Kevin Lau: Under a Veil of Stars Scott St. John, Rachel Mercer and Angela Park

• Kevin Lau (b. 1982): Under a Veil of Stars:
• 1 Lau: Under a Veil of Stars: I. The Stars Are Never Still 10:54
• 2 Lau: Under a Veil of Stars: II. Land of Poison Trees 07:00
• 3 Lau: Under a Veil of Stars: III. In That Shoreless Ocean... 10:52
• The Dreamer:
• 4 Lau: The Dreamer 06:30
• If Life Were a Mirror…:
• 5 Lau: If Life Were a Mirror... 15:36
• Piano Trio No. 1:
• 6 Lau: Piano Trio No. 1 08:48
• Timescape Variations:
• 7 Lau: Timescape Variations 08:07
• Intuitions No. 2:
• 8 Lau: Intuitions No. 2 07:33
• A Simple Secret:
• 9 Lau: A Simple Secret 06:00
• Total Runtime 01:21:20

Info for Kevin Lau: Under a Veil of Stars

Canadian chamber music superstars Scott St. John, Rachel Mercer, and Angela Park grace our stage to celebrate the music of Kevin Lau, who has recently made Ottawa his home. Join us for the Ottawa premiere of Lau’s new work Under A Veil of Stars, specially commissioned by the trio. The programme will also include other works from Kevin’s oeuvre and Ravel’s magnificent Piano Trio. The St. John-Mercer-Park Trio’s new album of Kevin Lau’s music, Under A Veil of Stars, will be available for sale and signing after the performance. Scott St. John is Concertmaster and Artistic Partner of the innovative ROCO Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, and teaches Chamber Music at University of Toronto. Rachel Mercer, described as a “pure chamber musician,” (Globe and Mail) is well known to Ottawa audiences as Principal Cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Angela Park has established herself as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists as both a soloist and collaborator. Although they all have extensive solo and orchestral careers, their work as a trio is creating a growing body of commissions and repertoire.

Program Notes: Under a Veil of Stars was commissioned originally by the AYR Trio, which at the time was composed of pianist Angela Park, violinist Yehonatan Berick, and cellistRachel Mercer. Yehonatan's sudden passing in 2020 altered not only the constitution of the trio, but the music itself -- its materials, structure, and purpose. What began as another fantastical journey became, instead, a tribute to a man, whose legacy of inspiring others I have tried to do musical justice to. It is a memorial painted not in somber hues (although there are certainly somber moments) but in vibrant, life-affirming colours. It is a work that embraces lyricism, virtuosity, passion, otherworldliness, and -- eventually -- a kind of grace that I can attribute only to Yehonatan's guiding spirit.

The trio is structured in three movements which -- taken as a whole -- suggest a broad life cycle that chronicles childhood, adulthood, and old age. The first movement (I. The Stars Are Never Still) is based on a short story I wrote in 2021 for my friend's one-year-old daughter, about a girl who chases (and catches) stars. The music explores the spirit of wonder and adventure associated with childhood, with shimmering textures evocative of sky brimming with stars; as well as the bittersweetness of surrendering something precious to the will of the universe. By contrast, the second movement (II. Land of Poison Trees) is a distinctly grown-up meditation on resentment and revenge. A fantastical rumination on William Blake's poem A Poison Tree, the movement's scherzo-and-trio form houses a cauldron of musical snakes -- queasy string pitch-bends, explosive dissonances, and a driving, propulsive piano part. Brief lyrical episodes and an eerie, 'classical' coda suggest the pretense of civility which often masks the rage beneath.

Rabindranath Tagore's poem Sail Away provides the impetus for the third movement, III. In That Shoreless Ocean... This movement reflects an earnest (and at times despairing) attempt to grapple with death, with grief, and finally with the possibility of transcendent reunion. The movement spotlights the cello, both in its opening lament, and in the pastoral, Beethovenian chorale which -- after a series of exhausting, oceanic crests and troughs -- arrives like sunlight upon the shores of a new world. Under a Veil of Stars is dedicated in loving memory to Yehonatan Berick.

Scott St. John, violin
Rachel Mercer, cello
Angela Park, piano

Scott St. John
from London Ontario, is known for his joyful style of music-making and inspiring chamber music coaching. Scott is Concertmaster and Artistic Partner of the innovative ROCO Chamber Orchestra in Houston, Texas, and teaches Chamber Music at University of Toronto. He performs frequently with the St. John – Mercer – Park Piano Trio, and returns often to the summertime Marlboro Music Festival in Vermont. Recently Scott was appointed as “Chamber Music Artist-in-Residence” at Western University in London Ontario.

Early violin success with teacher Richard Lawrence in London Ontario gave Scott a path to the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the chance to work with David Cerone, Arnold Steinhardt and Felix Galimir. After winning the Alexander Schneider Competition and playing a Carnegie Hall debut, NYC pulled Scott into its orbit, where Young Concert Artists gave him fabulous opportunities for performance. In addition to a magical year of working at the Disney Store in Times Square, Scott has been Associate Professor at the University of Toronto, and Artist-in-Residence at Stanford University as part of the St. Lawrence String Quartet. From 2018 to 2021 he was Director of Chamber Music at The Colburn School in Los Angeles.

Scott has received an Avery Fisher Career Grant and won a Juno Award for recording Mozart with his sister Lara St. John. He founded the Felix Galimir Award for chamber music students at University of Toronto. Scott loves chamber music, Dvorak, new music, music by less-known composers, and a great espresso. He has been to all the Canadian provinces, 49 of the United States, and would prefer to travel by train when practical. He is married to violist Sharon Wei and they have a 11-year-old daughter named Julia.

Rachel Mercer
Described as a "pure chamber musician" (Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents. Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton. With a first love of chamber music, Rachel regularly collaborates with her longtime duo partner, pianist Angela Park, and was cellist of JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). Rachel has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa and in Israel and has given talks on performance, careers and the music business. An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered works including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber work by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, Abigail Richardson-Schulte, John Burge and Jocelyn Morlock. Rachel can be heard on the Naxos, Naxos Canadian Classics, Centrediscs, Analekta, Atma, Dalia Classics and EnT-T record labels, and released a critically acclaimed album of the Bach Suites on Pipistrelle in March 2014, recorded on the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Rachel plays a 17th century cello from Northern Italy.

Recent seasons included the world premiere of a Cello Concerto by Stewart Goodyear, written for Rachel, supported by the Ontario Arts Council, and premiered with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. Rachel also performed Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante with NACO for one of the 50th anniversary concerts of the orchestra, and recorded Canadian composer John Burge's "One Sail" with the Thirteen Strings Orchestra for release on Naxos. Rachel released two chamber music recordings this season. On Centrediscs, "Our Strength, Our Song", recorded with her sister, Akemi Mercer-Niewohner (Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Frankfurt Radio Orchestra), includes 6 duos by Canadian women, by Violet Archer, Jean Coulthard, Barbara Monk Feldman, and 3 new commissions from Jocelyn Morlock, Alice Ho & Rebekah Cummings. Ensemble Made In Canada culminated its 2 year tour of the Mosaïque Project with a live-streamed video production grand finale concert in FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catherines, which was also the release of the album: Mosaïque.

Since 2006, Rachel also appears in recital with pianist Angela Park as the Mercer-Park Duo. The duo performs across Canada, presenting the duo repertoire alongside new Canadian works. Their debut disc was released in July 2011 and the duo received Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council and FACTOR support to record all-Canadian music by composers of their generation, released on Naxos Canadian Classics in 2014. They were joined from 2010-2020 by violinist Yehonatan Berick, forming the AYR Trio.

​As a member of JUNO-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada from 2008-2020, Rachel toured regularly across Canada and the United States and performed for schools, seniors' residences, universities, the Canadian Music Centre, CONTACT (for young entrepeneurs), gave talks on the music business from a performer's perspective, and regularly workshopped with a range of composers from student to professional, as well as being Artist-in-Residence at the University of Western Ontario. The group's multiple commissions include John Burge's JUNO-nominated piano quartet (on Centrediscs) and "The Mosaïque Project", a cross-Canada tour from 2018-2020 including multi-media and a 14-composer commission. The album won the 2021 JUNO award for Classical Album of the Year (Chamber/Solo).

As a member of the Aviv String Quartet from 2002-2010, Rachel played in halls such as the Auditorium du Louvre, Zurich Tonhalle, Wigmore Hall, Herbst Theater in San Francisco, the Library of Congress in Washington DC, Baxter Hall in Cape Town, St Lawrence Centre in Toronto, and at festivals such as Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Lockenhaus, Davos, Colmar, Oslo and Ottawa. The quartet released cds on Naxos and Dalia Classics and celebrated its 10th anniversary with a complete Shostakovich cycle at the 2007 Verbier Festival. Collaborations included performances with Jorg Widmann, Boris Berman, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, James Tocco, Boris Petrushansky, Elisso Virssaladze and Anton Dressler. The quartet also gave masterclasses, coaching and outreach performances in the United States, Israel, South Africa and Canada, including at the University of Toronto.

Born in Edmonton, Rachel began cello studies at the age of three with Diana Nuttall. She spent formative years with Kristl Armstrong at the Vancouver Academy of Music, where she made her solo debut with the Vancouver Academy Chamber Orchestra at the age of 12. After moving to Ontario, Rachel attended the Royal Conservatory of Music and received the Gold Medal for her Associate Diploma, studying with Susan Gagnon and David Hetherington. She received a BM from the University of Toronto with Shauna Rolston, an MM with honours from the New England Conservatory with Laurence Lesser, and a solo diploma from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Dmitri Ferschtman. Rachel attended Orford, Banff, Holland Music Sessions, Ravinia, Prussia Cove, Scotiafest, Proquartet, the Juilliard Quartet Seminar and the Verbier Academy, for masterclasses with Boris Pergamenschikow, Frans Helmerson, Lynn Harrell, Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot, Gregor Horsch, Harro Ruijsenaars, Valentin Berlinsky, Valentin Erben, Henry Meyer and Walter Levin.

Angela Park
has established herself as one of Canada’s most sought-after pianists. Praised for her “stunningly beautiful pianism” (Grace Welsh Prize, Chicago), “beautiful tone and sensitivity” (American Record Guide), and for performing “with such brilliant clarity it took your breath away” (Chapala, Mexico). Angela’s versatility as both soloist and chamber musician has led to performances across Canada, as well as in the United States, Europe, Japan and Mexico. She has performed for such notable series as Montreal’s Pro Musica, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Parry Sound’s Festival of the Sound, Winnipeg Virtuosi, Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut Tours, Orchestra London Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, Stratford Symphony, and the Northern Lights Music Festival in Mexico.

Angela developed a passion for chamber music early on in her music studies, and this has led to a varied career as a chamber musician. She has developed a longstanding collaborative partnership with violist Sharon Wei, both as a duo, and as former founding members (2006-2022) of the renowned Ensemble Made In Canada. Their work together reached across every province and territory across Canada, culminating in a JUNO Award for their Mosaïque Album in 2021. They have also toured as a duo for Debut Atlantic and Prairie Debut, and continue to collaborate regularly with other musicians across the country.

Cellist Rachel Mercer and Angela have also forged an important duo partnership since their first performance in 2006. As the Mercer-Park Duo, they have performed and recorded a vast range of repertoire for cello and piano with a focus on Canadian contemporary composers. Rachel and Angela have been privileged to work with violinist Yehonatan Berick as the AYR Trio (2010-2020), with Mayumi Seiler as the Seiler Trio, and with Scott St. John as the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio.

Angela was previously a pianist for Piano Six – New Generation, an organization that toured remote communities across Canada. In 2019 she joined pianist Stéphan Sylvestre to form a piano duo, focusing on the complete Brahms Symphonies in their four-hand versions. Among other collaborations, Angela has performed with such international artists as violist Rivka Golani, violinist Martin Beaver, clarinetist James Campbell, soprano Leslie Fagan, and leading members of the Montreal and Toronto Symphonies.

Past and future highlights include a world premiere of John Burge’s Second Piano Concerto with Sinfonia Toronto, solo recitals for Confluence Concerts in Toronto and Consortium Aurora Borealis in Thunder Bay, tours with Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic, performances with Lyrica Baroque in New Orleans, Louisiana, collaborative recitals at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Ensemble Made In Canada tours of Canada and the United States. Angela has recorded independent solo albums, and collaborative discs with cellist Rachel Mercer and Ensemble Made In Canada for labels including NAXOS Canadian Classics, Centrediscs, and Enharmonic Records. She is also featured on a recording of Srul Irving Glick’s Suites Hébraïques with clarinetist James Campbell, saxophonist Wallace Halladay, and violinist Barry Shiffman.

In 2010 Angela earned her DMA in Performance from the Université de Montréal, and previously received her MMus and BMus degrees from the University of Toronto. From 2011-2014, Angela was Visiting Assistant Professor of Collaborative Piano-Woodwinds at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. She has given masterclasses and educational outreach workshops for universities and communities across Canada, as well as at SUNY New Paltz, Stanford, and Indiana University in the United States. Angela has been Assistant Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano at Western University since 2019. She is a regular guest teacher at Music at Port Milford, a summer chamber music academy for high school students. Angela is currently co-Artistic Director of 5 at the First Chamber Music Series in Hamilton, and sits on the board of the Stratford Summer Music Festival.

Kevin Lau
One of Canada's most versatile and sought-after young composers, Kevin Lau has been commissioned by some of Canada's most prominent artists and ensembles, and his work has been performed internationally in the USA, France, Denmark, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. A prolific composer of orchestral, chamber, ballet, opera, and film music, he served as Affiliate Composer of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 2012 - 2015; to date, he has produced seven works for the TSO. Shortly after, he was commissioned to write two ballets with choreographer Guillaume Cote: a full-length ballet (Le Petit Prince) for the National Ballet of Canada and a half hour ballet (Dark Angels) for the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He served as composer in residence for the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra from 2021 - 2023.

Kevin's creative output, often inspired by the fantastical and the surreal, is unified by the search for deep connections amidst surface diversity - connections that serve as a metaphor for the reconciliation of seemingly fundamental differences.

Booklet for Kevin Lau: Under a Veil of Stars