On Friday, March 27, QuintEssence, a group of four internationally renowned vocalists and pianist, Tina Chang, will be performing the final concert for South Okanagan Concert Society’s 2014-2015 season. They will be on stage at the Venables Theatre at 7:30 pm to showcase cherished opera repertoire and exotic musical gems by songwriters spanning from Schubert to Britten, and from Gershwin to Weill.
QuintEssence offers a fresh innovative concert experience for lovers of classical music of any style. They are quite capable of dazzling you with vocal pyrotechnics. They can melt your heart with beautifully sung poetry and they can stretch your musical frontier to the limit with adored music from off the beaten track.
QuintEssence concerts encourage audience participation with their “a la carte” programme set out like a first class menu. Would you like an appetizer from Tales of Hoffman and something from Romeo and Juliet? Your main course might be a selection from Bizet’s Carmen and perhaps a quartet from Verdi’s Rigoletto. When it is time for dessert, the audience chooses three. No diets here! Do you fancy “Ain’t It a Pretty Night” from Susanna, a lyric and lovely quartet from Puccini’s La Boheme, a father’s plea from La Traviata, maybe Lonely House from Weill’s Street Scene. It all sounds delicious! When it is time for liqueurs and cognac, the menu includes Somewhere from Bernstein’s West Side Story and the Log Driver’s Waltz arranged by John Greer. This musical meal promises to be a real treat.
QuintEssence features soprano Robyn Driedger-Klassen, mezzo Barb Towell, tenor Frederik Robert and baritone Peter Alexander. All have collected individual rave reviews for their performances on the world stage.
Pianist and coach Tina Chang was born in Taiwan and immigrated to Vancouver as a child. She did her undergraduate degree in music at UBC and her Masters at the University of Minnesota. She is currently on staff at Vancouver Opera.
Tickets for the QuintEssence concert are on sale at Beyond Bliss in Oliver, Imperial Office Pro in Osoyoos and at the door. Single tickets are $20. For those with season flex passes, this is the time to invite a friend and use up any extra admissions. Don’t forget to bring your cheque book and get a flex pass for next season at Early Bird prices.
There will also be tickets on sale for the April 10th performance of one of our own. Soprano Jenavieve Moore will be flying home from Europe to entertain us.
Anyone in need of transportation to the Venables Theatre can call Maureen at 495 7978 to make arrangements to come by the bus.
