Tea & Trumpets: Paris in the Spring

Date and Venue 25 April @ 2pm | Orpheum Theatre

Reviewer Ed Farolan

Hosted by Christopher Gaze and the VSO under the baton of newly appointed Assistant Conductor Gordon Gerrard, the highlight of the matinee was the piano concerto by thirteen-year-old Jeffrey Luo, who was in tears after getting Bravos from the audience during his bow for his magnificent rendition of Chopin's Variations on La ci darem la Mano.

Debussy’s Clair de Lune, was also beautifully played by the VSO, as well as the Pas de six from Rossini’s William Tell, and Saint-Saëns’s Danse Macabre.

Gaze with his usual Shakesperean dramatics, read award-winning haikus to celebrate the cherry blossoms that have now bloomed in Vancouver and Japan. He also got the audience participating with the popular "I Love Paris" made famous by Maurice de Chevalier in the 50s, letting the audience mostly composed of the elderly, who were bussed in from retirement homes, fill in the blanks of the song.

The nice bonus for going to Tea and Trumpets is that you get free tea and chocolate cookies before the show.

© 2013 Ed Farolan