We have started a new Fill in the Blanks series, which will introduce Burnaby NOW readers to a variety of interesting folks in the arts and entertainment community.
Each subject fills out a short questionnaire, "filling in the blanks" to let us know about themselves.
Meet this week's featured performer, Kathryn Emiko Lee.
1. I am Kathryn Emiko Lee, violinist, music educator and entrepreneur.
2. I spend my time teaching music, band and strings in the Burnaby School District. I am a founding member of Ethos Collective, a sextet dedicated to performing composed and improvised contemporary music.
I also spend my time promoting and preparing to teach the Rain City String Orchestra Summer Music Festival. This festival is designed for children going into grades 4 to 8. There are two levels. The beginner level is for students to start learning how to play violin, viola or cello. The debut level is for students who already play these instruments to continue refining their ensemble skills over the summer, with engaging, fun instruction, and other students.
3. Right now I am learning and practising American minimalist composer Steve Reich's Double Sextet and English composer Graham Fitkin's Ardent for an Ethos Collective concert on May 15 at the Orpheum Annex. I am also preparing David DeBoor Canfield's dramatic and lyrical Trio After Brahms in G minor for a performance with saxophonist Colin MacDonald and pianist Chris Morano. This concert will take place at the Canadian Music Centre in Vancouver on June 14. I am also learning five new pieces for my band students, three for my string students, and many new songs and music games for my elementary music students.
4. One of the books on my bedside table right now is the score for Steve Reich's Double Sextet (plus all the other band and string scores that I am currently memorizing!).
5. Three songs you'll find on my iPod playlist are Steve Reich's Double Sextet, Marjan Mozetich's mysterious and beautiful Lament in the Trampled Garden for string quartet, and Mr. Eric's Pete the Cat and his White Shoes.
6. One work of art that inspires me is Johann Sebastian Bach's Partitas and Sonatas for solo violin because it is simple, elegant and musical. With the embellishments, it is like an early form of improvisation.
7. One artist who inspires me is the legendary German violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, because she pushes the boundaries of how lush, musical and dramatic the violin can sound.
8. My idea of a perfect day is practising violin, teaching a great class at school, going to yoga, and spending time with family, friends and my fiancé.
9. My favourite edible (or potable) treat is the rotato (a spiral-cut, deep-fried potato) at the Richmond Summer Night Market.
10. My guilty pleasure is a day of relaxing and not worrying about what is due next or what I have to perform next.
11. My favourite vacation spot is Paris.
12. My favourite thing about Burnaby is that it is my home.
13. If I could sit down for coffee with anyone at all, I would choose my fiancé.
14. If I could live anywhere at any point in time, I would choose the present.
15. If I could have a superpower, my superpower would be to have constant energy and to always feel rested - and not have to sleep. Energy Woman!
And finally ...
16. To find out more about my Summer Music Festival, running July 7 to 18 at Cliff Avenue United Church in Burnaby, check out www.RainCityStringOrchestra.com. To find out more about Ethos Collective, please visit www.ethosmusic.ca.
Would you like to be featured in Fill in the Blanks? Do you know someone who should? Email suggestions (with contact information) to Julie MacLellan, [email protected].
