Tag: Concert Review
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Review: Three Pianists Negotiate One Piano Keyboard – Beautifully!
Review by Jim Leonard In spite of the concert being on a Monday night in April, spirits were not dampened! The recently formed quintet comprised of members from 13-20 years of age called “Appassionato,” owned the stage with their enthusiastic version of a Schumann piano quintet.The pianist Henry Baker provided a stable and virtuosic line…
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Review: Sparks Fly Off Our Steinway Grand!
Review by Jim Leonard This Valentine Day’s concert began with an appropriate song by Salmon Arm singer Heather Harker; ably accompanied by Alex MacArthur, titled “Les Chemins de L’Amour” (The ways of love) by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) Heather had a lovely lyrical tone while singing this song. Heather, a french immersion kindergarten teacher, then showed…
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Dynamic Montréal Vocal Quartet Delivers High Octane Evening
Review by Jim Leonard NOCCA’s gala concert evening on October 27, 2018 began with the stunning violin solos of 13 year old child prodigy Marcus Coetzee. Marcus began playing the violin at age 4! A student of Bev Martens since 2014, Marcus plays in the Okanagan Youth Symphony. He was ably accompanied by local concert pianist Alex MacArthur. Apparently…
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Review: Pianist gives highly refined concert
By Jim Leonard The program began with a tribute to longtime NOCCA board member and past president Paul Maynes. Board member Cathie Stewart presented Maynes with a beautiful painting of an Okanagan valley scene. Then, as is the custom, a young musician is featured onstage. For this concert, Jenny Sutherland, a student at Seaton Secondary,…
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Review: Season’s Opening Concert Delights Audience
By Jim Leonard The NOCCA season started off very well with Christopher Dlouhy playing two wonderful piano selections.(Christopher is a student of Marjorie Close. He has taken a year off from school to achieve the ARCT diploma.) The first was Arabesque No. 1 by Debussy; it was full of transparent, colourful harmonies and carefree melodies.…
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Review: duo provides a worthwhile rendezvous
By Jim Leonard Some well-played Chopin from Vernon pianist Alex MacArthur was a good start to NOCCA’s final concert of the season Saturday at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre. The piece, Scherzo in B-flat, was played brilliantly by MacArthur, who recently joined the faculty at the Vernon Community Music School. He has also played with…
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Concert review: tenor-pianist delight with musical medley
By Natalia Polchenko For The Morning Star If I were to write a Twitter review of Sunday’s North Okanagan Community Concert Association concert by Benjamin Butterfield and Sarah Hagen, it would go something like this: “Lyrical. Whimsical. Intimate. Multicultural. Excellent!” Thankfully, I have a little bit more space to share my impressions. There were a…
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Concert review: cool jazz at its finest
By Jim Leonard For The Morning Star The volunteers of the North Okanagan Community Concert Association’s music committee must be thanked for their hard work in bringing first-class entertainment to Vernon. Saturday’s performance of the Rémi Bolduc Jazz Ensemble was certainly up to the committee’s high standards. But if that wasn’t enough, we were treated…
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Concert Review: Piano makes a stunning debut
By Jim Leonard – a special review for The Vernon Morning Star Brilliant pianist Ian Parker delighted the audience as he performed on the North Okanagan Community Concert Association’s new Hamburg Steinway piano Saturday, Oct. 29th at the Vernon Performing Arts Centre. The soloist for the evening, Ian Parker, was also a charming host, sharing…
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Concert Review: piano-cello duo electrifies
By Jim Leonard – a special review for The Vernon Morning Star The North Okanagan Community Concert Association (NOCCA) kicked off its season Thursday September 22nd with a rapturous performance by cellist Yegor Dyachkov and pianist Jean Saulnier. Saulnier began by commenting, “this is not a cello accompanied by piano concert. We are equal partners…
North Okanagan Community Concert Association 