Submitted by Selkirk Pro-Musica
Selkirk Pro-Musica is pleased to present its fourth concert of the 2022-23 season with the Sitka String Quartet.
The group will perform at St. Saviours Anglican Church in Nelson at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23.
The group consists of four members of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. After years of playing together in the larger ensemble, and sharing numerous concerts as chamber musicians within the VSO Chamber Players, it was a natural extension of their like-minded musical curiosity, open-heartedness, and a fearless willingness to explore quartet repertoire across many genres, that propelled these four musicians to form a professional quartet.
The SSQ consists of violinists Cassandra Bequary and Karen Gerbrecht, cellist Olivia Blander, and violist Isabelle Roland filling in for Emilie Grimes. All four musicians serve on the faculties of the VSO School of Music, with some teaching additionally at UBC or the Vancouver Academy of Music.
Coming from disparate but complementary backgrounds, the four members of the Sitka String Quartet have toured the world as performers but their affection for British Columbia has kept them living within a few kilometres of one another, and they are proud to perform in their home province whenever the opportunity arises.
After the initial closure of B.C. performance theatres in March 2020, the SSQ put their energies into recording projects, both audio and video. These projects have included recordings and live performances of the works of Caroline Shaw, the Danish String Quartet, Dvorak, Bartok, Martinu, Beethoven and Shostakovich.
Violinist Karen Gerbrecht describes the program for the Feb. 23 concert in Nelson: “We’ve been mindful to represent important, topical music by living women composers: Shaw, Vrebalov and Montgomery. Throughout the program audiences will be guided to the development of folk music as a form of cultural citizenship. It’s a compelling and beautiful program — we’re thrilled to be able to perform these challenging works.”
Tickets are available at Otter Books, or at the door if not sold out.