Cherry Blossom Festival features youth string orchestra who perform without a conductor.
Text by: Phoebe Yu
Edited by: Mike Lee
Published: April 5, 2011, The Source
When the cherry trees bloom, it's time again for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. It's the season for nature walks, haiku poetry and flower-viewing, among other things.
The festival was founded by Linda Poole in 2005 and has since grown to be a yearly tradition, with a permanent home at the VanDusen Botanical Garden. The festival's purpose is to give people a chance to enjoy the cherry blossoms or sakura, as they are called in Japanese, while providing interactive activities around the theme of cherry blossoms. This year's festivities included the Cherry Jam downtown, Sakura Days Japan Fair, film screenings and afternoon tea.
Though the festival is well under way, it's not too late to catch some of the other attractions still taking place, such as the Tree Talks and Walks and the Bike the Blossoms events. Both are guided tours along a route covered with cherry trees.
Another attraction is the Cherry Jubilee, a string orchestra performance by Violinpower. This is the first year they are performing for the festival.
Violinpower is a multi-generational and multicultural ensemble of virtuoso violinists. The performers range from age 10 to advanced university students in their 20s who come from different cultural backgrounds.
Toni Stanick, Violinpower's artistic director, said that the ensemble was formed on the basis of mentorship. Indeed, the string orchestra plays without a conductor, thereby placing the leadership role on every player on the stage.
"The students really have to sit on the edge of their seats to come together," said Stanick. Orchestra performances without a conductor is very uncommon. Stanick knows of only one other group that does it, which is the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra from New York.
Music preparation for the performance then becomes crucial, as the performers have to rely on each other to be in harmony. Stanick said that this teaches the students to really bring the musical to life and empowers youth to be playing side by side with someone they admire, while being given a great responsibility.
"It's really hard to explain," she said, "but when the younger students draw inspiration from an older student they're playing beside, the older student, knowing that the young student looks up to them, [feels inspired]."
The musical selections for the Cherry Jubilee has a distinct spring theme. Some pieces to be played are Schubert's The Bee, Bach's Portita #2 in D minor and Blossom.
Blossom is Stanick's own work that the city of Vancouver commissioned her to write for its 125th anniversary. She drew her inspiration from the cherry tree and how it makes her feel. Being an avid gardener as well, Stanick has great admiration for the cherry blossom. "They are like a cathedral of light. It is a tree that flowers like a piece of heaven on earth," she said.
The piece starts out with the idea of the blossoms falling, wafting through the wind. Then comes autumn and the rain. But the first rays of the spring sun come again and shine on the trees' bare limbs. The cherry blossom buds slowly grow, opening up in a crescendo, until they burst into bloom. There will be three soloists in the show: Angelica Chen, Edmund Chung and Luke Kim.
"The students are really looking forward to it," Stanick said. When asked how she felt about the upcoming performance, she said, "I'm not worried at all. The students sound like musicians. They are Canada's finest."
No comments:
Post a Comment