Sweet music streams from the strings of Orchestra North students and instructors, today in Prince George.
The summer orchestra and chamber music development program is based in Smithers but does a command performance tonight featuring some of its best players - names like Sebastian Ostertag, Natawna Foreman, Roxi Dykstra, Allison Bell, Kiri Daust and violin/piano soloist Kaia Andal.
Andal, 16, is in the spotlight for Mozart's Concerto 246 (1st Movement) in C Major.
"I haven't met all of the orchestra's players yet. We are rehearsing today [Monday] for the first time all together, and then we do the show, and it is the first time I've ever soloed with an orchestra," she said.
Adding to Andal's degree of difficulty, Mozart did not compose a cadenza (a place usually near the end of a concerto where no other instrument plays but that of the soloist), yet the organizers wanted one.
"My piano teacher Lori Elder and I decided we would write one ourselves for this piece," Andal said. "I've written some cadenzas before, so we worked on it together and now we have one."
Orchestra North co-director Sebastian Ostertag said the connections between Prince George and the Smithers-based music camp were painted all over its staff and students, including his own stint as the PGSO's principal cellist in recent years.
"This year Orchestra North is welcoming nearly 100 musicians from northern British Columbia and beyond for a week of music making in Smithers from June 28-July 4," he explained.
"A new project for this summer is the Orchestra North Chamber Ensemble that will be on tour from June 23-28. Concerts will be held in Prince George (tonight), Vanderhoof (Wednesday), Terrace (Friday), and Smithers that will showcase bold programming for chamber ensembles, and feature professional and student musicians who are connected to the north."
Regional connections is a theme embodied by Andal, who is also an up-and-coming nordic skiing athlete, and in addition to classical music training is also a traditional folk music player.
She can sometimes be seen at the public markets playing open-air fiddle sessions.
"I just got a mandolin, too," she said with a small grin. "I've got a lot of instruments. My grandpa lives in Ottawa, he has a mandolin and I like to play with him sometimes, so I wanted one too."
To see her in the more formal setting of the Prince George Conservatory of Music, come to their performance room (St. Andrew's United Church at 3555 Fifth Ave.) at 7 p.m. to watch her and the other members of the Orchestra North Chamber Ensemble.
Admission is by donation.
