Submitted. The public is in for an amazing musical treat when they attend the fall Exhibitions Opening Reception at The Reach Gallery Museum Abbotsford on September 25, 2014 at 7pm. Columbia Kitchen Cabinets-Countertops is treating the opening guests to a free From Russia with Love concert with brilliant and accomplished Abbotsford musicians: violinist, Calvin Dyck and pianist, Betty Suderman.
“This extraordinary concert was designed by Dyck and will beautifully complement the exhibition By Land and Sea (Prospect and Refuge) by Fraser Valley born, Vancouver-based artist Marian Penner Bancroft, which charts the journeys of her father’s Mennonite family from what is now the Ukraine, and her mother’s Presbyterian farm family from northern Scotland,” says Sheila Perry, Executive Director, The Reach.
Calvin Dyck and Betty Suderman will feature favorite compositions including: Dark Eyes, Nun ist Erschienen, Somewhere my Love from Dr. Zhivago and Wehrlos & Verlosen, amongst others. Both musicians have toured the Ukraine and grew to appreciate the heritage they share with the people they met.
Violinist Calvin Dyck has been concertmaster for the Vancouver Island Symphony since 2000. He also directs the Abbotsford Youth Orchestra, and along with the British Columbia Boys Choir, they toured all 10 provinces in Canada this past summer. Dyck has played in over 15 countries, and is in demand as a producer, teacher, conductor and adjudicator. His productions “Songs Strings and Steps” are regular sell-outs with local audiences. He has done four recordings to benefit Communitas, a BC charity, and serves on the board of the Bakerview Academy of Music, which has established an El Sistema style free music program for economically challenged youth. In 2012, Dyck was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and in 2013, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humanities by Trinity Western University. His heritage includes grandparents who were born in Ukraine and came to Canada in 1926.
Pianist Betty Suderman, renowned for her sensitive musicianship, is in great demand as a performer of chamber music and Lieder. Her career has taken her to many cities throughout Canada and the United States, along with performances in Kenya, Botswana, the Ukraine, Mexico and Laos. Her work with choirs resulted in several recordings with the Vancouver Cantata Singers, the Pacific Mennonite Children’s Choir, and the West Coast Mennonite Chamber Choir, some of which feature Edith Wiens, Ben Heppner and Colin Balzer.
Along with the From Russia with Love concert, guests at the free September 25th event at The Reach, 32388 Veterans Way, will enjoy opening exhibitions: By Land and Sea with Penner Bancroft; Betwixt and Between featuring sculptures by Alberta artist Jude Griebel and paintings by fellow Albertan, Jude Holst; Between Madness and Delight with artist Marcia Pitch and heritage exhibition: Chinese Legacies: Building the Canadian Pacific Railway from the Revelstoke Museum. For more information go to www.thereach.ca
Photos courtesty of The Reach