The Mathieu-Chua Duo unearth women composers’ ‘Hidden Gems’ for Whistler concert

CANADIAN VIOLINIST VÉRONIQUE MATHIEU AND PIANIST STEPHANIE CHUA HAVE MADE IT THEIR MISSION TO CHAMPION UNSUNG CLASSICAL COMPOSERS FROM THE PAST AND PRESENT

BY BRANDON BARRETT

IN THE BUTTONED-UP world of classical music, women composers past and present have not only had to fight for their share of recognition compared to their male counterparts, but they’ve also had to contend with the giants of the genre—the Mozarts and Beethovens and Tchaikovskys—whose outsized orbits no single classical musician or composer can seem to escape from.

“There is still a lot of catching up to do,” says Véronique Mathieu, Saskatoon-based classical violinist and one half of the MathieuChua Duo alongside Toronto pianist Stephanie Chua, who will be performing a selection of pieces by woman composers in Whistler this weekend for a concert dubbed, “Hidden Gems” to mark International Women’s Day. “I would say that presenters and series are really interested in bringing balance to the concert hall,” Mathieu says. “There are so many overlooked men composers, too, that are overshadowed by Mozart and Beethoven. I think there is an interest to bring to life these great works that didn’t get to be performed or didn’t get the recognition they deserved when they were composed.”

An in-depth review of 100 of the world’s top orchestras’ 2020-21 seasons carried out by the Donne Foundation revealed the troubling level of gender and racial inequality that still persists in classical music, with only five per cent of the music scheduled in their concerts composed by women, and a staggering 88 per cent of concerts featuring only music written by men. The results were similarly stark when analyzing race: just one per cent of the pieces programmed were composed by Black and Asian women, and just over two per cent by Black and Asian men. with an audience and some we feel more strongly about. We rotate based on audiences’ reactions and we also want to make sure we have a program that’s well-balanced.” major orchestra, in 1933.

For the Whistler concert, slated for the Maury Young Arts Centre, the chosen repertoire spans more than 300 years and an array of styles, from French Baroque to Italian sonnets to more contemporary work.

“I think the program we will be performing is really diverse. There is something for everyone,” Mathieu says.

“Her pieces really show her African roots, mixed with some European impressionism, so it’s a very interesting blend of the two styles she brings in the compositions,” Mathieu says.

Probably the best-known composer on the bill is Germany’s Clara Schumann, whose piece, “Romances,” will be performed at the Whistler show.

“People are familiar with her husband’s work, Robert Schumann, but Clara was a wonderful concert pianist and composer in her own right, and she wrote the piece for violin and piano that we will be playing for the concert,” Mathieu says.

On the contemporary side of things, the duo will take on Canadian composer Alice Ping Yee Ho’s dynamic crowd-pleaser, “Éxtasis.”

“It features different harmonies and it’s a piece that has a lot of energy and one that audiences really enjoy hearing,” says Mathieu, who relishes the chance to perform a living composer’s work.

That’s what makes the work that Mathieu and Chua do beyond the concert hall so important. The duo, who first met in 2012 preparing for a competition, have been researching female composers—and bringing their work to life onstage—for the better part of a decade.

“I think it’s probably been eight or nine years that we’ve looked for new work to feature, and, since then, we’ve performed over 60 works by women composers,” Mathieu explains. “Some work is better

The first number on the program is “Sonata No. 6,” a piece by 18th-century French composer Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, followed by a short, romantic sonatina by Pauline Viardot, a 19th-century composer as well as mezzo-soprano who had a long and illustrious career as a performer. Another highlight for Mathieu are the two pieces in the program by composer and pianist Florence Price, the first African-American woman to be recognized as a symphonic composer, and the first to have a composition played by a

“It’s really rewarding to work with living composers so we don’t have to assume what they meant with their score, but we actually get to interact with them and understand the meaning of their pieces.”

Presented by the Whistler Chamber Music Society, Hidden Gems: Music by Women Composers is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 5 at the Maury Young Arts Centre. Tickets are $25 for adults and $20 for youth under 20, available at the door and online at whistlerchambermusic.ca or artswhistler.com.

Learn more about the performers at veroniquemathieu.net and stephaniechua.com. n