{"id":123605,"date":"2026-04-22T15:10:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=123605"},"modified":"2026-04-22T15:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:10:49","slug":"preview-barrie-concert-association-presents-troubled-times-indomitable-spirits-duo-kashperova","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2026\/04\/22\/preview-barrie-concert-association-presents-troubled-times-indomitable-spirits-duo-kashperova\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | The Barrie Concert Association Presents Troubled Times, Indomitable Spirits With Duo Kashperova"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_123608\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-123608\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-123608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-PREVIEW-2026-04-22T150921.023.jpg\" alt=\"Duo Kashperova: cellist Alyssa Wright (L) and pianist Sandra Ruttan (R) (Photo courtesy of the artists)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-PREVIEW-2026-04-22T150921.023.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-PREVIEW-2026-04-22T150921.023-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-PREVIEW-2026-04-22T150921.023-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Copy-of-PREVIEW-2026-04-22T150921.023-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-123608\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Duo Kashperova: cellist Alyssa Wright (L) and pianist Sandra Ruttan (R) (Photo courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The <strong>Barrie Concert Association<\/strong> will present a program titled Troubled Times, Indomitable Spirits, featuring with Barrie\u2019s own Duo Kashperova. Duo Kashperova is pianist <strong>Sandra Ruttan<\/strong> and cellist Alyssa Wright, and the concert takes place on April 26.<\/p>\n<p>The program spotlights the work of three composers who lived through difficult and often oppressive situations, but still managed to create music that is meaningful and beautiful. It includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Margaret Bonds: Troubled Water<\/li>\n<li>Henriette Bosmans: Impressions<\/li>\n<li>Leocadiya Kashperova: Sonata for Piano and Cello Op.1 No.1 (Canadian premiere)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The Sonata is a recently rediscovered work by the namesake of Duo Kashperova. Pianist Sandra Ruttan and cellist Alyssa Wright first played together as two-thirds of the Amity Piano Trio, which performed across Southern Ontario. They were reunited in 2023 at a concert with violinist Michael Adamson, and the occasion rekindled their passion for playing together, along with a shared interest in exploring hidden gems by forgotten composers, as well as new music.<\/p>\n<p>The Duo first learned about Leocadiya Kashperova while researching music for a Stravinsky-focused recital. Their discovery of her impressive Opus 1, Number 1 took the focus off Stravinsky, and into both the music and history of the Russian composer.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jucvWKoYbPA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Leokadiya Kashperova<\/h2>\n<p>Russian pianist and Romantic composer Leokadiya Kashperova (May 16, 1872 to December 13, 1940). Today, she\u2019s largely known, if at all, as Igor Stravinsky\u2019s teacher, but in her own time, she had a successful career as a composer and pianist.<\/p>\n<p>Leokadiya studied music at the St. Petersburg Conservatoire as part of Anton Rubinstein\u2019s piano class. She graduated in 1893, and chose to further her studies with Nicolai Soloviev at the same institution.<\/p>\n<p>She enjoyed a celebrated career for two decades. Leokadiya wrote music in the Romantic tradition, and was influenced by Tchaikovsky and Brahms. She completed a Symphony in B minor and a Piano Concerto in A minor, as well as chamber music, choral works, art songs, and pieces for solo piano. Her music is characterized by lyrical and expressive melodies, and beautiful harmonies. She often incorporated elements of Russian folk music into her compositions.<\/p>\n<p>In 1912, The Russian Musical Gazette wrote, \u201cHer gifts as a composer are a most welcome phenomenon of St Petersburg\u2019s musical life.\u201d Leokadiya also hosted a popular music salon in her St. Petersburg apartment. She toured to London and Berlin, where she and her music also received favourable reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Her career, though, was disrupted by marriage and politics. She got married rather unexpectedly to one of her piano students, Sergei Andropov, who was a Bolshevik revolutionary. The cultural infrastructure of Tsarist Russia, which had supported her career, was dismantled after the Russian Revolution, and her ties to the upper classes made her position vulnerable.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s thought that her husband saved her life by arranging for the couple\u2019s escape from Petrograd to the Caucasus region. The Revolution, however, and ensuing world wars, left her career in shambles. Her late-Romantic style was at odds with Soviet Russian cultural policies, and so her name and reputation faded into obscurity.<\/p>\n<p>Even in her native Russia, she was forgotten.<\/p>\n<p>Recent research has uncovered a large collection of unpublished scores, and it\u2019s led to a revival of interest in her and her music.<\/p>\n<p>Dr. Graham Griffiths, a researcher at the University of London, is largely responsible for putting her back on the map. He published a biography of Kaspherova, and saw the publication of new editions of her music. She\u2019s becoming more and more well known as one of the earliest female Russian composers as orchestras around the globe program her work.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/dE-iYigpmnU?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Concert Details<\/h2>\n<p>The concert takes place April 26, 2026 at Bethel Community Church (128 St. Vincent Street in Barrie, ON). Admission is by freewill donation, with all proceeds going to support the Barrie Concert Association.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find tickets and other concert details [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/barrieconcerts.org\/SingleEvent13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a;\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? Need to know the best\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/events\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>events<\/u><\/a>\u00a0happening this weekend? 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