Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Vancouver Academy of Music used the special occasion to honour the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven with an afternoon concert, Resounding Joy: Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, at the Orpheum Theatre.
Conductor Emeritus Leslie Dala lead students from the VAM Symphony Orchestra (VAMSO), plus the Vancouver Bach Choir, and members of VAM’s choral program, as well as four soloists; Joslin Romphf Dennis, Leah Giselle Field, Martin Renner Wallace, Alan Corbishley, resulted in a wall of sounds as the 200+ performers filled the Orpheum stage to performs Beethoven’s most revered works. The program began with Fidelio Overture, followed by Piano Concerto No. 4, featuring pianist Ian Parke. After the intermission, the full complement of performers took over the stage to present the classic Symphony No. 9, building to the full wall of sound as the vocals and orchestra came together.
This was no ordinary student recital, the professionalism of the musicians would have fit in with the most seasoned of performers. The audience was filled with family and friends for a full house. It was great to see a wide diversity of ages, with many children being introduced to the orchestra. Unfortunately, this was also one of the noisiest audiences, not just from the children, the amount of eating, talking, and other sounds were thankfully drowned out by the beautiful sounds from the stage. The performance was sure to make the student’s parents proud, and those of us without a connection to a performer were treated to 2.5 hours of great music.
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