Pieces by traditional and contemporary composers
Presented by:
- Bennett Chiu, violin
- Jany Lu, piano
- Alex Chernata, clairinet
Notes of Joy! is the Advent noon concert series at St Mary’s. The Advent noon concert series was established in 2007 by the late Catherine McFadden Dunning Young. Local performers contribute their gift of music as we prepare our hearts for Christmas, and support a local charity. Once again, we are pleased that donations will support the work of the Victoria Hospice Bereavement Fund.
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See the full concert series here
About the musicians
Bennett Chiu is a violinist based in Victoria, British Columbia, currently studying at the University of Victoria with Ann Elliott-Goldschmid. Some of his previous teachers include Simon MacDonald and Joan Blackman. He performs actively with local ensembles across Vancouver Island and Salt Spring Island, freelances as a chamber and orchestral musician, and maintains a private teaching studio. His work spans concert performances and collaborative gigs.
Victoria-based pianist Jany Lu is a dedicated performer and teacher on the faculty of the Victoria Conservatory of Music. She is active as a collaborative pianist with ensembles and local series, and her students have earned top awards at festivals and Royal Conservatory examinations. Jany Lu studied piano performance at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and UVic with May Ling Kwok, and Piano Pedagogy and Performance with Midori Koga at University of Toronto
Alex Chernata's clarinet studies began shortly after emigrating to Canada in 2005. He has participated in many festivals such as the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Kiwanis festivals, the Russian Music Festival of Vancouver, Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, and the Canadian National Music Festival. In 2023 Alex graduated from the University of Victoria’s performance program under the tutelage of professor Connie Gitlin. Some of his previous teachers include Alex Maier, Bob Sheffield, Christopher Lee, Patricia Kostek, and Shawn Earle.
As a member of the AJA Trio in 2015, the group placed first in the Friends of Chamber Young Artists competition, the BC Provincials in Powell River, and in Edmonton’s Canadian National Music Festival. In 2020 Alex was awarded a Johann Strauss Foundation Scholarship to study music in Austria. The following year he was nominated for the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation and won the University of Victoria's concerto competition. In 2022 he was one of the featured soloists at the Spark to Flame concert at the Victoria Conservatory of Music and the Celebrating Summer concerts with the Sooke Philharmonic. He is an active collaborative musician performing both in concerts of his own, and regularly appearing with various local ensembles such as Sooke Philharmonic, Victoria Chamber Orchestra, Meridiem Wind Ensemble, and the Naden Band.