We reach Sarah Hagen at her home on Prince Edward Island, but she notes that she’s lived all over Canada. She grew up In Courtenay, BC, on Vancouver Island, and studied music in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. “I kept chasing interesting piano teachers,” she laughs.
She was seven years old when she began playing the piano, and is now a classical soloist and chamber musician who performs concerts internationally.
Her upcoming concert at the Arden Theatre will be a performance of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a composition that consists of an aria and a set of 30 variations. The 1956 debut album of Canadian pianist Glenn Gould is probably the best-known and most beloved recording of the piece. Hagen understands why the composition endures as a favourite for performers and audiences.
“In each visit with the Goldberg Variations, something new shows itself. I enjoy practicing them and performing them. They change,” she says. “I can see why some artists record them twice. You learn so much from playing them. It’s living music.”
Hagen says that to hear and see the Goldberg Variations performed live is different from listening to a recording. “There’s something powerful about being silent together in a room, listening to music.” And, she adds, audiences are changing. “When I wondered who would come to a concert like this, I realized that the answer is ‘young people.’ There’s a complete age range at concerts, and I’m seeing more young people.”
When Hagen talks with concert attendees at the performances, they often speak about what the music means to them. “I love it when people tell me their own experience with the Goldberg Variations. One thing that people say is that this is their once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear them played live. That’s exciting.”
Sarah Hagen performs the Goldberg Variations at 2:30 pm on Sunday, April 7 at St. Albert’s Arden Theatre. Find tickets at ardentheatre.com
