Since first performing in the city as a 16-year-old, Dutch recorder player Lucie Horsch has gone on to become one of the most celebrated virtuosi on her instrument. Now, six years later, the sparkling and stylish player returns to town, once again performing alongside Anne Manson and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra.
Though one would be hard-pressed not to be wowed by Horsch’s playing, it is the instrument itself that comes with a bit of emotional baggage.
“I think there’s positive sides and negative sides to this image of the recorder,” says Horsch.
On the positive, it is immediately recognizable with many sharing a personal connection to the instrument as a foundational part of early years music education.
However, that same factor also hinders it from being taken seriously, explains Horsch.
“Even my own parents — who are musicians — they thought when I started playing recorder, (I) would move to a more ‘serious’ instrument after a few years,” says Horsch, who calls her playing a “journey of discovery” in “everything the recorder has to offer.”
“That’s not something you learn in school, when you just learn it in the classroom.”
A Dutch recorder Wunderkind turned global star, Lucie Horsch has released two CDs, toured with the Academy of Ancient Music, worked with various international orchestras including the Residentie Orkest of The Hague, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Philharmonic, been awarded the very prestigious “ Dutch Music Award” and been nominated as an ECHO Rising Star.
She returns to Winnipeg to reunite with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Anne Manson to perform music of Bach as well as Canadian composer Gary Kulesha — a 1991 composition written specifically for another recorder great, Michala Petri.
“I’ve never played a work by a Canadian composer before so that’s also exciting for me,” says Horsch. The opportunity to make the work her own is enticing, bringing her own interpretation to the music. “It’s a piece that offers a lot of possibilities for creativity and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Lucie Horsch, “Latest Big Thing in Recorder Playing” with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra takes place 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 8 at Westminster United Church with a second performance on Thursday!
Visit www.themco.ca for more details
Hear more about Lucie’s return to Winnipeg and the various recorders she’s brought to town; the need to adapt (steal?) music for the recorder; and the idea of biking to the concert during this “Bike Week” in the city!