The second Living Room Live concert of the year filled the night of Jan. 18 with the beauty of classical music.
The concert featured talented violinist Gregory Lewis. He was accompanied by Paul Williamson who was included in CBC`s Music`s 2017 edition of 30 Hot Canadian Musicians under 30.聽 Both musicians have performed across Canada, the U.S. and Europe.
While extremely cold weather and southern vacations prevented some regular guests from coming, those who made it to Creighton Lodge that night definitely didn鈥檛 regret their decision.
鈥淚t was an amazing concert, I would say phenomenal,鈥� said Shirley Andrist, who helps to organize Living Room Live concerts in Estevan. 鈥淯nfortunately it was 25 below, and we didn鈥檛 have a large crowd, but we had a very appreciative audience. Everybody there was really thrilled. The musicians were highly, highly qualified.鈥�
Both Lewis and Williamson have won awards at local, provincial and national competitions as well as various scholarships. And the quality of the program presented to the Estevan public was very high.
For their Living Room Live concert, musicians chose a lighter classical program. As it is the 250th anniversary of Ludwig Van Beethoven鈥檚 birthday, Lewis and Williamson wanted to pay tribute to the great composer and started with his Concerto. The accompanist also played a piano solo. Musicians then performed pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach and Edward Elgar. And according to Andrist, the public really enjoyed the program.
All of the funds gathered through ticket sales always go to the musicians.
Despite the traditional high quality of Living Room Live performances, Andrist noted, that unfortunately not too many people in Estevan are interested in classical music, and even people directly involved with it don鈥檛 attend concerts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very, very difficult to get people in Estevan to support classical music. They just won鈥檛 come,鈥� said Andrist.
Some of the previous concerts attracted as many as 70-80 people, but the last one only had about 35 guests in attendance.
The next and the final Living Room Live concert for this year will take place only on June 20 and will feature a singer.聽
