麻豆传媒AV

The only thing better than one grand piano is two grand pianos.

At an upcoming concert at the Dekker Centre for the Performing Arts in North Battleford, a piano duo will headline the show.

Presented by co-directors of the Battlefords Children's Choirs and of the Gallery Singers, Dianne Gryba and JoAnne Kasper, the show will feature youth singers and the piano mastery of Gryba.

Gryba and pianists Bonnie Nicholson of Saskatoon form the duo, Les Quatre Mains. They have been playing piano duets and two-piano works for more than 30 years.

"We get such joy out of playing together," says Gryba. "After all these years, it seems like we have a heightened sense of what the other player is going to do - there is not too much need for talking about the music.

The collaboration started with student recitals at the University of Saskatchewan, and has continued throughout the years. Nicholson and Gryba have performed in recitals, given workshops and appeared as guest artists with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra.

Nicholson teaches in Saskatoon and at the University of Saskatchewan music department.

Les Quatre Mains will be part of the Keys and Chorales concert taking place at the Dekker Centre Sunday, Feb. 9. The music will include Debussy's Petite Suite and Faure's Dolly Suite. These are sets of short, imaginative pieces inspired by little girls the composers knew.

As well, the duo will perform two song transcriptions by Schubert: Erlking, a dramatic song about a boy's spirit mysteriously stolen by a mystical force, and Litanei, in which the poet asks for repose for all souls. The Litanei arrangement is special to Nicholson and Gryba, as it was written as a piano duet by their mentor and piano teacher, Robin Harrison. The duo will conclude with two fiery Spanish dances.

The Kamala Youth Choir will also perform at the concert, and they will be accompanied by Les Quatre Mains in several of their pieces. The choir will present a new work written for them by former North Battleford teacher Paul Suchan, called Wake the Grain. The young singers of the Battlefords Children's Preparatory Choir will also join in the event.