Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
The La Ronge Arts Council kicked off their annual concert series with a duo, Prairie Sons on Saturday, Nov. 23 at Eagle Point.
Prairie Sons is cellist David Liam Roberts, from Winnipeg, and pianist Godwin Friesen, who hails from Edmonton.
They provided a varied repertoire of music from a Prairie’s perspective, which included two Joni Mitchell songs (music only), an original composition by Friesen, When Brothers Get Together, which told the story of the brother’s antics visualised through music.
Rachmaninoff’s Cello Sonata took the audience through a dark period in the composer’s life to a point where “he did pick up his pen … to return to life. And you’ll hear just the great job of being able to make music again. It’s in four movements,” Friesen said.
Other pieces included a journey through the Argentinian Prairies through the music of Albert Okunasara, which took the audience on a tour through the Argentinian Pampas.
A Cello Sonata by French composer, Francis Poulenac, who “started writing during the nazi occupations of France, and “couldn’t benefit until 1948,” Roberts said.
Both Roberts and Friesen are “award winning musicians who met at the Royal Conservatory’s Glenn Gould School of Music,” where they met and found a common bond, thus forming Prairie Sons. quotes from background information on them.
The duo tested the audience’s song recognition ability by playing three Prairie songs, challenging the audience to identify the songs.
They ended the concert with their variation of, Big Yellow Taxi, by Joni Mitchell and they received an enthusiastic standing ovation from the audience.
