Studio Concert to feature romantic music

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This article was published 14/03/2024 (479 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Steinbach Arts Council is hosting the second year of its studio concert series and this year a pianist and cellist will play music from the romantic period.

“The concert will play on March 17 with Bery Filsaime and Candace Hamm. Bery will play the cello and Candace will accompany him on piano. Aside from being accomplished performers, they happen to be instructors here…in our Southeast Centre for Music. They have busy studios and are busy inspiring the next generation of musicians every day and we get to hear them doing what they love. I’m sure they’ll educate us as well, and really bring us into what they’re doing,” said Tara Schellenberg, performing arts coordinator.

The Studio Concert series was a product of the COVID pandemic. It brought entertainment to a small intimate crowd of music lovers. Schellenberg describes it as more of a house concert rather than a formal concert as there is an artist meet and greet afterwards as well as refreshments.

“Bery is from Florida originally and he is just a really warm – I think he brings that warm Florida sunshine with him wherever he goes and he’s really a lovely down to earth guy. You would never assume that he plays with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, which is among the most prestigious orchestras in the province and very serious musician. He’s just also a really lovely, friendly guy. He’s always got a smile on his face,” said Schellenberg.

Filsaime began to play the cello when he was nine years old after abandoning the violin because it “squeaked” too much. He found when he made mistakes, the cello was more forgiving. He’s been playing a full-size cello since the age of nine and he not only teaches the cello and plays with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, but substitutes with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as well.

He holds a bachelor of music in cello performance from the University of North Florida, a master of music degree from the University of Tennessee, and a post-baccalaureate diploma in music performance from the University of Manitoba.

“(Cello) is close to the human voice. Like I was saying, I was squeaking so much and obviously I had bad technique starting off with the violin. With the cello – you can ask some parents who have kids who play the cello – even the mistakes aren’t so bad. You just keep going through them,” he said.

“Obviously, the cello has such a vast repertoire you can play anything. You can be an accompanist, you can play continual, you can be a soloist, you can do a whole bunch of things and play in a whole bunch of places too. It’s a really nice instrument and because of it, I got to travel to so many places just because I play the cello. (The cello gave me a lot of opportunities) but with hard work.”

Originally from Morden, Hamm’s instructors have included Dr. Darryl Friesen, Barbara Cornish, and Cameron Friesen. Her education has included the completion of degrees with the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba and the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Hamm is on the faculty with the Cadenza Music Week affiliated with the Douglas Kuhl Foundation. Hamm teaches piano and theory to more than 60 students.

“Candace, she actually teaches my students and she’s such a gem and she’s so involved in the local music community, as well. She has been involved with (the music) festival for years. (She) is so invested in making sure that next generation is getting all the opportunities they can to succeed and their hearts show when they’re playing,” said Schellenberg.

Hamm has been playing the piano since she was two years old and said she likes the instrument because it gives the opportunity to collaborate.

“Generally, if you’re a strings player or a singer who is going to perform, they’re going to need somebody to work with them. And so, a pianist gets the chance to do that in ways that a lot of other instruments don’t in that same kind of setting. But I think the other thing is the versatility of the piano. It’s kind of an orchestral instrument. An orchestra on its own where you can get a lot of different voices and a lot of different sounds.”

Filsaime said the Studio Concert Series is pretty fun to play in and that it’s “nice and casual.” He found collaborating with one other musician was easier than with two or three.

“Candace is a fantastic teacher and she’s very smart. It was easy to communicate with her and really speak to what I want, and she also said what she wanted to do, and I agreed completely. It was a lot of good ideas going around the room when we were rehearsing,” he said.

Hamm said it was fun playing with Filsaime as he’s an excellent cellist. She said she is excited to play the repertoire. Some of the composers the duo will play during the concert include Faure and Popper.

“We have a Schubert sonata that we’re playing as the second half and it’s one of the lesser-known ones. It was originally composed for instruments that are the forerunners of some of the modern (day) piano and a relative of the cello. So, we get to play around with some of that older period repertoire that you don’t necessarily see today,” she said.

Hamm noted all the music is from the romantic period or on the cusp between the classical period and the romantic period. She said there is a lot of contrast in that period and that “you really get to play around with the emotions, and you really get to play around with the feel and telling the story.”

“What really drew me to that (Schubert piece) in the first place was the fact that Schubert sat on the line of classical and romantic. So, you’re getting some of these earlier sounds a little bit more of the symmetry and the structure, but then you still get the emotion drawn in and that’s the best of both worlds.”

“The music is going to be good,” said Filsaime enthusiastically. “I would say all the music is not slow. It’s very virtuosic, very fast, lots of high notes, lots of low notes, just everywhere the range is very vast. It’ll be a very good concert. Everything connects. All the composers I would say are all connected in a way where the music fits together. It’s really a nice blend of music that’s not going to be too different from each other. It’s still going to be very fun to hear.”

The Studio Concert will play at Steinbach Arts Council’s SCU Studio at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased by visiting steinbacharts.ca or call by calling Schellenberg at 204-346-1077.