Nelson Achieves Childhood Dream
of performing Sibelius Violin Concerto
At age 9, Grade 12 student Nelson Moneo fell in love with Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D Minor. The haunting opening, played by Ginette Neveu on Nelson’s recording, captivated him through to the virtuosic third movement, and the young violinist dreamed of the day he would perform the challenging piece.
That day has finally come for Nelson, who will be performing the full concerto accompanied by the Sooke Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) October 29 and 30. Nelson is the 2011 winner of SPO’s Don Chrysler Concerto Competition, a competition for young performers under age 23, and the only one of its kind in Greater Victoria. Despite the broad music scene in region, the Don Chrysler competition is the only contest open to all instruments, including voice. In addition to a monetary prize from Long and McQuade, the winner is invited to perform as a soloist at SPO’s Celebration of Young Artists concert in October.
Nelson first picked up the violin at age 5, encouraged by his parents who dappled with violin and guitar in their adult years. At age 7, he began formal instructions in Invermere, where the family resided at the time. When the family moved to Victoria, Nelson continued his studies with Kathryn Ranger for several years and now studies with Gwen Thompson, a renowned player and instructor in the Canadian music scene who studied with one of world’s greatest violinist of all time, Jascha Heifetz. Nelson has seen much success in recent years. He is a repeat competitor at the BC provincial music festival both as a soloist and with his chamber ensemble (alongside violist and GNS alumna Jessica Pickersgill ’10) and was selected as last year’s runner-up for Nationals.
Since he was first charmed by Neveu’s 1945 recording of the Sibelius Violin Concerto, performing the work remained Nelson’s dream. He decided last year that he was finally ready to tackle the piece’s technical and emotional challenges. Nelson says Gwen’s teaching has been “a huge advancement” for him, especially when preparing for the demanding octave passages in the third movement. “The emotional preparation has to come from myself,” he continues. He listened to all the available recordings of the concerto and experimented with different ideas, different sounds. “Every time I play [the concerto] or I hear someone play it, I find something new and try to incorporate it,” Nelson explains. He’s looking forward to seeing what he will discover about the piece when he performs it with SPO. “The night of a performance really inspires you… And since I’m playing it twice [once in Sooke and once in Victoria], I’ll have a second chance to improve it.”
Norman Nelson, conductor of the SPO praises Nelson for playing this particular concerto. A violinist himself, Norman says he has never performed the piece, and that it’s “very hard.” Norman also notes that the Don Chrysler Competition challenges young performers more than some other competitions because the performers are required to play all three movements of the concertos they perform, whereas other competitions often ask for only one movement. “Asking for the whole concerto raises the caliber of playing,” Norman explains. “It also means students are ready to perform with another orchestra.”
Nelson certainly has his heights set on performing the Sibelius again. After his concerts with Sooke, he will continue to work on the piece for music school auditions that will take him to Boston (New England Conservatory), New York (Juilliard), and Philadelphia (Curtis Institute). For the past few summers, Nelson has studied at the Aspen Music Festival, which introduced him to the American music scene and has ultimately inspired him to continue his musical education in the United States.
Balancing a Grade 12 course load while preparing for rigorous university auditions has certainly been a challenge for Nelson, who practices a minimum of four hours a day. “GNS has been so helpful,” he says. “The school allowed me to take only 5 of the 8 blocks of classes this year, and I’m able to go home and practice when I need to.” Nelson’s violin studies are also part of his Grade 12 IB Music class, in which he must perform as a soloist a number of times throughout the year.
Though Nelson looks to the future in anticipation, for the present, he is focusing on the Sibelius. “I’m getting excited. There are going to be so many added colours to the music with the orchestra playing! There will be so much energy.” But as always, Nelson will apply his philosophy of performance: play the best he can, with no pressure.
For ticket information, visit the Sooke Philharmonic online.
Performance Dates:
Saturday, October 29, 8 p.m. at Sooke Community Theatre (EMCS)
Sunday, October 30, 2:30 p.m. at Alix Goolden Hall
by Jessica Woollard
