LISSA ALEXANDER
reporter@pqbnews.com
A little more than 10 years ago concerts at the Old School House Art Centre were performed without a piano.
That’s until a donation was made to the centre of a high quality German grand piano.
“It was a fantastic boost for our program,” said director of music programming at TOSH, Ron Hadley. “It enabled us to do solo piano classical recitals and classical ensembles that involved piano. Its indescribable what a wonderful step up it was to the (Music on Sunday) series.”
The piano was donated by Howie and Leah Meeker, strong supporters of TOSH and its music programming, Hadley said.
To celebrate the anniversary TOSH is having a special weekend piano concert featuring two world renowned pianists, Avan Yu and Eugene Skovorodnikov on March 23 and 24.
Yu was born in Hong Kong and moved to Vancouver at age 9. He recently won the prestigious Sydney International Piano Competition, securing $25,000 and a tour around Australia. He currently lives in Germany where he’s taking graduate studies with a famous pianist.
“He’s a beautiful pianist, not just technically but he plays with a maturity and understanding of the composer that is far beyond his years,” said Hadley.
Yu will perform works by Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven and Liszt on March 23 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Skovorodnikov is well-recognized in the classical world for his stylistic interpretation and his technical brilliance. He was born in the Ukraine and has won the national piano competition in that country. He continues to perform around the world while also teaching with the piano faculty at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. Skovorodnikov will be performing Haydn, Mozart and Brahms on March 24 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.
Hadley said it should be a wonderful and festive weekend and a toast will be made to the Meekers during the celebrations. Admission is $16 for each show. For more information visit www.theoldschoolhouse.org.