SOME THING NEW by Jason
SOME THING NEW by Jason vanEyk Thurs. Oct 7 . @ 8:00 Music Gallery (197 John St) . "& Sat Oct 9 @ 8:00 Trinity-St Paul's. (427 BloorW.) The newest cycle ofwor/ss by composer Charl#e Rlngas., Jazz and prog rock-iquenced ,, ' cosmic minimalist music for)'.} chamber orchestra and chorus} •' Mezmerizingl · Tickets: $10 - In December ... earshot # 15 Believe EverJthln! You Hear Montreal-based composer Michael Hynes presents. his stunning new concert-length structured improvisation, petformed by the Earshot Ensemble and friends. Tickets • . earshot! concerts For tickets, subscriptions & info ca/1416-538-2006 or visit earshotconcerts.ca The National Youth Orchestra of Canada ended their cross-Canada tour in Toronto on August 17th, a well-honed ensemble under the baton of veteran conductor Kazuyoshi Akiyama. I was in attendance hopingto hear the work of this year's composers in residence, BC based Stephen Chatman and Rodney Graham. As expected, the NYOC rotated through a wide range of repertoire on this threeweek tour. On this evening we heard one of the set programmes, which included only one Canadian work, Chatman's Tara's Dream. The piece had some of what I expected from Chatman, mixing in references from popular genres like jazz, big band, rags and waltzes, but also some 18th Cen- , tury classical (moments sounded like a Mozart piano concerto), and contemporary practices. Despite the nagging familiarity of the mixed up music, all the material was original, which makes me commend Chatman's compositional versatility. I was really impressed with how he melded together so many musical fragments, taking us on a wild journey through this Tara's dream. The opening had a particularly beautiful sequence where two harps and what sounded like glock- . enspiel created a dream-like environment, veiled and occasionally obscured by lush. and romantic Strings playing in a completely different key and tempo. What was even more remarkable, in hindsight, was how Tara's Dream created a logical link between the Berlioz Overture that opened the concert and the rousing rendition of Ravel's Ln Valse, which brought us to intermission. It was intriguing to hear how new Canadian work can make its links back to great works of the 19th and 20th Century and hold its place among them. Sitting beside me in the concert hall was Soundstreams Canada's Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney. Before the lights went down for the second half, we had the chance to discuss what is coming up at Soundstrearns for 2004-2005, including the trials and travails of putting together that pesky season brochure. Soundstrearns is one of J.he first new music presenters out of the gale in the upcoming season. Their first concert, entitled Kaleidoscope, continues the artistic direction of Soundstream's Encounters Series. These concerts match up one international composer with a Canadian equivalent. Sept 27 at the Glenn Gould Studio, Danish composer Paul Ruders will be paired with pioneering Canadian composer Harry Freedman. Freedman is truly one of this country's artistic pioneers: he is a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers and of the Guild of Canadian Film Composers, not to mention an Officer of the Order of Canada since 1984. Although Freedman is one of Canada's most frequently performed composers, bridging the jazz and classical worlds, we don't often get to hear concerts devoted to large amounts of his work. This alone makes this concert a treat. Freedman's "encounter" counterpart, Pou! Ruders, might be best known to Canadians for his operatic adaptation of Margaret Atwood's popular novel The Handmaid's Tale. And as luck would have it, the Canadian Opera Company will present the Canadian premiere .of Ruder's The Handmaid's Tale starting on September 23rd at the Hummingbird Centre. Both Soundstreams and COC concerts are also part of the much larger, multi-disciplinary and extremely ambitious SUPERDAN ISH: Newfangled Danish Culture festival, which launches at Harbourfront Centre Sept 28. FOLLOWING THROUGH ON the thread of Canadian inspired opera, Tap- Left: Harry Freedman estry New Opera Works will present the results of their Composer-Librettist Laboratory (or Lib-Lab for short) at its Opera Briefs event Sept 28 & 29. You can find them at the Tapestry/Night- . wood New Works Space in the Cannery building of the trendy Distillery District. In their own words, Tapestry describes the event as "Astonishing, entertainjng, irreverent, provocative, moving ... the diversity is dazzling and the creative energy palpable during this marvellous annual event." If you can't make it to this one, you may want to get a sneak peek as Tapestry stages a selection of Opera Briefs at the Word on the Street Festival's Stage & Screen tent in Queen's Park on September 26th. AND AS AN ODDLY FORTUITOUS closing of the loop, New Music Concerts brings together the Western Canadian and Danish connections for the opening of its 2004-2005 season. On October 2nd, Edmonton's Hammerhead Consort, an unusual combination of two pianos and two percussionists, visits . Toronto to perform the work of Alberta composer Howard Bashaw (who was profiled in last issue's Composer to Composer column) and to deliver two world premieres, one from BC composer Keith Hamel and the other from Danish composer Kirn Helweg. They do so at the Music Gallery, Toronto's home for new and unusual music. Just as the summer season comes to a close, it certainly seems like this year's new music season is already off to a dynamic start. I truly look forward to hearing how it will unfold. (Jason van Eyk is the CMC's Ontario Regional Director. He can be reached at 416-961-6601 x. 207 or jasonv@inusiccentre.ca.) · WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM SEPTEMBER 1 ·OCTOBER 7 2004
Round up COAUTlON OF NEW MUSIC PRESENTERS BY KEITH DENNING The summer is winding down and a new season of great concerts is gearing up. While September is not usually a busy time for new music, more than a few members of the Coalition are getting their seasons underway. H re is a brief Jineup of upcomin events. On September 12th at 7:00 (note the early start), the Music Gallery presents the ensemble Ex Tempore as a part of their Fresh Ears family series, which is a series of new music concerts designed with younger ears in mind (an excellent idea, in my opinion!) Earshot Concerts kicks off its concert season with a gala fundraiser at the rooftop garden at the Da!housie, 155 Da!housie Street on Thursday, September 23rd at 7:30. There is a great concert lined up, as well as an auction, balloon bust, door prizes and more. Monday, September 27th has Soundstreams Canada presenting a concert of music by Pou! Ruders and Harry -Freedman featuring the Gryphon Trio and Gary Kulesha at the Glenn Gould Studio at 8:00. As an added bonus, at 7:00 there is a pre-concert concert called "Young Artist Overture" which features works. by student composers performed by young players, another excellent and worthy project. The Toronto music community was saddened by the death, earlier this year, of composer and professor Lothar Klein. I have fond memories of having studied composition under him at the University of Toronto and am pleased to report that a free concert of his music will be held at Walter Hall in the Faculty of Music, on October 3rd at 2:30. '-chipol 2 Glenn Gould Studio . ands Consulate-Toronto and Gaudeamus,.Amsterdam Featuring the ARRAYMUS!C ensernb!e Works by Michael Oesterle ', Scott Godin ', Peter Mrraansz, Scott \A/ii son *, Gilius:van Bergeik ,.:: Saturday, Decerpr 4, 2004 8:00 PM The Com(.}-· 'i-t;+ r/lmproviser Gallery Gallery Co-production YMUS!C ensemble r Lori F reedqian , am McKittrick •, Johh Abram and StepheqCtarke • 0, 2005 8:00 PM ensi Conducts ':;..: RouNDUP CONTINUES NEXT PAGE QC2t on tthg list at LIS me.ea funding partners & C.- CouncN ton•l det AtU PERKINS HAILING
