The annual Canada’s Rising Stars concert returns this week, with performances by two young prodigies, 16-year-old violinist Colleen Venables and seven-year-old Kevin Chen.
Each will play solos, as well as being accompanied by the event’s host, Susanne Ruberg-Gordon.
Venables began playing violin 10 years ago, at the age of six.
“At first my parents got me interested with piano when I was five and then they were thinking, you can’t carry a piano around everywhere, so we decided to get a violin,” she said.
Since then, Venables hasn’t looked back, and has loved every moment with the instrument.
“I love how close the connection is – the sounds you can produce are so beautiful, I find with violin the voice of it, it’s really easy to express your own voice,” she said. “I love Bach and the traditional stuff, but I also love modern music. Outside of classical I also play some jazz and Celtic music, I love to play anything.”
This won’t be her first time playing this show, however, as she previously participated two years ago.
“I played in it two years ago, and Susanne a great accompanist, I love working with her, it’s such an honour, and she asked me to come back and perform as alumni,” said Venables. “And I love Canmore, it’s really beautiful and has lots of kind people who have helped me in getting to where I am, so it’s really an honour to do this.”
Her content for the concert will be a mix of classical works, she said.
“A lot of the pieces I’m playing I’m planning to make audition DVDs for some upcoming competitions,” she said. “They’re really great pieces I love to share with the audience.”
She hopes someday to make music her career.
“I really hope so, I love music a lot,” she said. “I’ll audition to universities and I’d love to continue getting an education in music and then after that maybe teaching or performing with orchestras or chamber music.
“I’m still in high school and I have another year, and I want to get more experience performing and learn as much as I can from my teachers and other colleagues and artists.”
From Armstrong, B.C., Venables travels once every two weeks to Calgary to study at the Mount Royal University Conservatory.
“It’s definitely a challenge, with going to Calgary and missing those Mondays – it’s a lot of homework to keep up on – you have to make sacrifices for a social life,” she said. “But right now I want to focus as much as I can on learning with school and violin and keep my options open, because you never know with your future what you might choose to do.
“I love math and English, I love to dance and sing and I love animals – a lot of things. I love piano too and that’s also a challenge balancing it with violin, but I want to keep my options open and learn as much as I can.”
Matthew Chen, Kevin’s father, spoke on behalf of his son.
Kevin, who began playing piano at the age of five, now two years later is at the Royal Conservatory of Music Grade 10 level.
“I don’t know how he got to be so good,” said his father. “The only thing I think is because he’s a really smart boy.
“He started showing the musical talent around two years old, when he was given a toy keyboard. At that time I thought he might like it, so I bought him a toy keyboard, but then I started to realize he was really interested in it. I remember within two weeks he memorized all the children’s songs and could play them back.”
It wasn’t until he was five, however, that he started taking lessons.
“In three months he was Grade 6 piano,” said Chen. “So I don’t know how he learned these things really fast, maybe because he’s really smart.”
His teacher is Colleen Athparia, a well-known pianist who instructs at Mount Royal.
“She’s a really nice teacher, and she always tries to encourage him to love music, she never forces him, I really like it and she’s a great teacher,” said Chen.
“He loves all kind of music, I think maybe the Romantic style is his favourite, from Bach to contemporary composers,” explained Chen. “Chopin he really likes, but he likes all kinds of music.”
Kevin also composes music, said his father.
“After he started, about half a year, he started composing himself,” he said. “Some are shorter, some are longer. I haven’t yet gotten a composing teacher for him, I just let him compose whatever he thinks is good.”
Kevin’s first formal performance was a concert in October, at which he played 80 minutes of music, including Mozart’s Concerto no.17 K.453.
“Occasionally it’s good for him to play some concerts,” he said. “To formally play on a stage is good experience, but of course I don’t like him to play too many, so maybe three or four times a year is pretty good for him.
“I’m probably more nervous than him, when he plays on stage, but he’s already played around five or six concerts. He really likes it. Everytime he plays a concert, he’s so excited, and after he finishes, he asks ‘What is the next concert?’”
Kevin excels in other areas as well. While he is a Grade 2 student, his math is at a Grade 6 level and he has dabbled with the violin.
“He likes the violin – he learned (for) about one month, but has no time to practice and it’s financially hard, so we stopped,” said Chen. “And maybe when he grows up a little bit, maybe if he really likes it, he can again.
“He practices piano maybe one or two hours a day. I don’t want him to practice too much, because his fingers are still growing, so sometimes I think it’s too much, so I try to limit to maybe an average of one-and-a-half hours.”
While the two youth are playing separately, Venables noted she has played with Chen once before.
“We both played at a concert in Calgary, and he’s quite phenomenal,” she said. “I think I was in Grade 10 piano when I was 13. That’s quite rare and I’m really excited to play with him.”
While she enjoys playing with others, right now Venables is concentrating on her solo work.
“I used to play a lot of duets with my sister, Alicia, and we’ve soloed with some orchestras and played with chamber music,” she said, noting her sister, who’s three years older, is currently studying music in Calgary. “Right now I’ve mostly been playing solo.
“I love playing in orchestras and playing with other people, when you play solo it’s nice, it’s more personal, but when you play with other people, it’s more of a shared learning experience and you learn a lot from the people around you, so they’re both something I really like to do.”
The performance takes place Saturday (Feb. 2) at St. Michael’s Church Hall in Canmore, starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 and are available at Second Story Books and at the door. For more information, visit liveon7th.com
