Growing up in the Ukraine, Dina and Olga Kholina often filled their home with song — Olga with her voice and Dina on the piano.
Their recitals were a treat for the family on Sundays, especially for their father who encouraged his daughters to perform.
This Saturday, the pair will share their special talents with Tri-City audiences at a faculty concert at Coquitlam’s Place des Arts.
And Dina, who teaches the Royal Conservatory of Music repertoire to her private students on Thursdays and Fridays at the Maillardville facility, promises the show will be a great way to get into the holiday spirit.
For A Souvenir for Christmas, they’ve recruited Russian pianist Irina Faletski and will roll out a second piano for duets and trios.
Among the songs on the program are Rejoice Greatly from the Messiah, a suite from The Nutcracker and Scaramouche by Milhaud.
But they’ll also be offering such favourite carols as White Christmas, Carol of the Bells and Rudolf, The Red Nosed Reindeer. “We want everybody to sing along,” Dina said. “It’ll be a fun night.”
Dina, who moved to Canada a dozen years ago, holds her master’s degree from the Ukrainian State Pedagogical University while Olga studied piano and voice at the Lviv Academy of Music. After relocating to Canada, she worked with sopranos Ingrid Suderman and Heidi Klassen and joined the Vancouver Bach Choir.
Meanwhile, Faletski, who has her master’s from the Institute of Arts in Vladivostok, Russia, immigrated to Canada 15 years ago and now has two music studios in Burnaby and Vancouver.
“We are all teachers,” Dina said. “We are very busy. When you go to lessons, you have to be prepared and listen to recordings but we love being with our students so having a chance to perform is very special.”
• Tickets to A Souvenir for Christmas on Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. are $15/$13 by calling 604-664-1636 or visiting brownpapertickets.com.
