Volume 29 Issue 4 | February & March 2024

Toronto Symphony: In that spirit, the TSO continues to commission
works from living composers, and during February there are two
events of this nature. Their concerts on February 23 & 24 offer repeat
performances of their 2017 commission from Kelly-Marie Murphy
entitled Curiosity, Genius, and the Search for Petula Clark, a piece
that blends rock and pop music elements with orchestral sound.
Murphy wrote the work to celebrate Glenn Gould’s 85th birthday and
the 70th anniversary of his debut performance with the TSO. It turns
out that Glenn Gould was fascinated by the British pop star; his first
radio documentary was called The Search for Petula Clark, created to
document an experience he had driving to Northern Ontario while
listening to the radio. Apparently, Petula Clark’s current hit, Who Am
I? kept appearing on the various stations he was tuning into.
On February 28 & 29, the talents of the prolific Spanish composer
Francisco Coll will be on display with the North American premiere
of his Ciudad sin sueño (City That Does Not Sleep). This name comes
from a poem in Federico García Lorca’s Poet in New York and the
piece derives much of its musical inspiration from Spanish Flamenco.
The piece was written as a musical portrait, at the request of his
Spanish compatriot, pianist Javier Perianes.
On the TSO’s April 6 concert, there will be a performance of the
Hungarian-Austrian composer György Ligeti’s Lontano alongside
another North American premiere – a TSO co-commission from Samy
Mousa of his Trombone Concerto performed by Jörgen van Rijen.
Ligeti: Ligeti’s music will also be featured in the March 28 concert
by Esprit Orchestra with the performance of his Concerto for Violin &
Orchestra (1990-92) performed by violinist Mark Fewer.
And, coming full circle, Freesound member Wesley Shen will
perform Ligeti’s Continuum for solo harpsichord in their Feb. 29/
Wesley Shen
Mar 1 concert). Written in 1968, the piece is made up of a series of
very fast notes to create a continuous stream of sound – in part the
sound the plectrum makes as it plucks the strings of the harpsichord.
In keeping with the vision of the FreeSound collective to program the
work of key composers of the late 20th century and the early 2000’s,
these opportunities to hear the music of this innovative and influential
composer will be a welcome addition to the listening menu for these
upcoming wintery months.
Wendalyn Bartley is a Toronto-based composer and electro-vocal
sound artist. sounddreaming@gmail.com
STILE NU
ANNA NIEDERMEIER
Women From Space
Come March, the 6th edition of the annual Women from Space
Festival will kick off – a three-day feast of creativity from March 8
(International Women’s Day) to March 10 at the Music Gallery. The
festival brings together a wide array of gender-diverse artists, from
Canada and internationally, blending music with various mixedmedia
forms, with the aim of celebrating and amplifying the art of
visionary women working in exploratory and experimental musical
traditions.
In an email exchange, WfS co-artistic director Bea Labikova
revealed that festival organizers like to kick off the event by celebrating
an artist who has made a significant impact on Toronto’s
creative music scene. This year’s WfS gives that honour to Lina
Allemano who will be appearing with her duo Bloop. The musical
dialogue between Allemano and Bloop partner Mike Smith, who
performs with live-processing and effects, weaves together melodies
and gestures, with Allemano’s acoustic trumpet serving as the
Matana
Roberts
primary source material. On the
same evening, the WfS Big Bang!
17-piece improvising band will
play music by Björk accompanied
with live visuals by The Liquid
Crystal Display
Another standout artist this year
is American saxophonist Matana
Roberts. Roberts skillfully combines
improvisation, composition, visual
art, and mixed-media to deliver their
captivating performances. When
asked by Labikova about potential
performing collaborators for the
festival, Roberts suggested either
trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud or
Lina Allemano
percussionist Germaine Liu, so Labikova decided to put all three of
them together for the final set of the festival on March 10.
Of necessity, programming a festival of this nature evolves over
time. “Over the years,” Labikova says, “our ears have sharpened for
artists who are doing something fresh, unique, who are open to an
adventure and who approach taking risks head on.”
In addition to keeping attuned to the latest projects “stirring in
the experimental music waters”, Labikova and fellow-director
Kayla Milmine, the co-directors
of the festival are also open
Bea Labikova
to receiving applications. “We
are slightly biased towards
one-off, unique performances,”
Labikova says, “so we
like to encourage artists to try
something new and different.”
For this year’s WfS uniquely
creative mix of artists, visit
womenfromspace.com.
Wendalyn Bartley
MANUEL MIETHE
16 | February & March 2024 thewholenote.com