Once again, you don't have to travel to the city to hear the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Another group of talented professional musicians from the VSO are coming to Squamish for a special concert next Wednesday (Mar. 10) at the Newport Gallery on Cleveland Avenue.
VSO violinist Karen Gerbrecht and cellist Olivia Blander are teaming up with pianist Rosemary O'Connor as the Metta Trio for the concert, which features a program of classical music in traditional chamber style.
For several budding local violinists, Wednesday's concert will be a special chance to hear their teacher at work.
Violinist Karen Gerbrecht, a 16-year veteran of the VSO, has been giving beginners violin lessons for children and adults at the gallery's upstairs music studio since last August.
Her nine students run the gamut from four years of age to fully-grown adults, including two parents who are learning the instrument together with their children.
While she has some 20 years of experience in teaching at the Vancouver Academy of Music and Davidson College in North Carolina, it's her first experience with people picking up the bow for the first time.
With the children, she says, the key is to get them interested in making sounds with the violin - one of the most difficult instruments to learn - before teaching music.
The adults, too, have to learn from the ground up - including District of Squamish councillor and Community Futures general manager Jeff Dawson, who decided to try the violin as a change in his busy schedule.
"I'm two notes away from playing 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star'," he says, laughing, but Gerbrecht isn't downplaying his commitment.
"I'm so impressed that in Squamish a councillor takes an interest in education and culture," she says. "I wish we had that in Vancouver."
The Metta Trio's performance starts at 7 p.m. next Wednesday (Mar. 10) at the Newport Gallery. Tickets are $20 for adults and $7 for children and are available at the gallery.
