Chamber Music Festival

Internationally acclaimed musicians coming to Picton

As a precursor to the Chamber Music Festival set to take place in Picton at St. Mary Magdalene Church on the coming two weekends, the grounds at Macaulay House was filled with the sound of horn music as the True North Brass provided a free outdoor concert on Saturday afternoon to an appreciative audience of over 250 people. Organizers had fretted earlier in the day whether to hold the concert in the adjacent church, but the clouds cleared, the sun glinted off the brass instruments and music lovers came in droves to hear a concert that spanned centuries of music from classical to modern, and included several pieces specially written for the quintet. There was even a piece by Tchaikovsky that gave the starring role to the tuba, showcasing its sonorous yet dulcet tones as a welcome change from the “oom-pah” generally associated with this weighty instrument.

(L-R): David Pell and Karen Donnelly play at Macaulay Park.

The festival is now in its 16th year and started after pianist Stéphane Lemelin had played in Picton as part of the Piano Six program, which brought live concert music to rural and small town Canada. Lemelin was so impressed with the audience response and the reception he received that he approached the organizers to start an annual chamber music festival with the mandate of bringing in top-notch musicians and highlighting contemporary Canadian composers. He was the artistic director for 14 years before passing the torch over to the New Orford String Quartet in 2018. Last year’s extremely successful festival, which boasted sold-out shows and overall increased attendance, showed that the festival is in capable hands. The artistic directors have the job of finding performers for the festival, and generally look up to two years ahead to book the very much in-demand musicians. However, there is a dedicated team of local volunteers who raise funds in order to pay for the musicians, as well as finding them accommodations during their stay in the County, in addition to marketing and advertising.

Festival committee chair Maureen Dunn says there’s a particular appeal to chamber music, which takes its name from originally being performed by a small number of musicians in a salon, or chamber. “When you are listening to just four or five or six musicians, you can hear them a lot better, really. It’s a different kind of sound, and it’s fun,” she says. “Because there’s no conductor, it requires a lot of communication between each player. They are creating music, looking at one another and they really have to listen to each other.” The festival offers a wide range of musical genres, which does include classical, but moves beyond the typical string quartets. “A jazz trio could be considered as chamber music,” offers Dunn. “Last year we had a group of 18 who sang Baroque music, without instruments, and the audience went wild for it.”

The festival has returned to its core mandate of providing a venue for Canadian composers after an absence of a few years. Last year John Birch was featured, with a composition for a string quartet that was an exploration of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. This year the work of Montreal composer Uriel Vanchestein, will be highlighted. He will be present at the festival and will provide context for his works through discussions with the musicians and audience members. He has composed a piece for the New Orford String Quartet, and there will be the world premiere of a song cycle based on the poems of Gilles Vigneault that will be performed by mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah. The second focus this year will be the role of the piano—or harpsichord— in chamber music.

Aside from the New Orford String Quartet’s opening performance, the keyboard will be a feature of each of the other five concerts. In particular brothers Jon Kimura Parker and Jamie Parker will perform in a rare two-piano performance together, and young Canadian superstar pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin will close out the festival in a matinee performance on Sunday, September 22. The festival rounds out with performances by the Gryphon Trio accompanied by Jamie Parker on piano, soloists from Les Violons du Roy accompanied by Mélisande McNabney on harpsichord, and Julie Nesrallah accompanied by pianist Robert Kortgaard. “The quality of musicianship is extremely high,” says Dunn. “When the Quartet plays in Toronto or Montreal, the place is sold out. The same thing with Charles Richard-Hamelin and the Parker brothers or Julie Nesrallah. They’re like the Raptors of the chamber music world.”

Tickets for the concerts are available at Books & Company in Picton, online at pecmusicfestival.com, or at the door—if they are not sold out.