Performance Journal – Live Concerts

Vincent Chen
MUS 321

Concert 1 – Sunday 7th – 6pm Duo

August 7th @ 18:00 - 19:00

British Isles Music Festival (BIMF) Charterhouse
School, United Kingdom

Viola sonata R.Clarke

Adonis Lau viola
Jill Morton piano (resident pianist)

Sonatina clarinet and piano J.Horovitz

Victoria Churcher clarinet
Francesca Carta piano (resident pianist)

Grande Polonaise, Opus 16[b], Th.Böhm

Sofia Matvilenko flute
Daniel King-Smith piano (resident pianist)

This concert was the very first one that the string quartet and I attended during the BIMF festival.
Needless to say, the standard was very high and I was very impressed by each and every one of them.
The concert started with Adonis playing viola sonata which was quite mellow and warm sounding,
both his techniques and musicality were well polished and thought out. Next was Victoria on the
clarinet and this piece was more engaging and upbeat, which was very well portrayed by the player.
Finally we had Sofia on the flute playing the polonaise, which portrayed a grand duet with the flute
and piano. Overall it was a very good first impression of the festival.
Concert 2 – Opening Concert – Professor’s Gala

August 6th @ 20:00 - 22:00

British Isles Music Festival (BIMF) Charterhouse School, United Kingdom

Concerto in G minor flute, oboe, bassoon and cont. Anton Vivaldi

Susan Milan flute John Anderson oboe
Martin Gatt bassoon Robert Costin harpsichord

Oboe Quartet in Bb major oboe, violin, viola, cello J C Bach

John Anderson oboe Philippe Honoré violin
Yuko Inoue viola Josephine Knight cello

INTERVAL

Introduction and Allegro flute, clarinet, strings and harp Maurice Ravel
Susan Milan flute Fiona Cross clarinet
Philippe Honoré violin Igor Keller violin
Yuko Inoue viola Josephine Knight cello
Gabriella Dall’Olio harp

The main event of the day was this concert, the opening gala concert consisting of professors from the
royal schools of music in London. The concert began with a Vivaldi concerto with Susan Milan on the
flute as the soloist. The performance was well prepared despite the fact they had only arrived on the
venue that same day, which I was very impressed by. The same goes for the oboe quartet which was
later played as well. The concert ended with the harp septet which I happened to have played earlier
this year! Seeing such high level of playing on a piece of music that I know very well was very
satisfying and gave more determination in my practice.
Concert 3 – Saturday 13th – Evening Chamber Music in the Hall
August 13th @ 20:00 - 22:00
British Isles Music Festival (BIMF) Charterhouse School, United Kingdom

One of the student evening concerts which consisted of undergraduates and postgraduates from the
Royal college of music and royal academy of music. Each and every one of the players were very
impressive and the music they came together and made was even more impressive considering the
short amount of time we all had for preparation. The Poulenc sextet was a first listen for myself but I
thing I vividly remembered was that I loved the interaction between the bassoon and the horn, both
their registers are similar and when they play in harmony it just sounds amazing. The ravel string
quartet was super engaging and I especially liked the second movement of the pizzicato interaction.
Concert 4 – Wednesday 10th – Evening Chamber Music

August 10th @ 20:00 - 22:00

British Isles Music Festival (BIMF) Charterhouse School, United Kingdom

One of the very first friends that I made at the festival played in this concert, and going to watch really
cheered them on! They played in the Beethoven piano trio which again sounded really nice and very
polished. Having played this piece a while back in high school, I could tell and anticipate the music to
a degree that enhanced my listening experience. The other two piano trios were also very well
prepared where I knew the piano music is relatively difficult but both of them played with ease and a
lot of emotion and musicality.
Concert 5 – 2022 AYO Finals

24 October 2022 7pm

Saint Kentigern College, Pakuranga, Auckland

Bizet Carmen Fantasie Brilliante

Soloist – Alina Chen

Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D major

Soloist – Wenjia Li

Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme

Soloist – Eva Wu

The annual AYO soloist competition was held this year at Saint Kentigern college. The finalist
consisted of Alina, Wenjia, and Eva but unfortunately one of the players had contracted the
coronavirus and had to isolate, missing out on the finals. This meant we had just 2 finalists competing
for the prize, Alina played the Bizet very accurately and with a lot fine articulation. While Eva played
the Tchaikovsky with nice intonation and phrasing. However the adjudicators ended up not awarding
first prize due to the lack of application in addition to one of the finalists contracting COVID-19.
Concert 6 – St James’s Church Piccadilly Lunchtime Recital Series

The very first concert for our colleagues who went abroad with us to the UK! As usual Kihei and
Grace sounded amazing and with this church, the acoustics were out of the world. We could play any
note with minimal effort it would will up the entire room. The Bach double Kihei and Grace began
with was very nostalgic and pleasing to the ears. The following two pieces were more modern and I
could tell that the audience really enjoyed it. Overall, it was a first experience in London at the start of
our tour where we had much more to come.
Self-Reflection Concert 1 – Solo with the AUSCO

Friday October 7th 2022 7pm

St Mathew-in-the-City, Auckland

ROBERT SCHUMANN Concerto in A minor op. 129

Auckland University Student Chamber Orchestra

Zosia Herlihy-O’Brien, Conductor
Vincent Chen, Cello

This was the first time for me playing solo with a full symphony concerto and the experience was well
worth it. I remember the weeks leading up to this day was very pressure inducing and I felt very
anxious so practice and the concert day was always on my mind to the point that I had trouble
sleeping.

It all started with the Schumann concerto which I was working on at the time when they invited me to
play solo and that I could choose the piece. Considering that I had been working on the piece for
while I figured it would be wise to play the Schumann with them. The very first rehearsal with the
orchestra had a few outtakes and we had to stop regularly due to the two part not fitting together. At
the end of the first rehearsal, I learnt that playing a concerto with such a large orchestra was much
more difficult than I first thought. However onto the second rehearsal, things were feeling much better
for me and the orchestra. We managed to run through the entire concerto with minor errors and Zosia
and I were both feeling much better after that second rehearsal. When it came to the final rehearsal, I
invited James Yoo where we discussed how we could improve which were mostly minor details and
that I needed to be more lenient with rubato in some areas. But at the end I was feeling much better
than the previous rehearsal.

When it came concert day, my day were quite free so I did a bit of practice and took a walk around
my area to loosen up a little bit. My pre-concert routine kicked in just before performing where I
loosen up and shake away the nervousness. After the concert was all done, I was glad that I had the
experience no matter how the concert went.
Self-Reflection Concert 2 – Recital at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival

Tuesday 16 August 2022, 9:30am

The Royal Scots Club Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Beethoven (1770-1827)
String Quartet No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 18, No. 4
I. Allegro ma-non tanto
Il. Scherzo: Andante scherzoso quasi allegretto
III. Menuetto: Allegro - Trio
IV. Allegretto - Prestissimo

Fragment II for String Quartet

Leonie Holmes (1962 -)

Borodin (1833-1887)
String Quartet No. 2 in D major
I. Allegro moderato
Il. Scherzo: Allegro
Ill. Notturno: Andante
IV. Finale: Andante - Vivace

Viereinigkeit Quartet
Zosia Herlihy-O'Brien, Weihong Yi violins
Jessie Anderson viola
Vincent Chen cello

Our last concert as a quartet in the UK, we had a wonderful programme for our final concert. We
started with the Beethoven string quartet with a super brisk tempo that created energy right from the
beginning of the concert. Each of the movements had its moments but one thing that I remember quite
clearly was when one of the violins forgot the repeat one of the da capo and we were silent in the
middle of the piece for around 10 seconds. We all made a joke out of it and had a great laugh. The
next piece we played was one of NZ composer Leonie Holmes, we had played this piece numerous
times throughout our tour so we knew it very well. The piece went very smoothly and all my cello
solos came out loud and clear. To finish off, our Borodin quartet was also very well played in my
opinion. All the movements had energy that suited each of them, and we even had audience members
come up to us after the concert to say that they loved the interaction between the first violin and the
cello portraying Borodin’s love for his wife.

This felt like a dream come true performing at the famous Edinburgh Fringe festival. This concert was
also our final concert before we had to head back to New Zealand where Jessie was staying in Europe
for a couple more months, so at the end we had to say our goodbyes to each other which after working
with one another for so long was quite heart-breaking. Nonetheless, the concert went relatively
smoothly and the audience could really feel our enthusiasm and just the fact we came all the way from
the other side of the world was a huge plus.