The North Okanagan Community Concert Association (NOCCA) constitution and by-laws have been amended in an effort to help us obtain charitable status. Anyone who holds a 2013/14 season ticket is invited to attend an Extraordinary General Meeting to approve and pass the changes at –
People Place
101-3402 27 Avenue, Vernon
Sunday February 23, 2014 at 3:00 pm (doors open at 2 pm)
To review the constitution and by-laws in advance, please send a message with your email address.
By Christine Pilgrim – Vernon Morning Star
Published: November 27, 2013
Christie Reside and Terence Dawson, she on flute and he on piano, impressed North Okanagan Community Concert-goers at the Performing Arts Centre Friday with a palate of musical choices to suit every taste.
Bach suited mine best. As Dawson said in his introduction to Sonata for Flute in C Major, “I don’t think there’s anything like Bach.”
This particular sonata is often attributed to Bach, the father (Johann Sebastian), as a flute solo, with Bach, the son (Carl Philipp Emanuel), adding keyboard accompaniment later. To my ear, Bach by any first name would sound as sweet, and Reside and Dawson maximized the effect of the sonata’s divine form and structure to perfection.
Reside and Dawson’s rapport with each other possibly stems from their long musical partnership as well as their shared love of chamber music and desire to expand its horizons. That desire obviously influenced Friday’s program.
For example, Bach’s measured sonata was contrasted by Jacques Ibert’s syncopated sonatine, Jeux (Games), written in 1923, almost 200 years after Bach died. Dawson warned in his introduction that occasionally “Ibert adds the odd wrong note for colour.” And the odd wrong note in the opening phrases did add colour, while the frolicking melodies added delight to the evening.
Ibert’s compositions are as eclectic as Reside and Dawson’s repertoire and worthy of exploration. (They range from the light-hearted Jeux to sombre orchestral pieces such as La Ballade de la Geôle de Reading, inspired by Oscar Wilde’s Ballad of Reading Gaol.)
Reside chose two sonatas by German composer Sigfrid Karg-Elert. To enhance our enjoyment of the first, she prompted us to imagine the three movements, ranging from “cheerful and lovable” to “extremely slow” to “very quick and light,” as accompaniment to a silent movie. It was easy to conjure images of Chaplin’s tramp encountering a buzzing fly that made way for a butterfly and, once their airborne pas de deux was done, to see the tramp totter into the distance. That said, the music and its sensitive execution could have stood alone.
The second Karg-Elert piece, Sonata Appassionata for solo flute, showcased Reside’s virtuoso technique. Small wonder that she’s principal flutist with both Seattle and Vancouver Symphony Orchestras.
Dawson, dubbed one of Vancouver’s most respected musicians, also shone in a solo performance of the first three of seven fantasies by Johannes Brahms.
The program opened with Lorraine Desmarais’s sonata for piano and flute, also known as Jazz Sonata. Montreal’s Desmarais is an outstanding jazz pianist as well as a composer of note. Check her witty jazz rendition of The Flintstones’ theme song on-line.
I confess to a fleeting wish that the sheet music for Jazz Sonata would have fallen to the floor so Reside and Dawson might have improvised in similar style. They would certainly have been up to the challenge if their finale, Chant de Linos (Song of Linos), was anything to go by.
Written at the end of the Second World War, this funeral lament’s overtones were sometimes harsh, discordant and even grotesque, but the tour de force exhibited the prowess of both performers and begged an encore by… who else but Bach? The second movement (Siciliana) of his Sonata in Eb Major sent everyone home satisfied.
The next NOCCA concert is with Canadian pianist Ian Parker, Sunday Feb. 2 at 2 pm. Tickets are available at the Ticket Seller in the Performing Arts Centre or ticketseller.ca.
Reproduced with the kind permission of Christine Pilgrim and
RESIDE DAWSON DUO – Piano & Flute
7:30 pm Friday November 22, 2013
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CHRISTIE RESIDE, classically trained in Eastern Canada, is now principal flutist with the Vancouver Symphony. TERENCE DAWSON, also from the East, is a concerto soloist with the VSO and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Both are chamber musicians, award winning soloists and popular teachers. As a duo, they have remarkable onstage rapport and offer programs that are delightfully sensitive and elegantly polished. They decided to join forces when they recognized their shared interest in chamber music and mutual desire to expand the number of selections offered in a traditional piano/flute recital. Reviewers frequently use descriptions like “dazzling,” and “stunning”. www.residedawsonduo.com
Concert Program:
| Loraine Desmarais (b.1956) |
Jazz Sonata Theme and variations Moderato Rondo |
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| Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) |
Fantasien Op. 116 Cappriccio in d minor Intermezzo in a minor Cappriccio in g minor |
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| Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) |
Sonata in B Flat Major Op. 121 Allegro amabile Adagissimo Sehr geschwind und leichthin |
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| – Intermission – | ||
| Johann Sebastien Bach (1685-1750) |
Sonata in C Major BWV 1033 Andante: Presto Adagio Minuets I and II |
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| Jaques Ibert (1890-1962) |
Jeux Anime Tendre |
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| Sigfrid Karg-Elert (1877-1933) |
Sonata Apassionata for Solo Flute | |
| Andre Jolivet (1905-1974) |
Chant de Linos | |
The price of a single ticket for this concert can be applied towards the cost of a full season’s subscription. Please visit the ticket booth in The Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre foyer for more information.
By Christine Pilgrim – Vernon Morning Star
Published: October 29, 2013
The foyer at the Performing Arts Centre dripped diamonds (10 carat plastic) while another “gem” the size of a softball graced a silver draped stage drenched in classy, rich lighting to celebrate the North Okanagan Community Concert Association’s Diamond Jubilee, Saturday.
And what better way to mark the 60 years since Josephine (Joey) Karen spearheaded NOCCA’s intent, to bring acclaimed musicians to Vernon, than invite the Gryphon Trio to return? Audible sighs of pleasure filled the auditorium in appreciation of the music created by this genuine Canadian “gem.”
NOCCA’s new president, Paul Maynes, introduced each member of the trio by first name. Jamie Parker (piano) became Jamie while Annalee Patipatanakoon (violin) and her husband Roman Borys (cello) were dubbed Annalee and Roman respectively. Thus, they all became family.
“Paul” paid tribute to the larger family of NOCCA volunteers who have contributed to the success of some 300 concerts since the first in October 1953, when Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet brought his own piano to play in a high school gym.
Jamie introduced Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D Major by suggesting its subtitle, Ghost, was a mere marketing ploy by an ambitious promoter. Yet its haunting second movement seemed perfectly chosen for this Halloween season.
Beethoven composed the trio while staying with Countess Marie von Erdödy in Vienna in 1808 when he was happy and prolific. (His 5th and 6th symphonies were composed during this period.)
The Gyphon Trio rendered Beethoven’s work to perfection, in seeming effortlessness, with harmonies so delicately and exactly drawn that each individual instrument often blended into one cohesive composite. Their frolicking calls and counter calls, echoes and answers, with the players listening and watching with trance-like intensity (especially Roman) enthralled.
The second piece, Michael Oesterle’s Centennials, was commissioned last year by the trio and demonstrates their commitment to expand musical education and promote Canadian composers.
Centennials pays tribute to three iconic figures who influenced Oesterle’s life. It may have presented a challenge to those whose comfort zone lies more in melody but it stretched the appreciation of others.
Oesterle first pays tribute to TV chef Julia Child so evocatively that some who have seen her in action mentally added dialogue to the quirky music.
Next, he celebrates Conlon Nancarrow who composed for player piano. Chattered notes between pizzicato strings and staccato piano became phrases and short conversations, reminiscent of holes being punched in piano rolls at varying intervals.
Oesterle has a persistent interest in mathematics and science and likens the focus and discipline required to excel in them to those necessary in the arts. Small wonder then that his third icon is Alan Turing, the mathematician whose genius helped Britain crack Germany’s enigma code in the Second World War.
Balm was applied to anyone needing it in the second half, with Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D Minor. Its theme, played sublimely on cello in the opening, set the tone for the first movement.
Mendelssohn’s work as an accomplished artist who painted detailed watercolours of places he visited on his extensive travels, lent a backdrop to the lyrical second movement introduced by the tenderest of piano solos. The quicksilvered scherzo led to the resumption of the theme in the passionate finale.
It was splendid and begged two encore pieces.
The elegant evening was rounded off with anniversary punch and goodies, animated discussion and a rare opportunity to mingle with the three consummate musicians and personable souls who comprise The Gryphon Trio. They have my vote for yet another return visit.
The NOCCA continues with its 60th anniversary season with the Reside Dawson Duo, Nov. 22. Tickets are available at the Ticket Seller in the Performing Arts Centre or ticketseller.ca.
Reproduced with the kind permission of Christine Pilgrim and
By Kristin Froneman – Vernon Morning Star
Published: October 13, 2013
As a child, Brenda Dewonck would be tucked in her bed upstairs, when suddenly the music from her parents’ living room would wake her from a light slumber.
Sometimes she wouldn’t sleep at all, lying there raptured by an arpeggio on the piano or a tremolo of the violin, knowing some famed musician from an exotic corner of the world was seated in her home, performing to the gathered guests.
Back in those days, Dewonck’s family home was host to a who’s who of well-known professional artists who had came to Vernon to perform for the North Okanagan Community Concert Association.
They were there at the invitation of her parents, Walter and Josephine Karen, both professional musicians themselves who helped start and sat on the original board of the NOCCA 60 years ago.
“We had a lot of receptions at the house. As children we would be sent to bed, but I had an autograph book that I would get mom to give to the artists to sign for me,” remembers Dewonck. “We also had a lot of performers practise here over the years.”
Dewonck, in fact, was born around the time of the very first Community Concert, Oct. 27, 1953, where the association played host to Cuban pianist Jorge Bolet.
Dewonck’s mother, known to all as “Joey,” still lives in the family’s East Hill home (her father has since passed on) and her memories are still tied to all the incredible artists she saw and entertained for all those years.
Joey specifically remembers famed Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester staying at the house.
“She was a joy to be around,” she said. “To have her here as a guest sitting at the table was special. I think the artists appreciated to come into a home rather than stay in some hotel.”
She also remembers the time the Romero Guitar Quartet, known as the The Royal Family of the Guitar, came to perform.
“One of them came back to the house to perform. At the reception he sat down, alone, and he didn’t speak the whole time. I think he was shy, but when he played, that was a different story.”
It was in June, 1953, when the Karens along with Tom McMurtry (the first president of the NOCCA), Jack Kidston, Josephine Goad and other like-minded citizens instigated bringing a community concert association to Vernon.
“We were either classical musicians or lovers of classical music,” said Joey, a pianist and instructor, who at one time had played stand-up bass with the Okanagan Symphony and was the orchestra’s first soloist, playing Rhapsody in Blue on piano. “We wanted to give our small town a series of good music each year.”
The group soon made contact with Inga Williams, representative of Community Concerts Inc. in New York, who came to Vernon and helped set up the idea to sell memberships for a full series of concerts as to keep the costs for each individual show at a minimum.
The newly formed North Okanagan Community Concert Association, so called to distinguish the group from Kelowna which would set up its own community concert association a few years later, saw six concerts for $6 that first year.
“We had a number of people who were willing to work on getting memberships,” said Joey. “Each had a list of 10 people to contact… We had a celebration dinner to start the whole thing up, and held a contest on who could get the most members.”
The successful drive led to 1,350 members signing up that first year. And it was that many people who crowded into the gymnasium at Vernon High School, located where the fountain now sits in Polson Park, to see Bolet perform.
“At that time eight per cent of the North Okanagan was a member of the NOCCA. We were starving for culture then,” said Joey.
Although unable to attend that first concert as she was in labour, Joey says subsequent concerts saw the school gym packed solid.
“The artists had to use a classroom as a changing room.”
That first year the association also had to rent a piano from the Vernon Business and Professional Men’s Club.
“It was not up to performing properly… Bolet ended up bringing his own piano, which he pulled behind his car on a trailer,” said Joey.
The following year, the NOCCA formed a committee to purchase its own piano. They heard about an 1887 nine-foot Steinway grand, originally built in New York, that had recently been reconditioned and bought by the Steinway factory in Hamburg, Germany. The association arranged to have the piano shipped to B.C.
“That piano, with duty, sales tax, insurance, the bench, etc., cost us a total of $3,253. It was valued at $90,000 13 years ago,” said Joey.
Piano restorer Marinus van Prattenburg of Peachland rebuilt the piano in 2003 to save the association from spending $150,000 for a new one.
With 60 years of history behind it, the NOCCA has seen many changes —its home moved from Vernon High School to the Vernon Recreation Centre to its current home in the Performing Arts Centre 13 years ago— to holding from six, to four, to the current five concerts a year.
And of course there’s the artists. Literally hundreds of musicians have played either on the Steinway’s keys, from Fou T’son from China, Gusto Romero from Mexico, and Austrian-born Canadian Anton Kuerti, to performers using up the acoustics such as The Vienna Academy Chorus, American baritone Igor Gorin, the Robert DeCormier Singers, and Manhattan Rhythm Kings, as well as many acclaimed Canadian artists from Jorgen Ballet to tenor Ben Heppner to the Gryphon Trio.
“We also encouraged young people to perform, and for two years in a row we offered an extra concert featuring young, local talent,” said Joey, adding two of those artists were mezzo soprano Lynne McMurtry, who would go off to start a successful career in Toronto, and tenor Paul Moore, who has performed internationally.
“Looking back at 60 years, I am astonished at the performers who have come here,” said Dewonck, who has the autograph book to prove it and is currently a director-at-large with the association.
However, it’s not just the musicians who have helped the NOCCA succeed into its diamond jubilee. Current president Paul Maynes attributes the longevity of the group to the utmost dedication of the people who have volunteered their time over those years.
“They are people like Joey, and those who have supported us by buying tickets,” he said. “It really still is the most affordable entertainment in town.”
As for Joey, who after 60 years has finally stepped down from the NOCCA board, where she served as president several times and was also on the music selection chair, she plans to continue enjoying the music as long as she can.
“I think I’ve done my share,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed it all – every single bit.”
The NOCCA is celebrating its 60th anniversary with an exciting season of five concerts. The first one kicks off with the return of the Gryphon Trio, who last played in Vernon 10 years ago, Oct. 26 at a red carpet gala affair.
“This year, our season has been selected by our subscribers by popular request,” said Maynes, adding the Reside Dawson Duo, pianist Ian Parker, jazz artists Van Django, and the Montreal Guitar Trio will also all be returning to perform.
Memberships for all five shows are now available at a cost of $100 for adults and half price for those 18 and under. Single tickets for each concert are also available. They can be purchased at the Ticket Seller box office, call 549-SHOW (7469) or visit http://www.ticketseller.ca.
Reproduced with the kind permission of Kristin Froneman and
North Okanagan Community Concert Association 