This world class duo made a house call ahead of Kelowna show

They have been described as “brilliant” by The Sunday Times in the UK and “truly exhilarating” by The WholeNote, Canada.

Internationally acclaimed Canadians Bryan and Silvie Cheng, who perform as Cheng²Duo, are in Kelowna to kick off the Chamber Music Society Kelowna’s 2023-24 season at the Mary Irwin Theatre Friday, Oct.13.

Cellist Bryan and his sister Sylvie on the piano, gave Kelowna10 an extraordinary private preview at the home of the society’s artistic director Patricia Tao.

Check out the video. It’s not difficult to see why Cheng²Duo have played illustrious concert halls and international festivals throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.

“I think the magic of chamber music is that it can encapsulate the most intimate of emotions while being nearly symphonic at times,” Silvie said. “You’ll be surprised at the sheer sounds that just the piano and cello can produce.”

“Although classical music has existed for many, many centuries it’s even more important nowadays for as many people as possible in the world to discover, rediscover classical music and find their own connection to it,” Bryan added.

Friday’s concert is the first of five in the society’s 2023-24 season.

Further performances in 2024 include Israeli pianist Roman Rabinovich, Montreal ensemble Constantinople, violinist Tai Murray and pianist Gilles Vonsattel from America, and the New York-based Isidore String Quartet.

“Kelowna is a gorgeous place to live but there has to be more than just natural beauty,” Tao said. “So, what we’re trying to bring is a really rich cultural life here and we do that by bringing extraordinary musicians from all over.”

While single tickets are available to all the concerts, season tickets for the entire series give music lovers 20% off the price of buying individual tickets.

Tickets are available online through the RCA website at www.rotarycentreforthearts.com, or at the RCA Box Office.

All performances begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.