For close to 50 years, the Williamsburg Music Club has been providing a venue for people interested in music to gather and share musical experiences through conversation, coffee and concerts.Aside from musical camaraderie, the group has as a mission the awarding of grants-in-aid to talented youth in the area.Annually, a competition is held and awardsare presented, courtesy of the club’s special grants-in-aid fund.
Given her somewhat meteoric rise of success, this year’s fundraiser featured pianist Marika Yasuda in recital at the Williamsburg Library, along with flutist Thomaz Tavares.Yasuda, who was featured in a 2008 Gazette series on up-and-coming talented youth, was a freshman at Hampton Roads Academy at the time of the interview and pondering a life in music, fully aware that making a living in music is difficult.Consequently, she was weighing the pros and cons of college or conservatory.”Right, now, I’m only a freshman,” she said.”I have a long way to go before deciding.”
Well, fast forward in time and Yasuda made her choice, having graduated from Oberlin Conservatory of Music.She is working on a master’s of music in piano performance at the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University, where she is also an associate instructor.
Unquestionably, Yasuda is making it in the music world.She has won numerous important awards, performing as a soloist, soloist with orchestra, and vocal and instrumental accompanist.Despite the accolades, Yasuda traces her inspiration to pursue music to her eight awards granted from the Music Club.Her appearance at this event was her way of thanking the club for its support and generosity.
Although she seems to be concentrating on contemporary music, Yasuda’s Library program was classical from start to finish.Throughout she proved herself to be on the road to total mastery of her instrument.Slight nervousness caused a few hiccups here and there but the overall impact of her obvious skill was mighty impressive.
She opened with four works from the Brahms “Klavierstucke,” his last solo piece for piano.Ranging from the melancholic nature of the “Intermezzo in B Minor” to the drama of the “Rhapsodie in E-flat Major,”Yasuda’s delivery was fine and strong.
However, it was the Chopin “Andante Spianato et Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op. 22” that found Yasuda her strongest and most impressive.Her delivery of the opening lacework lines of the “Spianato” were handled with delicacy and finesse.As for the “Polonaise,” it was a grand display of piano pyrotechnics, with Yasuda’s fingers flying over the keyboard, easily relaying the section’s dance-like spirit and effervescence.
The program closed with Franck’s Sonata for Violin and Piano, as arranged for flute.Guest artist was Thomaz Tavares, who is working on his degree in flute performance at the Jacobs School of Music.Although his musical interests started in the jazz idiom, he soon embraced the classical repertoire and the rest is history in the making.
Tavares offered an expressive performance that embraced the work’s lyrical and virtuoso demands, his pure, direct sound never wavering from the mission at hand.He’s a polished performer whose linkage with Yasuda resulted in a double treat.Far from being just a solo piece for flute, the Sonata finds the piano functioning not only as accompaniment but also as soloist, much of it featuring highly virtuoso lines.
Yasuda and Tavares were given a well deserved, highly vocal reception for a program that was mighty in impact and musical pleasure.The first class nature of the event reflected positively on the good work done by the Williamsburg Music Club in helping expand musical opportunities for talented youth.
