The last notes of the Valley Concert Society’s 2025-26 season have faded into silence, but memories keep the year’s inspiring moments alive. They sometimes appear unbidden, a momentary surprise. Other times we recall them intentionally, a deliberate recollection of experiences that moved us to delight.
It was a season filled with the dramatic and the tender, the whimsical and the profound, the familiar and the new. The Bergmann Duo and the Gryphon Trio typified the familiar. Buzz Brass and Jeneba Kanneh-Mason were brand new faces on our stage.
No composer was performed more often this season than Ludwig van Beethoven. Four times. And each occurred at a key point in its program. I was astonished that a violin, a cello, and four hands on a piano could communicate all the power and drama of his Fifth Symphony in our season opener. Both of our trio concerts, the Gryphons and the Chengs with James Campbell, opened their programs with examples of his earliest work. The emotion that the fingers of a young Jeneba Kanneh-Mason imparted to her rendition of his piano sonata The Tempest still resonates with me.
Although some would dismiss classical music as the work of a few old warhorses endlessly repeated, our artists introduced us to at least ten composers entirely new to me. Buzz Brass gave us Hugh Bégin and Axel Jørgensen, both from the twentieth century. Suzie LeBlanc and her wonderful colleagues resurrected Bernardo Storace and Tarquinio Merula from the distant past. The Cheng2 Duo and James Campbell unearthed gems by Paul Juon and Joaquin Nin.
I turn my gaze from the stage and savour the moments shared with you reflecting on what we had just heard. I love your observations—sometimes amazed, sometimes questioning, sometimes simply thankful. As much as we appreciate the wealth of recorded music available to us, none of it can match the vibrancy of a communal experience produced by live performers for a live audience that hears each note and feels each pulse.
Not only do the performers feed our souls with their art. You feed them with your attention and responsiveness. Once again, I have heard repeatedly from our musicians how much they sense your involvement and value your appreciation. It inspires them, and they too have been lifted at the end of the evening.
Thank you for sharing these six special concerts with me. Thank you for the many kind and encouraging words that you have offered. I am grateful.
John Wiebe - President
The Valley Concert Society