As an international festival for students of classical music, Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA) also attracts a wealth of talented guest artists and instructors.
Students from China, Poland, Peru, Korea, Mexico, Germany, Thailand, Spain, Dominican Republic, United States and Canada have come to learn from and play with a faculty of internationally known musicians at this year’s PRISMA.
According to faculty members, along with other instructors and guest artists, they continue to return because of PRISMA’s high calibre of students, its founder and location.
“I love this festival,” said Janet Arms, guest artist and instructor of flute and piccolo. “First of all: Powell River is just so beautiful. Number two: [PRISMA music director and conductor] Arthur Arnold runs such an amazing program here.”
Location, music director and even the faculty aside, Arms said it all comes back to the students’ experiences.
“With one of my German students, I showed him how to stand straighter and breathe better and produce a better sound,” she said. “He turned to me and was so enlightened. At that moment he grabbed my shoulder and said, ‘It sounds so much better.’ I love that.”
Because many of the same faculty members keep coming back year after year, the festival has become an annual reunion for them.
“We have a great time together,” said Arms. “We care about each other and we love to make music together.”
Arms and fellow faculty member Mark Morton (bass) have been coming to Powell River since 2005. A few others have been attending longer; trombone instructor Gordon Cherry is one of them.
Cherry, along with Marcus Goddard (trumpet) and Bill Linwood (percussion), are the faculty veterans and have been teaching and performing at PRISMA and, before that, Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific (SOAP), since 2003.
Cherry performed in Powell River even before an orchestral music camp existed. He came with Vancouver Symphony Brass Quintet for International Choral Kathaumixw several times prior to attending SOAP.
Cherry developed a good working relationship with Don James, founder of Kathaumixw and remembers a conversation the two had.
“I remember one of the receptions after a Kathaumixw performance and Don was talking about this dream he had of having an orchestral festival up here with students and teachers,” said Cherry.
From all of the years he has been attending PRISMA, Cherry has no hesitation in remembering his favourite moment.
“Last year’s Willingdon Beach concert, when we saw those planes going over,” he said. “It brought a lump, if not tears to everybody, not just people in the audience, and not just the students, but the faculty, also. It was very, very memorable.”
PRISMA concerts continue with the guest artists’ chamber music concert on Thursday, June 23. The gala closing concert takes place Saturday, June 25.
Both concerts start at 7:30 pm at Evergreen Theatre in Powell River Recreation Complex. Tickets are available for both performances. For information, go to orchestra-academy.ca.
