Sunday, January 5, 2025 at 2:00pm
$35 per ticket - SOLD OUT!
The 24th concert in the York Place Musical Salon.
About the Event
Today we call them art songs (or in German, lieder) but when this specific genre first appeared in the late 18th-century they were just songs, nearly always scored for the classic combination of piano and voice. The songs start with a poem which is set to music, and from there the musicians add their special artistry.
Mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater and pianist Derek Stanyer have collaborated on several art song projects and have a deep love for the genre. Not only is the music beautiful by itself, but the very act of collaboration makes experiencing the music even richer.
Every performance of an art song is a one-of-a-kind event, where the singer, pianist, composer, and poet each have a role to play. In this unique concert, Taryn and Derek invite you to participate in their creative process... to peek behind the curtain and see how their collaboration process breathes new life into centuries of art song. From Medtner to Finzi, the program celebrates connection, play, and the joy of creation. In Deconstructing Art Song... A Concert for the Curious, you will experience Taryn and Derek's favourite 19th and 20th-century art songs, in which they perform a couple of pairs of songs where two composers have set the same poem to music, openly discuss their interpretive choices, and give a behind-the-scenes peek at how they put together a song as a duo.
The focus is the gorgeous music (it's not a lecture), but with additional context to bring you along on the lovely journey through this rich repertoire.
We gratefully acknowledge a generous donation from an anonymous patron who has sponsored all six concerts in the fall/winter series. This support goes directly to the musicians and furthers our goal of presenting performances of the highest caliber.
About the Musicians
Mezzo-soprano Taryn Plater is a versatile performer and creator invested in the future of arts outreach. Driven by an interest in opera's relationship to different genres and mediums, her portfolio focuses on Ukrainian art song, new works, and the intersection of jazz and classical music. Taryn created the digital artist statement First Steps through Against the Grain's 2021 National Opera Intensive, exploring her cultural heritage through Ukrainian art song and dance, and in 2022, received a Ukraine – Heritage, Spirit and Future award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation. She continues to explore Ukraine's classical and folk repertoires with community-engaged performances, benefit concerts, and the development of her original multi-media performance piece, Pamyatayesh.
Taryn was recognized for her “dramatic and vocal thrust” (Opera Canada) while portraying the title character in the Canadian premiere of Pasażerka. She has performed with Opera NUOVA, the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, and the Ukrainian Art Song Project, featured in concerts in Germany and the Czech Republic, and was a 2021-2022 RBC Artist Fellow with the Association for Opera in Canada. In addition to her performance endeavors, Taryn is a mentor with Opera InReach and the founding Artistic Director of Opera Unbound. She earned her opera performance degree at the University of British Columbia studying with Krisztina Szabó and Marisa Gaetanne while simultaneously pursuing training in linguistics and urban planning.
Derek Stanyer grew up in Langley, BC. He received his Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria in 2010, and his Masters of Music from the University of Ottawa in 2012 on full scholarship. He has won numerous awards and prizes, including finalist in the national Knigge Piano Competition, University of Victoria Concerto Competition, University of Ottawa Concerto Competition, and the Sooke Philharmonic Concerto Competition. He won the top prize in the Johann Strauss Competition,
allowing him to study at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria in 2012. He has also attended the Vancouver International Song Institute, and Strings and Keys chamber music program in Alberta. Derek completed a diploma at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris from 2012 to 2014, and is currently in the Doctorate of Musical Arts program at the University of British Columbia on a full Doctoral Fellowship. He has performed extensively both as a soloist and as a collaborative pianist throughout Canada, France, Belgium, Austria, Netherlands, USA, and Mexico. He has worked as a vocal coach for the UBC Summer Opera program since 2014, and is currently working as an opera coach for UBC Opera. Recent notable performances include the NATSAA vocal competition, the Vancouver Fringe Festival, the Silk Purse Gallery concert series, and the Music Friends concert series in Vancouver. Derek's doctoral research relates to the art songs of Nikolai Medtner, which are a substantial yet largely ignored part of the art song repertoire.
