After a quarter century, the Vancouver Island Symphony's concert master is performing one last time with the orchestra.
Calvin Dyck will be the featured soloist as the symphony presents Ode to Nature on Saturday, April 26, at the Port Theatre.
"Twenty-five [years] seems like a good number," said the violinist. "It's always better to leave on your own terms … I'll really miss working with the musicians and the conductor and the staff."
Dyck isn't retiring, as he has many other musical pursuits. He instructs 35 students and is taking a youth orchestra to Spain this summer, he is the artistic director for Oceanside Classical Concerts, he is an adjudicator, and he will continue to play freelance gigs. Outside of music, he operates a Christmas tree farm in Mission.
The Ode to Nature concert will have a little something for everyone, Dyck said, with some Canadiana, some comparatively modern pieces, and then Beethoven's Symphony No. 6 as the climax of the program.
One of Dyck's selections is Ralph Vaughan Williams's The Lark Ascending, which he called a beautiful piece.
"[It] famously imitates the sound of the meadow lark which sings as it circles higher and higher until you actually can't see it anymore, you can just hear it," he said. "Someday I hope to go to England and find a field and lie down in it and listen to the meadow larks sing."
Another piece he chose for the concert is Jules Massenet's Thaïs Méditation, which is personally meaningful to Dyck as he performed it at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver when he was just 12 years old, and seeing audience members moved to tears helped convince him to pursue music as a career path.
"It's not just entertainment, it actually moves the heart and souls of people and it sparks, in some cases, their imagination, it can bring joy, it can have a healing effect, it can remind them of something from their past," Dyck said. "It speaks to us at a level that words don't."
When he auditioned for the role of concert master with the V.I. Symphony, he wasn't looking ahead more than a year, he recalled, but somehow 25 years have passed. He imagines that this weekend's performance will be an emotional one.
The show was close to being sold-out at last count, and Dyck said in an era when orchestras around North America are playing to half-empty venues, it's a remarkable achievement for the VIS to consistently perform to an 80-100-per-cent-full theatre. It's a testament to community support, he said, but also a testament to the quality of musicianship, something he's confident will continue after he moves on.
"I'm really going to miss it…" Dyck said. "I have to say it's been the highlight of my career, playing symphonic music by the great masters, and working with my colleagues, some of whom have become close personal friends, and I've had a great relationship with a number of the patrons and gotten to know a whole bunch of people from our community."
The concert takes place April 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Theatre, following a pre-concert talk at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $39.50-$63.50 for adults and $28.50 for students. For ticket information, call 250-754-8550 or visit http://porttheatre.com.
