If ever there was a time to retreat into the green English countryside, it’s in these winter days of cold, frost and darkness! Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra presents its concert “The Lark Ascending” on Tuesday, February 26 at Dominion-Chalmers Church, at 7:30 pm.
Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending is front and centre. Written in 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, the premier had to be put on hold. Yearning, lilting and evocative of a pastoral countryside, this, his most popular work, has not lost its magic for audiences everywhere. To start the concert, another British composer, Edward William Elgar, is given the Thirteen Strings treatment with their interpretation of his majestic, lush and nostalgic sounding Introduction & Allegro for Strings. The work was written for and premiered by the newly formed London Symphony Orchestra.
And who plays the music of these British giants? The Lark Ascending features rising Canadian star violinist, Marc Djokic.
Described as a “musician without limits” by la Scena Musicale,Djokic is winner of the 2017-2018 Prix Goyer and a Prix Opus. He is a former Canada Council Instrument Bank recipient. His debut album Solo Seven (fall, 2018) is a collection of pieces for solo violin by great Canadian composers.
Having the young violinist, Marc Djokic, is an appropriate choice as there is a decidedly youthful component to our concert. The Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending and Elgar’s Introduction & Allegro, are the launching pad for a new, crack ensemble called the Camerata. In association with the Ottawa Youth Orchestra Academy (Director Donnie Deacon), we invite the best of the city’s young string players to join Thirteen Strings on Stage.
Just imagine the lush sound it will achieve!
Rounding off the concert, is the Ouverture-Suite 'Burlesque de Quixote' by German composer, Georg Philipp Telemann. Musical Director, Kevin Mallon - being the story teller he is - weaves this music into the magic of the Spanish novel: The Ingenious Nobleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha (El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha). Excerpts will be read in Spanish and English. Without a doubt a rich experience for the audience!
Concert tickets for “The Lark Ascending” on February 26 are available at Leading Note, Books on Beechwood, Compact Music and at www.thirteenstrings.ca.