Skip to content

Classical musicians aim to break down barriers

Don't let the name scare you.

Don't let the name scare you.

Pianist Anna Levy and her husband Gregory Myers, a musicologist, know the title of their upcoming recital - Ritual and Narrative in the Music of Post-Modern Eastern Europe: A Program of Contemporary Bulgarian and Russian Piano Music - may be heavy and, perhaps, a little daunting to even the most well-versed classical music lover.

But the pair insist they will do everything in their power to break down the barriers to make the overwhelming subject easy to follow along.

"It won't be intimating," Levy said. "Let's just call it Bulgarian and Russian music."

Myers said the couple want to make the experience "as informal as possible where the audience can interact or sit back and enjoy the pieces."

In fact, the 90-minute salon show in their Port Moody home on Sunday is simply a rehearsal for their presentation at Princeton University next week. The couple will speak about the academic topic and play examples at the New Jersey campus - an invitation that has left them both excited and nervous because of the reputation of the Ivy League institution.

Earlier this year, Levy and Myers formed the Yarilo Music Society, a non-profit group, with the aim to bring contemporary classical music to a small audience of about 60 people in their downstairs studio, which overlooks Burrard Inlet.

Because of the positive response from their inaugural season, the society will launch its second series next month, starting with a concert on Dec. 4 at 7 p.m. (The Microcosmos String Quarter Plays Bartok).

It will be followed by four more recitals: Jan. 22 (Mexican concert pianist Edison Quintana); May 12 (Contemplating After Easter: Ritual and Prayer); June 10 (Saxophilia Saxophone Quartet: Metamorphosis); and July 7 and 8 (Alexander Scriabin's Prometheus and the Prefatory Act).

Admission to the Nov. 6 recital at 2 p.m. is by donation at Levy and Myers' home (34 Shoreline Circle, Port Moody). Light refreshments will be served afterwards and society memberships will be available for $25. Call 604-936-9752 or visit yarilomusic.com.

[email protected]