Vetta Chamber Music Society acknowledges that we work, rehearse, and perform on the land of Indigenous nations. We acknowledge and raise our hands to the Coast Salish Peoples including the Tsleil-Waututh (səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ), Kwikwetlem (kʷikʷəƛ̓əm), Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw), Musqueam (xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) First Nations.
We also acknowledge the unceded territory and ancestors of Coast Salish First Nations of Salt Spring Island which include the Quw’utsun Tribes (Cowichan), Spune’luxutth (Penelakut), BOḰEĆEN (Paquachin), MÁLEXEȽ (Malahat), SȾÁUTW̱ (Tsawout), W̱JOȽEȽP (Tsartlip) and W̱SIḴEM (Tseycum) nations.
This season is about the heart. Music has a way of connecting us to things that matter, perhaps because it skips over words, even concepts, and allows us to experience something that cannot be easily labeled, so we are free to attach our own meaning.
Our programming this season reflects this idea, with a carefully curated selection of works that lend themselves to an expanded sense of compassion, of connection to the mysteries of the human heart.
We start off with the return of our beloved Jane Coop and the Vetta String Quartet and a sunny program entitled “Life’s a Beach”. Haydn’s Sunrise Quartet will wake us up to the witty joyfulness of Papa Haydn, who knew better than anyone how to delight our musical senses. Shostakovich said about his first quartet that he had "visualized childhood scenes, somewhat naïve and bright moods associated with spring” so even Shostakovich had his light moments! We will finish with the Piano Quintet by American composer Amy Beach. Think Brahms but more personal and intimate and luscious.
Our Mentorship Program returns for a third time in December with “Serenades and Divertimenti”. Our all-woman ensemble of Vetta veterans and young emerging professionals will perform the delightful Mozart Divertimento in D major, the striking Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra, and the gorgeous Dvořák Serenade for Strings.
In January, at the very heart of our season, we present “Music of the Heart” with some of the most beautiful music ever. Toronto-based pianist Talisa Blackman will perform excerpts from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and will join Zoltan Rozsnyai and Joan Blackman in two highly romantic piano trios. The Brahms Piano Trio in B minor Opus 8 is easily one of the most romantic of pieces ever written, but the Russian composer Babajanian has written the most expressive, loving Andante I have ever heard. I dare you not to be moved to tears!
As usual, our spring concert takes a little diversion, stretching our imaginations with “Music for Eternity”. First, enjoy a little frivolity with John Mackey’s Breakdown Tango, then experience the romantic maturity of the late great Clarinet Trio of Brahms. The real backbone of this program is Messiaen’s ethereal Quartet for the End of Time, which touches so many edges, bends time, and reaches into the depths of the human condition.
Finally, we are delighted to welcome internationally renowned pianist Angela Cheng to our series. On the slate is Schubert F minor Fantasie for 4-hands, Mozart Piano Quartet in E flat major, K 493 and the effervescent Trout Quintet, a program to make our hearts sing!
From our hearts to yours, we offer this season of glorious chamber music …
Yours,
Joan Blackman
Creating communities that are moved, nourished and inspired by chamber music
Sep 18 2023
May 1 2023
Joan Blackman, Artistic Director welcomes you to Vetta's 2023-2024 Season
BUY TICKETS NOW
This season is about the heart. Music has a way of connecting us to things that matter, perhaps because it skips over words, even concepts, and allows…
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Apr 16 2023
What do Benjamin Britten, Maurice Ravel and Dimitri Shostakovich have in common? Their compositional styles may be diverse, but all three composers were deeply affected by the world wars in the first…
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Feb 16 2023
Michael Pidgeon will be sorely missed. His passion, advocacy and generous donations to the arts, in particular to musical organisations has had a huge impact on the lives of many in Vancouver and on Salt Spring Island. As series sponsor…
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Dec 3 2022
The group’s December concerts feature an all-woman ensemble made up of established and emerging artists.
“BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND”: the catchphrase sums up the back story to Vetta Chamber Music’s upcoming concert. Bach & Mendelssohn is the second iteration of…
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Nov 16 2022
We are excited to announce that our West Vancouver concert on Dec. 3rd at the Grosvenor Theatre at Kay Meek Arts Centre will be a fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. If you haven’t already bought tickets for the…
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Nov 8 2022
For the first time, Seasons of the Sea was performed with an orchestra rather than single strings, with Rosemary Georgeson and Joan Blackman as soloists on November 5th, 2022 at the Port Theatre with the Vancouver Island Symphony. Yariv Aloni…
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Aug 23 2022
Joan Blackman, Artistic Director welcomes you to Vetta's 2022/ 2023 Season
BUY TICKETS NOW
This season is about renewed hope and inspiration and how good can come out of difficulties. The pandemic has given us cause to think hard about…
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Aug 14 2022
Vetta Chamber Music brought live music back to Pender Harbour in a weekend duo of concerts August 13th and 14th. The Vetta String Quartet played music by Vancouver composer Marcus Goddard, Janáček and Beethoven, and the Four Jays played…
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May 6 2022
Online coverage "Piano virtuoso Angela Cheng joins Vetta for all-Dvořák gala concert", featured in Vancouver's digital magazine, Stir, May 5, 2022
Acclaimed pianist Angela Cheng comes from a musical family: her grandfather started a factory making violins in…
Mar 4 2022
Canadian Music Centre and Vancouver Chamber Choir, with special acknowledgment to Vetta Chamber Music, co-present Music on the Point: Stephen Chatman 70th Birthday Celebration on March 6 at 3 pm at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.
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Nov 1 2021
Recorded at Pyatt Hall in Vancouver, enjoy Beethoven's String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op. 18, No. 1 and Brahms Quintet for Clarinet and String Quartet in B minor, Op. 115 performed at the 36th concert season's opener The…
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Oct 4 2021
We have come a long way from when we first commissioned the cross-cultural collaboration Seasons of the Sea in 2016. We had no idea how relevant this work would be to these times. In the light of recent news reaching…
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May 18 2021
Vetta Chamber Music is named Western Canadian Music Awards' 2021 Award Nominee for best Classical Artist or Ensemble of the Year. The Western Canadian Music Awards celebrate the best of artistic talent in western Canada.
This wonderful recognition was…
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May 13 2021
At first glance, the Franck Quintet and the Mozart Concerto “Jeune Homme” seem to belong to different universes. Mozart wrote his Piano Concerto No. 9 in E♭ major, K. 271 when he was but…
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Mar 30 2021
Thanks for participating in our online survey!
We thought we would share some of the feedback we have received about our online concerts.
We got 4.75 out of 5 for overall enjoyment.
The winner for what was most enjoyable about…
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Mar 24 2021
The Mozart String Quintet in G minor and the Brahms String Quintet in G major are two of the best in the literature. Why do they “rock”?
Mozart rocked the musical norms of the time in his G minor quintet…
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Mar 8 2021
VANCOUVER’S JODI PROZNICK was in Grade 9 when she first plucked a bass in her Surrey high-school band class…
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Jan 22 2021
I knew when I asked Jodi Proznick to arrange some of her songs from the Juno award winning album Sun Songs, I was aware I was stepping into a brave new land to some degree. In my years in the…
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Dec 21 2020
While we can’t get together in person, enjoying music brings us closer together in a different way.
We hope you enjoy this little bonbon of J.S. Bach, the Gavotte en Rondeau from the E major Partita for Unaccompanied Violin…
Nov 12 2020
Pianist and scholar Alfred Brendel said when comparing Schubert to Beethoven, “Beethoven composes like an architect, Schubert like a sleepwalker….in Beethoven’s music, we never lose our bearings, we always know where we are; Schubert on the other hand puts us…
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Oct 29 2020
Faced with unprecedented challenges and desire to connect with our loved ones this holiday season, we know that music has the power to move, connect and unite us all in magical ways.
Bring the joy of music to the homes…
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Oct 21 2020
We are very delighted to share some of our audience feedback received for our concert 'At Home with Vetta. This first-ever virtual concert was produced in response to the pandemic's strict regulations and safety protocols around large gatherings and on…
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