Drew supports the Emily Carr String Quartet

Wednesday night, May 5th, in the Alex Goolden Hall at the Victoria Conservatory, Drew and I were part of an enthusiastic audience in attendance for the Emily Carr String Quartet's concert. Drew eagerly led me upstairs to the balcony, with his obvious motive: to be able to see the piano keyboard, as this concert featured a guest artist joining forces with the quartet in order to perform the ever powerful Shostakovitch Quintet. ( in G minor, opus 57 to be exact)
He was very intrigued to know that the pianist was Lorriane Min, wife of the Victoria Symphony Orchestra's Concertmaster- Terrance Tam. Of all the classical instruments Drew loves to hear, I think the piano rates number one with him. He is always 100% engrossed in the performance, marvelling at the agility and skill of the pianist's fingers. Not only are female pianists in a class of their own; if he gets to meet them following the concert, the evening is completely successful! Who knows, they could even find themselves on his Christmas list...
The other 2 works on the program were quartets by Joseph Haydn and by the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke. If you think the latter sounds contemporary you are correct: this composer died in 1998. Drew found his music ( and the playing ) very compelling and certainly I did as well. We both agreed we are very lucky to hear pieces that are two hunderd years apart- in the space of about 45 minutes! The other members of the quartet are persons Drew has met on many occasions so he finds it all the more interesting to watch and listen to them. They are always delighted to see him there.
He was not the only person on his feet at the end of this excellent performance but I'm sure he was the first one.
I think it is wonderful that Drew is so familiar with the art of string quartet playing, having attended lots of chamber music concerts in his life, whereas others may scratch their heads at what it all " means". He listens to this music as if he already knows it, and his hearty applause is a release of complete exuberance. Thank you Drew for being such a great concert buddy!
PS.
The intermission is always favourite time at a concert such as this where goodies and coffee are served. When we took our seats to start the second half of the program, Drew leaned over to me and said, with a wry grin " I just gained 2 pounds!"