Les Bons Vivants
Chamber music with 'joie de vivre' is the theme of Les Bons Vivants, showcasing three musicians from the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, Amandine Guerin (violin), Anthony Ferner (flute, alto flute) and Helen Webby (harp).
Sponsored by Whanganui's popular French crepe cart, Dotto Crepes, this 'delicious' programme of chamber music is another of Chamber Music Wanganui's 2017 Subscription Series concerts and it will take place on Sunday, August 20 at 3pm in the Main Hall of Wanganui Collegiate School (entry from Liverpool St).
The trio writes that the inspiration for this programme came from an evening of eating raclette, a traditional melted cheese from France.
"We have chosen music that enhances our mood, aides our digestion, and takes our spirits on an imaginary journey that adds to the spice of life.
"Saint-Saëns' Fantaisie for Violin and Harp takes us in to the evocative world of French Romantic music, and we journey back in time to the court of Louis XV with Jean-Marie Leclair's Triosonata in D."
New Zealand composer Lissa Meridan lives in Paris, and has written a short piece for solo harp for this programme, and Christchurch composer Alex van den Broek will write a trio for flute, violin and harp. English composer Eugène Goosens lived for much of his life in Australia, and the trio perform his luscious Suite for Flute, Violin & Harp. African pygmy music meets classical flute and harp in Rain Forest, by New Zealand's dearly loved and recently passed composer Jack Body. Finally, back to France with Fauré's Après un Rêve and the Spanish flavour of Jacques Ibert's Deux Interludes.
All three musicians are members of the Christchurch Symphony orchestra, having settled there after studying and working overseas.
Amandine Guerin graduated from the Conservatoire National de Région of Montpellier. Together with her husband, a mushroom and truffle scientist, she moved to Dunedin in 2004, where she played first violin and was Acting Concertmaster of the Southern Sinfonia. In 2009 she moved to Christchurch, and joined the first violin section of Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. As well as performing in many groups, Amandine has introduced her friends to the fascinating world of fungi.
Anthony Ferner is Principal Flute of the Christchurch Symphony and a frequent soloist with the orchestra as well as being a free-lance conductor. After completing his studies in London, Anthony taught and performed for two years in Milan, and in 1992 studied conducting at the St Petersburg Conservatory. For 17 years in Australia, he played in the Sydney Symphony and the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, and was a concert artist on ABC FM radio. His CD Reverie (MANU) with harpist Helen Webby is heard frequently on Radio NZ concert FM. In his spare time at home in Christchurch he can be found tending his micro vineyard, from which he has managed to produce some excellent pinot noir.
Helen Webby is well known throughout New Zealand as solo, chamber and concerto soloist, having returned to New Zealand after years of study in the Netherlands and Germany.
During Christchurch's quake year she commissioned nine New Zealand composers to write short works for harp and in 2012 released her solo harp CD Pluck, the first anthology of New Zealand harp music.
Pluck was nominated for Best Classical CD in the 2013 NZ Music Awards, and was made in to a DVD film Harps make Fine Companions, screened on NZTV. Helen performs on a concert harp built of Red Beech by her brother Kim Webby. Helen's favourite activity as a 'bon vivant' is to eat French apple tart, made from apples grown in her orchard garden.
Tickets are available from the Royal Whanganui Opera House or at the door (no eftpos). Adults $35, Seniors $32, CMW subscribers $20 (or pre-paid), students $5.