2015

Kang-Mercer-Park Trio in recital, February 2015

The 2015 Lyell Gustin Recital Series opened on February 13 with a fine recital by a dynamic Canadian ensemble: pianist Angela Park, violinist Judy Kang, and cellist Rachel Mercer, who performed on a rare historic instrument from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. The program included the Sonata for Cello and Piano by Saskatoon-born composer William Rowson. A pre-concert chat was led by Rachel Mercer; her talk, as well as the performance following, was most warmly received. Held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, the recital was co-presented with Prairie Debut.

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From our Community’s Riches: Marimba Music, and Heritage as Treasure

On Sunday, April 26,Gustin House welcomed presenters from the university campus as well as a full audience who braved streets water-laden from a significant spring snowfall! Timpanist Darrell Bueckert transported his marimba to the House and performed a varied program of transcriptions, his own compositions, and arrangements of Mennonite hymns. Gordon Barnhart, Interim President at the University of Saskatchewan, spoke about the treasures of built heritage, drawing on his experiences as Clerk of the Canadian Senate and of the Saskatchewan Legislature, and his years as Secretary of the University of Saskatchewan. The program was reminiscent of the long association of the Gustin Studios with artists, scholars and leaders from campus, who were for many decades part of the Studio circle of friendship and active participants in programs at the House and in the Musical Art Club

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Janina Fialkowska in concert, May 20, 2015 ~ Centenary Recital honouring Leschetizky

Renowned pianist Janina Fialkowska thrilled an appreciative audience with her splendid recital of works by Chopin, Schumann, Grieg and Ravel. An internationally known artist who appears on prestigious stages around the globe, Ms. Fialkowska gave the Centenary concert honouring distinguished piano teacher Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915), whose influence reached our region through Lyell Gustin and all those influenced by the Gustin Studios. Christine Vanderkooy, herself a musical descendant of the Leschetizky-Gustin tradition, gave the pre-concert talk. Audience members came from centres across the province and as far away as Winnipeg for this most memorable evening of music.

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Art and Artists of our Land: Inuit Carvings and Canadian Music, June 14, 2015

Inuit art by community artists and music by Canadian composers were the highlights at a gathering at Gustin House on Sunday afternoon, June 14, 2015.

Purchased from artists of the Canadian north by Howdy and Mary McPhail, an array of carvings were selected for exhibit at Gustin House by Norman Zepp, internationally-known Inuit art curator and historian. In the context of the display, Mr. Zepp gave an engaging and enlightening talk about Arctic art traditions. Gustin House is grateful to Jaya Hoy and Hugh McPhail for the opportunity to exhibit their parents’ fascinating and varied collection.

The musical program of solo and ensemble repertoire by Canadian composers included wonderfully evocative works by Alexina Louise, David L. McIntyre, and Saskatoon’s Ewen Coxworth, who was present for the event. Performers were pianistsGregory Schulte, Karen Sterner, Eric Bews and Thomas Hu, and clarinetist Alyssa Thompson.

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Harrington/Loewen Duo performs, August 25, 2015

Allen Harrington, native of Saskatoon and one of Canada’s leading classical saxophonists, along with collaborative pianist Laura Loewen, gave the closing recital of the 12^th season of the Lyell Gustin Series on August 25, 2015. The versatile and virtuosic Duo performed a wide-ranging program from transcriptions of Bach and Schumann to a medley of famous Gershwin melodies. Included in the recital repertoire was a Canadian work by Diana McIntosh, who studied with prominent Gustin Studio graduate, Alma Brock-Smith. Dr. Loewen gave the pre-concert talk.

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Duo Concertante performs Violin and Keyboard Music of Three Centuries, October 4, 2015

Violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves gave a special autumn concert at Gustin House. Duo Concertante performed Bach’s Sonata for Violin and Keyboard in A Major, BWV 1015; a Schubert Rondo for Violin and Piano, and Jocelyn Morlock’s “Petrichor,” a work composed in 2013 for the Duo. Mr. Steeves is a Gustin musical descendant; he and Ms. Dahn are on the music faculty of Memorial University, St. John’s NL, and concertize widely in Canada and abroad. The artists, who have performed previously at Gustin House and in the Lyell Gustin Recital Series, gave commentary on the evening’s repertoire.

The festive evening was also the occasion for Gustin House to recognize Shirley and Peter Pridmore of Saskatoon for their gift of the historic Knabe piano that had belonged to Lyell Gustin for many years. Mrs. Pridmore, who had studied with Dr. Gustin, was the second of his students to own the piano from the very early 1980s onward. Unable to be present at the October 4 evening, she and her family were represented by Mr. Pridmore. Gustin House is deeply grateful for their magnanimous gift.

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Leschetizky Centenary ~ pianist Thomas Yu, and speaker Gregory Schulte, November 29, 2015

The date November 15, 2015 marked exactly one century since the passing of the renowned Theodor Leschetizky (1830-1915), one of the long line of illustrious pianist-teachers that included Ludwig van Beethoven, and–a century later, on the Canadian prairies–Lyell Gustin. On November 29, an afternoon event held at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church brought the Leschetizky Centenary to a celebratory finale. Preceding the musical performance, Saskatoon pianist and organist Gregory Schulte discussed aspects of the Leschetizky legacy as experienced by so many through the Lyell Gustin Piano Studios.

Thomas Yu gave a solo piano recital honouring the Leschetizky tradition, perfroming Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 111, Reflets dans l’eau by Debussy, Chopin’s Scherzo No. 3, and a work by Regina composer David L. McIntyre. A versatile pianist widely recognized for his artistic and musical accomplishments, the artist had just returned from Germany, where he had given a recital at the Berliner Philharmonie, prestigious home concert hall of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

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