Music series welcomes Canna Corda Trio

The Festival at Sandpoint Chamber Music Series presents the Canna Corda Trio in their debut performance.

The trio will perform Sunday, Nov. 16, at the Heartwood Center, 615 Oak St., Sandpoint. The concert begins at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for youth (10 and under) and seniors.

The trio features Mika Hood, cello; Dr. Michael Keepe, saxophone; and David Brewster, piano. Canna Corda (reed and string) was formed in the spring 2019. All members are accomplished soloists. Together, they form an ensemble with breathtaking beauty of tonal colors. Working with composers from across the globe, their programs feature an eclectic mix of music from passionate tangos, to cutting edge contemporary. The Nov. 16 concert will feature the members as soloists, duos, and trio. They will offer insights into the music, the composers, and the group’s relationship with both, providing a personal and memorable concert experience.

The program will begin with the world premiere of “Primeira Neo Valsa” (First New Waltz) for tenor saxophone, cello and piano by Brazilian composer Andersen Vianna. This beautiful piece blends the tenor saxophone and cello voices to create an intimate feel and sound that dance together as one. Other highlights will include a two wonderful tangos (one duo, one trio) composed and arranged for this group by British composer Graham Lynch, and the powerful trio “out of this world” by the late Missoula, Mont., composer, David Maslanka, and solo works from Ravel’s “Habanera” to the vaudeville saxophone classic “Valse Vanité” by Rudy Wiedoeft.

Hood has been performing for most of her life on either piano or cello. Learning from her mother, she developed a keen ear and life-long love of music. She received a master’s degree in cello performance from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, where she studied with Emilio Colón, Helga Winold and members of the Pacifica String Quartet. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma as a student of Dr. Jonathan Ruck.

Hood is the principal cellist of the Coeur d’Alene Sym-phony, often playing as a featured soloist. She is on faculty at the Festival at Sand-point Summer Youth Music Camp.

Keepe has performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician having premiered dozens of works by composers across the globe. He is the owner of Keepe Publishing House, promoting jazz and classical saxophone compositions, and his research is published in scholarly journals in the United States and abroad.

Keepe is an adjudicator and clinician for music festivals and competitions. His North Idaho Saxophone Academy provides lessons, clinics and workshops throughout North Idaho, and he is on faculty of The Festival at Sandpoint Summer Youth Music Camp. He has held teaching positions at the University of Arizona, Pima County Community College, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and the Tucson Unified School District.

Keepe lives in North Idaho with his wife and four children.

David Brewster enjoys an active career as a pianist, music director and accompanist in the greater Spokane area.

He holds the degrees of master of arts in music (Washington State University, 2008) and bachelor of arts in music (Whitworth University, 2006). Brewster taught piano at Whitworth University in addition to serving as a vocal and instrumental accompanist from 2009-2013. He also taught as a graduate teaching assistant while at Washington State University. In 2007, Brewster studied with Krassimira Jordan, Paul Barnes and Timothy Ehlen at the Bösendorfer International Piano Academy in Vienna, Austria.

He has toured nationally and internationally with Irish tenor Michael Londra as part of his Celtic Fire tour. He served as accompanist for the Crescendo Community Chorus of Spokane from 2008-2013, and has appeared with the Spokane Symphony Chorale and Spokane Choral Artists.

The Festival at Sandpoint is proud to sponsor excellence in music through our new Chamber Concert Series. The Festival also continues its legacy of supporting music education in the Sandpoint area in the form of free musical instruments for public school band students; free maintenance and repairs on public school band instruments; two free Festival at Sandpoint youth string orchestras; the free Festival at Sandpoint Summer Youth Music Camp; and several college scholarships for music, dance, songwriting and creative writing.

Anyone who wishes to make a tax-deductible donate to these educational experiences for the community’s youth can do so through the Festival at Sandpoint by specifying your donation for “music education”. The Festival at Sandpoint is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.