Edmonton is buzzing with music throughout the summer. Under the solstice summer sun, the Edmonton Chamber Music Society offers stellar programming in an intimate setting. Now in its 17th season, the festival came together in 2008 to fill a gap in Edmonton’s classical music calendar.
For Artistic Director and pianist Patricia Tao, the guiding principle has always been musical excellence. “I don’t like amplification for chamber music,” she says. “So we keep [the concerts]in churches and venues where the instruments maintain their beautiful sound.”
This year’s roster of guest artists maintains the festival’s long record of bringing the best to Edmonton. Programming is built around three main concerts at the historic Trinity Lutheran Church in Old Strathcona. The Tesla Quartet, originally formed at The Juilliard School in 2008, opens the festival with Haydn’s “Joke” Quartet, Ravel’s String Quartet in F major and Polish composer Grazyna Bacewicz’s 1947 String Quartet No. 3 (June 17). The following evening, the quartet will appear again at the legendary Edmonton jazz club, The Yardbird Suite.
Alexander Hersh
At the same venue on June 19, a host of other notable festival headliners will join forces, including accordionist Michael Bridge, violinist Jacques Forestier and American cellist Alexander Hersh. Back at Trinity Lutheran on June 20, Hersh will play Giovanni Solllima’s 2012 piece, Lamentatio, during which the cellist also sings. As Tao notes, it’s “a kind of lament.”
Tao’s personal highlight? That also comes on June 20: “I get to do the Schumann Piano Quartet, and I get to play with my daughter [violinist Gabrielle Després], which is always a thrill for me,” she says. “But honestly, I’m looking forward to all of them.”
Michael Bridge. Photo: Sam Gaetz
Variety is at the core of Tao’s mission. “I always say if somebody doesn’t like one piece, they’ll like one of the other pieces of the program … I’m just trying to introduce people to classical music.”
The Summer Solstice Festival aims to challenge the notion that chamber music is boring. Instrumentalists like Michael Bridge are often not necessarily thought of as chamber music players, but Tao brings together unlikely pairings to challenge audiences and bring them new sounds. Bridge will be playing the Dvořák Bagatelles, a piece originally written for harmonium, cello, violin and piano. He’ll also take on a tango toccata piece by Petri Makony. “I like to throw in just something a little unusual in every program. That’s kind of my overriding philosophy,” says Tao.
Jacques Forestier
Beyond the headliners, Tao aims to highlight the younger generation as much as possible. “We have Jacques Forestier, who just won the Joachim International Violin Competition, and he’s Edmonton born-and-raised.”
With its eclectic programming and intimate venues, the Summer Solstice Festival is a thoughtfully curated, Edmonton cultural season highlight.
For more information on Edmonton Chamber Music Society’s Summer Solstice Festival, visit www.festival.edmontonchambermusic.org
