Rosea – Classic Movie Melodies

About the Performance

I am sure we all feel a little like Holly Golightly right now: alone, sitting on a windowsill and staring outside longingly, working through a difficult present and dreaming of a future that feels uncertain. She sings “Moon River” and we share her hope.  

As music students, it is difficult not to feel a little lonely. Our work is built on live interactions, between musicians onstage and with our audiences offstage, both of which are not currently possible. For the three of us, a lot of our most memorable interactions were with residents at senior care homes, many of whom we have come to know and adore as we performed for them. We can only imagine how much more isolated they must feel to not be able to see their families under such unsettling circumstances.  

Our program will consist of “Moon River”, along with our arrangements of other favourites such as “What a Wonderful World” and “My Favourite Things”. We chose these songs specially for their message of hope and for the sense of warmth and familiarity that they instill.   

For us, taking this time in isolation to create something beautiful that connected our community was very empowering. It was a reminder that as powerless as we all may feel, there are always small, creative ways to make a difference around you. It is more important now than ever that we look out and care for one another.

We hope that this program brings you joy, but also hope! As we look forward to a gradual return to normalcy, may it also serve as a reminder of great things to come.

Community Partner 

This concert’s Community Partner is The Secret Garden Tea Company. This lovely company is super local, right in the heart of Kerrisdale.  At the moment they are offering their High Tea To Go – a little luxury in your own home!

About Rosea 

Rosea, formed by flautist, Kelly Li, violinist, Ayumi Yaesawa, and pianist, Vanessa Mak, blossomed first as a friendship. The three of us met in our first year at the University of British Columbia and are now going into our fourth year of studies. It was this budding friendship that led to the decision to form a musical ensemble. 

Our first gig was at the Alzheimer’s cafe, which is a monthly event held for seniors with Alzheimers to learn about their disorder and to make friends. It was a wonderful and eye-opening experience for us and we three nervous girls soon learned that there was much more to be excited about. A lady even approached us afterwards and recommended the name “Ponytail Trio” because of the way our matching ponytails danced along to the music.

Since then, we have performed at various events around Vancouver and built up our repertoire considerably, to include movie favourites and old-time classics on top of our home genre of classical music.

Even though we didn’t take the name of “Ponytail Trio”, we decided to keep the spirit of it. Rosea, to mean pink in Latin, emulates out “life in pink” personality and mentality, which we hope to share with you through our music.