Sunday 17 May 2020: “Music from near and afar”
1.30 pm – 2.45 pm, followed by delicious refreshments.
Admission by donation/koha.
Our Sunday Serenades resume !
Clevedon Presbyterian Church, Clevedon
Help Us to Continue Helping Our Young Artists!
One of the benefits during this challenging time for some families has been the chance to “shelter in place” with overseas-based family who elected to heed to call to “come home” for the interim. One such bonus has been seized by the Clevedon Valley Music Foundation Trust, which, along with hundreds of Performing Arts-based societies, had to cancel a number of events, but can now begin to return to concerts and entertaining.
Mezzo soprano Christie Cook grew up in Clevedon, studying piano, singing and theory with well-known soprano and teacher, Gina Sanders. After completing an Honours degree at Otago University, she left NZ in 2014 and graduated with a Masters from the Wales International Academy of Voice. Christie currently enjoys a varied freelance opera career in the UK and abroad. Her husband, Italian cellist, Alessandro Sanguineti enjoys a rich and varied career as a chamber and orchestral musician in the United Kingdom. Chosen to trial as principal cellist with orchestras such as Opera North, Scottish Opera and RTÉ Concert Orchestra, he performs with the country’s finest ensembles like Royal Philharmonic, Britten Sinfonia, London Mozart Players and is principal cellist of the European Union Chamber Orchestra. His pure and lyrical playing has been broadcast on numerous soundtracks aired by BBC, RAI, MTV and SKY. Alessandro holds a Masters and a PhD in musicology from the Royal College of Music.
It is incredibly exciting to have them performing on at St Andrew’s Clevedon on Sunday 7 June at 1.30pm with “Music from Near and Afar”, exploring the wonder and beauty of music from several world cultures, including popular, folk, traditional and classical repertoire from different lands. They will be joined by Gina, her son Josh Helm (cello) and another young international, now permanently resident in NZ, David Kang, who is a specialist in Chinese Folk Music. Zhenhua (David) graduated from Sichuan Normal University with a major in Voice and Piano and has spent many years instructing through both his private training companies and in universities and schools in China. His main love is Chinese Traditional Folk music, which stems from his childhood in rural Guilin, China. His wife, Minneke van Noordt, is from Clevedon, where they lived last year with their three young children and were members of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.
Gina is one of NZ’s top educators and singers, with extensive experience at national and international levels in performance, education adjudication and examining. She and her professional cellist/teacher son, Josh Helm have performed together throughout NZ and in the Pacific, sharing that extra special bond of music.
CVMFT has, in just under three years assisted a number of young performers, mainly in the Franklin area, awarded several significant scholarships and study grants to assist these talented students to achieve their goals. The proceeds from our concerts are one of our most important funding sources. Please come along and help us to help them – and enjoy these highly regarded concerts (along with a delicious complimentary Afternoon Tea!) Entry/exit donation. Numbers are limited, so please register your interest on the Facebook page, or with Gina – 2928047; enquiries@cvmft.org
