Classical Music Benefit Concert at St. Philip's by the Trio "Manker and Friends"

St Philip's is honoured to present an evening of classical music on Friday, May 27th by the trio Manker and Friends who will be performing works by Beethoven and Dvorak (see the full programme at the bottom of the page). The concert will start at 8 pm in the church which is located at 25 Brock Avenue North, Montreal West. Brian and Katherine Manker are members of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and they along with their friend WeiTang Huang have generously offered to perform a benefit concert to help celebrate St. Philip's 125th anniversary.  See their bios below.

Brian Manker

Mr. Manker is a solo Cellist with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1999, Brian enjoys a diverse and varied musical career as a performer and teacher. In addition to being a frequent concerto soloist with the OSM, Mr. Manker is a member of the award winning New Orford String Quartet. Formerly the co-director of Festival Alexandria, he can be heard on his 2010 recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites on STORKCLASSICS, as well as numerous recordings of chamber music and with the OSM.

Mr. Manker served on the jury of the prestigious and historic Prague Spring International Cello Competition in 2006. Currently on the faculty of McGill University's Schulich School of Music, in 2007, Mr. Manker launched the Beethoven Project and founded the Adorno Quartet, which aimed to perform all the quartets of Beethoven in their proper context, the private salon.

Mr. Manker plays on a cello made by Pietro Guarneri of Venice in 1729 and a bow made by Francois Pecatte, graciously loaned by the Canimex Foundation, or a cello made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2005.

Mr Manker lives in Montreal with his wife (Katherine) and their three children. 

Katherine Gradojevich Manker

Ms Manker is a professional violinist who spent seven seasons as Associate Concertmaster with the North Carolina Symphony before moving to Montréal, Canada. Currently, she is teaching for the McGill Music Conservatory and is an active freelancer, performing and touring frequently with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal.

As a member of the Adorno Quartet, Ms Manker participated in the Beethoven Project performing the complete cycle of the Beethoven String Quartets numerous times. Ms. Manker spent several years in Southern California regularly performing with the Santa Barbara Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, Opera Pacific, and freelance work in the motion picture, television, and recording industries.

She is a graduate of The Cleveland Institute of Music and continued her violin studies at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles as a scholarship student of Robert Lipsett. Ms. Manker has taught for the Preparatory Department of The Cleveland Institute of Music, Colburn School of Performing Arts, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was the Artistic Coordinator for Festival Alexandria (Ontario, Canada) from 2007-2010.

She plays on a violin made by Samuel Zygmuntowicz in 2013.

Ms Manker lives in Montreal with her husband (Brian) and their three children. 

WeiTang Huang, is a pianist who moved to the US from Taipei, Taiwan, at age 13 to further his musical education, first studying with Jerry Davidson in Kent, Ohio, and later as a student in the Young Artist Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music, under the tutelage of Olga Radosavljevich. He then studied piano performance with Sara Laimon at Yale University while pursuing a degree in Computer Science.  Since arriving in Montreal in 2002, he has performed privately at various seniors’ residences and long­term care facilities and collaborated publicly with various musician friends and students.

Mr Huang is currently exploring his interest in chamber music performance, piano accompaniment, and musical composition, drawing inspirations from collaborations with classical musicians, singer­s, songwriters, and other artistic and creative friends.

While Mr Huang has worked as an IT systems architect, studied law, and most recently served tea and explored snack­making at his friends’ tea shop, music has always been the one thread connecting the eclectic dots of his sporadically random life.

Mr Huang lives in Montreal with his loyally soporific cat Taro.

Programme

The Program Trio for Piano, Violin and Violoncello, Opus 70 No. 1 Ludwig Van Beethoven
Allegro vivace e con brio
Largo assai ed espressivo
Presto

Pause

Trio for Piano, Violin and Violoncello in F minor, Opus 65 Antonin Dvorak Allegro ma non troppo
Allegretto grazioso
Poco Adagio
Finale-Allegro con brio.

Tickets

Tickets for this is a not-to-be-missed event are $25 and $15 for students. Proceeds raised at the concert will go towards the Tower Fund. Seating is limited so get your tickets by calling or emailing the church office (phone: 514 481-4871 or email: office@stphilipschurchmontreal) or contacting one of the Wardens (Shan and Richard).

Click here to read the interview with Brian and Katherine.