Magisterra Soloists Monumental Schubert’s “The Trout” plus more
April 02, 2023, 2:30pm - Bethel Community Church

Magisterra Soloists monumental Schubert’s “The Trout” plus more
It was a poignant return for Georgian Music, as they launched their “make up series” (for 2020 Spring concerts) on Sunday afternoon with an animated performance by the Magisterra Soloists, featuring Quintets by Hummel and Schubert.
As Magisterra’s Artistic Director, Annette-Barbara Vogel, explained between works, she and the late Bruce Owen had spoken on the phone many times about their performance, and he had insisted on the program being a pairing of these two quintets. She dedicated their performance to him.
Both Hummel’s Quintet in E flat minor, Op.87 and Schubert’s Quintet in A major, D.667 “The Trout” are written for piano quintet — although not the piano and string quartet modern audiences are used to, but with the second violin replaced by a double bass, giving a wider palette of register and tone (and allowing the viola and cello to step out of their usual roles).
Vogel, on violin, was joined by pianist Francine Kay, violist Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, cellist Katerina Juraskova and bassist Talia Hatcher. As the ensemble’s name suggests, each is an exceptional and celebrated soloist in her own right, but proved to have the sensitivity and synergy required for the intricate ensemble work of these two pieces.
The piano takes the lead for most of the Hummel quintet — its virtuosic passages navigated exquisitely by Kay. Watching the fun everyone had playing the Minuet & Trio was a delight, but the highlight for me was the breathless beauty with which they played the Largo, before diving back into playfulness of the Finale. The performers seemed to be enjoying it as much as the audience!
Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet was commissioned in 1819 by Sylvester Paumgartner, a wealthy musical patron and amateur cellist — partly inspired by the 1802 Hummel quintet, with the added challenge of incorporating Schubert’s Lied “Die Fiorelle” (The Trout). This theme is heard most clearly in the fourth movement Theme and Variations, but the song’s piano accompaniment is a motif heard burbling and shimmering throughout the piece — the trick for performers is to make the complex and intricate patterns seem effortless, which this ensemble pulled off beautifully.
Again, it wasn’t just the technical mastery that each musician brought to their part, but the sheer enjoyment they showed performing together that stood out the most. I was particularly impressed with Hatcher’s tone, and Vogel and Juraskova’s abilities to make their technically challenging parts sound light and easy. Great ensemble work by all!
It’s a shame that Bruce was unable to attend this performance, but I’m sure he would be pleased at the results of his vision — and I know other audience members will be joining me in seeking out Magisterra Soloists in the future!
Submitted by Alyssa Wright, cellist, singer-songwriter, music educator and writer
Francine Kay (Piano)
Annette-Barbara Vogel (Violin, Artistic Director)
Jutta PuchhammerSédillot (Viola)
Born in Vienna, Jutta PuchhammerSédillot studied viola under Siegfried Führlinger at the Wiener Hochschule fürMusik und Darstellende Kunst, where she graduated with honours. She then perfected her art at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, under the direction of Heidi Castleman.
Described as an exceptional violist, Jutta is invited to perform as a guest soloist with numerous orchestras in North America, South America, and Europe. She was the principal violist with the Orchestresymphonique de Laval for 20 years. She premiered Tim Brady’s Viola Concerto, which is dedicated to her, and recorded the piece with the Nova Scotia Symphony Orchestra. Passionate about chamber music, Jutta is a founding member of the Trio Kegelstatt, the Quatuor Claudel, the Trio à cordes de Montréal, and the QuatuorOndine. She recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Duo Puchhammer Desjardins.
Her albums German Romantic Works and Alto Romantic Fantasies were praised by music critics. In 2016, she released the double album entitled Pièces de Concours: Virtuosic Romantic Works by French Composers 1896–1938, featuring lesser-known romantic viola works of French composers and virtuosos, which she also edited in three volumes for Schott’s editions of Pièces de Concours (ED 22234=22236).
Jutta PuchhammerSédillot has been a viola and chamber music professor at the Université de Montréal’s Faculty of Music for over 25 years. She is regularly invited to give master classes at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the Cleveland Institute of Music, as well as at conservatories and universities across Canada and Europe. During the summer, she teaches at Orford Music in Quebec. As a master and performer, she has also been involved with the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia, the Perlman Music Program, the Saratoga Music Festival, the Teach Teachers Teach program in Chile (Villarrica), as well as various festivals in Italy, Austria, and France.
Every year, Jutta plays an active role at the International Viola Congress, where she shares her discoveries and love of the instrument with her peers. In 2006, she presided over the highly successful 34th International Viola Congress, held at the Université de Montréal. Her dedication to the international viola community earned her the Maurice Riley Award of Excellence in 2006 as well as the highest distinction of the International Viola Society, the “Silver Viola Clef,” in 2019.
Katerina Juraskova (Cello)
Czech-born cellist Katerina Juraskova has been acclaimed for her “electrifying spells, natural intensity, beautiful phrasing and sonority” (Santa Barbara Independent), as “one of the great cellists of the future” (La Presse Montreal).
She graduated from the Prague State Conservatory and holds performance diplomas from the International Menuhin Music Academy in Gstaad, Switzerland, Conservatoire européen de musique de Paris, France, Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal, and Master and Doctorate degrees in Performance from McGill University, Canada.
For nine years Ms. Juraskova was the principal cellist and soloist for the McGill Chamber Orchestra. Her passion for Canadian contemporary music led to a collaboration with the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal with whom she served as the principal cellist and toured across Canada. She was the soloist in the highly acclaimed contemporary dance and music collaboration Corps Secrets working with Canadian dancer/choreographers Isabelle Van Grimde and José Navas, performing with them in Canada, Sweden and Japan. From 2006-2008 Dr. Juraskova served as the Principal Cellist and Artist in Residence of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra. As soloist and chamber musician, her career has taken her to major concert venues on three continents.
Currently on the faculty at STEP Birmingham, AL, she has taught as an assistant chamber music teacher at the International Menuhin Music Academy, as a lecturer at the University of Montreal, and in Montgomery, AL, as a cello instructor at the Montgomery Music Project and at the Montessori Academy. She has served as an adjudicator for the 2010 National Tour of the Canadian Music Competition, for the 2015 Sherbrooke Music Competition in Québec, Canada, and annually for the ACES competition in Montgomery.
Ms. Juraskova studied the cello with František Pišinger of the Dvorak Quartet, Radu Aldulescu, Denis Brott, Antonio Lysy and Christopher Rex, and chamber music with Yehudi Menuhin, Alberto Lysy, Mauricio Fuks, Bernard Greenhouse, Kathleen Winkler and Jerome Lowenthal.
Katerina lives with her husband Thomas Hinds, Artistic Director and Conductor of the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra, and their four year old son Christopher in Montgomery where they are active in the city's musical life.
Talia Hatcher (Associate Principal Bass)
Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Talia Hatcher completed her undergraduate degree at the Conservatory of Music of Montreal with René Gosselin. She then completed her master’s degree at the University of Ottawa with mentor Joel Quarrington in 2019. During her time in Ottawa, Talia participated in several programs with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (NACO) including the NAC Institute for Orchestral Studies, the NAC Summer Music Institute and the NAC Bursary Competition where she won the Vic Power award for her solo playing and orchestral excerpts. These programs allowed Talia to explore and deepen her skills in chamber music as well as orchestral music.
Talia started her journey of orchestral playing with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada back in 2014 as well as the Orchestra of The Americas in 2016 and 2017, touring in Canada, Europe and South America. Since then, she has played with numerous orchestras and ensembles including the Canadian Studio Symphony, Conservatory of Music of Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Métropolitain Orchestra of Montreal, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Niagara Symphony, Ottawa Symphony, Sinfonia Toronto, Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra. One of her most memorable orchestral experience was touring with NACO in Europe where the bass section didn’t go unnoticed: ‘’… et un pupitre de contrebasses dont beaucoup d’orchestres peuvent rêver…” (Le Devoir).
Talia has had the opportunity of recording several albums including The Bound of our dreams with NACO and a project of new music with The Canadian Studio Symphony where she played the double bass solos. She also recently played a live recording of the Adagio and Allegro by Schumann for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra 2022\2023 season launch.
As of September 2020, Talia Hatcher has been in the position of Associate Principal Double Bass with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony. She also plays regularly in Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Niagara, Ottawa and Toronto as a freelancer and relishes any opportunity to play chamber music with her colleagues.