Volume 21 Issue 2 - October 2015

creating really strong memories for so many people. And with those
memories come strong viewpoints of what the MG is and what it
should be. “That’s OK – better that there is creative tension rather than
all smooth sailing,” says Dacks. To that end, the public is invited to
contribute their voices and opinions at a Town Hall gathering on the
afternoon of October 17 as the MG opens it up for input as part of their
strategic planning activities.
New Music Concerts. NMC opens their new season in a similar
way as last year with a concert by a touring Canadian ensemble. This
year it’s the Vancouver-based Turning Point Ensemble led by Owen
Underhill. Beginning the tour in their hometown on October 7, the
ensemble will make stops in Edmonton, Winnipeg and Montreal,
arriving in Toronto the evening of October 17. Celebrating their tenth
season, Turning Point is a large chamber ensemble of top-notch
performers with a commitment to presenting Canadian music and the
commissioning of new repertoire.
And the programming for this tour is no exception. It includes the
music of one of Canada’s most internationally respected composers,
Alexina Louie, with a newly commissioned work, A Curious Passerby
At Fu’s Funeral, which will be premiered throughout the tour in four
of the five cities. What is unique about the Toronto concert is that the
entire event is comprised of music by Canadian women composers.
Knowing that TPE has commissioned many works by women, New
Music Concerts requested a program comprised of a selection of these
pieces. When I initially saw the program list, I couldn’t help but think
of my September column in which I spoke about the rising presence
of women in contemporary music programming. Here is yet another
example of that trend. Alongside the work by Louie, the Toronto
concert presents compositions by Ana Sokolović, Jocelyn Morlock,
Dorothy Chang, and Linda Catlin Smith.
Louie’s new work is structured in three movements, which she says
in her program note “create a dramatic composition full of highly
charged emotions and extreme ranges of heightened activity.” Part
of the inspiration for this piece comes from the sounds of the sho
– a multi-reed Japanese mouth organ that requires the performer to
inhale and exhale through the instrument, creating clouds of sound.
The sho-like chord clusters are featured in the second movement,
while Asian drumming inspires the third. Overall, Louie is creating an
imagined scenario between both mysterious and explosive elements.
Linda Catlin Smith’s piece Gold Leaf was originally commissioned
in 2010, with a revised version just recently completed for the Turning
Point Ensemble. In the piece, Smith creates a rich tapestry of sound
that reminds one of a painting – some parts are thickly layered with
colour, while others are thin and almost transparent, with the percussion
adding a shimmering quality, like a gold leaf applied to the
surface. Another TPE-commissioned work in the program is Dorothy
Chang’s Three Windows, inspired by the far-western coastline of
Vancouver. While in town, Chang will be interviewed by composer
Paul Steenhuisen for his podcast series of in-depth conversations with
composers. This series also include conversations with Morlock, Catlin
Smith and Louie and is available for free download or streaming on
iTunes (apple.co/1OVGJtF).
Eve Egoyan and Linda Catlin Smith. If you’ve been paying close
attention to the composers listed above, you’ll note that the music of
Linda Catlin Smith will be performed at the MG Encore concert on
October 16, and at the NMC on October 17. In addition, the weekend
offers another occasion when her music will be performed – at the
recital and CD launch of Thought and Desire, a new release by pianist
Eve Egoyan comprised of world premiere recordings by Catlin Smith.
The event will be presented at the intimate Small World Music Centre
housed in Artscape’s Youngplace and will run for three nights, from
October 16 to 18 where Egoyan will also perform music by John Mark
Sherlock and Nick Storring. Egoyan is renowned for her intensely
focused performances that bring audiences into an intimate connection
with music they may not be familiar with. This makes for a
potent partnership in the interpretation of Catlin Smith’s piano works
which are born out of her own intuitive connection with the instrument.
As for the multiple performances of her music within one
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