Three Sisters Cello Trio
Saturday, November 23, 2019 - 7:30 PM
St. Albert United Church
Three Sisters Trio is an exciting new ensemble of South African-Canadian cellist sisters, Mari, Ine, and Luka Coetzee, whose mission is to share the gift of music with audiences around the world. Playing together came naturally to them as they were able to sense what the other was going to do.
In 2005 the three sisters started homeschooling and started their outreach activities by playing at the New Brook Lodge Seniors Home in Brooks, Alberta on a monthly basis. Furthermore, they volunteered regularly in church services and have played at fundraisers throughout the community. Their first collaboration as a group was in 2007, with Mari age 10, and Ine age 8, playing in a wedding ceremony. Soon after that, Mari and Luka also started performing cello duets, and in 2009, Mari age 11, and Luka age four, performed in Stars of the Festival concert in Medicine Hat, receiving a standing ovation.
In 2012, the trio was invited to perform in the Queen Jubilee Medal Ceremony in Calgary, playing the national anthem and music for Stephen Harper. The same year, they were featured in the Alberta Arts Foundation vignette series on projects and talent found in Alberta.
In 2014 they returned to their roots and brought their cellos to South Africa, performing in Pretoria, South Africa in honour of their grandfathers who passed away that year. This was one of the first performances of Popper’s Requiem for Three Cellos and was received to great acclaim. On that same trip, Mari, Ine, and Luka also performed at the Curro School, sharing the wonderful influence music has had on them with the children in assembly. In line with their passion for education outreach, they also had the opportunity to teach some music classes there, demonstrating the soundscape, developed by Canadian composer Murray Schaefer. Recently the Three Sisters Trio has done outreach with under-privileged children in and outside of Calgary, sharing the gift of music.
Constantly striving for excellence, it is a joy for the Three Sisters Trio to collaborate and create music in a world that is in need of peace, beauty, and harmony.
Marí Coetzee is an exciting, versatile performer, who is passionate about traditional and contemporary music alike. Included in CBC Music’s 2015 Edition of 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30, Ms. Coetzee was awarded first place in the Shean Strings Competition. She was also a grand prize winner in the 2014 Canadian Music Competition and has performed as soloist with the Orchestra Symphonique de Quebec and the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Currently pursuing her Undergraduate degree in Cello Performance at The Juilliard School.
Ine Coetzee is an artist with a unique musical voice. She began her love of the cello at age five with Christine Bootland. She currently studies with John Kadz and Johanne Perron and is a student in the Advanced Performance Program at Mount Royal University. Ine has performed in numerous music festivals and competitions provincially and nationally, such as in the Canadian Music Competition.
Luka Coetzee, currently a student of the Honours Academy for Gifted Youth of Mount Royal University Conservatory, began cello lessons with Christine Bootland at the age of one. Luka currently studies with renowned cellists John Kadz and Johanne Perron. A winner of the 2016 Calgary Concerto Competition, Luka performed as soloist with the Calgary Civic Symphony. She also won first prize in the Canadian Music Competition National Finals in 2016.
Emerging Artist: Dillan Couillard, cello
Concert Sponsors: Vaugeois and Dolman families