Volume 25 Issue 4 - December 2019 / January 2020

NEW MUSIC THE ART OF

NEW MUSIC THE ART OF FALLING Laurie Anderson at 21C WENDALYN BARTLEY EBRU YILDIZ Deep in the heart of Toronto’s upcoming winter, the poignant and idiosyncratic composer, violinist, singer, filmmaker, storyteller and electronics virtuoso, Laurie Anderson, will be appearing at the seventh edition of the Royal Conservatory’s 21C Music Festival. The Art of Falling is the title she is giving this sold-out performance happening on January 18 at Koerner Hall, and during a recent interview I had an opportunity to ask her about what to expect that evening. We also discussed other works that are being programmed as part of the festival: her film Heart of a Dog, her virtual reality piece To The Moon, and her string quartet Standing Island. As to whether or not Anderson considers The Art of Falling a new work is something she herself questions: “I don’t know to what extent it will be a brand-new work or to what extent it will be a collection of things. So much of what I do looks back and forward at the same time, and so it will probably be something like that. And then again it might go another direction too.” However, one aspect of this performance she is unquestionably excited about is the opportunity to work with cellist Rubin Kodheli. “He’s just an amazing musician and it’s a huge amount of fun to improvise with him. I’m leaving a lot of accordion-like room in this piece for us to do things that go off the track a little bit and take their own time. I never used to have the nerve to do that, so I’m really happy to make things a little bit more luxurious in that way.” Even the question of using projected images that are often part of her performances is unresolved. She is preparing some to use, but they might get edited out. “Sometimes I think: how about people just listen to this one. So we’ll see.” Musically, she’ll be using her familiar electronic setup that includes iPads, laptops, foot pedals and microphones, as well her electric string instrument which, although considered a violin in the world of its maker Ned Steinburger, is more like a viola with its low C string “which I like very much because it gives you access to a couple octaves down when used with the electronics. You can really get into double bass land with this instrument. It’s just a thrill to play down there.” Later on in our conversation, she offers a few glimpses into what elements may appear in the Toronto performance of The Art of Falling. In September of 2019, she along with musicians Tenzin Choegyal, Jesse Paris Smith, Rubin Kodheli and Shahzad Ismaily released an album titled Songs from the Bardo. This recording grew out of an improvisational performance at the Rubin Museum of Art in 2014, and offers an 80-minute meditation on mortality, through word and sound, designed to help people face the challenges of being alive at this time. The chanted and spoken texts are a translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, also called Liberation Through Hearing, and are designed to guide one through the experiences the consciousness has after death while in the bardo, the interval between death and the next rebirth. An adapted version from this album arranged for two instruments (violin and cello) along with electronics may appear in The Art of Falling, she told me. As well, Anderson’s Toronto performance may include a duet version of her orchestral piece, Amelia, a piece she created using texts from the legendary Amelia Earhart’s pilot logs and the telegrams Earhart sent to her husband. These excepts appear alongside Anderson’s imaginings of Earhart’s experiences while flying solo, with the constant sound of the plane’s engine in her ears. Earhart was the first woman to fly nonstop and alone across the Atlantic in 1932, but disappeared without a trace during her voyage around the world five years later. Recently, on November 13, an updated version of this piece was performed by the Brno Philharmonic in the Czech Republic with duets by Anderson and Kodheli. 12 | December 2019 / January 2020 thewholenote.com

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2020 LAUREATES! YOTAM HABER AZRIELI COMMISSION FOR JEWISH MUSIC YITZHAK YEDID AZRIELI PRIZE FOR JEWISH MUSIC KEIKO DEVAUX AZRIELI COMMISSION FOR CANADIAN MUSIC EACH WINS OVER 0,000 IN PRIZES WORLD PREMIERE GALA CONCERT OCTOBER 22, 2020, MONTREAL LE NOUVEL ENSEMBLE MODERNE LORRAINE VAILLANCOURT CONDUCTOR