Expect more than classical music tugging at your heart strings for the Valentine's concert at Evergreen Cultural Centre this Saturday.
Coquitlam's Quiring Chamber Players will marry music with words for the professionally set-styled show, which will feature romantic pieces by the likes of Gyorgy Ligeti, Luciano Berio and Carlos Gardel.
Quiring violinist Angela Goddard, who organized the performance, said each of the program's segments will have a theme about love: for example, a voice recording of Dr. Martin Luther King will be followed by Avro Part's Fratres on the topic of brotherhood. Other themes include breaking up, passion and peace.
Goddard said she took the idea of uniting music with text from her days at the University of Toronto and from a Jessie Richardson award-winning play she produced 12 years ago, titled SchumannBrahmSchumann.
"I have always been interested in the connection between visual arts, music and theatre," she said, noting the upcoming Valentine's show, called Heart Wrenching/Heart Warming, will include a chandelier, symbolizing blossoming love, as well as some set designs by Christine Reimer "that are very pleasing to the eye."
"We like to put on more than just a regular concert," added Reg Quiring, who plays viola. "It's important for the audience to have an experience as well."
Joining the Players will be Juno-award winning violinist Andrew Dawes, a member of the Order of Canada, and Shih-Lin Chen, a cellist with the famed Borealis String Quartet, who performed with Quiring for its New Year's Eve recital at ECC.
Tickets for Heart Wrenching/Heart Warming start at $20 and include sparking wine, post concert, at the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way). For more information, call 604-927-6555 or visit www.evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
