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HAY RIVER - Violinists Andrew Wan and Arianna Warsaw-Fan, students at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, are on their way to Hay River to share their skills on stage this week.

The musical couple will perform some of their own original arrangements as well as some gentle baroque sonatas by composer Jean-Marie Leclair, string standards by Bach, Gershwin and Kreisler and a work by composer Pablo De Sarasate.

Violinists Arianna Warsaw-Fan, originally from Boston, and Andrew Wan, who grew up in Edmonton, perform a concert at the Riverview Cineplex in Hay River at 7:30 p.m. on March 4.

"That piece is so much fun," Warsaw-Fan said.

"It's a really showy, flashy piece with a lot of pyrotechnics," added Wan.

Wan divides his time between his studies in New York and at his new position as concert master with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. He has presented concerts around the world in Asia, Europe, New Zealand and North America. This is his first time performing in the North.

Both violinists have played the instrument all their lives – Wan since age five and Warsaw-Fan since she was two-and-a-half.

When the pair first considered stepping on stage together, they at first hesitated to mix their companionship with their musicianship.

"We spent a lot of time discussing whether it would be a good idea to perform together because it could be so volatile and it could go terribly wrong. We were bracing ourselves for the worst," Warsaw-Fan said. "But it's really wonderful to be able to play together. We have most all the same ideals about music, phrasing, intonation and sound. There hasn't really been much compromising at all."

The concert, presented by Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, begins at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the Riverview Cineplex.