Microcosmos Quartet performs alongside young artists at 11th annual Kessler Academy concert, August 10

Music on Main presentation also features renowned English tenor soloist Charles Daniels

By emily lyth

The Microcosmos Quartet.

Music on Main presents the Kessler Academy at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre on August 10 at 3 pm

THE KESSLER ACADEMY, a conductorless mentorship orchestra run by the Microcosmos Quartet, is back for its 11th edition.

Starting August 4, the acclaimed members of the quartet—violinists Marc Destrubé and Andrea Siradze, violist Tawnya Popoff, and cellist Zoltan Rozsnyai—will mentor several young musicians during a week of intensive training and rehearsals. The academy will culminate in a matinee concert presented by Music on Main, with the emerging artists joining Microcosmos to play live at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre on August 10.

The Kessler Academy’s focus is on string-orchestra repertoire composed within the last century. This time around, the young musicians will be learning two 1939 masterworks: Benjamin Britten’s song cycle Les Illuminations and Michael Tippett’s uplifting Concerto for Double String Orchestra.

Charles Daniels. Photo by Annelies van der Vegt

Legendary English tenor soloist Charles Daniels will join the quartet and orchestra for Les Illuminations. Daniels, who often performs as a soloist with acclaimed period-music orchestra the King’s Consort, is perhaps best known for his Baroque interpretations. But his repertoire also extends comfortably into the contemporary, with his solo recordings numbering well over 80.

Those with a good memory of Vancouver’s music scene may recall that Daniels performed a Music on Main concert back in 2015 called The English Orpheus; it was a collaboration with pianist-harpsichordist Alexander Weimann, during which the two performed English songs from the Renaissance onward.

Daniels frequently performs in Canada. His engagements here range from singing at the Toronto Bach Festival to teaching masterclasses at the Montreal Baroque Festival.  

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