A delightful end to the season with Ebony & Ivory — piano music by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Frédéric Chopin, expertly performed by pianist Luke Welch.
Luke did a wonderful job of introducing the audience to Coleridge-Taylor, a little-known composer who was the inspiration for his newly released CD.
Thanks to our appreciative audience, and to all our volunteers who made the 2022-2023 season possible!
A beautiful afternoon of Beethoven piano sonatas played with clarity and vitality by pianist Grisha Krivchenia.
Thank you to our appreciative audience and wonderful artist!
Our audience was uplifted, nourished and inspired after an outstanding performance on period instruments by three members of the Victoria Baroque.
It was lovely to also see the next generation represented in a young narrator!
Thank you to our appreciative audience and wonderful performers:
Soile Stratkauskas
Christina Hutten
On March 19th Anna Betuzzi, Camilo Jaramillo and Jany Lu entertained the audience with a delightful concert! Our audience was quite spellbound by the versatility, expressiveness and colourful moods created by these talented musicians on their respective instruments.
Thank you to all who came out to be their appreciative audience. See you at the next concert!
On February19th an absolutely delightful afternoon spent in the company of The Meeks Duo left our audience with smiles on their faces and full of love for the gift of music. The question asked by many, was: “How soon can you bring them back??”
Scott and Clare presented the perfect package of keyboard mastery, flawless ensemble playing, imaginative and skillful arranging, and engaging personalities.
(We also loved their surprise guest artist featured in the second encore piece 
)
Thanks to all who came out to the concert today. Hope to see you again soon!
On January 15th we had a full house at our first concert of the year! Music is indeed the Food of Love.
Forgetting all about the cold, wet weather, an appreciative audience was treated to a wonderful program of music for voice, piano, horn and clarinet this afternoon. Different combinations of and arrangements for the various instruments brought familiar works to life in a brand new way. Thanks to all who came out to listen, and to the KeyWinds Trio and guest soprano Kelly Coubrough.
If Music be the Food of Love – Sunday, Janury 15th at 2pm
The KeyWinds Trio are: Margaret St. Cyr (horn), Yvonne Gillespie (piano), and Annick Richardson (clarinet). They are joined by guest artist, Kelly Coubrough.
Auf dem Strom, D. 943 (1828) – Franz Peter Schubert (1797—1828)
Les nuits d’été, Opus 7 (1841) – Louis-Hector Berlioz (1803—1869)
1. Villanelle
2. Le spectre de la rose
3. Sur les lagunes
4. Absence
5. Au cimetière
6. L’île inconnue
Nocturno, Opus 75 (1886) – Friedrich Wilhelm Voigt (1849—1922)
Der Hirt auf dem Felsen, D. 965 (1828) – Franz Peter Schubert (1797—1828)
L’amor funesto (1842) – Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797 – 1848)
Cigánské Melodie, Opus 55 (1880) – Antonín Leopold Dvořák (1841—1904)
1. Mein Lied ertönt
2. Ei, wie mein Triangel wunderherrlich läutet
3. Rings ist der Wald so stumm und still
4. Als die alte Mutter
5. Reingestimmt die Saiten!
7. Darf des Falken Schwinge Tatrahoh’n umrauschen
Three Theatrical Songs – Milton Byron Babbitt (1916 – 2011)
Yvonne Gillespie (piano)
Yvonne began her musical studies in Piano Performance at the University of Alberta in Edmonton studying with Dr. Ernesto Lejano. Later she embarked on music composition and completed a degree in composition at the University of Victoria, studying with Christopher Butterfield. She continued her compositional studies at the University of British Columbia completing a Master in Music after working with both Stephen Chatman and Keith Hamel. After pursuing Doctoral studies in music theory for three years at UBC, Yvonne decided to discontinue her theoretical studies and to focus solely on composition and piano performance. Yvonne has performed across Canada with many ensembles, orchestras, and soloists and is currently enjoying creating amazing music with the KeyWinds Quintet and Trio.
Margaret St. Cyr (French horn)
Margarethas a Bachelor and a Master of Music degree in horn performance. She also has a Bachelor of Education degree. She has been a soloist with the Saint Cecilia Orchestra and Calgary Philharmonic and a featured soloist on CBC, CFRN and ITV. Margaret has received Alberta Culture awards, a Canada Council Grant for advanced music study in Germany, a Johann Strauss Scholarship for advanced music study in Austria, a Du Maurier Search for Stars Award of Merit, and won the 1981 Canadian Composers’ Commission Competition (Dr. Malcolm Forsyth composed a piece for horn and piano for her). In 1980, Margaret spent a year on a scholarship studying horn at the Banff Centre. She has played horn with the Victoria Symphony, Rome Festival Orchestra, Atlantic Symphony, Canadian Chamber Orchestra, Calgary and Edmonton Symphonies and the Cowichan Consort Orchestra. Margaret has always enjoyed playing chamber music and is very excited to be a member of the KeyWinds Quintet and Trio.
Annick Richardson (clarinet)
Annick started studying music at the age of ten under the guidance of Victor Capron, a family friend who started her musical education on recorder and solfège. She began learning clarinet at the age of 14. After high school, she began her musical studies at the University of Victoria and graduated from the Faculty of Music in 1982. Annick has lived in the Cowichan Valley since 1997 and has enjoyed participating in musical endeavours with choirs and many other wonderful musicians in and around the Valley. In addition to performing with the KeyWinds Quintet and Trio, she also plays first clarinet with the Cowichan Consort Orchestra performing on B flat, A, and bass clarinets. Although classical music is her main interest, she feels privileged to be able to play a bit of jazz and swing with an incredible group of musicians in a swing band called “Annick and the Lakeside Loungers”.
Kelly Coubrough (soprano)
Kelly has experience in many genres of music including opera, new music, and musical theatre. She is an active performer and also enjoys sharing her knowledge as a teacher, choral conductor, and music director. Kelly holds an Honours Bachelor of Music in voice performance from Wilfried Laurier University. She sang with the Vancouver Opera Company Chorus from 2005-2012 and has performed as a soloist with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra (Kelowna), Opera NUOVA (Edmonton), Queen of Puddings Music Theatre (Toronto) and Tapestry New Opera Works (Toronto). She is an avid recitalist and has been a feature soloist with numerous choirs including Vancouver Bach Choir, the Twin Rivers Choir (Castlegar), and the Whistler Singers. In August 2023 she will make her debut with Opera Kelowna as Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte.
Musical Friends – Sunday, December 4th at 2pm
The West Coast Chamber Players were founded by Lauren and Jim Stubbs, whose distinguished musical careers included principal roles with the Met Opera, the National Ballet of Canada, and the Opers Orchestra of New York. The West Coast Chamber Players are: Lauren Stubbs, bassoon; Jim Stubbs, trumpet; Karen Hough, horn; Anne McDougall, violin; and Bruce Vogt, piano.
Double Concerto — M. Lussier (1973-)
Piano, Bassoon, Trumpet
“A Simple Song”
“A Farewell Song”
Sonata V in F minor for Violin BWV 1018 — J. S. Bach (1685-1750)
Violin, Bassoon, Trumpet
Adagio
Allegro
Adagio
Vivace
Duet from the Pearl Fishers — G.Bizet (1838-1875)
Flügelhorn, Horn, Piano
Summer Suite for Laurie and Jim Stubbs — A. Shawn (1948-) * World Premiere
Calm, mysterious
Brash
Inward, plaintive, jazzy, agitated
Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano Opus 44 — L. Berkeley (1903-1989)
Horn, Violin, Piano
“Fantasy on Blackbird” — P. McCartney (1942-) and J. Lennon (1940-1980), arranged by Scott MacInnes for West Coast Chamber Players
Lauren Stubbs (Bassoon)
Lauren Stubbs has had a long and distinguished career performing in New York City as Principal Bassoonist with the American Composers’ Orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of New York, PDQ Bach, the New Jersey Symphony, the Joffrey Ballet, Westchester Symphony, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and American Ballet Theatre. She also performed as Principal Bassoonist with the National Ballet of Canada for several years and has performed frequently with the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic.
Lauren received both the Bachelor and Master of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School. She has recorded on Columbia Records, CRI, Leonarda Productions, and RCA. She is a member of the Palm Court Light Orchestra Victoria. Lauren has performed with New York chamber music groups such as Orpheus, Parnassus, St. Luke’s, Speculum Musicae, the Group for Contemporary Music, and the Solstice Ensemble. She has been much sought after as a chamber music coach and has been a chamber music coach at the Chamber Music Conference since 1982. Lauren is also the Assistant Music Director at Chamber Music Conference and a founding member of the New York Bassoon Quartet and has recorded numerous times with the Quartet.
Lauren, together with her husband Jim, is the co-founder of the West Coast Chamber Players. The WCCP performs throughout Victoria and Vancouver, British Columbia as well as various venues in the Northwest.
James Stubbs (Trumpet)
Jim Stubbs was principal trumpet with American Ballet Theatre, the American Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, American Composers Orchestra, Joffrey Ballet, Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Orchestra of New York, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. He was an associate member of the Metropolitan Opera for 25 years and has performed with the New York Philharmonic, Lal Scala and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, among others. Jim can be heard on the Columbia, RCA, Vox, CRI, Kultur, and BMG labels. He has also appeared as soloist on PBS Gala of Stars with Jessye Norman and Kiri Te Kanawa with James Levine conducting. During his career he performed with conductors such as Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, Karl Böhm, Valery Gergiev, John Lanchberry, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, and Dennis Russell Davies. He performed as soloist in Quiet City with Aaron Copland conducting at Carnegie Hall and has performed the Brandenburg Concerto #2 with the Victoria Symphony, and the Haydn Trumpet Concerto with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jim has conducted the Salt Spring Chamber Orchestra and Choir in British Columbia in a wide range of works by composers including Bach, Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Handel, Barber, Handel, Haydn, Mozart, Salieri, Poulenc, and Vivaldi. Jim has also conducted at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chautauqua Institute, and the Solstice Ensemble in New Jersey. Jim and his wife, Laurie, founded the West Coast Chamber Players in 2015 performing chamber music in Vancouver, Victoria and the Northwest area.
Jim was a Professor at The College of New Jersey and at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master’s Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. He studied trumpet under William Vacchiano/New York Philharmonic, Gil Johnson/Philadelphia Orchestra and Irving Sarin, Principal,Pittsburg Symphony.
Karen Hough (Horn)
Karen earned her BMus from UVic and went on to study at the Royal Conservatory of Toronto. She received her MMus from Yale University and was the first horn player to receive Yales’s prestigious Artist Diploma. She spent a year as Artist in Residence at Banff. Summer festivals have included Aspen, Blossom Festival and the LA Philharmonic Institute. After a career as an orchestral and chamber musician in Toronto, Karen returned to the West Coast at the turn of the century. Recently retired from the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, she is a member of the Vancouver Island Symphony and the Victoria Jazz Orchestra. She is also an avid chamber musician and can be found in the pit orchestra of many shows for the VOS and the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
Anne McDougall (Violin)
Anne studied at the University of Alberta, where she studied with Norman Nelson and received her Master’s Degree in music, all the while raising two children. She has many years’ experience playing with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and after relocating to Sooke, Anne quickly connected with the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra and performed as Concertmaster for seven years. In addition to teaching violin privately, she has become involved with the strings program at Sooke’s journey Middle School and is a founder and lead teacher for “Harmony Project Sooke”. Anne is working at full capacity sharing with her students her love of music and the discipline and commitment it requires. She recognizes that music is the perfecrt venue for children to learn life skills while they enjoy performing and learning.
Bruce Vogt (Piano)
Bruce is a unique and dynamic performer who appears regularly in concert within Canada, but has also inspired audiences in Japan, China, England, the USA, Germany, France, Italy, Norway, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. Born in Southern Ontario, Bruce completed his initial musical studies with Damjana Bratuz and Anton Kuerti. Later he studied in the USA, England, Switzerland and Italy, working with a number of celebrated musicians including Gyorgy Sebok, Louis Kentner, Fou Ts’Ong, and Dario de Rosa.
Bruce’s repertoire is extremely diverse, encompassing music from the sixteenth century to the present. He has consistently championed the music of contemporary composers and has commissioned and premiered a number of new works by such Canadian luminaries as Murray Adaskin and Alfred Fisher. He is also an enthusiastic and dedicated performer on period instruments; one of his recordings (2003) features music of Robert Schumann performed on a restored 1864 Erard. His other recordings include two volumes of the music of Franz Liszt, which have established for him an enviable reputation as a Liszt interpreter. In addition to his career as a piano soloist, chamber musician and recording artist, Bruce Vogt is also Professor at the University of Victoria. Because he sees teaching and working with young pianists and with piano teachers as an important commitment, he makes himself available as often as possible for master classes, workshops, festival adjudications, and lectures.