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(Posted 6:30 p.m., Feb. 14)
Gloucester
Music Club concert the perfect tonic for the mid-winter
blues
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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 Alexandre
Cooper performs 'Partita No. 3 Gavotte en
Rondeau' by Johann Sebastian Bach during the
Gloucester Music Club concert at Orleans United
Church on Saturday. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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The
Gloucester Music Club held their second concert series
of the season on the weekend featuring over 45 talented
young musicians from across the east end and the city.
Half
of the performances were held at Orleans United Church
on Friday night, while the rest were held on Saturday
evening.
Philip
Chau kicked the Saturday evening concert off with a beautiful
rendition of Chopin's "Nocturne in C-minor"
that drew an enthusiastic round of applause and nods of
approval from the audience.
The
first half of the program featured several younger and
less experienced performers including Annabel Lu who won
the award for cutest performance of the evening.
A
very confident Sophia Rossi delivered an error free rendition
of "The Wind" by the Malaysian composer Chee-Hwa
Tan.
Rossi
was followed on stage by cellist Nicolas Cooper, who is
the youngest of three brothers, all of whom performed
Saturday evening. Just
nine-years-old, Nicolas did an excellent job with "Two
Pieces for Violincello No. 2" by Andrew Hadju.
The
next performance was one of the highlghts of the evening.
Melanie Turabain, was simply superb with her recital of
"Sonata in G+ Op. 49 No. 2" by Beethoven.
The
15-year-old pianist did an excellent job with the rather
lenghty and complex piece, hitting all the right notes.
Other
highlights include Cecilia Su's recital of "Sonatina
in C+" by Friedrich Kuhlau and Amy Li's robust performance
of "Jazz Exercise No. 2" by the late great Oscar
Peterson.
Jeffrey
Xia, 12, delivered an exceptional recital of Clementi's
"Sonatina in C+" despite a slight bobble, and
Oliver Ng and Rosalie Seguin Lemay provided solid performances
with their respective pieces.
Fifteen-year-old
Alexandre Cooper, the oldest of the Cooper brothers, showed
why the concert organizers slotted him in the final three
with his spell-binding inerpretation of Johann Sebastian
Bach's "Partita No. 3 Gavotte en Rondeau" on
violin.
Cooper
first started playing violin when he was five. The middle
brother Gabriel, 12,plays piano and Nicolas' specialty
is the cello.
When
asked if they might one day form a trio and start playing
gigs together, Alexandre said it was already in the works.
"We're
just waiting for Nicolas to catch up to us," said
Cooper.
The
next to last performance of the evening was provided by
Gloucester Music Club veteran Charles Li. A busy schedule
that includes having to prepare for his SAT exams in the
States, didn't leave the 17-year-old with much time to
practice and unfortunately it showed. His recital of Mozart's
"Sonatina in F+ No. 1 K 332" included several
misplayed notes that are highly uncharacteristic of the
talented young pianist.
Felix
Lu was given the distinction of bringing the concert to
a close and he didn't disappoint, delivering a wonderful
rendition of "Impromptu Op 90 No. 2" by Schubert.
The GMC vet had no problem with the intricate fingering
the piece demands and his incredible musicality was evident
for everyone to hear.
The
third and final installment of this year's Gloucester
Music Club series will be held on March 23 and 24, followed
by gala concert on May 26.
For
more information visit www.gloucestermusicclub.ca.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support
of our local business partners.)
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