Shane Beech, Sooke’s very own pianist and composer extraordinaire, is pleased to present his new composition, Trio #1 in C minor, Opus 5, at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Saturday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
The program will be rounded out with the rarely performed Dvorak Piano Trio in G minor. Assisting Shane will be Heather Gatland on violin and Ellen Himmer on cello.
This concert is the first of a series of special events to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Holy Trinity Church in Sooke. Admission by donation.
According to Ellen Himmer, Beech’s first piano teacher in Sooke, “Right from the start Shane was a brilliant piano student – always prepared, always musical, always a joy to teach.
“He frequently played his own new compositions for me and I would have to ask “Is that yours or Chopin’s?”
After several years he became so advanced that Ms. Himmer introduced him to Peter Smith, keyboardist for the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra. Smith has been an ongoing mentor to Beech.
After hearing his new trio recently Smith said, “It is rather dreamy, with a very difficult piano part. It is almost a new Chopin piano concerto.”
Last spring, Beech graduated from the University of Victoria, majoring in piano performance under the guidance of his teacher Eva Solar-Kinderman. He has experience accompanying the violin students of Sharon Stanis and Kathy Ranger, the Sooke Community Choir, and the Civic Orchestra of Victoria’s Sing Along Messiah production. Over the past two summers he has played with Raven Baroque, a small group that specializes in Baroque music wearing period costumes.
For the last six years, Shane has performed for the Sooke Fine Arts Show. Throughout high school he was selected several times to play in the Honours Concert at the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival. Beech is now a faculty member at Tom Lee in Langford as well as teaching piano privately in Sooke.
Trio West was formed last year and presented the Corelli Christmas Concerto with Ekoos Vocal Ensemble. Other concerts will be at Christ Chruch Cathedral in Victoria, Jan. 18 at noon, and one other concert at the Tom Lee Recital Hall March 1. Trio West continues to be available for special functions.
Admission by donation for Sooke performance.