It takes a special talent to go from performing Praeludium and Allegro in the style of Pugnani by Fritz Kreisler on the violin, to tinkling away at the theme for Family Guy on piano.
But that’s just what local music protégé Vincent Li did last year when he wowed audiences and won the local Our Kids Have Talent competition.
A member of the Youth Symphony Orchestra of the Okanagan (YSO) for the past two years, Li is about to wow audiences once again when he performs Sarasate’s Zigeunerweisen (or Gypsy Airs) as one of the soloists in the YSO’s 2012 concert, From Clown to Mountain Kings, this weekend in Penticton, Kelowna and Vernon.
“I love playing with this wonderful bunch of people,” said Li, a Grade 9 student at W.L. Seaton Secondary School, who studies the violin under YSO’s esteemed leader and founder Imant Raminsh at the Vernon Community Music School.
Even though Li performs mostly classical repertoire with the YSO, he is open to all kinds of music, and knows when to inject a little much needed humour when the proceedings may be getting a little “stuffy.” Hence, the Family Guy theme was the perfect way to cap off his winning performance at last year’s Our Kids Have Talent.
“Classical music can seem repetitive to modern, and sometimes people don’t get it. I think it’s good to play something modern once and a while that people will recognize,” he said.
Li’s choice to perform Sarasate’s Gypsy Airs actually comes from what could be deemed an unusual source: the film Kung Fu Hustle starring martial artist Stephen Chow.
“A few years ago I saw this Chinese movie which had a chase scene where they played this really fast music,” said Li, adding this will be the first time he has played the Gypsy Airs with an orchestra although he has performed it with his brother accompanying on piano before.
“It is a really flashy piece in one movement with two parts: one tragic and the other is the chase.”
Wise beyond his 15 years, Li has seen more of the world than most people twice his age.
Born in New York, Li lived in Toronto until he was four years old, when he and his family moved back to their homeland of Xiandu, China. It was there that he picked up the violin, with encouragement from his mother.
“My mom took it very seriously,” said Li. “She taught me and although she didn’t play herself, she learned a whole lot. It is really competitive in China to get into a decent university, so it helps to get scholarships and music helps in getting a better education overall.”
Moving back to Canada in 2006 to settle in Richmond, Li played with the Delta Youth Orchestra as well as a youth chamber string quartet under his mentor, Jonathan Der. He also won numerous competitions at regional music festivals.
He and his family came to Vernon in 2010.
“My mom is involved with a bottle making company, so we moved to the Okanagan to be in wine country. It’s an idyllic environment here,” said Li. “The community here has also been good to me.”
Besides his win at OKHT, Li was awarded a scholarship via the Vernon Community Music School, and also joined the YSO when the orchestra accompanied other ensembles to perform Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks with the Okanagan Symphony last month.
And what does he do when he’s not playing music or studying?
“I’ll put it out there,” he said, slyly. “I like to break dance.”
Li joins the YSO along with fellow soloist, violinist Rebecca Ruthven of Kelowna, as well as conductors Raminsh and Dennis Colpits, in performance at Vernon’s Trinity United Church Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15, $10 for seniors and youth, and $5 for children 12 and under, available at the Vernon Community Music School or at the door.
