40th Anniversary Celebration Concert

Sunday, October 22, 2023, 3:00 p.m.
Matsqui Centennial Auditorium
32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford BC

The Valley Concert Society will celebrate the 40th Anniversary of its founding in 1983 with a celebratory concert. Musicians from Vetta Chamber Music will perform the works that were played at the very first concert in November of that year.

The program will consist of a string trio by Joseph Haydn, Mozart’s ravishing Clarinet Quintet, and Brahms’ Piano Quintet, considered by many to be his finest chamber composition.

The ensemble will be led by violinist Joan Blackman, the Artistic Director of Vetta Chamber Music. Joan served as Assistant Concertmaster at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra for many years. She performed as violin soloist with several orchestras including the CBC Radio Orchestra and the Banff Festival Orchestra. She is an acclaimed chamber musician, having performed with ensembles such as the Purcell String Quartet and the Gryphon Trio.

Spanish clarinetist Jose Franch-Ballester is a leading soloist and chamber musician. He was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2008. He has appeared as a soloist with many orchestras including the BBC Concert Orchestra and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. He currently teaches in the music department at UBC.

Pianist Jane Coop is one of Canada’s leading pianists. Her career has taken her to such venues as Bolshoi Hall in St. Petersburg and Alice Tully Hall in New York. She has collaborated extensively with chamber music ensembles. Jane received a Killam Teaching Award for her work at UBC. She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2012.

Violinist Jennie Press is Second Assistant Concertmaster with the Vancouver Symphony. She started with the instrument at a very early age and has won numerous competitions including the Yale Gordon String Competition. She has played in masterclasses with artists like Midori and Pinchas Zukerman.

Jacob van der Sloot began studying the violin but eventually switched to the viola. He was accepted into the program at the Juilliard School. He has gone on to perform in such distinguished venues as Carnegie Hall and the Museo Del Violino in Cremona, Italy. He became the youngest member of the VSO at age 22.

Cellist Zoltan Rozsnyai is Assistant Principal Cello with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. At age 15 he joined the Windsor Symphony. He played for many years in the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet orchestras. He has studied with such greats as Aldo Parisot and Janos Starker.