Good night and ...

This was the first concert at Wesley for the year and a worthy gig with distinct Canberra connections.  How fascinating!  Jennifer Hou and Patrick Galvin met while studying Masters at the San Francisco Conservatorium of Music.  During that time, Patrick's teacher, Camilla, died.  Patrick had studied with Camilla for some time and it was a great loss. The result was this musical recital and historical recitation dedicated to Camilla.  Camilla had been a notable violinist of international standard, performing personally to Sibelius, soloing with the NY Phil, playing a Stradivarius.  Her career was interrupted and she sold the Strad to later return with the violin Patrick was playing, by Australian luthier AE Smith.  Wikipedia speaks of AE Smith and his renowned varnishes and Ernest Llewellyn who played one of his instruments and Isaac Stern's admiration and friendship and other AES players including Yehudi Menuhin and David Oistrakh and his eventual death in Canberra on 16 May 1979.  So this story has particular local resonances.  Patrick and Jennifer have presented this musical narrative in several concerts around Australia and will tour to UK and US and their recording (Dear Camilla,) is online and mostly match the musical components played at Wesley although without the recollections.  Here Camilla's story was punctuated by Sibelius, Chopin, Part along with Emma Greenhill, Ernest Chausson, Amy Beach and Jennifer Higdon and included a commission and world premiere from Jolin Jiang, Every wheel turns, including a short Chinese folk song sung by Jennifer.  The playing was fluent and together, quick but ever-expressive, and rich in harmonics, and that violin tone was strong and inviting as promised. So, a very satisfying first part of a good night.

Patrick Galvin (violin, raconteur) was accompanied by Jennifer Hou (piano, raconteur, vocals) at Wesley to recount stories of his teacher, Camilla Wicks.

Revisits

I'd seen Jennifer Hou play only days before when she performed for Michael Dooley and his revisit to his compositions in Anachronisms.  That was a collection of original compositions in the styles of various periods of music.  Jennifer had played a meditative work in Reflection and a picturesque etude with mirth and virtuosity called In pursuit of the mouse.  Hearing it a second time was revelatory beyond the first day and had me chuckling in my seat, with Jennifer playing it faster and perhaps more confidently that the first time.  The rest of the program was of the anachronisms approach, different styles over time, and also highlighting more unusual works from each composers, a Ravel prelude, a Debussy ballade, a Chopin etude and a more common nocturne.  So, a range of styles and that sometimes quirky Dooley sense of invention and influence.  Maybe something like my take in The Pots, where Megan suggested film music one time, then electronica over quotes, then...  Playing with the range of musics and themes but not locked to any.  I like this and I very much liked Jennifer's concert of fabulous playing and intriguing insights to introduce each work.

Jennifer Hou (piano) performed Ravel, Debussy, Dooley and Chopin at Wesley.

Most worthy rehash of rehashes

I recorded the first of Mike Dooley's set of compositions in the styles of a string of periods and renowned composers, from baroque and classical to the romantics and impressionists, Mozart, Bach, Haydn, Beethoven, Clementi, Chopin and the like.  I guess it was a learning tool but more.  This was authentic in a ranges of styles, so his piano concerto had been played several times and the set is recorded and on streaming sites (Michael Dooley Anachronisms).  This was Anachronism's 10 year anniversary, Mike had written some string quartet parts, there one or two newbies, not least a latin called Tango in Cheek, where each pianist lined up to play a part with the string quartet.  Very amusing but also interesting musically.  After all, Mike is a pretty decent jazz improviser and that calls for latins too, even if he read this one. There were a series of some of the best pianists in town, Anthony Smith, Emily Leong, Jennifer Hou, Aaron Chew and Andrew Ramsay taking their pieces and the Grevillea String Quartet, and a very decent audience ready with all proceeds going to a charity project to build a school for children in Nigeria.  And it was a long night: 2.5 hours with the interval.  But so impressive.  Much admired.

Mike Dooley (composer, piano) presented a string of his compositions written in different musical styles played played by Mike and Anthony Smith, Emily Leong, Jennifer Hou, Aaron Chew and Andrew Ramsay (piano) with accompaniment by the Grevillea String Quartet comprising Vanessa Driver and Shilong Ye (violins), Julie Kate Horneman (viola) and Alex Moncur (cello).

Divergence

Jennifer Hou performed on piano at Wesley today.  It started with Ravel Sonatine, but then on to Caroline Shaw, a modern US composer, and Zhang Zhao, Chinese and Jennifer's background, Poem of sound, a Hani love song, from Two songs to dear parents.  These were interesting works and Jennifer played them with real skill and respect.  Ravel pretty obvious with emotionally rich and varied lyrical storytelling, flowing screens of notes with triplets on each beat.  The Caroline Shaw was Gustave Le Gray, initially meditative, repetitive with slight change then into chordal movements, apparently based on a Chopin mazurka.  Then Zhang Zhou which featured Chinese scales but I had not heard dissonance.  Jennifer informed me they were pentatonics, presumably major pentatonic, and obviously comfortable to jazzers and others but perhaps this music has a more delayed sense of time that I felt and occasional teeming waterfalls of notes.  But all wonderfully prepared and comfortably played.  Quite a different pianistic experience with new and culturally varied compositions. Fascinating.

Jennifer Hou (piano) performed at Wesley.

Varitable piano

Jennifer Hou performed solo piano for the Wednesday lunchtime concert at Wesley.  I'd seen her before but not solo.  To put it mildly, I was blown out!  This was virtuosic playing, interesting selections, loud, insistent, busy, but also tender with emotions on displayed, then flowing, romantic, melodic, over screeds of arpeggios or roiling notes, outspoken then pensive in parts and delicious phrases.  Suffice to say there's real contact here, interpretation that you see on her face, not at all forced but forceful and true.  Then we chatted.  She's pretty new to Canberra, coming to teach piano at Canberra Grammar School.  And her bio listed Masters in San Francisco and First Class Honours in Sydney and a string of competition and Eisteddhod wins and performances in the Opera House and Sydney Town Hall and more.  So a capable player.  And other studies and music and more.  But listen to her concert and just take in the commitment and capability of it all.  A stellar outing this one.

Jennifer Hou (piano) performed Ross Edwards, Scriabin and Cesar Franck at Wesley.

Kangaroos or wallabies

I think it was the kangaroos that delayed Patrick and Jennifer for their gig at Wesley.  They started on time but it was tight.  But then Wesley is a fairly casual event, being a weekly lunchtime concert and Patrick had seen kangaroos.  He's Irish descent but San Francisco-based and I think this was his first time.  He asked about the difference between kangaroos and wallabies and we chatted otherwise about our fauna.  Jennifer is an Aussie working now in Sydney and Canberra so she knows kangaroos.  They both have SF Con in their CVs so I guess that's where they met.  Whatever, this was a classy and singular collection of tunes.  From Sibelius and Chopin arranged for violin and piano and Spanish Sarastate and an amusing Prokofiev march and a few solo violin numbers, not least con Westhoff, pre-Bach, to finish with American composer Amy Beach and a Romance for violin and piano.  All attractive but also exotic.  And all informatively introduced and played with awareness and chops.  Interestingly, with a violin made in Sydney!  A lovely afternoon concert of considerable depth.  BTW, I still don't know the difference between kangaroos and wallabies: I must look it up.

Patrick Galvin (violin) and Jennifer Hou (piano) performed a glance at romance at Wesley.