Christ Church Cathedral
Schubert & Boccherini: Mimosa String Quintet
Artists: Christi and Chloe Meyers, violins; Mieka Michaux, viola; Christina Mahler (cello), and special guest from Sweden, Mimé Yamahiro (cello)
Pre-Concert Chat: 07:00pm hosted by David Gordon Duke with members of the Quintet
Runtime: Approximately 100 min + 20 min interval
Franz Schubert’s final chamber work, the String Quintet in C major is often described as having “bottomless pathos” and regarded as one of the greatest chamber music compositions. Boccherini’s mastery of string writing shines in his elegant and dramatic Quintetto Op. 29 No. 6 in G Minor. His Fandango is a vibrant, rhythmically intense work infused with Spanish flair.
Click here for programme notes by Christina Mahler & Mime Yamahiro
Generously sponsored by Birgit Westergaard & Norman Gladstone
PROGRAMME
Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
String Quintet in G minor, opus 29, no. 6
Allegro moderato assai
Minuetto
Preludio adagio
Rondo
Interval
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Cello quintet. C major D 956
Allegro ma non troppo
Adagio
Scherzo presto – trio andante sostenuto
Allegretto
Christi Meyers, violin
Christi Meyers has had a prominent role in the musical life of Victoria, BC for almost 15 years. Assistant Concertmaster of the Victoria Symphony since 2001, she has also been active playing in musical organizations locally such as the Galiano Ensemble, Odyssey String Quartet and away, for the Vancouver Symphony, Sinfonia Rotterdam (NL) and the European Camerata (UK).
She has also nurtured her love of baroque violin playing as a member of the Victoria Baroque Players, performing also with Pacific Baroque Orchestra and on numerous projects with Early Music Vancouver. As an educator, she coaches the violins of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra, maintains a small private studio, and was on the music faculty at the University of Victoria from 2005-10. Christi has recorded chamber music for both CBC radio and television and can be heard on baroque recordings for ATMA (QB) and Marquis (ON). Born in Montreal and raised in Grande Prairie, Alberta, she holds degrees from McGill, Western, and the Vancouver Academy of Music, where she studied with Gwen Thompson and Sonia Jelikova.
Chloe Meyers | Sponsored by Jill Bodkin, violin
Violinist Chloe Meyers performs with early music ensembles across North America as leader, orchestra member, and chamber musician. She is the concertmaster of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra in Vancouver and co-concertmaster of Arion Baroque Orchestra in Montreal. She has led or appeared as soloist with groups including the Victoria Baroque Players, Pacific MusicWorks, Ensemble Les Boréades, the Theatre of Early Music, Ensemble Masques, and Les Voix Baroques, of which she was a founding member. She has had the pleasure of sharing the stage with international violin stars, performing double concerti with Stefano Montanari, Enrico Onofri, Amandine Beyer, and Cecilia Bernardini. Chloe’s playing may be heard on many award-winning disks, including the 2022 Juno award winning recording “Solfeggio”… in which she leads the orchestra L’Harmonie des Saisons as concertmaster. In 2023 she was nominated as Best Musical Director for her work in Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater with the Edmonton Opera.
Alongside Chloe’s passion for performance and directing, is her love of teaching. As adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, she trains young artists in the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Program, chamber music and solo lessons. She has years of teaching children, university and students of all ages and levels! She is an active teacher in the summer Victoria Conservatory teaching programs, as well the UVic Collegium orchestral program.
Chloe lives in Ladner, BC, with her ever growing family and dog.
Mieka Michaux, viola
Originally from Victoria, B.C. Mieka enjoys an active career as an orchestral and chamber musician performing on both modern and baroque viola and violin. She completed a Bachelor of Music degree in 1998 and, in 200, obtained a Master of Music at Rice University in Houston, Texas. She has studied and performed at the Music Academy of the West, the Banff Center for the Arts, Orford Center for the Arts and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Currently, Mieka is a member of the Victoria Symphony and since 2010 she regularly performs with the Pacific Baroque Orchestra. She is also a founding member of the Victoria Baroque Players.
In 2006, along with three colleagues from the Victoria Symphony, she co-founded the Emily Carr String Quartet. The quartet’s debut CD Hidden Treasure was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year by the Western Canadian Music Awards.
Christina Mahler, cello
Dutch cellist Christina Mahler immigrated to Canada in 1981 to serve as principal cellist of the Tafelmusik Orchestra, a position she held until June of 2019. Reviews often praise her rich sound, energetic playing, and insightful musicianship. Christina has played and recorded numerous concertos with Tafelmusik, including works by Boccherini, Haydn, Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, and Leonardo Leo. She is very fortunate to own a beautiful baroque cello made by José Contreras, the “Stradivarius” of Spain. Christina is a very devoted and gifted teacher, and students have come from around the world to study with her, not only through the Tafelmusik Summer and Winter Institutes, but also at the University of Toronto and in her private studio. After 38 years as principal cellist of Tafelmusik, Christina has moved to Victoria where she is focusing on chamber music, teaching and pursuing her hobbies, such as pottery.
Mime Yamahiro, cello
Mimé Yamahiro Brinkmann is one of the most active freelance cellist/gambist playing both as soloist, and as chamber and orchestra musician in the early music field.
After receiving a Performance Diploma on modern cello at Toho Gakuen School of Music Tokyo, Japan, she received a scholarship from The Netherlands government and came to study historical performance, both cello and viola da gamba at The Royal Conservatory in the Hague where she graduated with a soloist diploma.
Mime has been the prize winner of some of the most important early music competitions such as “Musica Antiqua Brugge Soloist Competition” in Belgium and “The international competition for original string instruments” in Brescia, Italy.
Her performance can be heard regularly in different parts of the world – both as a solo recitalist and with some of the world leading orchestras such as Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Canada), Apollo’s Fire-Cleveland Baroque Orchestra (USA), Concerto Copenhagen (Denmark), Drottningholm Slott Opera orchestra and ensemble (Sweden), and the Paul Hillier Ensemble (Denmark).
In between her busy touring life, Mime enjoys teaching at The Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. She has also given master classes at Early Music Festival Juiz de Fora, Brazil, Tchaikovsky Conservatory Moscow, Russia and enjoys working with the promising next generations.
