By Rachel Alflatt
Our annual Members’ Recital was in person for the first time since 2019, and took place at St. Mary’s Kerrisdale Anglican Church on May 28, at 7 pm. Susan Ohannesian, who was organist at St. Mary’s until her retirement in June 2021, hosted and organized the event, as she has for several years now, which was much appreciated by both the performers and the audience.
Centre President Angelique Po opened the concert with Nicolaus Bruhns’ Nun Komm der Heiden Heiland, followed by Huiyuan (Cindy) Ma performing J. S. Bach’s Contrapunctus 12 from the Art of the Fugue, arranged by Xiaosheng Zhao. Rachel Alflatt then gave the concert premiere of a new work by Denis Bédard: Deux Pièces (Petite Valse and Postlude en si mineur). Susan Ohannesian followed with Johann Pachelbel’s Chorale and Six Variations on “Ach was soll ich Sünder machen?”. Our youngest performer, Isaac Howie, who is studying organ at UBC with Centre Vice-President Michael Dirk, gave an impressive rendition of Felix Mendelssohn’s third Sonata, and Frank Ezinga closed the concert with Carol Williams’ Suite for Organ, Opus 5 (Festiva, Mirage and Friesan March).
There was a reception in the parish hall after the concert, and Marianne Huestis, our invaluable organ technician for BC and part of Washington State, was honoured for her recent 80th birthday!