Following a riveting and rigorous first round of Concerto Competition performances on June 13, PRISMA (Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy) has announced its two finalists: North Carolina harpist Taylor Fleshman and Ontario violist Samuel Choi.
Both will compete on Friday evening for the chance to spend a week with the Moscow Symphony later this year. They will also perform at a matinée on June 23, to the delight of Powell River audiences and those visiting the community on bus tours from Vancouver Island.
“We had a very high level of contestants but in the end it was totally clear,” says PRISMA music director Arthur Arnold. “These students did an amazing job not only in the preliminary round but also in the semi-finals.”
Coincidentally, both competitors eschewed the traditional concerto offerings by Mozart and Hayden in favour of more contemporary repertoire. It was a risk that clearly paid off.
“The piece I played the other night, by Bela Bartok, that’s the first piece I ever played on the viola,” says Choi, who made the switch from violin just over a year ago. “I’m a bigger, taller guy so the viola is a much more natural fit for me.”
Fleshman, who describes herself as contrastingly short, chose a piece by Alberto Ginastera that expunges many of the physical and sonic expectations one might have of the harp.
“It’s essentially aerobics,” she says. “Ginastera really makes the harpist into a rock star and challenges you to do more with the instrument and go beyond the boundaries of what people think a harpist can do.”
Both contestants will reprise their performances this weekend, although there will be one noticeable difference. Instead of the prodigious Edwin Sungpil Kim accompanying Fleshman and Choi from the piano, they will be joined by the entire PRISMA Festival Orchestra.
“I’m very excited and very much looking forward to it,” says Choi. “Really, getting to the finals is the most exciting news, but of course I would love to go to Russia, too.”
In the meantime, Arnold will be bringing a taste of Russia to Powell River. The program for PRISMA’s June 22 and 23 concerts features a performance of Igor Stravinsky’s infamous Rite of Spring.
“It is incredible music,” says Arnold, laughing off the notion that local symphony-goers may riot as the Parisian audience did during its 1913 premiere.
Another orchestral gem will come in the form of Richard Strauss’ Josephslegende.
“It is rare to hear that piece performed somewhere in the world, so to hear it in Powell River is even more rare,” adds Arnold.
For a full schedule of remaining PRISMA concerts and events, visit prismafestival.com. Tickets are still available online and at the box office.
PRISMA Festival
When: Concerts June 20, 21, 22 and 23
Where: Evergreen Theatre
Price: $25
Info: prismafestival.com
