Review: Daniela Rossi and Kevin Loh at Impington Village College
Classical concerts returned to the Brackenbury Room at Impington Village College last Friday (March 4) for the first time in two years, and on the bill were award-winning Cambridge-based guitarist Daniela Rossi and Kevin Loh, a fast-rising guitarist from Singapore currently studying music at the University of Cambridge.
Loh, who won first prize in the Cambridge University Musical Society Concerto Competition in 2020, kicked off the proceedings with the six-movement Cello Suite BWV 1012 by Johann Sebastian Bach. Showing amazing dexterity, he expertly made his way through the challenging piece drawing warm applause from the crowd.
He was then joined by Argentinian-born Daniela, winner of the London International Guitar Competition in 2015, for Three Psalms, a varied three-part piece written by Serbian-American-Swiss composer Dušan Bogdanovic, one of Daniela’s music heroes.
The last movement, Rubato, particularly impressed me and the camaraderie between these two outstanding musicians was clear to see.
Following the interval, Daniela came back out and played three pieces written especially for - and dedicated to - her by Bogdanovic: a new arrangement of God Bless the Child, an old Billie Holiday tune, Winter Variations, and Rossignol. Of the three, God Bless the Child was my favourite with its bluesy tone and infectious walking bassline.
Three pieces by British composer John Duarte (1919-2004) followed, each one further highlighting Daniela’s mastery of her instrument (composer/guitarist Leo Brouwer has described her as “a performer with a very rare combination of energy, expression, and perfect technique”). One of the pieces - the lovely English Suite No 2 - pleasingly incorporated some familiar English folk tunes.
Kevin Loh, a recipient of the Fellowship of the Royal Schools of Music, came back out and duetted with Daniela on another Dušan Bogdanovic piece, the curiously titled but fun No Feathers on this Frog.
After a very appreciative and lengthy round of applause, the pair came back out to do an encore, an enchanting arrangement of the Beatles classic, The Fool on the Hill.
It was great to see live music return to the Brackenbury Room and a pleasure to see these two gifted guitarists in action - and, more importantly, in person.
To learn more about the Impington Music Society, which organises the concerts, go to sites.google.com/site/impingtonmusicsociety/. For more on Daniela, visit danielarossiguitarist.com. For more on Kevin, visit kevinlohguitar.wordpress.com.
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