President’s Message – October 2024
Hello CMK Friends –
We are delighted to let everyone know that we will be opening CMK’s 2024-25 series on Saturday, October 26th with Canada’s brilliant Gryphon Trio. The Hermitage Trio from New York, who were originally engaged some time ago for this date, are unable to come to Kelowna due to the illness of their pianist, Ilya Kazantsev. We wish him a speedy recovery, and we all hope the Hermitage will be able to make their Kelowna debut in a future season.
By great good fortune, the Gryphons are available on October 26th and agreed at the last minute to travel to Kelowna to open our season. Some of you will recall that they performed with CMK for our first post-pandemic event in November 2021 – and helped us out tremendously when our subscription ticket sales bumped up against COVID capacity restrictions – by performing two shows back-to-back. Their program featured Brahms’ Piano Trio in B Major and a very joyful occasion it was as we emerged from our homes to hear live music again!
For this return engagement, the Gryphon Trio will offer a program framed around Ludwig van Beethoven’s final piano trio, completed in 1811, the “Archduke” (Piano Trio No. 7 in B-flat major, Op. 97). This four-movement composition has been called “one of the great aristocrats among piano trios” (Kai Christiansen). The program will also include Piano Trio No. 43 in C major, Op. 86, No. 1 by Joseph Haydn, a three-movement piece published about the same time (c. 1794) that Beethoven was finishing his own first works. And, to demonstrate both the legacy and the evolution of piano trios in chamber music, the Gryphon Trio will play a contemporary piece composed by Paul Wiancko called, simply, “Trio.” We are sure this will be a joyful reunion for our loyal audience members and we look forward to launching CMK’s 45th season in fine style!
IMPORTANT NOTE: Subscribers will be aware of the recent change in our ticket-selling arrangements. When we rent the Mary Irwin Theatre, our agreement gives exclusive ticket-selling agency to the RCA. This summer, RCA made a new arrangement to consolidate their Box Office with the Box Office at the Kelowna Community Theatre. This change, like all such disruptions, has occasioned a few hiccups (for which we apologize) though we are confident it will lead to better customer service in the longer run.
We are very pleased that the RCA Reception and Box Office will be staffed for CMK performances from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. so, if you plan to pick up tickets at the theatre on October 26th, you’ll be able to do so as in the past.
On behalf of our volunteer Board of Directors, I’m delighted to welcome you to another season of great musicmaking. See you at the concerts!
Diane
P. Diane Bond, President