Mattina Musica featuring Joan Blackman

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Monday, November 4th, 2013
10:30 AM

Co-presented by Sarah Hagen and the Sid Williams Theatre Society

Mattina Musica returns to the Comox Valley for an exciting fourth season.

Italian for �Morning Music,� Mattina Musica is a 5 concert series of classical music, each taking place on a Monday morning. Patrons are warmly invited to meet in the Sid lobby at 9:45 am for tea, coffee, and conversation before the 10:30 am concert.

The series is hosted by pianist Sarah Hagen, who is thrilled to have cellist Ariel Barnes, violinist Joan Blackman, tenor Benjamin Butterfield, and horn player Oto Carrillo bring their world-class artistry to the Comox Valley. The musicians, all known for their perceptive, eloquent and entertaining commentary, will take time to offer personal insights into the music.

Can you think of a better way to spend a Monday morning?


Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, Joan Blackman brings her �ravishing tone� to the Comox Valley for the second concert of the Mattina Musica series. Joan and Sarah met at the Banff Centre for the Arts many years ago and are thrilled to finally be collaborating this season. They have thoughtfully selected a programme of works by Beethoven and Faur�.

ABOUT JOAN

Joan Blackman, Associate Concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony, enjoys a vibrant and varied musical life. Ms. Blackman is the Artistic Director of Vancouver�s Vetta Chamber Music and Recital Society, and is also a member of the acclaimed American String Project, which brings together concertmasters and soloists throughout North America. She has performed and recorded as soloist with the Vancouver Symphony, Victoria Symphony, CBC Radio Orchestra, and the Banff Festival Orchestra.

Joan has also performed chamber music with premier groups such as the Penderecki String Quartet, Purcell String Quartet, Curio, Vancouver New Music, and the Turning Point Ensemble. She has appeared on the series Music in the Morning, Music Fest Vancouver , the Pender Harbour Music Society Concert Series, The Jeffrey Concerts in London, Ont., and at several summer festivals including the Hornby Island Festival, Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival, and the Victoria Summer Music Festival. She is frequently heard in recital broadcasts on CBC radio.

�Shapelier phrases and sweeter tone would be hard to imagine�, �a ravishing tone�, �first rate soloist�, �exchanged lines meltingly in a flawless performance� �playing with lyricism, precision, and evident joy�; are some of the accolades that have graced Joan�s reviews. In 2010 Zach Carstensen of Seattle�s Gathering Note wrote �Your heart would need to be made of stone not to have loved Joan Blackman�s splendid solo �.

Joan is also an active teacher, having been a faculty member at the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen College, and Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific. Presently she is Head of Strings at the VSO School of Music.


ABOUT SARAH

Canadian pianist Sarah Hagen has been heard in concert halls and on the airwaves to critical acclaim throughout North America and Europe. Her interpretations have been described as "outstandingly inventive," performed with "infinite skill." A visionary and an idealist, Sarah's performances are conceptually innovative, involving photography, dance and theatre. She is the Artistic Director for Pro'ject Sound, a performance project involving live piano with large-scale projected images. She curates, hosts, and performs on numerous concert series in BC, sharing the stage with artists from around the world. An avid collaborator, Sarah has performed with cellist Ariel Barnes, violinist Nancy DiNovo, tenor Ken Lavigne, Trio Accord, Ballet Victoria, the Emily Carr String Quartet, among many others, and has appeared as soloist with the Victoria Symphony under the baton of Mei-Ann Chen and the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony conducted by Mark Skazinetsky.

As First Prize Winner in the 2013 Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition, Sarah was awarded the opportunity to perform solo at New York City�s Carnegie Hall in May 2013. Highlights of Miss Hagen�s 2012/2013 season include two performances at Carnegie Hall, first with Polish flautist Krzysztof Kaczka and later as a soloist, recitals with LA Philharmonic Concertmaster Martin Chalifour, and a concert tour in Manitoba and Saskatchewan with cellist Rebecca Wenham. Sarah and Martin recently recorded their entire recital programme for the CBC online music site, with their session overseen by Grammy award winning producer Denise Ball. Miss Hagen has been heard on Swedish Radio 2, CBC Radio 1 and 2, WDAV (North Carolina) WOSU (Ohio), KFUO (Missouri), CKUA (Edmonton), WKAR (Michigan), WITF (Pennsylvania), 98.1 KING FM (Seattle) and has appeared on Bravo Television. Her solo album, Glass House Dancing, was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2009 Western Canadian Music Awards. Sarah�s primary teachers and mentors have been Jamie Parker, Glen Montgomery, Gregory Chaverdian and Christine Purvis. Since her move in 2011 to an artist loft in one of Vancouver�s most vibrant neighbourhoods, she has become deeply involved with intricate projects inspired by urban vitality.

Sarah's motivation is the belief that music has the power to be a window into our souls regardless of age or knowledge.

For more about Sarah, please visit her website

�Exquisite phrasing and a refreshingly imaginative approach make her one to watch.� - Marcia Adair, TheOmniscientMussel.com

�Her Bach and Haydn were outstandingly inventive � this is a young woman ready to take interpretive risks.� - University of Waterloo Gazette

"Hagen performed this complex arrangement [Chopin's Opus 28 Preludes] with in?nite skill. Her concentration and focus was extraordinary; her movements strong, yet graceful." - Comox Valley Record
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Buy all 5 performances in the Mattina Musica series and save!
Members $90 | Regular $115

https://tickets.sidwilliamstheatre.com/