Local classical musician Cole Knutson and pianist Jaya Hoy performed a recital at Third Avenue Church on Sunday, July 31. As they each move into a more global existence, it may have been the last time they play together for some years.
Knutson, the son of Leslie and Theresa of North Battleford, is pursuing a saxophone performance degree at the University of Manitoba with plans to follow up with a master's degree in collaborative piano. That field of study will probably take him overseas. Hoy is a collaborate pianist, originally from North Battleford, now of Arizona, who may also have a European experience in her future. She flew up to Edmonton two days before the concert, and drove up the day before the concert to rehearse.
"I have the fantastic privilege to have my former piano teacher, mentor and friend Jaya Hoy play with me," Knutson told the audience. "She is one of the biggest influences in my life, I really mean that, and I'm not just talking about music. She has affected my life in so many ways. She has taught me to be a better person, to be a better musician, and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to play with her again."
Among the pieces performed was Farewell to Stromness, written by English composer and conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (1934-2016), Master of the Queen's Music, as a protest against a proposed uranium mine on the remote Orkney Islands where he lived. The title of the piece, first performed in 1980, refers to the town of Stromness, which would have been just a couple of miles from the centre of the mine should the mine have gone ahead.
Knutson said the music is meant to evoke an image of Stromness residents leaving their home after a contamination. He equated the use of music as a way for people to connect with the experiences of others.
He referred to the Friday, Nov. 13 attack on six targets in Paris by shooters and suicide bombers that left 129 dead.
"In 2015-16 we have had several tragic, shootings, bombings, et cetera, and it's really easy to feel distanced … because we are far away, usually."
While those of us who are far away can empathize and feel deeply affected, he said, over time we can become numb to tragedies occurring in places like Munich and Paris.
"When I heard about the shootings in France, I immediately started to panic," he said.
A close friend was attending a concert there.
"I called her and heard her voice mail saying she would get back to me as soon as she could. Little did I know she would never call me back. She, along with 129, lost their lives."
He said he had planned that day's concert to celebrate the amazing musical culture of the Battlefords, but it would also offer something else.
"It was Leonard Bernstein who famously said, 'This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before,'" said Knutson.
He said musicians can't stop tragic events from occurring, but they hope their music can provide healing and an opportunity to be "somewhere else for a little bit."
