and recorded the cycle of 32 Beethoven piano sonatas. Robert deMaine and Peter Takács have recently
completed a multi-year project to record all the Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for cello and piano, a
selection of which will form this concert’s program.
The iconic members of the Montrose Trio honour the Mary Irwin stage to close this outstanding season.
The Trio emerged from a long and fruitful relationship between renowned Canadian pianist Jon Kimura
Parker and the Tokyo String Quartet (of which Canadian violinist Martin Beaver and UK cellist Clive
Greensmith were members). The Montrose Trio formed in 2013, taking its name from Chateau
Montrose (a storied Bordeaux wine long favoured after their concerts) with a nod to the Montrose Arts
District of Houston and to the street in Winnipeg where Mr. Beaver was raised. Featuring
Mendesssohn’s Trio in C Minor, this will be a vintage performance to savour.
Subscription series tickets to all 5 concerts represent a tremendous value at $220 per adult, a 20%
saving over single tickets. Series tickets are available until October 28 through the Rotary Centre for the
Arts Box Office. Student subscriptions can also be purchased with appropriate ID, for just $90 for the
full series of concerts. Single tickets for all concerts are also now on sale, at $55 per adult or $20 per
student.
About Chamber Music Kelowna
Chamber Music Kelowna is a non-profit society which presents an annual classical chamber music concert
series featuring acclaimed Canadian and international artists. It also facilitates youth outreach programs
and provides scholarships for young aspiring musicians, supports emerging artists, and showcases the
work of Canadian composers. Support for the organization comes through municipal, provincial, and
federal grants, from sponsors, series subscribers, and private donors. Information about Chamber Music
Kelowna, the subscription series, and upcoming concerts can be found at chambermusickelowna.ca
For further information contact:
Lorna Higdon-Norrie
Tel: 250.814.3964
Email: [email protected]
www.chambermusickelowna.ca