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Volume 13 - Issue 8 - May 2008

Includes the 2008 Canary Pages

FEATURE: SOUNDAXIS - THE

FEATURE: SOUNDAXIS - THE MUSIC IN THINGSSirens, brake drums, spokes, & concrete ...By Richard MarsellaSaturday May 3MSU Harry PartchEnsemble - DeanDrummond, DirectorMontclair State University (NJ)student ensemble performs onthe original Partch instrumentsBprn • / rnernber/ studentMay 13-18: VTO 2008Franziska Baumann &Matthias Ziegler May 13Xu Fengx!a & GundaGottschalk; Rob CluttonMay 14@ the CitadelKTL; Nemeth; SleepResearch Facility May 18Tickets on sale at www.ticketweb.caMay 21-June 15:soundaXis FestivalMay25• 8pm@Polish Combatants Hall +June I• 2pm@Ontario Science CentreConcrete TorontoMusic feat. CarlaHuhtanen & WallaceHalladay, CCMC, SandraPerri & Tony Dekker,Smith & Wiernik, KnurlSaturday May 31 • 9pmFrances-Marie Uitti &Lori Freedmanperforming Xenakis,Kaaija Saariaho, MagnusLindberg + moreTickets on sale at www.ticketweb.caVisit the soundaXis Hubat the MG - open daily,May 25 to June BfMG Co-PRESENTATIONSSunday May 25 • 2pmPriangan: Abode of theSpirits Free Gamelan concert+ workshop; part of Doors OpenMay 25 • 5pm • soundaXisEvergreen ClubContemporary Gamelanwith guest Nano S.Indonesian master musicianMay 30 • 9pm • soundaXisPleu(Rire): The World ofAperghisJune I • 4:30pm • soundaXisAcoustic Gambol -Chamber Music forFound Objectsthe Music Gallery• 197 John St., Toronto ON, MST 1X6416-204-1080 • www.musicgallery.org~ t-:·~ ~.;;:;:~ !~!~~-~.~'!s.:~~"~! ~ ~~~~l~~·/1:~\l~(~Olll~ 1+1 ~:~:~:" ~·~::~a sO~.t"-~If you are in the Torontoarea this spring/summer,prepare yourself for a floodof new ideas. I will use thismonth's column to salutesome of the most daring, andwell-thought out, music programmingin the country. It'sall based on my conversationwith Daniel Cooper, theFestival Convenor of soundaXis2008, a world-classcelebration of new music.What struck me, whenspeaking with Mr. Cooper,was his statement about Toronto'snew musiccommunity: "Toronto has oneof the most vibrant new musiccommunities in theworld. Whether it knows itor not is another matter. Allof the tourists who visitedToronto for the first soundaXisfestival in 2006, fromMusic & material:from soundaXis 2006,violinist Phoebe TsangXenakis scholars, to his widow, claim that they had experiencedsome of the best performances of his works that they had everheard ... The feeling that they are part of a community helps newmusic creators and performers in Toronto feel confident about theimportance of what they are doing. I think it's a great achievement."The unique thing about soundaXis is its inclusiveness. It is organizedin a democratic way; the community pools together, anddoes not reject much, if anything, that wants to be involved with themassive project. Having said this, the artistic quality of soundaXis isthe absolute highest any city has to offer - a cluster of musicalevents, conferences, installations, symposia and screenings over thespan of three weeks. From May 21 to June 15, Toronto's new musiccommunity will flex its unified muscle.In 2006, the inaugural soundaXis festival was born as a city-widecelebration of music and architecture, centering on the work of thecomposer/architect Iannis Xenakis. Since Xenakis had recentlypassed away, Daniel Cooper felt it would be appropriate for thefestival to be based on his music. This festival theme, to celebratemusic and architecture, quickly found a wide acceptance. soundaXisuniquely also invited organizations from outside the realm of musicto participate in the festival. The result: a very successful festival onseveral levels. First, new music organizations were able to expandand develop their regular audiences. Second, everybody felt a greatsense of unity in Toronto's new music community. The TorontoCoalition of New Music Presenters helped drive this festival, with amembership of 28 arts organizations and music presenters in thecity. Groups like CONTACT Contemporary Music, New MusicConcerts, Arraymusic, Continuum, Canadian Music Centre, SoundstreamsCanada, New Adventures in Sound Art, Tapestry New OperaWorks, and more.In 2008, Daniel Cooper was invited to oversee the festival again.The theme for this year evolved through discussions with the coalition,and is much broader in range, not explicitly sprung from aparticular composer, but rather on the process of making: music,texture, material. The festival explores the work of composers likeJames Tenney (the physics of music), Giacinto Scelsi (the soundinside the sound), John Oswald (improvisation), and John Cage(electronic music) to name a small few.Here's an admittedly partial sampler of the range and variety ofwhat the 2008 soundaXis festival has to offer:CONTINUES ON PAGE 1412WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM MAY 1 - JU N E 7 2008

Distillery Drummings - FREESun., May 18@ 2 pm - The Historic DistilleryDistrict II U ofT & McGill Percussion Ensembleswith Aiyun Huang.Coming TogetherWed., May 21 @8 pm - MacMillan Theatre, U ofT // Fred Rzewski's Coming Together & Geo1·geAntheil's Ballet Mecanique. World Premiere byM ichae I Colgrass.Latin American RhythmsThurs., May 22@ 8 pm - Walter Hall, U ofTTambuco with Grammy-winner Glen Velez.I -f ),, ,,//,1"JI.I\. 'I''(j,

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