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(Posted 2:30 p.m., Dec. 2)
Gloucester
Music Club concert a celebration of amazing young talent
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online
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Anika-France Forget performs her original
composition 'Une Vie' at the Gloucester Music
Club concert on Saturday night in honout of
her grandfather who passed away last month.
Fred Sherwin/Photo
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I
don't have a musical bone in my body. I can hum a tune,
but that's about the limit of my musical ability, which
is why I appreciate the Gloucester Music Club concert
series so much.
Every
year the Gloucester Music Teachers Association holds a
series of recitals to give their students the opportunity
to perform in front of an audience
This
year's concert series was kicked off on the weekend with
two nights of recitals at the Orleans United Church featuring
more than 40 young musicians ranging in age from five
to 17.
The
honour of opening the second night of recitals was given
to Henry Yin, who delivered a very solid performance of
"Early Morning Exercises" by the Russian composer
Dimitry Kabalevsky.
Yin
was followed by Jeffrey Xia, 12, whose rendition of "The
Gypsies" by the 19th century German composer Johann
Friedrich Burgmuller was one of the early highlights of
the evening.
Other
notable performances were delivered by Shannon Webster
who played "Mist" by the contemporary Canadian
composer Clifford Poole; Nicole Xu's rendition of "The
Wild Horseman" by Robert Scumann; and Jeremy Xia's
performance of "Arietta" by Rheinhold Gliére.
But
the performance of the evening and quite possibly the
entire Gloucester Music Club series was an original composition
played and sung by Anika-France Forget in honour of her
grandfather who passed away last month.
It
was the first time the 13-year-old performed the piece,
entitled "Une Vie", in public and it was absolutely
magical despite the fact that she had a sore throat.
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Charlotte Hou's feet dangle from the piano
bench as she performs in the first instalment
of the 2012-2013 Gloucester Music Club concert
series on Saturday. Fred Sherwin/Photo
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"I
was a little worried about it at first, but I relaxed
before I started playing and it was okay," said Forget
who does up to six concerts a year.
Forget
started playing piano when she was six. She began singing
two years later and has been performing ever since. She
took first place in her class at the Kiwanis Music Festival
the past two years and recently won a pair of song writing
contests for her original compositions.
One
of the reasons the Gloucester Music Club series was started
was to give young musicians the opportunity to prepare
of their Royal Conservatory of Music exams and the Kuwaitis
Music Festival when they not only have to perform in front
of a panel of adjudicators, but a live audience as well.
Saturday's
concert had a number of Kiwanis Music Festival veterans
on the program, including Amy Li, 12, and Emily Hou, 11.
The youngest performer was Emily's five-year-old sister
Charlotte.
As
has become tradition in the Gloucester Music Club series,
the older and more experienced students performed at the
end of the program.
Alexander
Comantia's recitation of Chopin's "Nocturne in C
minor" was superbly played and the best of the evening.
He was followed on stage by Alice Yang, 9, who played
the quick temp "Solfeggietto" written by Johan
Sebastien Bach's son C.P.E. Bach. Her performance was
one of the most technically sound of the evening, rivaled
only by Kevin Yang, 11, who closed out the program with
"Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum by Debussy.
The
one hour concert served as yet another reminder of the
level of musical talent that exists in Ottawa, and the
east end in particular.
Members
of the public will get another chance to see and hear
these talented young musicians in person at the next Gloucester
Music Club concert series on Feb. 8th and 9th.
(This
story was made possible thanks to the generous support of
our local business partners.)
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CLASSIC PIANO RECITAL – Orléans pianist Emily Hou will be performing works by Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninov and Liszt at Kanata United Church as part os the Beaverbrook Community Concert Series. The recital will start promptly at 3 p.m. Kanata United Church is located at 33 Leacock Dr. in Kanata. For more information visit 
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