Langley Community Music School (LCMS) launches the first major performance of its newly formed Rose Gellert String Quartet at the upcoming Concerts Café Classico concert, coffee and commentary at 2:30 pm on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 16.
The team had a dress rehearsal last month, during a performance at the Langley Lodge’s Caring Hearts Gala, where LCMS principal Susan Magnusson shared news of the new quartet, and said they would be spending a lot of time during the coming year performing at various community events and venues.
This weekend’s performance will feature two masterworks of classical repertoire: Haydn’s “The Emperor” String Quartet No. 62 in C major Op. 76 No. 3 and Mendelssohn’s passionate String quartet No. 2 in a minor Op. 13.
Established this summer, this new LCMS quartet-in-residence (which derived its name from the school’s concert hall and one of LCMS’ great patrons, the late Rose Gellert) is comprised of LCMS faculty violinists Will Chen and Samuel Tsui, violist Peter Ing, and cellist Ben Goheen.
“This group was formed to promote music and outreach to the community of Langley,” said Ing.
“We are all professional musicians with different backgrounds and experiences, and this diversity is a great asset to our quartet playing. We are thrilled to be quartet in residence at LCMS and to bring our music to the community.”
Chen has performed all over Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom as a soloist and chamber musician with the rising group Mainzer Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra.
He holds a bachelors of music from the University of Victoria, and a masters degree from Hochschule fur Musik Mainz, Germany.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong-born Tsui attained both his bachelors and masters degrees at the University of British Columbia and currently performs as the principal second violinist of the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, and is a member of the first violin section in the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Canada West Chamber Orchestra, and the Willingdon Church Orchestra.
He is continually invited to perform and record for various high-profile artists including Michael Bublé, Mariah Carey, and Mary J. Blige.
Ing is a Toronto native and Vancouver resident who is a renowned violin/viola musician and LCMS teacher, with a master degree from the University of British Columbia.
He has performed across North America and Europe, including the Kent Blossom Music Festival, Colorado String Quartet Festival, and the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival in Italy, and continues to perform with various orchestras across British Columbia, including the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra.
Goheen holds a masters degree from UBC and has performed for multiple British Columbia symphonies, including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra, Prince George Symphony, BC Chamber Orchestra, Kamloops Symphony, Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and Canada West Chamber Orchestra. He also performs solo and in a wide variety of small chamber ensembles.
In addition to teaching at LMCS, Goheen is the conductor of the Surrey Symphony Society’s Intermediate Strings.
This weekend’s concert starts at 2:30 p.m., with a pre-concert conversation with the quartet, hosted by LCMS artistic director Elizabeth Bergmann, highlighting anecdotal stories and insights about the music and the careers of the performers.
There will be a short break with coffee and refreshments, before the performance from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.
“This inaugural performance will be exciting to hear,” said Bergmann.
“They are a wonderfully energetic young ensemble and it’s great to be able to feature them as part of our concert series.”
Tickets for this Concerts Café Classico event are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and $10 for students and available from the box office at 604-534-2848 or at the school, 4899 207th St.
More information is available online at: langleymusic.com.
