 Melissa Wilmot |
Today, she is not only old enough to understand it, but will perform the music from it with the Okanagan Symphony at its next concert, OSO at the Movies.
"The first time I saw it, I was watching it at my grandparents," she recalled, "but it's neat to go back and watch it again now after having learned the music."
Her performance will pick up the various themes throughout the movie.
"The movie takes place over such a length of time and different countries, from Baroque era in Italy to early 20th century China to Montreal - there's lot of influences in the movie, yet the music binds it all together," she said.
This isn't the first time Wilmot played with the OSO. She first appeared with the symphony at the age of seven, singing in a choir, then became the youngest member of the orchestra at age 13 as a violinist in the newly formed mentorship program. She was soon promoted to a student soloist then a full professional member before leaving the orchestra to pursue her bachelor degree in performance at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
"It's really nice to be coming back as a sololist - it feels like I'm completing the circle."
Her passion for the violin began early, watching her older sister Sandra play and pretending to play along on a violin made of a tree branch and string before she got her own. She was also fortunate enough to be exposed to live orchestral performances as a child, with her first being a Viva Musica production.
"I remember being awed by it - it was Die Fledermaus, in 1993," she said. As for hearing the OSO, it was during the first conductor search to replace Leonard Camplin that she really became interested.
"It was really neat to see what all the conductors brought to the table," she said.
Her first orchestra experience came with the Youth Symphony of the Okanagan, which she joined at age nine. Other orchestral experiences include being a soloist with the Canada Day Pops Orchestra in 2008, asked to join the Youth Orchestra of the Americas in 2009, and being selected concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific where she performed in both 2007 and 2008.
She is the 2007 winner of the Teen Honour in the Arts award from the City of Kelowna and has won numerous awards, including most recently a full scholarship for her fourth and final year at the Glenn Gould school where she had the highest GPA.
"Not bad for a home-schooled kid," she laughed.
Playing in various chamber music groups along the way, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as a selected participant in the Kronos Quartet's professional training workshop. She also recently debuted with the National Ballet of Canada, performing a Ysaÿe solo Violin Sonata. She's also performed as an orchestra member with the National Ballet Orchestra and said, "It's really great to be working with dancers again."
Wilmot's first experience playing for live ballet performances came with Ballet Kelowna, where she actually arranged her own part in Mozart's Exultate Jubilate. She also performed Affairs of the Heart with Ballet Kelowna the following year.
Most recently, Wilmot has been performing with the Esprit Orchestra and Sinfonia Toronto. She's frequently held the position of concertmaster at the Royal Conservatory Orchestra and has been broadcast nationally on CBC Radio 2 and Bravo TV.
Those are a lot of credentials for a kid who's only 23 years old.
Throughout her travels, which also included two summer at the Banff Festival where she was again selected as concertmaster in the orchestra program, she's continued to return to Kelowna to give recitals that have helped her out financially while in school and earned her a faithful following.
In addition to her music, Wilmot is also extremely talented when it comes to sewing and designing fashion.
"This is the fourth one I've designed and the eighth that I've made," she said, modeling her latest creation which she plans to wear for the upcoming performance.
"It's hard enough to find dresses that fit and work for performing, but even harder to find one you can afford. And if the straps aren't secure or are restricting your shoulders, that can have an effect as well.
"You don't want to be worrying about what your dress is doing during a performance."
As beautiful as her dress is, it will be her violin that attracts most people's attention - even though it's not red.
QUICKFACTS
What: Melissa Wilmot guest stars with the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra
When: Friday, Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. at Kelowna Community Theatre; Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. at Cleland Theatre in Penticton; Sunday, Feb. 12 at 7 p.m. at Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre
Tickets: $48 adults, $42 seniors and $22 student and child, available at Ticketmaster in Kelowna, Wine Country Info Centre in Penticton and Ticket Seller in Vernon
