Haerim Elizabeth Lee & David Fung – Concert Review

On January 24, NOCCA presented its fourth concert of their seventy-first season and once again the audience was beguiled by the offerings showcased by the performers.

The introductory duo opened with Evy Erickson on violin accompanied by Jenny Sunderland on piano. The pair performed an energetic interpretation of O. Rieding’s Concertino in A minor. This piece was beautifully contrasted by the slow and emotive music of Jules Massenet, Meditation from Thais. Both pieces were played expertly from memory. When Ms. Erickson and Ms. Sunderland concluded their presentation, the audience seemed spellbound as it took several seconds for the resounding applause to occur.

Elizabeth Lee and David Fung graced the stage for the main section of the concert and treated the audience to a cornucopia of modern composers including Debussy, Ravel and Gershwin. The musicians performed with technical brilliance and passion. They encapsulated the different genres of music into a highly complex offering for the concert-goers. It was evident that Ms. Lee and Mr. Fung were thoroughly enjoying themselves as they exuded pleasure both on their faces, smiling widely and in their body language. They were one with their music, their instruments and with each other.

Their playing evoked many images; someone rushing around the streets with a great need to get somewhere fast, to the warm, relaxed ‘Summertime’ of the southern states.

They received a well-deserved standing ovation and were enticed back to the stage three times before offering the audience more brilliant musical prowess in an intensely beautiful, intensely Gershwin finale.

Review by Shannon V Marsh and Gerald Sholomenko.

NOCCA’s next concert will feature: 
Guitarists Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan on Tuesday April 23, 2024. 
Tickets can be purchased at ticket seller.ca or phone (250) 549-7469. 
For more information visit our website nocca.ca