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Volume 13 - Issue 5 - February 2008

New MusicBY RICHARD

New MusicBY RICHARD MARSELLA"Ear Broccoli" not boringHappy new year and thanks to WholeNote for this opportunity tointroduce myself. I'm Richard Marsella, composer, erstwhile musicalterrorist, and the recently-appointed Regional Director for theOntario Office of the Canadian Music Centre. I have always personallyenjoyed exploring the uglier side of music, so in this column,I have decided to highlight some of the, if not downright uglyat least offbeat, programs that are being presented in different areasacross Ontario. Although the odd stuff might not seem to be happeningin the more remote parts of the province, I'm a believer inthe notion that if you look hard enough, you can find the musicalbroccoli in every city, no matter what its size.I'll begin where I began: the Brampton Indie Arts Festival 2008,a festival I founded and helped direct for the last eight years. Thisyear's festival promises to showcase some of the country's oddestcomposers, performers, and patrons. It's a three day carnival thatruns from February 13th to 15th 2008 at the Rose Theatre in downtownBrampton. This festival has always tried to present engagingideas to its loyal audience. This year is no exception, as we presentperformances by Dorit Chrysler, Evergreen Club ContemporaryGamelan, Toca Loca, Born Ruffians, AIM Toronto Orchestra andover one hundred more artists. You haven't lived until you've witnessedDr. Steve Mann's States of Matter Quintet, where they playunder-water instruments, and use brainwaves to generate sound.And from there, let me move to blowing my own new horn! Onthe night of February 15th, the Canadian Music Centre's renownedseries New Music in New Places proudly presents composer ChristienLedroit's daring event entitled Tradewinds. This event promisesto shake things up in the City of Hamilton, as it features music inthe Hamilton GO Centre with works by Christien Ledroit, PaytonMacDonald and Robert Rosen performed by Parmela Attariwala(violin) and Shawn Mativetsky (tabla).The same evening, on February 15th at the Jane Mallett Theatre,Soundstreams Canada presents the first of two performances of TheJourney (Pimoteewin) a compelling music drama for narrator, twosoloists, choir and chamber orchestra. The Journey's libretto waspenned by internationally award winning playwright Tomson Highway,with a distinctive musical score by Melissa Hui and choreographyby Michael Greyeyes. This world premiere features a chamberorchestra, and the Elmer Iseler Singers, conducted by Lydia Adams.This work is based on the Aboriginal myth of Weesageechak (theTrickster) and Misigoo (The Eagle), and their journey far from theland of the living to cross the river to the magic island where theSpirits of the Dead dance every night by the light of the moon.Just south of Brampton,Sinfonia Mississauga willpremiere Ron Royer'sRhapsody for Violin andChamber Orchestra at theLiving Arts Centre on February23rd. The piece waswritten specifically forMississauga concert masterand composer Ruth Fazal,in homage to the early 20thcentury rhapsodies of Raveland Bartok.Travelling westward,just outside WholeNote'scurrent coverage area, onHappy 75th, R.M.S.February lst the WindsorSymphony unleashes Andrew Staniland's orchestral work Protestmusikat the Assumption Chapel as part of the Windsor CanadianMusic Festival. Written in 2003, when the Iraq war began, thisanti-war piece is still as current as ever. This is a daring festivallineup, also featuring works by Francois Rose, Geof Holbrook andmany more.Speaking of rebellion in Canadian music: an ostrich told me thatit's somebody's 75th birthday: Happy birthday R. Murray Schafer.Here are some events happening in the next while to toast Mr.Schafer's 75th year on planet Earth. On February lOth at 3pm AmiciChamber Ensemble will perform Schafer's Theseus for harp andstring quartet. On Feb. 13th at the Rose Theatre, the MolinariString Quartet will perform Schafer String Quartet No. 11 at theBrampton Indie Arts Festival. Finally, the National Arts Centre's"Schafer at 75" concerts on March 28th and 29th feature his stringquartets, vocal and chamber music.And there's more. The Music Gallery hosts Alison Melville'sThe Bird Project on February 23rd in Toronto. A full evening ofmusic, visuals and spoken word, brand new music for this projectcomes from Ben Grossman, Linda Catlin Smith, Peter Hannan, DebashisSinha, Alison Melville, and others, along with the music ofHildegard of Bingen, Messiaen, Bach, van Eyck, Hans Poser &more.On March 2nd the Koffler Centre of the Arts presents An Afternoonof Music and Culture with a wonderfully diverse programfeaturing works by Mozart, Glick, Mozetich, Buczinsky, Gilles,Leclerc & Levkovich. The Koffler Chamber Orchestra, under thedirection of Jacques lsraelievitch is featured, as is accordion virtuosoJoseph Macerollo.Looking beyond the purview of this month's issue, from March12th to 16th, is the premiere of Juliet Palmer's Stitch in Toronto atLennox Contemporary. This avant-garde work features the supertalentedlineup of vocalists Christine Duncan, Patricia O'Callahanand Neema Bickersteth. Anchored in the sounds and rhythms ofsewing, Stitch uncovers the emotional layers of the relationship be-14 WWW.THEWHOLENOTE.COM FEBR UARY 1 - MA RCH 7 2008

tween woman and barely-tamed machine.All this wonderful noise, no matter how subtle, might prove to betoo much of a good thing, so I highly recommend attending JeffreyMcFadden's classical guitar recital at Heliconian Hall on February16th for subtlety of a different kind. Mr. McFadden is undeniablyone of the country's finest guitarists. And speaking of subtlety, theGryphon Trio debut a new work by Marjan Mozetich on March 4that the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.Last, from March 7th through March 12th, the Canadian Children'sOpera Chorus presents the much-anticipated opera from Canadiancomposer Alexander Rapoport. Part history of science, partfantasy, Dragon in the Rocks is an opera for all ages, and you canget a preview (pre-listen I should say) March 5 at the Richard BradshawAmphitheatre . .A colleague once told me: "If you're bored, it's because you'reboring". There is a lot to see and hear in several cities across Ontario.I hope you enjoy your serving of ear broccoli.Richard Marsella is the Ontario Regional Director for the CanadianMusic Centre. He can be reached at rmarsella@musiccentre.ca•11 ANDREW BURASHKOArtistic DirectorSHAKESPEAREMus1r. sv Erich Korngold, John Cage,, Richard Strauss & Sergei ProkofievPERFORMANCE, sv c, ' 'JI Peggy Baker & James KudelkaPeggy BakerRE>Qit,G OF V'OR ISPSCE ' j::RI ,Patrick Lavoie Harold Pinter Romeo & Juliet,Tanya Howard Virginia Woolf Hamlet andTom McCamus, VoltaireMuch Ado AboutChick Reid Mel Gibson NothingA ' EMarc Bendavid & othersMonica WhicherMarie BerardAndrew BurashkoCelebrating 25 years ... ~~OU:iJJ I n'=Atvt~ I ...~l\JA""'DA Lawrence Cherney, Artistic Director ..4111111 """~~~ . . . THE.}!J-', . .~~ / ·~· .. it /I . 1 '-i>.:·f:,,'., ,; ~ ·~ "Ii . JOURNEY11" f{ £ ... o1 ' PIMOOTEEWIN~r ·~1 · ~A magical Cree Opera withLibretto by Tomson Highway/ and Music by Meilssa HuiA SOUNDSTREAMS WORLD PREMIEREIn cooperation with the Elmer lseler SingersFebruary 15 & 16@ 8 pmJane Mallett Theatre, 27 Front St. EastPre-concert chat @ 7pm on Feb 15Young Artist Overture @ 7pm on Feb 16The Elmer lseler SingersLydia Adams conductorXin Wang, sopranoBud Roach, tenorCara Gee, narratorMichael Greyeyes,choreography fr stage directionChamber OrchestraWeesageechak (the Trickster) and Misigoo (The Eagle) Journey acrossthe river to a magic island where the Spirits of the Dead dance everynight by the light of the moon. Weesageechak captures the spirits in abasket but on the way back, one by one they begin to escape.Tickets adult/ senior fr arts worker/ student.D:ad Oponsor!JlliJ canada Tndt JfflllicViolins, violas, cellos, and bowsComplete line of strings and accessoriesExpert repairs and rehairsCanada's largest stock of string musicFast mail order serviceA SOUNDSTREAMS WORLD PREMIERECOMPOSED BY PAUL FREHNERPlus Bach motetjesu meine Freude andSofia Gubaidulina's Seven WordsSunday, March 16 @ 3pmSt. Anne's Anglican Church, 270 Gladstone Ave.lvars Taurins, conductorTafelmusik Chamber Choirvirtuoso String OrchestraDavid Hetherington, celloJoseph Petric, bayan (accordion)Tickets O student/ seniorand arts workers/ adultThe Seven Last Words thatChrist spoke before his deathhave been the inspirationfor much great art. PaulFrehner's contemporary settingfor soloists, chamber choir andstrings is paired with workson the same theme.@,~www.thesoundpost.comi nfo@thesound post.cornWWW. THEWHO LENOTE.COM

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