**October 2012 Focus - Focus Magazine

“Land Use Application”
nancy ruhl
Paintings of houses & urban landscapes
At Madrona Gallery (View St)
www.nancyruhl.ca • nancyruhl.blogspot.com
250-514-1524
the arts in october
October 20
DIEMAHLER CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES
St Mary the Virgin Church
VIOLINIST PABLO DIEMECKE HAS ENJOYED AN ECLECTIC
career that has seen him embrace the great masterworks of his instrument
and the Latin musical traditions of his native Mexico. His parents
are classically trained musicians who nurtured the nascent musical
abilities of their eight children with their expert instruction. Diemecke
in fact jokes that even now his mother “has not finished telling us how
much we still need to practise!” The Diemecke children began performing
together at a very early age. In fact, as soon as there were enough of
them to form a string quartet, their father began showing them off.
By age 26, Diemecke had achieved the pinnacle of musical success
in Mexico by securing the coveted position of concertmaster with the
National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico. It was surprisingly disheartening
for him. Says Diemecke,
“So now I’m the concertmaster
of the National Symphony, and
I thought ‘No no no!’ I want
something better. I want to go
other places!” So, he travelled
to Washington DC, where he
was the concertmaster of the
Washington Chamber Orchestra
and studied with Henryk
Szeryng, whom Diemecke
considers “one of the greatest
violinists in the world.”
Following this, Diemecke
Pablo Diemecke
auditioned and won the concertmaster
position with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra, where he served
for 20 years, retiring in 2006. He has won numerous awards and honours
over the years, including a nomination for a Latin Grammy Award for
a live recording with the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico,
conducted by his brother in 2002. The nomination carried with it a
certificate and a medallion, which was to be sent to Diemecke, who
couldn’t attend the ceremony. But, there was a snag. “It was lost for
ten years,” he explains, “I just got my medallion a year ago!”
He is now taking on the challenge of chamber work with his DieMahler
String Quartet, performing with the Macpherson Trio, and working
with his own orchestra, Orchestre des Concerts Diemecke, as well as
teaching and mentoring young musicians. One wonders how one man
can take on so much, but for Diemecke it’s all about the music:
“When I’m playing, I forget about technique. I think about the music
first. So if we risk and we are being emotional inside of ourselves, we
can project our music better. If we are thinking about being perfect…we’re
not thinking about sending a message to the public.”
On October 20, the DieMahler String Quartet (with Diemecke,
Martine DenBok, Elizabeth Massi, and Lawrence Skaggs) will include
present “Three B’s, Revolutionaries” with Brahm’s Hungarian Dances.
On November 17, the quartet will perform Mozart’s “Dissonance”
Quartet and Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” in a concert entitled
“The Spirit of the 18th Century.” December 8’s “Traditional Christmas
Favourites” will be the finale of this year’s series.
All concerts are at St Mary the Virgin, 1701 Elgin Road in Oak Bay.
$25/22.50 at 250-386-6121, Ivy’s Books, Cadboro Bay Books. See
www.diemahlerenterprises.com. —Lisa Szeker-Madden
30 October 2012 • FOCUS