Bo Curtis, flute
Carolyn Hatch, violin
Kerry Graham, bassoon & recorder
Paula Kiffner, cello
Christina Hutten, harpsichord

Antonio Vivaldi
Chamber Concert in g minor RV 103
Allegro ma cantabile
Largo
Allegro non molto

Nicola Matteis
Ground After the Scotch Humour

John Loeillet
Trio Sonata in F major op. 2 No. 2
Largo
Allegro
Largo
Allegro

BESSI was formed in August, 2020. The line-up is changeable and varies depending on the program, but three of our regular members are Carolyn Hatch, Bo Curtis and Kerry Graham.

Carolyn Hatch is a violin teacher and fiddler. She studied violin and violin pedagogy with Shinichi Suzuki in Japan and with Paul Rolland at the University of Illinois where she graduated with a Masters Degree in violin performance. Although classically trained she began adding fiddle tunes to her teaching while in Calgary, Alberta and founded the now famous Calgary Fiddlers. She has been teaching full time for over 43 years. She regularly teaches baroque music to her students, and has attended workshops on Baroque performance practice. She plays in BESSI, and is the concertmaster of the Bach on the Rock Orchestra.

Bo Curtis was drawn to the flute in elementary school; playing until high school. A dozen years keeping a lighthouse afforded lots of time to play along with recordings, but little ensemble work. In 1989 he moved to Salt Spring. He joined Tuned Air and Bandemonium, and found making music with island neighbours to be a perfect way to balance out the demands of teaching high school science. He has sung with a cappella groups Indigo and Tongue n Cheek, played guitar with Swing Shift, and played flute with two woodwind quintets, the pit band for Exit Stage Left’s musicals, and is a member of Bach on the Rock Orchestra and Choir.

Kerry Graham left her engineering career in 2012 and began studying bassoon with Christopher Sales in Calgary. Kerry graduated from UBC in 2017 with a BMus in Bassoon Performance. At UBC she studied modern bassoon with Jesse Read and Julia Lockhart, and baroque bassoon with Katrina Russell. She played in the UBC Symphony Orchestra, the UBC Early Music Recorder Ensemble, and participated in the EMV Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme led by conductor and harpsichordist Alexander Weimann. She plays in BESSI, the Bach on the Rock Chamber Orchestra, and the Faire Wyndes Quintet. She has participated in baroque music workshops in Canada, the USA and Europe. She was rewarded the Early Music Vancouver Scholarship in 2018 and 2020, and the San Francisco Early Music Society Scholarship in 2019.

Carolyn, Bo and Kerry are joined for this concert by cellist Paula Kiffner https://vcm.bc.ca/faculty-members/paula-kiffner/ and harpsichordist Christina Hutten https://victoria-baroque.com/christina-hutten-organ-and-harpsicord/.