Vancouver Centre held a very successful Members’ Recital on May 11 at St. James’ Anglican Church in Vancouver. This was again a collaboration with the St. James’ Music Series, which is run by assistant organist and RCCO member PJ Janson.
Nine local organists performed a wide variety of works, and an improvisation, to an enthusiastic audience of over 160 people. St. James has exceptional acoustics, and the organ, a 1938 Casavant with three manuals and 31 stops, is in the English Romantic style but versatile enough to serve the wider organ repertoire.
The recital opened with PJ Janson performing Hendrik Andriessen’s “Sonata da Chiesa”, followed by Christopher Dalton in an improvisation titled “Passage”. Then came a premiere, three movements from Denis Bédard’s new work “Suite du cinquième ton”, played by Rachel Alflatt. Next, Susan Ohannesian performed J. S. Bach’s “Fantasia in C minor” BWV 562 and a transcription of W. A. Mozart’s “Romance” from Eine kleine Nachtmusik. Following this the audience heard performances by Gerald Harder in John Cook’s “Fanfare”, Huiyuan (Cindy) Ma in Georg Muffat’s “Passacaglia in G minor”, Jonathan Robinson in Einar Traerup-Sark’s “Toccata Primi Toni”, and Isaac Howie in William Bolcom’s “Jesus Loves Me”, with a grand finale by Aart Bijkerk, playing Alfred Lefébure-Wély’s “Sortie in B flat” and Louis Vierne’s “Toccata”. A well-attended reception ended the evening, allowing the audience to greet the recitalists.
