Pianist and harpist Allison Marshall can recall rare occasions where perfectly executed performances have led to a deep connection with her audience.
She says it’s only happened a handful of times, but when it does, it’s a special feeling.
“You sit back and relax and let the music go and the audience does the same. You just feel that intimacy…that is such an incredibly beautiful feeling,” she said.
The Metchosinite will achieve that level of connectivity on June 4 (2:30 p.m., St. Mary of the Incardnation, 4125 Metchosin Rd.) when she performs a musical program that includes pieces by Bach, Mozart and Chopin on both of her preferred instruments.
The program was organized so that the audience will be led from the Baroque period through to Classical.
“I wanted a balanced program, in other words things that were soothing and soft and others that were more exciting,” Marshall said.
She expects the finale, Chopin’s Ballade No. 1 in G Minor, to be a highlight for those in attendance.
“It’s so dramatic…it just stays with you,” she said.
Also performing will be two of Marshall’s harp students. Having graduated from the University of Victoria’s music performance program and taught for many years at a variety of institutions, Marshall currently teaches out of her home in Metchosin and in Langford at the Westshore Music Academy.
She began learning piano at the age of five, but like many students, it took her a while for her to become passionate about the instrument.
“At that time the way they taught piano was as if you were a little adult. Children’s development is so different,” she said, adding that it was her mother who helped make the instrument fun.
Marshall has used her experience in her own teaching, and says she strives to make the experience as fun for her students as possibile with a variety of musical games and activities.
“You can so easily turn them off (from music),” she said.
If you can’t make it to Marshall’s Metchosin show, she’ll be performing the same program a week later at St. John the Baptist Church in Cobble Hill (June 11, 2:30 p.m., 3295 Cobble Hill Rd.)
Tickets are $15 for adults and free for youth 16 and under, with proceeds from both performances going to support St. Mary’s and St. John the Baptist churches.