The final ‘Arts at One’ show of the winter semester
By Caroline Ho, Arts Editor
Last Thursday, the Music Department’s Arts at One concert series wrapped up for the semester with the Student Showcase concert, featuring a fantastic mix of Romantic and Renaissance music.
Arts at One is a free weekly concert series that takes place at 1 p.m. on Thursdays in the Laura C. Muir Performing Arts Theatre, with performances by musicians mainly from around the Metro Vancouver area. On November 23, the show consisted of solo and group performances by some of the best of Douglas College’s own talented music students.
The audience was treated to a few lovely piano solos, including a very lively rendition of Liszt’s “Un Sospiro” played by Karmen Deng to start the show, and an astoundingly swift and airy performance of Debussy’s “Étude No. 7” by Jane Wang. Liszt’s technically dazzling and lengthy “Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2” was executed deftly by Jeon Mok.
The students also demonstrated their skills in making music together with a couple of smaller group pieces. Stephanie Kalyk on the flute played Georges Brun’s “Romance” alongside piano accompaniment, a gentle and beautiful lilting work. Kalyk on flute, Jane Wang on piano, and Yukari Smith on clarinet also performed two spirited movements of John Clinton’s “Grand Duo Concertante Op. 43.”
The Student Showcase concert finished off with the large Chamber Wind Ensemble, directed by John van Deursen, filling the stage with woodwinds, brass, and percussion. They first delivered the “Marche militaire” by Camille Saint-Saëns, a piece just as rousing and majestic as its title implies.
Finally, the ensemble performed two pieces out of the Fitzwilliam Virginal Book—as van Deursen explained to the audience, a large collection of popular music from the late 16th and early 17th centuries by a variety of composers. Listeners were swept along with the epic wind ensemble arrangements of William Byrd’s “Pavana” and Giles Farnaby’s “His Humor.”
Along with musical proficiency, the students also had the opportunity to present to audiences their polished showmanship and stage presence, which is just as impressive as hitting the right notes. Unfortunately, this is the last Arts at One concert of the semester; the concert originally scheduled for the coming Thursday, November 30, has been cancelled. However, Arts at One will return in January for another semester full of free and quality concerts.