(Posted 7:30 a.m., May 27)
Gloucester Music Club wraps up season with gala concert
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

Brothers Jeremy, Jeffrey and Jado Xia perform a trio at the Gloucester Music Club season-ending gala concert Saturday night. Fred Sherwin/Photo

The Gloucester Music Club wrapped up its 2011-2012 concert season Saturday night with a gala performance featuring 33 young musicians from across the east end.

Each of the 33 musicians played in at least two of the three GMC concerts this season and are in the midst of their final preparations for their Royal Conservatory of Music exams.

Judging by their performances Saturday night, they shouldn't have any trouble passing with flying colours.

There were so many highlights in the hour-long concert it's hard to list them all.

Catherine Gallagher's performance of Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique Mvt. 2 was spot on as was Alison Wu's recital of Victor Kossenko's Waltz.

One of the most beautiful performances of the evening was delivered by GMC veteran Stephanie Gran-Ruaz whose interpretation of Nino Rota's Romeo and Juliet was the perfect example of a young musician raising her game from that of a mere recital to an actual performance. It was spell-binding.

Max Fu's performance of Chopin's Nocturne in C- was one of my top three favourites. He was so caught up in the piece, he took the audience along with him and the audience was more than happy to go.

Felix Lu's recital of Schubert's Impromptu in Eb+ was one of the most technically precise performances of the evening, but my favourite by far was Irene Grose's performance of Bumble Boogie, which is an adaptation of Flight of the Bumble Bee.

In a word it was ridiculous. I've been going to the GMC concert series for nearly seven years now and Grose's engrossing performance of the etremely intense and uptempo Boogie is one of the top two or three performances I've had the honour and extreme pleasure of witnessing.

Other highlights from Satruday's concert included Alexander Hou's performance of Frank Lynes' Sonatina in C+ Op 39 No. 1; Sophia Li's recital of Clementi's Sonata Op 36 No. 3 Mvt 1; and Alica Yang's performance of Chopin's Waltz in A-.

The evening was brought to a close by Melanie Turabian whose performance of Grovlez's Petites litanies de Jesus supplied the perfect ending to an unforgettable night.

Each year the talent level among the east end's young musicians get higher and higher and the talent pool keeps getting deeper and deeper. And while musical talent is by and large God-given, it takes a dedicated music teacher to help the student realize their potential. Luckily the east end is blessed with group of musical teachers that are second to none.

The Glouceter Music Teachers Association boasts 34 members led by GMTA president Jennifer Messer. Fellow teacher Lori Lynn Penny directed this year's GMC series with help from Anne Cure, Priscilla Gruver and Beverley Heard.

(This story was made possible thanks to their generous support of our local business partners.)

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