WORLD-CLASS MUSIC
Montrose Trio kicks off chamber series
Celebrated Canadian classical pianist Jon Kimura Parker watched the floodwaters peak just shy of his home in Houston, then drove the few blocks to his university studio and gave a lesson.
“Houston right now consists of people who are either lucky or unlucky. I’m very fortunate. My street was flooded for three and a half days, but the water didn’t get to my house,” said Parker, while emergency officials rescued many less-fortunate residents from their rooftops.
“Basically the whole city right now is just a bunch of islands,” he said in an interview to promote his upcoming show in Regina alongside two world-class string musicians: Canadian violinist Martin Beaver and British cellist Clive Greensmith.
“They were both in the Tokyo Quartet for 11 years, and that was one of the top string quartets in the world,” Parker said of how they united. “I was performing with them in their last season, as their last guest pianist.”
During a chat they came up with the idea of forming a trio, and since 2013 have performed to rave reviews.
Parker is the lone member of the Montrose Trio who lives in Houston. He teaches at the prestigious Rice University Shepherd School of Music. While the flooding made it impossible for off-campus students to attend a lesson, he expected no impact on his upcoming Canadian tour.
The trio performs in Regina on Friday at Knox Metropolitan United Church. The concert is presented by Cecilian Chamber Series.
That the world-class trio is touring Canada reflects the national pride of Parker and Beaver.
“Martin and I are both Canadian, and any chance we have to play in Canada is just something we always love to do, because we’re home. That’s basically it,” said the pianist and officer of the Order of Canada.
Meanwhile, their itinerary includes Regina because “whoever is running that series has gone to a lot of trouble to make it happen.”
The Cecilian Chamber Series is led on the ground by executive director Lore Ruschiensky and brings world-class chamber music performances to Regina. The Montrose Trio is a high-profile draw leading off the 2017-18 season.
Hurricane Harvey won’t have any notable impact on the trio’s repertoire for the Canadian stint. But as an artist, you can’t escape the world around you, Parker said.
“For anyone who is in the arts, the highs and lows of humanity affect artists at all times. And it’s part of expressing being human.
“That doesn’t mean the next time I play a concert it’s going to be any different … it’s just part of who we are. It’s everything about the human condition,” he said.
The evening’s program consists of three “utterly different” pieces, from Joseph Haydn’s humour, to Dmitri Shostakovich’s sternness, to Mosdos Veretzky’s romanticism.
“If you think of early classical music in that very formal way ... Haydn was a creative genius and he had a fantastic sense of humour. And that all comes through in his music,” Parker said.
As a counterpoint there will be “one of the most terrifying pieces … and I mean terrifying in its whole prospects.”
This composition by Shostakovich includes ominous chords “that are meant to portray prison doors slamming shut (and) sections of the piece are meant to portray the extreme cold of winter.”
Closing out the performance will be lighter fare, a Veretzky trio that’s “passionate, warm, romantic, filled with joy and a little bit of romantic pain.
“It’s a very warm, embracing and very exciting work.”