Vancouver Symphony Orchestra ChamberFest offers an intimate virtual experience
The online concert series kicks off with a free livestream of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, featuring Jeanette Jonquil
VSO principal clarinetist Jeanette Jonquil is the chair of the organization’s chamber music committee.
Vancouver Symphony Orchestra ChamberFest runs April 16 to 22 online at TheConcertHall.ca. It starts streaming on April 16 at 7:30 pm PT with a free, live, virtual performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet from Alan and Gwendoline Pyatt Hall. Other ChamberFest concerts begin streaming on April 17, 18, and 22. Members of the VSO host a livestream roundtable and Q&A on all things chamber music on April 17 at 2 pm PT.
UPDATE: Due to unforeseen circumstances the April 16 performance of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet has been postponed to a future date.
JEANETTE JONQUIL FIRST picked up a clarinet in her elementary-school band class in Utica, New York. Within a few months, all of her friends had moved on to other instruments. Not her.
“I fell in love with it the second I opened the case,” Jonquil says. “I loved the smell of it and the look of it. I loved the sound, the register—that middle range. And it’s such a versatile instrument; we can play lots of different styles.”
Jonquil went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree from Northwestern University and a Master’s from Yale. Formerly the principal clarinetist of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, she has been the principal clarinetist in the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra since 2005. As a member of the VSO’s chamber music committee, Jonquil is particularly excited about its new virtual concert series.
VSO ChamberFest opens April 16 with a free livestream performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K 581, happening live from Alan and Gwendoline Pyatt Hall in the VSO School of Music. [Editor’s note: See update above.] On April 17, beginning at 10 am, the VSO will release six new recordings of music by George Crumb (An Idyll for the Misbegotten), Toru Takemitsu (Rain Tree), Caroline Shaw (Works for String Quartet: Plan and Elevation;Valencia; Entr’acte), and more.
Joining Jonquil for Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet are violinists Timothy Steeves and Carina Vincenti, violist Katrina Chitty, and cellist Henry Shapard. The legendary composer originally wrote the piece for standard string quartet and basset horn, but it has become known for the way it emphasizes the instrument’s vast range of colour and tone. Completed on September 29, 1789, it reached a new level of popularity after being featured nearly a century later, in 1983, on the last episode of the TV series M*A*S*H.
For Jonquil, the piece is a dream to play.
“It’s one of the most beautiful things he ever wrote,” she says during a phone interview from home with Stir. “It’s one of the highlights of the clarinet repertoire. It’s an iconic piece that aficionados will have heard over and over. For a new listener, I can’t think of a better piece to start a lifelong love of chamber music.”
She’s equally excited to be performing live, something she hasn’t done in a full year. Jonquil is grateful that the VSO adapted so quickly to the pandemic effects with its online programming, allowing musicians to keep playing. Although it’s been challenging to get used to physical distancing within the orchestra, Jonquil chooses to see the positives of the pandemic’s effects on the organization. For instance, health restrictions have meant fewer musicians can be together at any given time, resulting in different musical choices than those the full orchestra would typically perform, namely pieces for smaller ensembles.
This has aligned quite nicely with Jonquil’s love of chamber music. She sees this as an advantage for musicians and audiences alike.
“What I really like about chamber music and what we do with the VSO is the chance to get to know colleagues on an individual level,” she explains. “It’s a small group, and unlike the orchestra where you have a conductor making large artistic decisions, here you’re making all the decisions among yourselves. There’s a lot of discussions, so you get to know people on a different level.
“Listening to musicians play chamber music gives you a deeper glimpse into individual musicians,” she adds. “It’s a much more intimate experience. You get to know the musicians a lot better, as audiences, and I’m sure that will translate to the digital experience as well.”
ChamberFest continues on April 18, when the VSO School of Music presents a masterclass with Hungarian cellist István Várdai. A featured guest artist from the VSO’s 2019-20 season, István will coach three VSO School of Music’s student chamber ensembles on repertoire from Beethoven to Bernstein.
On April 22, VSO associate conductor Andrew Crust leads A Suite of Suites. On the program is Suite for Violin and String Orchestra, Op. 117 by Jean Sibelius; Capriol Suite by Peter Warlock; and Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite. (Part of the Parc Retirement Living Tea & Trumpets Series, Suite of Suites starts streaming at 2 pm that day.)
Also available for lovers of chamber music at TheConcertHall.ca is the VSO performance of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, recorded last November and featuring Jonquil, violinist James Ehnes with Emilie Grimes on viola.
As COVID-19 continues to hold its grip, the virtual concerts offer comfort and joy, Jonquil says.
“Music in general for a lot of people has become more important,” she says. “It’s a way to ground yourself and can put you in a better headspace. I’m so glad that this livestream is being offered free to the public. Hopefully, it will be inviting to some people that might not have been to an orchestra performance."
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