Peter and the Wolf: An Interview with Cellist Olivia Saurette

On November 27th at 2pm at the stunning Orpheum Theatre, the Vancouver Academy of Music will be teaming up with Goh Ballet in their production of Peter and the Wolf. I had the privilege to speak with Olivia Saurette, a cellist in her 2nd year at the Vancouver Academy of Music.  

                                                                                                                                                 source

Olivia Saurette is studying under Ariel Barnes, principal cellist of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Saurette has won the Concerto Competition and has been a finalist in both the Young Artist Competition and the Pacific Region International Summer Music Academy (PRISMA) Concerto Competition. She and her siblings have performed at countless weddings and she performed in the Sea to Sky Symphony Benefit Concert this past year.  She was invited to the Zodiac Music Festival in Nice, France and has been living in Vancouver ever since. 

HCUBC: What initially drew you to music and what made you stay? 

Saurette: My family has always been musical and my dad teaches elementary music, so it’s always been a part of my life. [My siblings and I] all grew up playing instruments, my parents put us in orchestra, I’ve taken private lessons since I was six. I haven’t really thought about anything else that I want to do with my life. When I was in 11th grade, I thought: Ugh i should probably start thinking more about this. Then I went to a festival up in Powell River and we played Mahler’s Symphony Number Two, and I don’t know, I just had this moment on stage where I thought I couldn’t do anything else! [Music] is too big a part of my life to do something else so I just decided to do it. 

HCUBC: Can you describe a time when you doubted your abilities and made it through? 

Saurette: I doubt my abilities every single day! Honestly. Especially being in school and seeing all of these people around you with so much passion and so much drive. Sometimes I think that I’m the laziest person on earth but then I go to concerts or I have a really good practice session or I find a new way to do something, and it just inspires me! Practicing itself is inspiring because I’m constantly making art and when I find a new way to do something it makes me want to keep going because there’s never an end to what I can learn. My teacher of course is an inspiration. Anytime I have a lesson I’m on fire again! 

HCUBC: How do you prepare yourself before a performance?

Saurette: Lots of slow practice. Listening to the material a lot, different performances, getting different perspectives on stuff. Mostly slow practice, tuning the metronome. If I’m preparing a recital, I’ll perform for other people. Lots of studying. 

HCUBC: Do you have any advice on living a creative life?

Saurette: Really think about each moment. When people say you don’t have tomorrow, or, you have to live for today, that really inspires me to create things. Each individual person is his or her own artist. No one can do it like you can do it. You may not have the chance later on, so take every opportunity you have! If you have an opportunity to go somewhere, go there and do it! Go to Europe, find new people, meet new people, learn things. Always see what you can learn from other people. There are people younger than me that I’ve learned so much from. Like, fifteen year old girls I’m learning so much from, even though we’re at totally different stages of life. Learning from other people and always thinking about what you can do now are probably some of the most important things. 

HCUBC: What are you looking forward to most at the production of Peter and the Wolf?  

Saurette: I’ve played Peter and the Wolf a couple of times, when I was in Youth Symphony before when I was about fourteen or fifteen. It brings back a lot of memories, like summer camp and playing it for kids. I probably played it pretty awfully [back then], but now that I’ve grown up a little bit and I have the chance to play it again it’ll probably be a lot of fun. Playing it for a new audience is always a lot of fun. It’s exciting to see how they respond. I’m really excited. I know the piece well. It’s going to be a lot of fun. 

Be sure to be your tickets here!

• art
• music