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COMPOSER COMPANIONS<br />
The new music community is rich<br />
with activity this <strong>November</strong> as presenters<br />
and ensembles forge further<br />
into their seasons, creating a wide<br />
range of adventurous opportunities<br />
for the Toronto concertgoer. This<br />
month, Composer Companions<br />
highlights three upcoming new music<br />
concerts and continues to give<br />
you the opportunity to attend with<br />
some of our most accomplished local<br />
composers as your own personal<br />
audio "tour guide".<br />
by Jason van Eyk<br />
Early in the month Sounds.treams<br />
Canada brings to Toronto an international<br />
choral collaboration for the<br />
first concert of its <strong>2003</strong> ·Raise Your<br />
Voices series. On <strong>November</strong> 9th at<br />
the Metropolitan United Church, the<br />
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber<br />
Choir, conducted by Paul Hillier,<br />
and Canada's Elmer Iseler Singers,<br />
conduct~d by Lydia Adams, will<br />
present a combined program influenced<br />
by sacred music. The concert<br />
will include a North American premiere<br />
from internationally renowned<br />
composer Henryk Gorecki, entitled<br />
Salve, Sidus, Polonarum, music of<br />
the Russian Orthodox tradition, compositions<br />
by California-based Canadian<br />
composer Melissa Hui and a<br />
world premiere performance of a new<br />
work by Toronto-based emerging<br />
composer Craig Galbraith. Mr. Galbraith's<br />
work, entitled Cradle Song,<br />
has been specifically commissioned<br />
for the forces of both the Estonian<br />
and Canadian choirs combined.<br />
Based on a poem by William Blake<br />
of the same title, and punctuated with<br />
lines from Latin motets, Galbraith's<br />
latest work musically explores the<br />
soft lullaby in juxtaposition with indirect<br />
but<br />
obvious references to<br />
Christ's<br />
death<br />
present in<br />
Blake's<br />
text. Local<br />
composer<br />
James<br />
Rolfe, also<br />
known for<br />
his vocal<br />
compositions,<br />
has<br />
agreed to be<br />
the compos-<br />
ing journey: "Udo Kasemets is a<br />
composer who, after exploring tonal,<br />
atonal, and serial music, came to<br />
a turning point when in the early<br />
1960's he read the book Silence: lectures<br />
and writings by John Cage.<br />
This book can be found at the Toronto<br />
Reference Library, along with<br />
. many other recordings and writings<br />
by John Cage. In addition, Udo<br />
Kasemets is a regular writer for Musicworks<br />
magazine, whose current<br />
and back copies can be found at both<br />
the Canadian Music Centre, and the ··<br />
music library of the University of<br />
Toronto, in the Edward Johnson<br />
Building. Recordings of his work<br />
are similarly available". Chris Paul<br />
er compan- Craig Galbraith Harman and Linda Catlin Smith,<br />
ion for this<br />
along with local · composers Juliet<br />
concert. For more information, visit Palmer and Wende Bartley, have<br />
.Soundstreams Canada's website at offered to be composer companions<br />
www.soundstreams.ca, or call 416- · for this concert. For more informa-<br />
504-1282. tion, visit Arraymusic's website at<br />
Quatuor Molinari<br />
commercially recorded this complete<br />
cycle of. quartets (on the Atma label),<br />
and to grearcritical and audience<br />
acclaim. Local composer John<br />
Oswald, who says he has "known<br />
R. Murray Schafer for 30 years<br />
now", and emerging composers Bri-<br />
Nearer the end of the month, Arraymusic<br />
will be delivering a fullevening<br />
work by Canadian experimental<br />
composer Udo Kasemets.<br />
Composer Linda Catlin Smith describes<br />
Kasemets as " an inventive<br />
composer, dedicated to finding new<br />
ways to communicate with sound.<br />
His work is very beautiful and very<br />
unusual. I fii;id that Udo's approach<br />
to making music always opens up<br />
my ears to new ways of thiriking<br />
and hearing."<br />
On <strong>November</strong> 29th, the Arraymusic<br />
ensemble, accompanied by<br />
three guest narrators, will take over<br />
the Music Gallery to tackle Kasemets'<br />
multi-disciplinary performance<br />
piece Symphosium . . This concert<br />
should be a true adventure for the<br />
concertgoer, traveling through Kasemets'<br />
diverse inspirations for this<br />
work, including Rabindranat)l Tagore<br />
in conversation with Albert Einstein,<br />
James Joyce's "Thunderclaps" and<br />
the Mayan calendar. Local composer<br />
Chris Paul Harman offers these<br />
tips to help prepare for this far-rangwww.arraymusic.com,<br />
or call 416-<br />
532-3019.<br />
an Current and Christien Ledroit,<br />
On the last day of the month, New have offered to be composer com<br />
Music Concerts will present the panions for this concert. For more<br />
Molinari Quartet, with guest so- information, visit the NMC website<br />
prano Marie-Danielle Parent, in a at www.newmusicconcerts.com, or<br />
marathon performance of all eight of call 416-961-9594. For more infor<br />
R._Murray Schafer's string quartets. mation about the Molinari Quartet<br />
The new music community celebrates visit www .quatuormolinari.qc.ca.<br />
Mr. Schafer's 70th birthday this year, The Atma recordings of the comand<br />
New Music Concerts has pleteSchaferquartetcycleareavailplannetl<br />
this concert as part ofa range able through the CMC online at<br />
of collaborative celebratory concerts www .musiccentre.ca, by phone, or<br />
happening throughout the <strong>2003</strong>-2004 in person at Chalmers House (20 St.<br />
season. R. Murray Schafer's string Joseph Street).<br />
quartets are considered as ranking<br />
among his most important works, To book your composer companby<br />
virtue of their extraordinary in- ion for these concerts, or for any<br />
novations as well as their purely concert of new music in the Toronmusical<br />
qualities. They also span a to area, contact the Ontario Region<br />
significant period of Schafer • s creative<br />
endeavour, the first being com- composercompanion.s@musiccentre.ca,<br />
of the Canadian Music Centre at<br />
pleted in 1970 and the eighth having or by phone at 416-961-6601 x.207<br />
received its premiere in the spring of<br />
2002. Hearing the Molinari Quartet Jason van Eyk is the CMC's Ontario<br />
Regional Director. He can be<br />
and Marie-Danielle Parent interpret<br />
these great works will be a rare treat, reached at 416-961-6601 x. 207 or<br />
as thev are the onlv musicians to have jasonv@musiccentre.ca<br />
\<br />
'<br />
New Music Concerts I Robert Aitken, director<br />
19dm9VW9MNewvember<br />
Glenn Gould Studio .' Reservations 4 1 6~ 2 0 5~5555<br />
Monday Nov. 03 • 8:00<br />
Helmut Lachenmann<br />
Composer, pianist and narrator<br />
Helmut Lachenmann, featuring the<br />
Canadian premiere of his ... Zwei<br />
Gefiihle... Co-presented with<br />
Goethe lnstitut Toronto<br />
Sunday Nov. 30 • 3:30 I 8:00<br />
R. Murray Schafer<br />
The eight string quartets of<br />
R. Murray Schafer, prElsented in<br />
two 'concerts by Montreal's<br />
acclaimed Quatuor Molinari with<br />
soprano Marie-Danielle Parent<br />
22<br />
WWW. THEWHOLENOTE.COM N OVEMBER 1 - D ECEMBER 7 <strong>2003</strong>
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