Petar Dundjerski and Sarah Ho headline chamber music recital

Two exciting Edmonton virtuosos renowned for their knockout performances launch the 2013-14 season of the St. Albert Chamber Music Recital Series.

Flautist Petar Dundjerski and pianist Sarah Ho once again partner on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Don’s Piano Showroom to play an impressive range of works from some of the great Baroque composers such as Bach and Telemann.

Opening for the gifted musicians is emerging pianist Noah deSa, 16, who will perform Beethoven’s FĂĽr Elise and Aram Khachaturian’s Ivan Is Very Busy.

The Grade 11 Paul Kane student has developed a nimble dexterity under the tutelage of local music teacher Ina Dykstra studying classical works, jazz charts and modern melodies.

Beethoven’s five-minute FĂĽr Elise is a sensitive musician’s challenge – a love song with moments of heartache.

“There’s one section that’s upbeat and happy and two that are dark and gloomy and pounding. The main part is very soft and I try to put a lot of emotion into it. On a good day it sounds flowing and elegant,” says deSa.

Ivan, on the other hand, clips along at a faster pace and is the type of music deSa thrives on.

“It keeps going. There are no pauses. Basically, Ivan is very busy. Both hands are doing some crazy stuff. It’s very busy.”

A black belt in karate and a senior basketball player for the Paul Kane Blues, deSa has one goal for the upcoming recital.

“I want people to feel the pieces and love them.”

Dundjerski and Ho have tasked themselves with a two-set 80-minute performance that conveys a range of emotions and intellectual expression.

“I have to say I’m super excited to play in St. Albert,” says Dundjerski. “I performed there in April last year and the audience was fantastic. I’m totally pumped.”

Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, Dundjerski immigrated to Canada in 1993 to study piano at Brandon University. His country was in the middle of a brutal war and the lanky young man was of the age of conscription.

“I decided to go into the snake pit of the musical world rather than shoot my compatriots,” Dundjerski says.

From Brandon, he moved to the University of Toronto and finally Cincinnati where he met his wife, Allene Hackleman, now principal horn player for the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.

The duo moved to Edmonton where Dundjerski was invited to teach at theUniversity of Alberta and conduct the University Symphony Strings. He was also appointed assistant conductor-in-residence of the ESO from 2006-2008.

His musical chemistry with Ho is based in part on their close friendship and their innate understanding of music.

“With Sarah, you have the freedom to go wherever you want. You can just play and feel free to phrase whatever way you want without spending hours of rehearsal.”

Dundjerski and Ho are creating enviable reputations for themselves with their wide range of musical interests and achievements.

Their program gives life to J. S. Bach’s Sonata in E Major, a work that is full of ornamentation yet like a Christmas tree never loses its shape, notes Dundjerski.

He has also chosen, Sonata in A Minor, a four-movement flute solo by Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach, J.S. Bach’s second surviving son.

“It is full of beautiful colours and there’s an agility to the flute. It’s lyrical yet polyphonic at the same time. It’s smartly written and artistically written while adhering to the rules.”

From the Telemann catalogues, the duo plays two of the composer’s Fantasies reflecting the court dances of the day.

Another work is Astor Piazzolla’s History of Tango, a four-movement composition that reveals different periods of music and how the tango, born in the slums and bordellos of Buenos Aires, moved out to the world’s cafĂ©s and concert halls.

“We want to perform music that has something to say and has a universal truth and has survived the battering of the ages.”