Ancient Airs and Dances: A Baroque Garland, presented by Lions Gate Sinfonia, Sunday, March 1 at 3 p.m. at North Vancouver's Centennial Theatre. Special guests include violinist Marc Destrube and the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra. Tickets, $12-$39, visit centennialtheatre.com.
A few hours after the last orchestral note resonates Sunday on North Vancouver's Centennial Theatre stage, featured violinist Marc Destrube will find himself aboard a red eye flight headed for Washington, D.C., a Stradivarius with his name on it, lying in wait.
After the violinist completes his performance as a special guest at Ancient Airs and Dances: A Baroque Garland, presented by Lions Gate Sinfonia, he'll spend a week in the United States capital playing with the Axelrod String Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at the Smithsonian Institution. Destrube serves as first violinist with the ensemble and members get to play on the museum's collection of Stradivari and Amati instruments.
"I live a really privileged life in a way because I'm a freelancer and yet I'm constantly busy and always only do things that I really enjoy with people I like," says the West Vancouver resident. "It's always changing, every week, or two or three, I'm involved in a new project with different people in a different place. It's exhausting and takes a lot of administration time but on the other hand it's immensely rewarding musically."
In addition to the Axelrod String Quartet, Destrube plays in a number of groups, giving him an opportunity to perform a wide range of repertoire.
"I live in two worlds: one is playing early music on period instruments; and the other is playing more modern music on normal or modern instruments. So I'm shifting hats on a regular basis," he says.
Destrube is a member of Vancouver's Microcosmos string quartet and Turning Point Ensemble, and is an avid performer with Early Music Vancouver. In addition, he serves as co-concertmaster of Frans Bruggen's Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, based in the Netherlands.
"I travel to Amsterdam four or five times a year to play with them," he says.
After the Smithsonian stint, Destrube will have a couple of weeks at home on the North Shore before he'll travel abroad to embark on a European tour with the orchestra through March and April, performing Bach's St. Matthew Passion.
Destrube is looking forward to lending his talents to Lions Gate Sinfonia's Sunday program, getting underway at 3 p.m. at the North Vancouver theatre. Destrube will share the stage with the North Shore professional orchestra, as well as the organization's junior ensemble, the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra.
"I see it as not only a wonderful opportunity for the young people, but also a wonderful opportunity for the professional musicians because it reminds us all of why we make music in the first place," he says.
The Lions Gate Youth Orchestra was launched following the success of ongoing Side-by-Side initiatives, explains Clyde Mitchell, conductor and founding music director of Lions Gate Sinfonia in a written statement. On a number of occasions between 2000 to 2012, the professional orchestra invited local young musicians to sit next to members during rehearsals, working towards a shared performance.
"The younger players learn that there is so much more than simply learning their own set of notes. In a real-life situation we show them about ensemble rapport, rehearsal etiquette, nuances of expression and the general world of professional music-making," he says. Eventually Lions Gate Sinfonia decided to launch its own group of young players, and the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra, serving young musicians ages 13 to 19, was launched in 2012. "There is something truly special about a young, up-and-coming student musician getting to perform next to a pro," says Mitchell. Based on the success and growth of that program, Lions Gate Sinfonia has expanded its offerings yet again and now offers a junior program for players ages nine to 12.
Youth orchestra members are invited play alongside the professional group twice annually and are often called upon to mentor those in the junior program. In addition, the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra presents at least two major performances each year on its own. Sunday's Centennial Theatre concert will see the Lions Gate Youth Orchestra join Lions Gate Sinfonia for the first half of the performance.
The concert is intended to celebrate music from and inspired by the Baroque era and features works by J. S. Bach, Antonio Vivaldi, Georg Frideric Handel and Henry Purcell, in addition to works by composers they influenced, including Luigi Boccherini, Franz Josef Haydn, Otttorino Respighi and Igor Stravinsky.
"I have worked with the brilliant violinist Marc Destrube on several occasions, and knew I wanted to present him as our featured soloist," says Mitchell. "With a great resource like Marc around (he lives right here on the North Shore) I wanted to take advantage of his presence and give our Lions Gate Youth Orchestra musicians a chance to hear one of the best in the business."
Destrube will perform a Vivaldi Concerto for four violins and cello.
"The kind of music-making I love best is collaborative music making," says Destrube.
Joining him are concertmaster Andrea Siradze and her daughter and concertmaster of the youth orchestra, Maia Siradze. Destrubé plays in Microcosmos with Andrea, and Maia was previously his student. Rounding out the solos are longtime orchestra member Adrian Dyck and principal cellist Sue Round.
Destrube will also perform one of his favourite works, Haydn's Violin Concerto in G Major, which he recorded 12 years ago.
"It's not a kind of big show-offy romantic concerto, it's more of a dialogue between the soloist and the orchestra. It's more of a conversation (and) that's a role that I feel happier in and enjoy more," he says.
The two works are a "lovely pairing," according to Mitchell. "Vivaldi was one of the earliest inventors of the concerto, and Haydn was known as one of the composers who helped cement the format of the concerto into what we now consider to be the standard: in three movements, fast-slow-fast. Haydn was not an important developer of the concerto, rather he was attempting to reconcile the Italian Baroque idiom with the newly emerging classical style," he says.
Lions Gate Sinfonia is also preparing for Through the Lions Gate, featuring special guests Pandora's Vox and Pro Arte Centre Dancers, Saturday, April 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Centennial Theatre. The current youth orchestra season will run until the end of May, capped off with a finale concert at Kay Meek Centre May 22 at 7:30 p.m. Both youth orchestras will perform. New members are always welcome. Senior youth (ages 13-19) are asked to audition. A round of formal auditions will be held in late spring for the start of the new fall season.
