She’s been waiting more than a decade to play this piece.
Coquitlam pianist Rosemary O’Connor didn’t dare plunge into Maurice Ravel’s famous Piano Trio while she and her husband, violist Reg Quiring, raised their three children.
Between being a mother, a music teacher and music summer camp organizer — and having Quiring busy with his Coquitlam Youth Orchestra — there wasn’t enough time.
But now that their kids are in school, O’Connor said she’s finally ready to perform the chamber piece penned by the French composer before he enlisted in the First World War.
“It’s been on my hit list for years and years and now I’m in the right place to play it and with the right people,” she said.
The 30-minute number will cap off the couple’s QuiRING in the New Year, their eighth annual Dec. 31 performance at the Evergreen Cultural Centre in Coquitlam.
They will be joined by friends Ian Swensen, a violinist with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a member of the Lincoln Center Chamber Musicians — who also teaches at the Banff and Tanglewood music festivals — and Olivia Blander, a cellist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Each year, the couple finds chamber pieces they love and call fellow musicians to share the limelight. Swensen is a returning guest at QuiRING “and it’s such a treat for us to have him make a trip up from San Francisco for a visit and a show,” O’Connor said.
Their concert will begin with a string trio by Ernst Dohnanyi, a Hungarian composer. It’s a splashy, fun and exuberant opening for the recital — and a sharp contrast to the next work: Sergei Prokofiev’s Five Melodies for Violin and Piano. The Russian composer dedicated each piece to three violinists well-known at the time: Joseph Szigeti, Cecilia Hansen and Paul Kochanski.
“They are all very beautiful and melodic and very much [written] with certain violinists in mind,” she said. “Overall, it’s a really different — more intimate — feel compared with the Dohnanyi.”
O’Connor said QuiRING is a hit with Tri-City music lovers on New Year’s Eve, with last year’s event sold out.
“For us the atmosphere is really special, warm and friendly and we love visiting with our friends at the champagne reception afterwards. It’s great way to celebrate an elegant and romantic evening without having to go downtown.”
• Tickets for QuiRING in the New Year are $38/$34/$15 through the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam). Call the box office at 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
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