JMO presents Fung & Chiu at Arts & Letters Club 5/6

Jeunesse Musicales Ontario's Twilight Series concludes with its fourth and last concert, featuring duo pianists Janelle Fung and Philip Chiu. The Twilight Series was created to mark the 60th anniversary of Jeunesses Musicales Canada (JMC), and the 30th of Jeunesses Musicales Ontario (JMO). The concert will take place at Arts & Letters Club on Thursday, May 6. Pre-concert cocktails are included for all ticket-holders at 5 PM before the concert start at 6 PM. Fung and Chiu's concert programme: Bernstein, arr. for two pianos by John Musto: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story; Ravel: Ma Mère L'Oye; and Stravinsky, arr. for one piano, four hands by Fung and Chiu: L'Oiseau de feu. Post concert, the audience is invited to meet the artists at the Duke of Somerset, around the corner at 655 Bay Street. These concerts are popular among the new generation of concert patrons who enjoy a "casual smart" atmosphere.

The winner of numerous prizes from competitions such as the Canadian Music Competition and the Joanna Hodges International Piano Competition, among others, Janelle Fung is an exceptional young pianist. This Vancouver artist has already appeared in a number of concerts in Europe, Asia, and the United States. An equally remarkable artist, Philip Chiu won the 2nd Prize at the Bösendorfer National Piano Competition. He is renowned for the sensitivity of his performances, as well as for his impressive technique. He made his first appearance at the Arts and Letters Club in October 2009 with violinist Andrew Wan. Fung and Chiu maintain an amusing blog, "On the road with Janelle and Phil", in which the trials and tribulations of the touring life are covered. A sample from the latest entry compares music-making to hot sauce:

"... we fell into a trap .... [with] long stretches of concerts. While the music ...is new to each audience, it ... wasn't new to us. In a misguided and unconscious effort to keep the music interesting, we began forcing various facets of the music in unnatural ways... be it in tempo, dynamic, sound, etc.. We ... caught ourselves pushing ... the music to a point where it had become unpalatable, at least to ourselves. To use a terrible metaphor: we were like hot sauce junkies, and the hotness we were searching for was destroying any flavour the food imparted. It's become important for us to remind ourselves each night that the music is great and perfect without us; we just need to be proper conduits, not hot sauce addicts."

Posted by Phil Chiu at fungchiuduo.blogspot.com

Phil also commented on the power of playing for an audience:
"Two things, in particular, kept me going: ....the people and the audiences. ... The audiences recharged us each night. We have encountered such enthusiastic, communicative, and appreciative folks in every....city... it has been amazing and inspiring."

Founded in 1979 Jeunesses Musicales Ontario (JMO), is a non-profit arts organization that fosters the careers of outstanding young professional Ontario and Canadian classical musicians at home and abroad, and promotes the development of the arts in Ontario by bringing affordable classical music to audiences. Jeunesses Musicales Ontario is a branch affiliate of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada (JMC), part of the historic, highly acclaimed international federation known as Jeunesses Musicales International (JMI). The 2009/2010 season marks the 30th anniversary of JMO and the 60th anniversary of JMC.

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