Preview
SVETLANA PONOMAREVA
Thursday, February 6
Engineered Air Theatre (CPA)
There is a saying in Russia that it is not a career but destiny that calls someone to the concert stage. Russian-born pianist Svetlana Ponomarëva is one of those people whose destiny was shaped from the time she was a small child growing up in Omsk, a small city in Western Siberia.
"I was three years old – we didn't have a piano and I was pretending to play on the table," says Ponomarëva. "My mother noticed it and became suspicious. I continued to do it, but it wasn't until I was six that I had the opportunity to study at the music school in Omsk."
She adds that her parents never forced her to practice or interfered with her studies, meaning that she always loved to play.
"I feel that it was important that I was encouraged to be independent because it certainly was a challenge for a girl from western Siberia to go to Moscow and study."
She has since blossomed into a full-fledged concert pianist, finishing graduate and postgraduate diplomas with honours in piano performance at the Gnesins Russian Academy of Music in Moscow. She has performed as a soloist with chamber ensembles and orchestras throughout the United States, Canada, Germany and Russia, but it was her participation in the Esther Honens International Piano Competitions in 1992 and 1996 that convinced her to make Calgary her home.
"It was my first trip to Canada in 1992 and the Esther Honens organization had charter-flown me and a few other pianists to Canada to participate. Esther Honens is a wonderful organization in a city that is like a land of opportunity for musicians."
It seems that opportunity is what you make of it. Since making Calgary her hometown in 2001, Ponomarëva has kept busy studying, performing and teaching. Her February 6 concert marks her first solo recital in some time, and she is excited to talk about the project, as is her husband and agent-producer Marc Villeger. Together, they have big plans for the music scene in Calgary. As Villeger states, the business of producing music events takes more than just running concerts – it begins with building credibility.
"Something I learned being president of the Instrumental Society of Calgary for three years was that the audience will follow you if you are willing to offer adventurous music," Villeger says. "I think that this city demands high-quality performances. The audiences here can now recognize what a world-class performance is."
Both Ponomarëva and Villeger have learned the importance of offering more than just a regular music recital. By self-producing and creating events that stress diversity of contemporary music with the familiarity of the standard repertoire, they hope to change the way Calgarians think about new music. Villeger mentions what he sees as an odd division between European and Canadian audiences.
"It's interesting that in France and in Russia, contemporary music is totally part of the repertoire," says Villeger. "I find here that many times a performer is excusing themselves for including contemporary music. Through this concert series we are trying to expand outwards to include many types of music."
Beginning with Ponomarëva’s solo recital, the pair hope to offer something different and exciting. The show will also kick-start a tour that will see Ponomarëva perform Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto for Piano & Strings with an orchestra in her native Omsk this spring. The concert will combine standard piano repertoire with contemporary music.
"I was introduced to contemporary music through Marc," says Ponomarëva. "I was not very familiar with the music and saw it as a new search for repertoire. I found it amazing how playing contemporary music changes my view of classical and romantic music even though they are completely different languages."
The program contains works by Rameau, Couperin, Gubaidulina, Debussy and Chopin, and it is this diverse repertoire that Ponomarëva finds exciting. For instance, the concert will feature a chaconne by Gubaidulina that offers an interesting play on the chaconnes of the Baroque era.
"I like the idea of finding connections between approaches," Ponomarëva says. "The key to the program is the combination of different styles and to see the ties as a performer and a listener. French baroque music is very descriptive and it blends well with the Chopin, which I am also playing." |
