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February is the month we celebrate love and so how appropriate that the Vancouver Island Symphony is showcasing an instrument that Artistic Director, Pierre Simard and VIS CEO, Margot Holmes have both studied - the oboe, an instrument they both still love! On February 15, the oboe (also known as the duck in Peter and the Wolf) will be the featured solo instrument played by VIS Principal Oboist Geronimo (Nimo) Mendoza.

Nimo can scarcely believe the road that lead him to being part of this iconic 25th celebration, “When I was 11 years old, my mother took me to a community orchestra similar to El Sistema, a government music program designed to keep at-risk youth off the streets.” (El Sistema was founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator and musician José Antonio Abreu, with its foundation being Music for Social Change). “We had a few sessions where we learned how to read music and then after that the conductor assigned instruments. I remember I wanted to play the flute, but the flutes had been given out. Instead, he handed me an oboe, a reed and a finger chart, and said ‘go home and figure it out.’ That’s how I was chosen to play the oboe, and shortly after I knew that this was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”

Early in his musical career, Nimo played on reeds that were given to him by teachers, but as he progressed in his playing, he learned how to make his own reeds that are made from a type of cane. Many oboists will spend just as much time making reeds as they do practicing their instrument - with a goal of making the “perfect reed”. 

Nimo shared one of the nights when his reed was not perfect, “We were playing a Schubert piece that had a big oboe solo and my reed cracked and would not make a sound. I had to sit there until the end of the piece and I almost cried because I was not able to play. At the break I found someone who had nail polish; a red coloured nail polish, and I sort of glued it back together, which worked for a bit. It was the most the stressful concert I have ever performed and ever since I always make sure to have at least two reeds as back-up!”

“My reed choice also depends on the style of music we are performing. I like to have a choice of reeds with specific characteristics, so I would use a different reed to play baroque repertoire than I would for playing Brahms” says Nimo. 

As a former member of the Mexico City Philharmonic, Nimo has worked with renowned artists and conductors, and has toured in Europe and Asia. Before leaving his native land to establish his family in British Columbia, he attended various international music festivals working with world celebrated artists (John Mack, Ray Still, Alex Klein, Louis Pellerin, Isaac Durate, Ingo Goritzki, Christoph Lindemann, Charles “Chip” Hamann, Emanuel Abbuhl and the London Winds) and was recipient of numerous awards and grants from the Mexican Arts Council as a solo artist and chamber musician. He now calls the Vancouver Island Symphony his musical home.

The concert, entitled Celebrating 25! - is one of nine concerts where the Vancouver Island Symphony celebrates 25 years of making music in Nanaimo. “Our starting point for this program was finding music that had the number 25 associated with it,” says Pierre Simard. “Then, I turned to the idea of choosing repertoire acting as “birthday gifts” to the VIS; my own favourite composer – Prokofiev – was an obvious choice, with his Classical Symphony, op. 25. The piece is elegant, charming, and pays tribute to Haydn – and so we paired it with this composer’s own Symphony no. 25 in C major. As well, we had to have a celebratory piece, and Canadian composer Alexina Louie’s Music for a Celebration fits the bill perfectly.

Both Barber’s Canzonetta and Martinu’s Oboe Concerto have special meaning to me personally – as I performed both pieces with orchestra in my oboist past! What a treat to now be on the podium, accompanying Nimo for these gorgeous and fun musical offerings. We close the concert with Copland’s celebrated Appalachian Spring. This was our musicians’ choice – and is the perfect way to invoke the quick return of the spring sun, with open, accessible, dance-like and festive music!”

Wear your party clothes and come Celebrate 25!