Congratulations to Cvetozar Vutev On His Retirement
For the last 20 years, one of the great constants at the Kamloops Symphony has been Cveotzar Vutev as the Concertmaster. Last night was his final performance with the KSO in that role, and I want to congratulate and thank him for all he’s done.
In 2005 I was already away studying music at university when Cvetozar came to Kamloops, and as such it was a few years later before I had the chance to meet him. It was Really Big News™ of course, so I got to hear all about it. There was much excitement in Kamloops, and rightly so. It truly was a big deal for our little regional orchestra to have this highly accomplished musician move from Bulgaria to take on the Concertmaster role. Cvetozar definitely lived up to all the hype.
I could list his accomplishments here, but I think that anyone reading this will already be fully aware of them. Behind all the awards and accolades is a truly wonderful human. Cvetozar is a very kind, warm, and generous person. Prior to my moving back to Kamloops I did meet him a few times after some chamber music concerts. Perhaps my fondest memory of starting to get to know him was when I was arranging to hire a string trio to perform at my wedding. We still lived in Vancouver at the time (I had just completed my MMus at UBC), and I had several very fun conversations about possible repertoire selections with Cvetozar. (I should point out the other members of the trio were his fellow KSO musicians Annette Dominik, Principal 2nd Violin at the time, and Martin Kratky, Principal Cello – we had great live music at our wedding) And then when my wife informed me that she would be walking down the aisle to something that I wrote, Cvetozar was excited to perform this new work.
A few years later I was back living in Kamloops. I got to know Cvetozar a lot better in my nearly 8 years working in the KSO office, along with shared time sitting on the board of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops, and just generally being in the same city as him. I briefly sang in Vivace Chorale under his direction (Slow No Tempo had just formed and it turned out our best night for regular rehearsal happened to be the same night as Vivace), and had the great privilege of traveling to New York with him as part of an ad-hoc choir that performed Imant Raminsh’s Missa Brevis at Carnegie Hall. He is a very dedicated teacher, and a wonderful supporter of his fellow musicians. We have been very fortunate indeed to have Cvetozar as part of our musical community here in Kamloops these last 20 years. Fortunately, he might be retiring from being the Concertmaster of the KSO but he will still be an active musician, so we don’t have to fully say farewell to him yet.
Thank you Cvetozar. You have a well-earned retirement from the KSO. I know that your presence will be missed. It was clear at last night’s performance that every musician on stage was giving the performance of a lifetime to provide you with a suitable send-off. It was well deserved. All the best to you!
Posted in Arts In Kamloops (YKA Arts) on
Ryan Noakes
Ryan Noakes was born in 1979 in Kamloops, British Columbia, where he grew up thinking life was a musical with his parents constantly playing and singing along with records. An accomplished singer, he has been a member of numerous choirs and vocal ensembles and performed in several musical theatre productions. Ryan received his BMus in composition from the University of Victoria in 2008. At UVic he was a two-time recipient of the Murray Adaskin Prize in Music Composition. Ryan also helped to establish two new vocal ensembles at the university. After graduating from UVic, he was instrumental in the creation of the Vancouver Island Chamber Choir; as a founding member, manager, and composer-in-residence. In 2010 Ryan relocated to Vancouver and received his MMus in composition from the University of British Columbia in 2012. He has recently returned to his home town of Kamloops.
My Blog Posts Visit My Website