SUBMITTED BY MUSIC MAKERS
One of the many charms of Salt Spring Island is the creative energy that emerges in sometimes surprising ways.
This is true of the featured classical guitar duo, Aki and Pierre, slated for Wednesday, May 2, in this season’s monthly Tea à Tempo recital series in All Saints By-the-Sea. Akihisa Otsu and Pierre Boies first met at the Saturday market nine years ago, where they found themselves as neighbouring vendors, Otsu with his tasty traditional Japanese Roly Poly Rice Balls and Boies with delicious home-made pies.
They had both learned to read music as teenagers and started playing guitar during those years. Otsu was soon playing an electric guitar with various bands, which continued as a hobby for 20 years, and included his role as drummer and bass guitar player. He learned to play classical guitar in Vancouver after moving to Canada from Japan, though he still enjoys listening to pop, rock, and jazz as well as classical music.
Boies leaned more towards the finger-picking style and was quickly learning to play classical pieces. Although he neglected to play for long periods of time during a career in carpentry and construction, the guitar has remained a good friend. Following further classical guitar lessons on Salt Spring, he was a member of a guitar trio for a time, which performed several years ago at Music and Munch under the leadership of Peter Taschuk.
Side by side at the market, the two musicians soon discovered their shared musical interests, were excited to learn of their backgrounds in classical guitar and mused on playing together for a long time. It was not until a year later that they both appeared at the market with their guitars. Boies brought along sheet music for a classical guitar duet. Despite their very busy lives they made a point of practising as much as possible and have acquired a repertoire that holds appeal for such venues as restaurants and small fairs.
Wednesday’s program is perfect for the intimate ambiance of All Saints where music lovers will be treated to music from South America, as well as a savouring of pieces by J.S. Bach, G.F. Handel and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Music begins at 2:10 p.m.