Couloir will perform at the Matsqui Centennial Auditorium on Saturday, November 19, at 7:30 p.m. as part of the 2022/23 season of The Valley Concert Society. It is a rare opportunity to hear the remarkable artists of this harp-and-cello duo in Abbotsford.
We featured Heidi Krutzen, principal harp of the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, in an earlier email. Today the spotlight turns toward cellist Ariel Barnes.
The late maestro Bramwell Tovey called Barnes “the outstanding Canadian Cellist of his generation.” This is high praise indeed from someone who was more familiar with the Canadian musical scene than most musicians.
Ariel was born to a musical family in Toronto. His father was a conductor and composer, and his mother was a violinist. They moved to Boston where his mother played in the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the 1980’s. They next moved to Vancouver. Ariel went to the East for University, but eventually landed back in Vancouver.
Despite living through some challenging periods, which included working long hours for modest pay at Long & McQuade, Barnes got a position at the Vancouver Symphony and rose to become principal cello for the orchestra. He now holds that position for the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra in Germany.
Ariel is no stranger to Abbotsford. He performed here in September of 2017 when he was guest soloist for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra to open the society’s 35th season. He played cello concertos by Joseph Haydn and Michael Oesterle in that concert. In that same year, he won first prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition over 72 other cellists in Austria. His mother, Nancy DiNovo, played violin here in April of this year as part of the Young Beethoven concert.
While he has established a solid career as an orchestral musician and a teacher, his heart is in the intimacy of chamber music. In this genre he has collaborated with a long list of international luminaries such as the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Manhattan Chamber Players, the late Lars Vogt, and Jonathan Crowe.
It is this passion which has inspired him to form Couloir along with Heidi Krutzen. Tickets to this very special performance are available online at www.valleyconcertsociety.com . They cost $32 for adults and $20 for students.
For more information, call 604-289-3377.
I look forward to seeing you at the concert.
John Wiebe -President
The Valley Concert Society