New Music Festival - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

January – February 2012 ISSUE 4 

DISTINGUISHED 

GUEST COMPOSER: 

Kaija Saariaho 

DISTINGUISHED 

GUEST ARTISTS: 

La La La Human Steps 

Jennifer Koh, violin 

Shauna Rolston, cello 

CURATORS 

Alexander Mickelthwate, 

music director 

Vincent Ho, 

composer-in-residence 

FEATURED 

COMPOSERS: 

Daníel Bjarnason 

Tim Hecker 

Jóhann Jóhannsson 

Alexina Louie 

Nico Muhly 

Valgeir Sigurdsson 

Kjartan Sveinsson 

Atli Heimir Sveinsson 

JANUARY 28 -FEBRUARY 3 I 2012 

www.newmusicfestival.ca

WSO SPONSORS, FUNDERS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The WSO proudly acknowledges the ongoing support of the following sponsors, media and funders: 

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL 

INDIGENOUS FESTIVAL 

WSO IN 

BRANDON 

SUMMER 

CONCERT 

SERIES 

Women’s Committee 

of the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra 

EDUCATION & OUTREACH PROGRAMS 

CONCERTS 

FOR KIDS 

CANADA DAY 

AT THE FORKS 

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY 

MEDIA SPONSORS 

FUNDERS 

SOUNDCHECK 

PROGRAM 

PIANO RAFFLE 

IN MEMORY OF 

PETER D. CURRY 

POWER SMART 

HOLIDAY TOUR 

SHARE 

THE MUSIC 

CAR RAFFLE 

January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 1

GOVERNMENT GREETINGS 

Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages 

Our Government knows how important arts and culture are to our communities, our 

identity, and our economy. This is why we are proud to support events like the Winnipeg 

New Music Festival that allow Canadians to expand their musical horizons and discover 

new music. This festival is a wonderful way to promote our artistic heritage and the 

talent of our musicians. 

On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I would 

like to congratulate the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and all the organizers, artists, and volunteers who 

have helped bring the 2012 New Music Festival to life. 

The Honourable James Moore 

Minister of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism 

Welcome to the WSO’s New Music Festival, now in its 21st year of presenting excellence 

and innovation in symphonic music. 

Congratulations to the musicians, composers, organizers, volunteers, sponsors and fans 

for making this much-anticipated festival an annual success. The event celebrates 

creativity and imagination, and encourages music appreciation while adding warmth 

and spirit to our Manitoba winter. 

Our government is proud to support the WSO. Your long legacy of musical excellence has made you a leader 

in our rich cultural community and a memorable ambassador for our capital city and province. Bravo! 

The Honourable Flor Marcelino 

Mayor of Winnipeg 

On behalf of the citizens of Winnipeg and my colleagues on City Council, I am 

honoured to extend greetings to everyone attending the 21st Annual New Music 

Festival, hosted by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. 

The New Music Festival is a world-class attraction that continues to be a source of 

excitement in our City. Considering that more than 50 outstanding pieces are performed 

in just seven days with attendance each year surpassing 10,000, it is easy to see why this is 

such a treasured event offering tremendous value to our society. By providing Winnipeg with exceptional 

symphonic music over the past 21 years, the New Music Festival has contributed greatly to our City’s 

artistic identity and downtown economy. 

I would also like to applaud the efforts of the many volunteers, performers, sponsors, and employees who 

have made the New Music Festival such a success with their hard-work, passion and dedication for over 

two decades. 

The Festival this year is sure to be an unforgettable experience, as the esteemed composer-in-residence, 

Vincent Ho, will be showcasing the world premiere of his new cello concerto – City Suites with the 

brilliant Shauna Rolston. 

Once again, I would like to offer congratulations on your outstanding success, and offer best wishes for 

many more successful seasons. 

Warm regards, 

His Worship Sam Katz 

2 OVERTURE I January – February 2012

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS 

Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director 

Welcome everybody. Every year I am thrilled for our New Music Festival. Last 

year though, with our 20th anniversary, it was the first time that I wondered 

how we could ever top that. 

We realized it’s not about topping anything. It’s about being excited about 

something new. And boy, did we get excited about something new. It’s called 

Iceland. Well, you’re rightfully thinking that Iceland isn’t new at all. You are 

correct. But to us, the musical language that we discovered was absolutely 

new, beautiful and different from what we were used to. So this year we will delve into the 

meditative, spiritual, calm, brutal, heavenly, earthy, childlike and complex music of Iceland’s 

most exciting composers: Bjork collaborator and founder of Greenhouse Studios Valgeir 

Sigurdsson, Bedroom Community member Daniel Bjarneson, Sigur Rós pianist Kjartan 

Sveinsson and one of the godfathers of Icelandic composition Atli Heimir Sveinsson. We will give 

the world premiere to the first ever WSO-led commissioned international composer, Jóhan 

Jóhansson as well as the Canadian premiere of the worldwide phenomenon, composer Nico 

Muhly. 

In addition, we are starting the Festival with Finnish superstar Kaija Saariaho’s impressionistic 

music, inspired by spectral sound concepts; we add a “little” Kancheli, a Georgian composer, who 

fits right into the profound spiritual language of some of the Icelandic geniuses; there will be 

Canadian mastermind Alexina Louie’s work, whose music I fell in love with last year; Canadian 

sound artist Tim Hecker will blow your ears out; and Vincent Ho will continue writing music for 

the A-list. This year it’s a new cello concerto for Shauna Rolston. And we continue our 

relationship with Winnipeg's own Groundswell. 

And the cherry-on-top will be La La Human Steps, who will finish a year long world tour here in 

Winnipeg to the music of English composer Gavin Bryars. 

For this festival I want to thank two muses: Vincent Ho, whose enormous knowledge of 

contemporary music is completely awe inspiring; and Matthew Patton, whose consuming love for 

Iceland is exactly that, consuming, and so incredibly refreshing. 

Alexander Mickelthwate 


WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS 

Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence 

4 OVERTURE I January – February 2012 

Welcome to another exciting New Music Festival! This year we take you on a 

musical journey to the Nordic regions. Throughout the week you will hear many 

new works by some of Iceland’s most celebrated composers, including Kjartan 

Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Atli Heimir 

Sveinsson and Jóhann Jóhannsson. You will experience works from a nation few 

ever get to hear outside of Iceland. As our distinguished guest, we are proud to 

have with us one of the world’s foremost composers Kaija Saariaho. 

Returning to our event this year is one Canada’s greatest performers, cellist Shauna Rolston, 

featured in two special performances on her carbon-fiber cello: the world premiere of my own 

cello concerto City Suites, and the North American premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s Bow to 

String (for cello and orchestra). Also featured are the works of some of the most celebrated 

composers of today: Alexina Louie, Tim Hecker and Nico Muhly. Finally, international dance 

sensation La La La Human Steps makes their New Music Festival debut here with their latest 

show, New Work, featuring the music of Gavin Bryars. 

Grab your tickets and join us in another week long musical extravaganza as we bring you 2012’s 

New Music Festival: The Nordic Edition. 

Vincent Ho, DMA

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL GREETINGS 

Matthew Patton, Artistic Associate 

I first heard Sigur Rós over ten years ago (in 2000) with their album Agaetis 

Byrjun. Actually, I heard a live version of Fyrsta, which never made that 

record and was recorded at Gaukur á Stöng, the now defunct club on the 

corner of Tryggvagata in Reykjavík. Listening, I felt I had been searching 

for this music my whole life and I knew it within a few seconds. A music 

where beauty and simplicity co-existed with absence and imperfection and 

an ecstatic emotional quality swept over everything and absolutely nothing 

else in the world mattered or ever mattered. 

I started going to Iceland every year, spending a few months there each time at a loft in 

Kópavogur. I met with various musicians that I admired regarding various music projects I 

was developing with Guy Maddin and others, hoping somebody might be interested. I went 

to Sigur Ros' Sundlaugin recording studio in Mosfellsbaer to meet with engineer Biggi as he 

told me about his ocean canoe. I went to Sigur Rós' tour rehearsals at the Austerbaer, the old 

cinema on Snorribraut with John and Dean in again from London to help with everything 

while Jonsi, Kjartan Sveinsson and Solrun set off the confetti machine at the end of 

rehearsal. A few hours later, at 3:46 pm, walking back on Laugevegur, I experienced a 6.3 

earthquake while at Tíu Dropar, which cut the road between Hveragerdi and Selfoss. I went 

to the Greenhouse studio near Mjodd to have some tea and talk about marionettes with 

Valgeir Sigurdsson, to speak with Daniel Bjarnason about not reading Stanislaw Lem while 

he, Daniel, was making new instrumental arrangements for a Bedroom Community concert 

in Moscow, and while engineer Paul Evans fried some bacon for the soup he was making. I 

sat across the table from Ben Frost while he told me about his new "Solaris" project with the 

Krakow Sinfonietta, which he and Daniel composed using Melodyne software programmed 

in a war against itself. I met with Jóhann Jóhannsson at Kaffitar while he extolled the virtues 

of our mutual heroes of failed science Nikola Tesla and David Reimer. And there were other 

artists like Nico Muhly and Tim Hecker who I spoke with about "The Rings of Saturn" by 

author W.G. Sebald during a break at soundcheck near a graveyard of overturned chairs. 

Tim knew all of Sebald's work. 

None of this has anything at all to do with music and that's precisely the point I wish to 

make: interesting people make interesting music. There are big problems in the classical 

music world, at least what is left of it. A paradigm shift is taking place. These are a few of the 

composers that are bringing it back to life and giving it a deeper, more profound emotional 

narrative. People forget that music is first and foremost an experience - there is never 

anything to "get." Stop reading now and go and listen. 

Matthew Patton 


CONDUCTORS & COMPOSERS 

Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director 

Recognized as one of the most exciting 

young conductors of his generation, 

Alexander Mickelthwate is in his sixth season 

as Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony 

Orchestra, where he has significantly raised 

the ensemble’s profile through innovative 

programming and active community 

engagement. Praised for his “splendid, richly 

idiomatic readings” (LA Weekly), “fearless” approach and “firstrate 

technique” (Los Angeles Times), the German-born conductor 

has attracted attention for his charismatic presence on the 

podium and command of a wide range of musical styles. 

In August 2007, Alexander culminated his three-year tenure as 

Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which 

he appeared regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the 

Hollywood Bowl. Previously as Assistant Conductor with the 

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he co-founded the new music 

ensemble Bent Frequency, which was hailed as "one of the 

brightest ensembles on the scene” (Gramophone Magazine). 

Recent highlights include debuts with the Houston Symphony, 

the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Johannesburg 

Philharmonic and the Bukarest Philharmonic, a re-engagement 

with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and a highly 

successful last-minute replacement with the St. Paul Chamber 

Orchestra. As guest conductor, Alexander has appeared with the 

New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Royal Scottish 

National Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony, NDR Hannover, as well 

as with symphony orchestras in several Canadian and U.S. cities. 

Richard Lee, Resident Conductor 

From the time his mother sat him 

down at a toy piano when he was three 

years old, Richard Lee has spent his life 

immersed in music. He graduated to a 

real piano at the age of five and took up 

the violin at age seven. At age seventeen, 

he passed – with honours – the grade X 

piano and violin exams at the Royal 

Conservatory of Music in Toronto. 

Richard pursued a degree in Music Performance at the 

University of Toronto as both a violinist and a violist while 

studying conducting. After five years, Richard obtained a 

Master’s degree under the tutelage of Raffi Armenian. 

Formerly conductor-in-residence of the Thunder Bay 

Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Quebec 

Symphony Orchestra, Richard is currently resident conductor of 

the WSO, conductor of the University of Manitoba Symphony 

Orchestra, as well as music director of the Korean Canadian 

Symphony Orchestra, based in Toronto. Guest engagements this 

season include the orchestras of the National Arts Centre 

(Ottawa), East Texas, Hamilton and Quebec. His work has been 

broadcast and recorded by the CBC/Radio-Canada. Musician, 

news junkie and connoisseur of fine ales, whiskies and cigars, 

Richard maintains residences in both Winnipeg and Toronto. 



Vincent Ho is widely 

recognized as one of the most 

outstanding composers of his 

generation. His works have been 

hailed for their profound 

expressiveness and textural 

beauty that has audiences talking 

about with great enthusiasm. His 

many awards have included Harvard University’s 

Fromm Music Commission, The Canada Council for the 

Arts’ “Robert Fleming Prize,” ASCAP’s “Morton 

Gould Young Composer Award,” four SOCAN Young 

Composers Awards, and CBC Radio’s Audience Choice 

Award (2009 Young Composers’ Competition). 

Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1975, Vincent Ho 

began his musical training through the Royal 

Conservatory of Music. He received his Associate 

Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal 

Conservatory of Music (Toronto) in 1993, his 

Bachelor of Music from the University of Calgary 

in 1998, his Master of Music degree from the 

University of Toronto in 2000, and his Doctor of 

Musical Arts degree from the University of 

Southern California (2005). His mentors have 

included Allan Bell, David Eagle, Christos Hatzis, 

Walter Buczynski, and Stephen Hartke. In 1997, 

he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Schola 

Cantorum Summer Composition Program in 

Paris, where he received further training in 

analysis, composition, counterpoint, and 

harmony, supervised by David Diamond, Philip 

Lasser, and Narcis Bonet. 

Matthew Patton, New Music Festival 

Artistic Associate 

Matthew Patton is a graduate 

in music composition from the 

Manhattan School of Music in 

New York City. His composition 

teachers have included studies 

with composers James Tenney 

and John Corigliano. Matthew 

has collaborated with such 

internationally acclaimed artists as choreographer 

Paul Taylor, and most recently with film director 

Guy Maddin. He has worked with Icelandic musicians 

including members of Sigur Ros’ string players 

Amiina, members of Mum, and others. His collaborative 

work has been called “a masterpiece for our time” 

by the New York Times, been mounted in new 

productions at the Paris Opera House and the 

La Scala Opera House, produced for PBS “Great 

Performances,” and has been released by Warner 

Brothers label Nonesuch Records.

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 SEASON 

MUSIC DIRECTOR 

Alexander Mickelthwate 

RESIDENT CONDUCTOR 

Richard Lee 

COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE 

Vincent Ho 

FIRST VIOLINS 

Gwen Hoebig, Concertmaster 

The S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté 

Memorial Chair, endowed by the 

Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation 

Karl Stobbe, Associate Concertmaster 

Mary Lawton, Assistant Concertmaster 

Chris Anstey 

Raymond Chrunyk 

Mona Coarda 

Hong Tian Jia 

*Trevor Kirczenow 

Simon MacDonald 

**Meredith McCallum 

Rachel Moody 

Julie Savard 

Jun Shao 

SECOND VIOLINS 

Darryl Strain, Principal 

Elation Pauls, Assistant Principal 

Karen Bauch 

**Tomomi Brennan 

Rodica Filipoi 

*Barbara Gilroy 

Boyd MacKenzie 

Susan McCallum 

† Jane Radomski 

Claudine St. Arnauld 

Phoebe Tsang 

VIOLAS 

Daniel Scholz, Principal 

Anne Elise Lavallée, 

Assistant Principal 

Laszlo Baroczi 

Richard Bauch 

Greg Hay 

Suzanne McKegney 

Merrily Peters 

Mike Scholz 

CELLOS 

Yuri Hooker, Principal 

**Desiree Abbey, Assistant Principal 

Alex Adaman 

Margaret Askeland 

Arlene Dahl 

Carolyn Nagelberg 

Emma Quackenbush 

BASSES 

Meredith Johnson, Principal 

Theodore Chan, Assistant Principal 

Paul Nagelberg 

Bruce Okrainec 

Zdzislaw Prochownik 

Patrick Staples 

FLUTES 

Jan Kocman, Principal 

Martha Durkin 

PICCOLO 

Martha Durkin 

OBOES 

Bede Hanley, Principal 

Robin MacMillan 

ENGLISH HORN 

Robin MacMillan 

CLARINETS 

Micah Heilbrunn, Principal 

Richard Klassen 

BASSOONS 

Alexandra Eastley, Principal 

James Ewen 

CONTRABASSOON 

James Ewen 

HORNS 

Patricia Evans, Principal 

Ken MacDonald, Associate Principal 

James Robertson 

The Hilda Schelberger Memorial Chair 

Caroline Oberheu 

Michiko Singh 

TRUMPETS 

Brian Sykora, Principal 

Paul Jeffrey 

Isaac Pulford 

The Patty Kirk Memorial Chair 

TROMBONES 

Steven Dyer, Principal 

John Helmer 

BASS TROMBONE 

Julia McIntyre, Principal 

TUBA 

Chris Lee, Principal 

TIMPANI 

Jeremy Epp, Principal 

PERCUSSION 

Frederick Liessens, Principal 

HARP 

Richard Turner, Principal 

Endowed by W.H. & S.E. Loewen 

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL 

MANAGER 

Chris Lee 

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN 

Raymond Chrunyk 

ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN 

Laura MacDougall 

*On Leave 

**Temporary Position 

† Dual Section Position 

Please note: Non-titled (tutti) string 

players are listed alphabetically 

and are seated according to a 

rotational system. 


PRE-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES 

All pre-concert events occur on the Piano Nobile, 

Centennial Concert Hall, except Sunday, January 29 

at the Park Theatre and Westminster United Church. 

Saturday, January 28 

Doors open at 7:00 pm 

OPENING GALA: 

KANCHELI AND SAARIAHO 

7:10-7:30 pm • Discussion 

Join us for a discussion with this year’s 

distinguished guest composer Kaija Saariaho, 

hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent Ho. 

7:30-7:50 pm • Performance 

Brandon University New Music Ensemble; 

Professor Megumi Masaki, director 

Program: 

Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Calices (2009) 

Maria Cherwick, violin; Jesse Plessis, piano 

Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Structure (1998) 

Geordie Waddell, piano 

Haukur Tómasson (b. 1960): Spring Chicken (2001) 

Preston Rocan, clarinet 

Sunday, January 29 

NMF AT THE MOVIES 

The Park Theatre 

698 Osborne Street 

Free admission 

1:30 pm 

Dreamland 

Music by Valgeir Sigurdsson based on Andri Snaer 

Magnason’s seminal book. 

3:30 pm 

Heima 

Music by Sigur Rós as they tour tiny hamlets 

around Iceland playing unannounced concerts. 


RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN 


Join us at the Westminster United Church for a 

discussion with featured guest composer Kaija 

Saariaho, Tim Hecker and Vincent Ho. 


Monday, January 30 


SHAUNA ROLSTON: 

CITY SUITES (WORLD PREMIERE) 


Join us for a discussion with featured 

composers Alexina Louie, Daniél Bjarnason 

and Vincent Ho. 


The Brandon University Clarinet Choir; 

Dr. Cathy Wood, director 

Members: Christopher Byman, Eric Calrow, 

Danning Chen, Chantale Crivea, Amanda 

Forest, Justine Gould, Chelsey Hiebert, 

Stevie MacPherson, Greg Monias, Joelle 

Nielsen, Preston Rocan, John Woodridge 

Program: 

Elliot Del Borgo: Dodecaphonic Essay 

Paul Richards (1969): Stem Cell 

Wednesday, February 1 


ICELANDIA 


Join us for a discussion with NMF artistic 

associate Matthew Patton and this year’s 

guest composers Daníel Bjarnason, Nico 

Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson (collectively 

known as the Bedroom Community), 

hosted by Vincent Ho. 




James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes; Preston 

Rocan, Eric Calrow, clarinets; Joelle 

Nielson, bass clarinet; Matthew May, 

trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria Cherwick, 

violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass; Nic 

Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad 

Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan 

Klassen, Geordie Waddell, 

piano/keyboards; Melissa Ballard, Cole 

Ediger, percussion/drum set

Program: 

Sigur Rós: Von 

Jón Thór Birgisson (b. 1975): Andvari 

Kjartan Sveinsson (b. 1978): Orri Páll D´yrason 

(b. 1977), Georg Hólm (b. 1976) (arr. Jesse 

Plessis 2011): Hoppípolla 

Thursday, February 2 


LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS 


Join us for a chat with La La La Human Steps’ 

creator and choreographer Édouard Lock, 

hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent 

Ho. 




Program: 

Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Due Bagatelle II For 

Clarinet and Instrumental Background (1997) 

Preston Rocan, Eric Calrow, Joelle Nielson, 

solo clarinets; James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes; 

Matthew May, trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria 

Cherwick, violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass; 

Nic Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad 

Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan 

Klassen, Geordie Waddell, piano/keyboard; 

Melissa Ballard, Cole Ediger, percussion 

Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Vink II (1993) 

James Paluk, piccolo; Preston Rocan, Eric 

Calrow, clarinets; Julia Watson, Maria 

Cherwick, violins; Joelle Nielson, bass clarinet; 

Theresa Thordarson, Sarah Engen, piano 

Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Mozaik VI (2010) 

Theresa Thordarson, piano 

Shauna Rolston 

Friday, February 3 


ICELANDIC FINALE: 

JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON 

6:40-7:10 pm • Book Launch 

Book launch of Birna Bjarnadottir’s Recesses 

of the Mind: Aesthetics in the Work of 

Gudbergur Bergsson with book signing 

and reading 

Guests: Birna Bjarnadottir, Gudbergur 

Bergsson and Atli Heimir Sveinsson 


Hear NMF artistic associate Matthew Patton 

and composers Jóhann Jóhannsson and 

Atli Heimir Sveinsson share their thoughts 

on Icelandic music and their works being 

presented in this evening’s concert, hosted 

by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent 

Ho. 


Program: 

Áskell Másson (b. 1953): Prím (1984) 

Victoria Sparks, snare drum 

Suomaleinen Kansansavella: 

Sakkijärven polkka 

Pizzicelli Ensemble; Minna Rose Chung, 

director 

Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze 

Pizzicelli Ensemble 


POST-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES 

Saturday, January 28 

10:15 pm – Midnight 

Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall 

Join our NMF after-party as Winnipeg’s own 

Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening 

of great jazz tunes. 

Sunday, January 29 


(Doors open at 9:30 pm) 

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art 

(Co-Presented by Plug In ICA) 

Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue 

Free admission, cash bar 

Selections from the new music score 

“Tales from the Gimli Hospital” 

Wheelchair accessible; Parking on site 

Venue capacity is limited; no seating 

Monday, January 30 



Join us for the after-party and reception 

sponsored by the Canadian Music Centre 

Will Bonness, piano 


Will Bonness has been active on the 

Winnipeg, Canadian and 

international jazz scenes since his 

teen years. At age 17, he joined 

Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop 

Nouveau Band for a year-long world 

tour which included performances in New York 

and London. He performs regularly throughout 

Manitoba with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Manitoba 

Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Bonness has appeared on 

a number of recordings including the Winnipeg 

Jazz Orchestra’s Steppin’ Out (2008), Larry Roy 

and Steve Kirby’s Wicked Grin (2008), and Papa 

Mambo’s Crooked Cha (2007). His 2009 debut 

Subtle Fire was nominated for Jazz Recording of the 

Year at the Western Canada Music Awards. 

Bonness is on faculty at the Canadian Mennonite 

University and he teaches privately from his home. 


Wednesday, February 1 



Join us for the after-party sponsored by 

Uptown Magazine 


Thursday, February 2 



Join our NMF after-party as Winnipeg’s own 

Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening 

of great jazz tunes. 

Friday, February 3 



Join us for the after-party sponsored by 

Lögberg-Heimskringla 

Will Bonnes, piano 

Richard Gillis, trumpet 

Richard Gillis, trumpet 

Since coming to Winnipeg in 

1990, Richard Gillis has 

performed as a recitalist with a 

variety of groups including the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, 

Music Baroque, GroundSwell, 

Papa Mambo, the Ron Paley Big Band, the 

Winnipeg Wind Ensemble (which he also 

conducted), he has recorded 4 CDs with 

Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen with 

whom he has performed in Iceland, 

Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Washington, DC, 

Minneapolis, Toronto and Edmonton. In 

1997, Mr. Gillis and saxophonist Sasha 

Boychuk founded the Winnipeg Jazz 

Orchestra. With Dr. Richard Gillis as the 

artistic director, the WJO has become an 

established part of Winnipeg’s Jazz music 

scene.

CONCERT ONE 

Saturday, January 28 I 8:00 pm Doors open at 7:00 pm 

Centennial Concert Hall 

OPENING GALA: KANCHELI & SAARIAHO 


Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor 

Jennifer Koh, violin 1 

Daniel Scholz, viola 2 

Canadian Mennonite University Chorus; Janet Brenneman and Rudy Schellenberg, directors 3 

PROGRAM 

Du cristal (Canadian premiere) Kaija Saariaho (FI) 

Graal Théâtre: for Violin & Orchestra 1 Kaija Saariaho (FI) 

I. Delicato 

II. Impetuoso 

- INTERMISSION - 

Styx: for Viola, Choir & Orchestra 2 3 Giya Kancheli (GE) 

For this year’s New Music Festival we are proud to bring you the works of one of the world’s 

foremost composers: Kaija Saariaho, joining us for the performance of two of her celebrated 

works: Du cristal and Graal Théâtre (featuring acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh). To celebrate 

our many years of new music programming, we are proud to bring back a piece that has 

been regarded as one of NMF’s memorable highlights – Giya Kancheli’s Styx. This colossal 

work has been hailed as one of Kancheli’s greatest musical achievements and its 

performance tonight will feature the talents of our principal violist Daniel Scholz and the 

Canadian Mennonite University Chorus. 

To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39 

Festival Sponsor: Broadcast Partner: 

Music from tonight's concert will air 

on CBC Radio 2's "In Concert" and 

Concerts on Demand, online. 


NMF ESSAY – SIGFRÍDUR BJÖRNSDÓTTIR 

Vitality – Variety 

The Music Scene 

in Iceland 

The most prominent event in 

the music scene in Iceland in 

recent times has to be the 

opening of a new concert and 

conference hall in Reykjavík, 

named Harpa. This long-awaited 

home of music was first opened 

to the public in the beginning of 

May 2011 and the building was 

formally inaugurated with an 

opening ceremony in August of 

the same year. During the first 

few months the numbers of 

guests visting the house 

mounted up to the total number 

of inhabitants in Iceland, 

320,000 people. 

The house itself will, for some, 

forever stand as a monument to 

the spirit that drove the 

Icelandic financial market to 

the monumental crash in 2008, 

from which the country’s 

economy will take years, if not 

decades, to recover. At the same 

time it is heartily embraced by 

others as the 21st century’s 

fitting venue for the many types 

of music in Iceland that keep 

the heartbeat of our culture 

robust and vital. 

Harpa has already, in its 

opening year, been the venue 

for several festivals such as the 

Nordic Music Days 2011, 

Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík Jazz 

Festival and the Reykjavík Arts 

Festival as well as a series of 

Björk´s latest concerts. And 

there are many more to come, 

including the Dark Music Days 


2012, along with major 

conferences such as the Eve 

Online game conference in the 

Spring of 2012. Performing 

visitors are lining up to appear 

in Harpa; Dudamel and 

Vengerov have conducted in 

the house and Ashkenazy 

conducted the opening 

concerts. Jonas Kaufmann and 

Barbara Bonney have 

performed there and Kiri Te 

Kanawa is expected soon. The 

audiences in Iceland have a 

terrific array of options. 

In many ways, this huge 

harbour project resembles 

some of the new concert halls 

that have recently opened 

around the world with its glassy 

look and emphasis on natural 

light in the public areas on the 

inside. Special effort was made 

artistically to place this house 

specifically in Iceland through 

the design of the glass façade. 

Harpa’s façade is designed by 

renowned artist Ólafur 

Elíasson, Henning Larsen 

Architects and Batteríid 

Architects. The design is based 

on geometric principles; 

realised in two and three 

dimensions. Reminiscent of the 

crystallised basalt columns 

commonly found in Iceland, 

the southern facades create 

kaleidoscopic reflections of the 

city and the striking 

surrounding landscape. 

Harpa is the home of the 

Iceland Symphony Orchestra 

which celebrated its 60th 

anniversary in 2010. The 

orchestra has distinguished 

itself as one of the leading 

Nordic orchestras through its 

acclaimed performances and 

recordings. The artistic 

achievement of the ISO is even 

more remarkable given that the 

classical music tradition in 

Iceland only began in the 20th 

century. A short description of 

the audience development in 

the orchestra’s concerts can be 

seen as somewhat typical of what 

has been happening in the last 

few years in the music field in 

Iceland. A steep increase of 

subscriptions sales occurred in 

the dark hours of the financial 

meltdown. One might have 

expected a downturn when the 

reality of it hit the public with 

the freefalling currency and thus 

increased prices and cost of 

living in general. However, on 

the contrary, the increase in 

season-ticket sales continued. 

When sales for the orchestra’s 

2011-2012 season began, they 

went through the roof! In short, 

in the last three years these sales 

have more than doubled. 

The live music scene in Iceland 

is very active in general and 

music events of all kinds draw 

large numbers of people. 

Research has shown that people 

in Iceland’s neighbouring 

countries spend as much 

money now as before on 

culture, but they tend to go to 

fewer, more expensive events. 

We are not sure yet that this is 

the case in Iceland. Not 

everything can be measured by 

amounts spent; the generous 

support for artistic activities in 

Iceland ensures a wide range of 

music events offered for free or 

very little money to the people 

around the country.

Despite the regularly 

announced death of the CD, 

sales of locally produced music 

on disc in Iceland are constantly 

rising and every year the public 

buys tens of thousands of some 

of the titles published. As an 

example of this, the artist 

Mugison struck a chord in the 

nation’s heart with his album 

Haglél, released just before last 

Christmas. He invited people to 

a free concert in Harpa’s largest 

hall, Eldborg, as a “thank you” 

for its remarkable reception. As 

a result of the heavy demand for 

tickets, the electronic ticket 

ordering system crashed and 

extra concerts were scheduled. 

A classical album of music by 

Anna Thorvaldsdóttir was 

released in the Autumn of 2011 

by the USA-based publisher 

Innova. This album has received 

rave reviews and was included in 

top-10 lists of the year by both 

Time Out New York and Time 

Out Chicago. Just before 

Christmas came the 

announcement that one of the 

works on the CD has been 

chosen for performance at the 

ISCM Music Festival in 2012, a 

rare honour for Icelandic 

music. 

There are more facets of the 

music life than the full 

professional in all styles that 

relate to and can be a part of 

the explanation of this vitality of 

the music scene in general. The 

music schools in Iceland 

serve approximately 12,000 

students every year, and if we 

add the numbers of members of 

choirs in Iceland, more than 

15,000. The combined number 

of active students and singing 

amateurs in Iceland approaches 

10% of the population. 

Björk took the Icelandic music 

scene by storm in 2011, with her 

series of concerts Biophilia in 

the Autumn. The project is on a 

large scale; a complicated 

phenomenon with not only 

musical aspects but permeated 

with the love of nature and 

science, invention and 

community. Her idealistic 

correlational education project 

where modern methods such as 

apps and live workshops for 

children are an integrated part 

of the scene have received due 

attention. As some may know a 

small girls’ choir plays an 

important role in the Biophilia 

project, a performance feature 

impossible if not for the strong 

roots of good education and 

training in music for children in 

Iceland. Their conductor, Jón 

Stefánsson, has directed the 

choir since he founded it and 

they have received many awards 

both at home and abroad. 

Among the big events of the 

Icelandic music scene were the 

premieres of several larger 

works by Icelandic composers. 

Welcome, Harpa by Thorkell 

Sigurbjornsson and In Seventh 

Heaven by Haukur Tómasson 

both formed a part of the 

Harpa opening festivities. 

Emergence by Daníel Bjarnason 

was premiered at the Dark 

Music Days 2011, the annual 

festival of Iceland Composers 

Society held in the dark, winter 

days of late January/early 

February. Aeriality by Anna 

Thorvaldsdottir was premiered 

by the ISO in the new hall in 

late November. A violin concerto 

by Haflidi Hallgrímsson was 

premiered in Scotland, a 

percussion concerto by Áskell 

Másson was premiered in 

Tuurku, conducted by Petri 

Sakari, a former chief conductor 

of the ISO. A brand new horn 

concerto, also by Másson was 

premiered by the ISO in the 

Autumn. This is just a part of a 

much longer list of premieres, 

and mention must be made of 

the continued success of Jón 

Leifs’ music, both at home and 

throughout the world. 

One has to consider how all this 

activity is possible in such a 

small society and one fact must 

be said to be part of the 

explanation: every musician in 

the country wears many hats! 

They perform professionally, 

teach, they participate part-time 

in underground experimental 

groups and take part in the 

most extreme diversity of 

musical performances. Theatre, 

dance, charity, opera, children, 

the elderly – some of these 

active musicians are household 

names in Icelandic homes for 

very different reasons or 

touching points with the 

peoples’ lives. 

It is this melting-pot of creativity 

and performance forces from 

all directions that can, to some 

extent, explain the sense of 

freedom from fixed genres and 

styles which can be felt in musicmaking 

in Iceland. 

Everything is possible, it just has 

to be good! 

Sigfrídur Björnsdóttir 

Director, Iceland Music 

Information Centre 


CONCERT TWO 

Sunday, January 29 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:50 pm 

Westminster United Church 

RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN 

Megumi Masaki, piano 1 WSO Clearwater String Quartet 6 

Oleg Pokhanovski, violin 2 Minna Rose Chung, cello 7 

Yuri Hooker, cello 3 Tim Hecker, organ 8 

Gwen Hoebig, violin 4 Paul Corley, sound technician 9 

David Moroz, piano 5 

PROGRAM 

Letter A 1 S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté (CAN) 

Spins and Spells 3 Kaija Saariaho (FI) 

Reflections – Intro 2 Jurriaan Andriessen (NL) 

Tocar 4 5 Kaija Saariaho (FI) 

Reflections – Presto 2 Jurriaan Andriessen (NL) 

Stigmata 7 Vincent Ho (CAN) 

Tune for a Child 1 S.C. Eckhardt Gramatté (CAN) 

Nebraska 6 Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS) 

I. Flat Water 

II. Landlocked 

III. Erosion 

IV. Plainsong 


Ravedeath for Organ 8 9 Tim Hecker (CAN) 

Be dazzled by the performances of pianist Megumi Masaki and violinist Oleg Pokhanovski as they 

present works of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté and Jurriaan Andriessen. This year’s distinguished guest 

composer Kaija Saariaho joins us for the performance of her latest compositions: Tocar (for violin 

and piano) and Spins and Spells (for solo cello). One of Iceland’s new music superstars, composer 

Valgeir Sigurdsson, also joins us for the North American premiere of his string quartet, Nebraska, 

performed by the WSO Clearwater String Quartet. Cellist Minna Rose Chung presents Vincent Ho’s 

haunting work, Stigmata. Rounding off the evening will be acclaimed Canadian sound artist Tim 

Hecker as he performs his new work, Ravedeath For Organ. 

After-Party at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art 

Co-Presented by Plug In ICA 

Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue Free admission, cash bar, wheelchair accessible 

Doors open at 9:30 pm. Event at 10 pm to midnight Venue capacity is limited, no seating 

Festival Sponsor: 


on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and 


Broadcast Partner: 

January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 13 15

NMF ESSAY – DR. BIRNA BJARNADÓTTIR 

Icelandic Culture 

The poet Matthías Jochumsson’s 

(1835–1920) vision of Iceland 

and its thousand year history was 

that of eternity’s flower, watered 

by a shivering tear. The poet’s 

idea could be considered a 

contradiction to the country’s 

geographical realities; Iceland, 

placed on the edge of Europe, a 

volcanic island in the Atlantic 

Ocean, this “grave of fire” where 

the “wastelands of earth appear” 

– to quote Hannes Pétursson 

(1931), another major poet of 

Icelandic literature. How to 

reconcile this fragile flower and 

its shivering tear with an 

unforgiving nature teetering on a 

spectacular, oceanic edge? It is 

the task of a vibrant cultural 

heritage to explore and perceive 

even the greatest paradoxes. In 

this case, one that crosses 

centuries, oceans and continents. 

For those interested in the 

origins of Icelandic culture, 

medieval Iceland becomes an 

unavoidable destination. In fact, 

it was Europe’s smallest and 

most isolated nation that – in the 

twelfth and thirteenth centuries 

– pursued and preserved the 

cultural heritage of Scandinavia 

at large. The results can be 

measured in the most significant 

sources available on Norse 

mythology – namely, the two 

Eddas – along with several other 

important texts, including The 

First Grammatical Treatise, The 

Book of Settlements, and the 

equally fantastic Grágás, a source 

on medieval law. The sagas of 

kings, saints, and bishops – 

which constitute no small 

collection in themselves – have 

not failed to impress. The same 

holds true of the so called 

contemporary sagas, these 


reality–bites of Iceland’s 

thirteenth century epic power 

struggle. On top of all of this, a 

group of anonymous writers 

reinforced this already solid 

foundation in committing to 

vellum Europe’s first novels, the 

Sagas of Icelanders. Widely 

considered a unique literary 

genre within the context of 

world literature, the fictional 

sagas tell of the lives of the 

settlers and their descendants 

during the Age of Settlement 

(ca. 870–930) straight into the 

rise and fall of The Icelandic 

Commonwealth (ca. 930–1262). 

But how did it happen that the 

smallest and most isolated nation 

in Europe became the 

storehouse and creative centre 

of Northern culture? Snorri 

Sturluson (1149–1241), the 

politician, lawspeaker, 

mythographer, historian and 

poet, may, in part, be held 

responsible. Considered one of 

the most important interpreters 

of medieval European culture 

and society, his Edda is a 

brimming source on the art of 

poetry that had been dying out 

in the newly Christianized 

Europe. Simultaneously, when 

approaching the Norse 

Olympus, Snorri’s Edda provides 

us with an earthbound sense of a 

mythic direction. His key source, 

the poem Völuspá (The 

Seeresse’s Prophecy), is the most 

sacred text originating from 

Northern paganism. Preserved 

in the Codex Regius manuscript, 

(also known as the Poetic Edda), 

the poem reveals – with its 

shattering description of the 

beginning and the end of the 

world – the enigmatic remains of 

a pre–Christian worldview. 

By the sheer force of a mythic 

legacy, a certain cultural passage 

into the world had been created. 

In turn, the bridge leading from 

the unforgiving and spectacular 

edge of Europe can be perceived 

as it crosses centuries, oceans and 

continents. This is not intended to 

suggest that the story of the 

Icelandic cultural heritage is a 

story of an unbroken victory 

march. Iceland’s golden age – the 

medieval miracle – came to an 

end, only to be replaced by various 

episodes of both natural and manmade 

disasters. It was thus only 

recently that eternity’s flower was 

watered by a shivering tear. 

No wonder, then, that the subject 

of Icelandic language, literature 

and culture is taught in over one 

hundred universities world wide. 

Of all the programs and centres 

of study and research, however, 

there is only one Department of 

Icelandic Language and 

Literature that exists outside of 

Iceland. Thanks to a group of 

Icelandic nineteenth century 

immigrants and their 

descendants, this department is 

fostered here, in this city, by the 

University of Manitoba. Embraced 

by the continuous support of the 

Icelandic community across 

North America, the old country’s 

equally generous mindset, and 

the profound cultural 

contribution of members of the 

Icelandic community on both 

sides of the water, the 

department’s task is to pursue and 

promote in North America a 

certain cultural passage in the 

world. Thanks to the 2012 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s 

New Music Festival, people will 

now be able to hear the sound of 

this passage. 

Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir, 

Chair and Acting Head 

Department of Icelandic Studies 

University of Manitoba

CONCERT THREE 

Monday, January 30 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm 


SHAUNA ROLSTON: CITY SUITES (WORLD PREMIERE) 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Shauna Rolston, cello 3 

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor 1 WSO Clearwater String Quartet 4 

Richard Lee, conductor 2 

PROGRAM 

Emergence (North American premiere) 2 Daníel Bjarnason (IS) 

I. Silence 

II. Black Breathing 

III. Interlude 

IV. Emergence 

City Suites: Concerto for Cello and 1 3 Vincent Ho (CAN) 

Orchestra (World premiere)* 

I. Dusk 

II. Overdrive 

III. Nighthawks 

IV. New Dawn 


Tender is the Night (World premiere)** 2 Jesse Plessis (CAN) 

Pursuit: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra 1 4 Alexina Louie (CAN) 

I. Intro 

II. Still 

III. Rush 

In celebration of our Festival’s Icelandic theme, we are proud to present a new work by one of 

Iceland’s fastest rising stars – Daníel Bjarnason. Hear the North American premiere of his orchestral 

work Emergence, a piece hailed for its exquisite colours and emotional profundity. Returning to our 

Festival as our distinguished guest artist is Canada’s superstar cellist Shauna Rolston as she presents 

the world premiere of Vincent Ho’s cello concerto, City Suites, written especially for her and her 

carbon-fiber cello. This year’s Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work 

receives its premiere performance tonight with Tender is the night, composed by Brandon University 

student Jesse Plessis. Concluding the program is Alexina Louie’s thrilling concerto for string quartet, 

Pursuit, performed by our very own WSO Clearwater String Quartet. 

*Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Arts Council 

**Winner of the Canadian Music Centre’s 2012 Emerging Composer Prize 


Music from tonight's concert will air on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and Concerts on Demand, online. 




CONCERT FOUR 

Tuesday, January 31 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm 

Winnipeg Art Gallery 

WAG EVENT: DOUBLE FEATURE: 

GROUNDSWELL AND THE 

BEDROOM COMMUNITY 

David Betz 1 Anne Elise Lavallée, viola 8 

Heidi Ouellette 2 Emma Quackenbush, cello 9 

David Storen 3 Diana McIntosh, performer 10 

Troy Jasper 4 Bedroom Community: 11 

Ilkim Tongur 5 Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly, 

Jan Kocman, flute 6 Valgeir Sigurdsson 

Karl Stobbe, violin 7 

PROGRAM 

Part 1: 

:spin 1 2 3 4 5 Gordon Fitzell (CAN) 

Vertical Garden 6 Michael Matthews (CAN) 

After Sorrow (World premiere) 7 8 9 Jim Hiscott (CAN) 

You, Me and The Tree (World premiere)* 10 Diana McIntosh (CAN) 

Part 2: 

The Bedroom Community 11 

GroundSwell New Music returns to bring you a night of new music and theatre at the 

Winnipeg Art Gallery. Hear wonderful new works by many of Manitoba’s illustrious 

composers – Michael Matthews, Jim Hiscott, Gordon Fitzell and musical artist Diana 

McIntosh, who will present the world premiere of her one-woman piece, You, Me and The 

Tree. Also featured is a special performance by Iceland’s own Bedroom Community (Daníel 

Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson). Be part of an evening to remember at the 

WAG. 

*Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of the Winnipeg Arts Council 




CONCERT FIVE 

Wednesday, February 1 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm 


ICELANDIA 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 1 

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Shauna Rolston, cello 2 

PROGRAM 

Credo (Canadian premiere) 1 Kjartan Sveinsson (IS) 

So Far So Good (Canadian premiere)* Nico Muhly (USA) 


Bow to String: For Cello & Orchestra 2 Daníel Bjarnason (IS) 

(North American premiere) 

I. Sorrow Conquers Happiness 

II. Blood to Bones 

III. Air to Breath 

Dreamland (North American premiere) Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS) 

I. Grylukvædi 

II. Nowhere Land 

III. Helter Smelter 

IV. Cold Ground, Hot 

V. Dreamland 

VI. Laxness 

VII. “I offer prosperity and eternal life…” 

VIII. Past Tundra 

We bring you a very special evening of music by members of Iceland’s own composer collective – 

the Bedroom Community. We open with the highly anticipated performance of Credo, composed 

by Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), featuring Prairie Voices and our WSO Strings. Nico Muhly 

joins us for the Canadian premiere of his new WSO co-commissioned work, So Far So Good. 

Distinguished guest artist Shauna Rolston returns to the stage to present the North American 

premiere of Daniel Bjarnason’s enthralling piece for cello and orchestra, Bow to String. Finally, 

we present the North American premiere of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Dreamland, a new orchestral 

work based on his soundtrack to the prize-winning documentary of the same name (being shown 

at the Park Theatre on Sunday, January 29, 1:30 pm). 

*Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and the 





on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and 


January – – February 2012 2011 I IOVERTURE OVERTURE 21 5

Our community. Our future. 

Together. 

Proud to support the 


Great-West Life and the key design are trademarks of The Great-West Life Assurance Company. 

is a trademark of The Great-West Life Assurance Company.

CONCERT SIX 

Thursday, February 2 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm 


LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS 


Édouard Lock, choreographer 

Gavin Bryars, composer 

Blake Hargreaves, composer 

Njo Kon Kie, musical director and pianist 

Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cellist 

Jennifer Thiessen, violist 

Ida Toninato, saxophonist 

PROGRAM 

New Work 

Internationally acclaimed dance group La La La Human Steps returns to Winnipeg. Tonight, 

they present a thrilling new show choreographed to the extraordinary music of Gavin Bryars. 

Witness what critics and audiences have been raving about all over the world! 



Did you 

Know... 

• Ticket sales reflect less 

than 41% of the actual costs 

to presenting our season 

• The WSO performs for more 

than 30,000 students 

in Manitoba each year 

If you would like more information about giving to the WSO, please contact 

Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator at (204) 949-3987 or slund@wso.mb.ca 


• Your investment supports programs that 

enhance music education 

and access in our community

CONCERT SEVEN 

Friday, February 3 I 8:00 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm 


ICELANDIC FINALE: 

JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON 


Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor 

Jóhann Jóhannsson, computer 1 

Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 2 

PROGRAM 

A Prayer to the Dynamo (World premiere)* 1 Jóhann Jóhannsson (IS) 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 


Symphony No. 2 (North American premiere) 2 Atli Heimir Sveinsson (IS) 

I. …dansandi mordunsólir… (…dancing morning suns…) 

II. …vornæturregn… (…spring night rain…) 

III. …einn um nótt ég sveima… (…alone at night I drift…) 

IV. …blámi himinhæda… (…the blue heavens…) 

V. …blik af inum draumi… (…reflection of your dream…) 

For our closing gala concert, we are proud to present two monumental works by two of 

Iceland’s leading composers. Jóhann Jóhannsson joins us for the world premiere of his work, 

A Prayer to the Dynamo, commissioned by the WSO. Known for his ethereal colours and 

sonorous harmonies, Jóhannsson’s new piece will leave you breathless as he takes you on an 

emotional musical journey. To conclude our Festival, we bring you a major musical event: 

Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s Symphony No. 2. Hailed as an Icelandic masterpiece, Sveinsson’s 

magnificent work makes its North American premiere tonight with Winnipeg’s own Prairie 

Voices and an extended WSO. 

*Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of the Danish Arts Foundation 




WSO MUSICIAN PROFILES 

Desiree Abbey 

Instrument: Cello 

Joined WSO: 2011 

Hometown: Toronto, ON 

What or who inspires you? 

Children inspire me with their 

imaginations and dreams. To 

them anything is possible. 

Hobbies: Cooking with friends 

Jeremy Epp 

Instrument: Timpani 

Joined WSO: 2010; 

Extra musician since 2000 

Hometown: Winnipeg, MB 

Favourite piece to play: 

Anything by Beethoven 

or Mahler 


My parents & former WSO 

timpanist Jauvon Gilliam 


Richard Bauch 

Instrument: Viola 


Hometown: Park Forest, Illinois, 

USA 


People who achieve greatness, 

yet still remain nice people who 

are thoughtful of others. 

Hobbies: Basketball, gardening, 

fitness, reading 

Simon MacDonald 

Instrument: Violin 


Hometown: Victoria, BC 

What is your favourite piece 

to play? Prokofiev’s Romeo 

& Juliet 

What is one of your most 

memorable live performances? 

Gala performance outdoors in 

a Piazza in Italy with L. Pavarotti 

Tomomi Brennan 



Hometown: Osaka, Japan 



Playing Beethoven Symphony No. 9 

with a 10,000 person choir in 

Japan 

If you could have dinner with 

one historical figure, who would 

that be? 

Paganini: I just want to ask why 

he wrote such difficult pieces. 

Bruce Okrainec 

Instrument: Bass 


Hometown: Edmonton, AB 

Who was your idol growing up? 

The Beatles! 

What is your favourite 

piece to play? Sibelius 

Symphonies are especially 

beautiful and a treat to perform.

Elation Pauls 



Hometown: Saskatoon, SK 



My graduating Masters recital at 

the U of Toronto. My pianist 

jammed her finger in a door 

minutes before going to the hall, 

so I played the Kreutzer Sonata by 

Beethoven with pianist Peter 

Longworth without rehearsal. 

What is your favourite restaurant 

to go to after a WSO concert? 

Hermanos for the Empananas 

and Heart of Palm Salad 

Patrick Staples 

Instrument: Bass 


Hometown: Calgary, AB 



Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 

with Larry Rachleff and the Rice 

Symphony Orchestra. 


Michael Jackson 

Emma Quackenbush 

Instrument: Cello 


Hometown: Calgary, AB 

What is your favorite piece 

to play? Brahms Symphony No. 4 

Hobbies: Yoga, gardening, 

and as a result of gardening: 

canning. My fiancé and I make 

a mean salsa! 


My Dad. He is the most 

generous, kind, and loving 

person I know. 

Phoebe Tsang 



Hometown: London, England 


The every day world around 

me: people I meet, nature, 

books and other works of art. 


to play? Anything by Beethoven! 

Julie Savard 



Hometown: Montreal, QC 



Playing Beethoven's 6th 

Symphony in an old church 

during a thunderstorm 

Hobbies: Baking, horseback 

riding, playing with my 

daughters Emilie and Chloe 

Richard Turner 

Instrument: Harp 


Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, USA 


to play? Ceremony of Carols by 

Benjamin Britten 


Understanding the intention and 

conception of a master composer and 

then being able to bring it to life. 


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Sponsored by:

PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS 

Jurriaan Andriessen, composer 

(Netherlands, 1925-1996) 

Jurriaan Andriessen studied 

composition with his father at 

the Utrecht Conservatory before 

moving to Paris where he 

studied with Olivier Messiaen. 

The bulk of Mr. Andriessen's 

output is for the stage; his study in Paris was 

primarily in writing film music. He had a 

variety of musical influences which he drew 

upon, including American film music, Aaron 

Copland's ballets, folk music of various 

cultures, neoclassicism, and serialism; this 

eclecticism, combined with his compositional 

skill, made his writing well-suited to scoring 

dramatic works. In addition to the theatre 

works he is most noted for, Mr. Andriessen was 

also a prolific composer of chamber and vocal 

works, many of which were meant to be 

performed by amateurs. He has also been a 

director for television. 

Birna Bjarnadóttir, author 

Birna Bjarnadóttir studied 

literature and aesthetics at the 

University of Iceland, the Freie 

University in Berlin and the 

University of Warwick, England. 

She holds the position of 

Chair and Acting Head of Icelandic Studies at 

the University of Manitoba. She is the author 

of several books, essays and articles, lectures 

widely on the subjects of literature, culture and 

aesthetics, and works frequently with artists on 

creative projects. Her most recent publications 

include a book of fragments (Kind Publishing, 

2010), illustrated by Cliff Eyland, Haraldur 

Jónsson and Guy Maddin, with a forward by 

George Toles; and Recesses of the Mind. 

Aesthetics in Gudbergur Bergsson’s Work 

(McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2012). 

Daníel Bjarnason, composer (Iceland) 

Daníel Bjarnason studied piano, 

composition and conducting in 

Reykjavík before studying 

orchestral conducting at 

Freiburg University of Music, 

Germany. Mr. Bjarnason works 

equally as conductor and composer and has 

worked with many different ensembles 

including the London Sinfonietta, Ulster 

Orchestra and Sinfonietta Cracovia. He regularly 

conducts at both the Icelandic Opera and Iceland 

Symphony Orchestra. His music has been 

performed worldwide and he is currently writing 

new music for the LA Philharmonic, LA Children's 

Chorus and the American Youth Symphony. Mr. 

Bjarnason has won numerous awards and grants 

and in 2008 and 2011 was awarded a special 

recommendation for his work at the International 

Rostrum for Composers. In 2010, he was 

nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council's 

Music Prize, and won the Kraumur Music Award. 

Brandon University’s New Music Ensemble 

(BUNME) 

The Brandon 

University New 

Music Ensemble 

(BUNME), under 

the direction of 

Professor Megumi 

Masaki, is a 

collaboration of undergraduate students, 

comprising all programs, years, and instruments. 

The group explores a diverse array of 

contemporary repertoire from around the world, 

for large and small ensembles, and presents an 

annual New Music Festival at Brandon University. 

The 2010 festival, “Sights and Sounds,” featured 

composer-in-residence Nicole Lizée. Past festivals 

have featured collaborations with composers T. 

Patrick Carrabré of Brandon and Jorge Córdoba 

Valencia of Mexico City. 

Gavin Bryars, composer (UK) 

Gavin Bryars, prominent and prolific 

English composer, was born in 

Yorkshire in 1943. He initially 

established his musical reputation as 

a jazz bassist working in the early 

sixties with improvisers Derek Bailey 

and Tony Oxley. He abandoned improvisation in 

1966 and worked for a time in the United States 

with John Cage. From 1969 to 1978, he taught in 

departments of Fine Art in Portsmouth and 

Leicester, and was instrumental in founding the 

legendary Portsmouth Sinfonia. He founded the 

music department at Leicester Polytechnic (later De 

Montfort University) and was professor of music 

there from 1986 to 1994. His first major works as a 

composer were The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), 

originally released on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 

1975, and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971). 



Canadian Mennonite University Singers; 

Janet Brenneman and 

Rudy Schellenberg, directors 

The CMU 

Singers is one of 

five auditioned 

choral ensembles 

at Canadian 

Mennonite 

University. This 

45-voiced mixed ensemble is comprised of 

students from a variety of undergraduate 

academic programs at CMU. The CMU Singers’ 

diverse repertoire is highly acclaimed among its 

audiences and includes sacred and secular music 

from all eras and musical cultures. It performs 

regularly in worship services and concerts at CMU, 

throughout the city of Winnipeg and in 

communities across Manitoba. Each spring, the 

choir tours across Canada or through the northern 

U.S. Recently, the CMU Singers collaborated with 

the other CMU Choirs in the world premiere of 

T. Patrick Carrabre’s Creation Stories at the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music 

Festival, and in the release of CMU’s newest CD, 

On Earth as in Heaven. The choir can be heard 

regularly on Golden West Radio broadcasting 

throughout southern Manitoba. Members of the 

CMU Singers are also members of the CMU 

Women’s Chorus or the CMU Men’s Chorus. 

Minna Rose Chung, cello 

Korean American cellist Minna 

Rose Chung joined the University 

of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels 

Faculty of Music as assistant 

professor of cello in 2008 and is 

the director of Project Rio, a 

multi-collaborative program that invites Canadian 

musicians to teach and perform at the prestigious 

Rio International Cello Encounter in Rio de 

Janeiro, Brazil. Aside from teaching, Dr. Chung 

tours internationally as a guest artist with many 

festival orchestras and chamber ensembles; 

recently returning from a U.S. tour with the 

Munich Symphony. In 2007, she made her 

Carnegie Hall debut as a founding member with 

her ensemble, the Pangea String Quartet in 

conjunction with the Kronos Quartet Young 

Artists Concert series. Additionally in 2010, she 

joined the Azure String Quartet, a newly formed 

Winnipeg ensemble dedicated to exploring new 

interpretations of the chamber music milieu. 


Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, 

composer (Canada, 1899-1974) 

Born in Moscow as Sofia (Sonia) 

Fridman-Kochevskaya, Ms. 

Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the 

Conservatoire de Paris, where her 

teachers included Alfred Brun and 

Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. 

Chenée for piano, and Vincent d'Indy and Camille 

Chevillard for composition. She also embarked on 

several concert tours of Western Europe, in which 

she performed her own works. Her legacy is 

preserved through the work of the Eckhardt- 

Grammaté Foundation. Her compositions included: 

a symphony; a concerto for orchestra; a triple 

concerto for trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, strings, and 

timpani; three piano concertos; two violin 

concertos; a piece for two pianos and orchestra; a 

bassoon concerto; various chamber works; as well as 

numerous instrumental solos for piano and violin. 

Gordon Fitzell, composer (Canada) 

Gordon Fitzell is a Winnipegbased 

composer, producer and 

concert presenter. His music has 

been performed by a host of 

leading artists including 

Norwegian group BIT20, 

Canada’s Trio Fibonacci, and American sextet 

eighth blackbird, whose Grammy-winning 

album Strange Imaginary Animals features two 

of his works. In 2010, Mr. Fitzell was the guest 

composer of the Cluster Festival, where five of 

his works were presented. An assistant professor 

of music at the University of Manitoba, he also 

leads the eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE) 

and serves as an artistic director of GroundSwell, 

Winnipeg’s new music series. 

GroundSwell New Music 

Since 1990, GroundSwell 

has been Winnipeg’s only 

concert series devoted solely to presenting new 

music. Now in its twenty-first season, 

GroundSwell is a leading force in the Prairies for 

the promotion and appreciation of the music of 

our times. From bold interpretations of 

twentieth-century classics to innovative 

integrations involving theatre, dance, film, visual 

art and the written word, GroundSwell continues 

to explore new vistas of contemporary 

performance.


Gudbergur Bergsson, author 

Born in Grindavík, Iceland 

in 1932, Mr. Gudbergur 

Bergsson received a 

teaching diploma from the 

Iceland University of 

Education in 1955, went to 

Spain for further studies and graduated in 

Spanish, literature and art history from La 

Universidad de Barcelona in 1958. His first 

books, the novel Músin sem lædist (The 

Prowling Mouse) and the poetry collection 

Endurtekin ord (Repeated Words), 

appeared in 1961. He has published 

numerous books, short stories, over 20 

novels, children's books, autobiographical 

novels, and more. Mr. Bergsson is one of 

Iceland's most prolific translators from 

Spanish and has thus played an important 

part in introducing Spanish and Latin- 

American authors in Iceland. His own 

books have been translated into several 

languages and the novel Svanurinn (The 

Swan) has received strong acclaim in 

many countries. He received the Nordic 

Prize of the Swedish Academy in 2004. 

Tim Hecker, composer & performer 

(Canada) 

Tim Hecker is a Canadianbased 

musician and sound 

artist, born in Vancouver. 

Since 1996, he has 

produced a range of audio 

works for Kranky, Alien8, 

Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc, 

Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have 

been described as “structured ambient,” 

“tectonic colour plates” and “cathedral 

electronic music.” More to the point, he 

has focused on exploring the intersection 

of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering 

an approach to song craft that is both 

physical and emotive. The New York 

Times has described his work as 

“foreboding, abstract pieces in which static 

and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow 

moving notes and chords, like fissures in 

the earth waiting to swallow them whole.” 

His work has also included commissions 

for contemporary dance, sound-art 

installations, as well as various writings. 

Jim Hiscott, composer (Canada) 

Jim Hiscott was born in 1948 in St. 

Catharines, Ontario. In 1971, after 

earning a master's degree in 

Theoretical Particle Physics, he 

switched to music composition, 

studying with Samuel Dolin at the 

Royal Conservatory of Music and David Lidov and 

Richard Teitelbaum at York University. He is the 

recipient of the Creative Arts Award of the 

Canadian Federation of University Women. His 

compositions have been performed across North 

America, in Europe and Asia by many artists 

including the Hilliard Ensemble, the St. Lawrence 

String Quartet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, 

the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver 

New Music Society ensemble, Rivka Golani, 

Arraymusic and Philadelphia's Relache. 

Gwen Hoebig, violin 

Recognized as one of Canada's most 

outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is a 

graduate of the Juilliard School. She 

joined the WSO as concertmaster in 

1987, having been awarded the position 

as the unanimous choice of the audition 

committee. A champion of new music, she has given 

many Canadian premieres, and was recently recognized 

at the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Canadian 

Music Centre for her exemplary commitment to the 

performance of the music of Canadian composers. 

She has performed all the major violin concerti with 

orchestras across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. As a 

chamber musician she appears frequently in recital with 

her husband, pianist David Moroz, and has performed 

at many of the country's foremost festivals. 

Yuri Hooker, cello 

Yuri Hooker is principal cellist for both 

the Winnipeg Symphony and the 

Manitoba Chamber Orchestras. He 

makes regular concerto appearances 

with both orchestras and has been 

featured on CBC Radio 2. He is also a 

regular performer at GroundSwell New Music, the 

Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, and the Clear 

Lake Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Hooker is also a 

dedicated teacher and the founder of the Winnipeg 

Summer Cello Institute. He holds a Bachelor of 

Music from Brandon University after which he 

pursued graduate studies with Janos Starker at 

Indiana University. 



Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer & 

performer (Denmark/Iceland) 

Jóhann Jóhannsson’s work 

frequently combines electronics 

with classical orchestrations. His 

work bears the influence of 

minimalism, drone music, 

baroque music and electroacoustic 

music and Mr. Jóhannsson’s 

background in Iceland’s flourishing 

independent music scene also informs his work. 

He released his first solo record Englabörn in 

2002 on the well-respected British label Touch, 

on which he combined the influence of Erik 

Satie, Bernard Herrmann, Purcell, Moondog 

and the electronic music of labels like Mille 

Plateaux and Mego. Later works include 

Virthulegu Forsetar (2004), scored for a brass 

ensemble, electronic drones and percussion, 

and the orchestral albums Fordlandia (2008) 

and IBM 1401 - A User's Manual (2006), a 

composition which uses sounds produced from 

the electromagnetic emissions of the old IBM 

1401 mainframe computers. 

Giya Kancheli, composer (Georgia) 

Born in Tbilisi on August 10, 

1935, Giya Kancheli is 

Georgia's most distinguished 

living composer and a leading 

figure in the world of 

contemporary music. Mr. 

Kancheli's scores, deeply spiritual in nature, are 

filled with haunting aural images, varied colours 

and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering 

climaxes. His music draws inspiration from 

Georgian folklore and sings with a heartfelt, yet 

refined emotion; it is conceived dramaturgically 

with a strong linear flow and an expansive sense 

of musical time. A man of uncompromising 

artistic integrity, Mr. Kancheli has been called 

by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, "an 

ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist -a 

restrained Vesuvius." 

Jan Kocman, flute 


principal flutist Jan Kocman is 

well known to Canadian 

audiences for his solo, orchestral, 

and recital performances. He has 

been a featured soloist numerous 


times performing concerto repertoire by Nielsen, 

Mozart, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Telemann, 

Szervansky, Quantz, Glen Buhr, John Corigliano, 

R. Murray Schafer, Bright Sheng, Leonard 

Bernstein and Christopher Rouse. He attended 

Indiana University, where he studied with 

renowned flutist James Pellerite, graduating with 

distinction with his master's degree in flute 

performance. During his graduate studies he served 

as associate instructor to Mr. Pellerite and 

completed course work in musicology with Walter 

Kaufmann, the founding conductor of the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has performed 

as principal flutist with WSO Music Directors Piero 

Gamba, Kazuhiro Koizumi, Bramwell Tovey, 

Andrey Boreyko, and now Alexander Mickelthwate. 

Jennifer Koh, violin 

Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized 

for her intense, commanding 

performances, delivered with 

dazzling virtuosity and technical 

assurance. She is dedicated to 

performing the violin repertoire of 

all eras from traditional to contemporary to new 

compositions and exploring connections in the 

works she performs. Since the 1994-95 season when 

she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition 

in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition, 

and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh has 

been heard with leading orchestras and conductors 

around the world. Also a prolific recitalist, she 

appears frequently at major music centers and 

festivals. In 2009, Ms. Koh launched “Bach and 

Beyond,” a recital project that explores solo violin 

repertoire from Bach’s six sonatas and partitas to 

newly commissioned works. Highlights of her 

2011-12 season include Bach’s complete Sonatas 

and Partitas for solo violin presented by the Miller 

Theater in New York, and performances with the 

Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, 

and the Seattle, St. Louis and Toronto symphonies. 


La La La Human Steps was 

founded in 1980 by Édouard Lock 

around a three-week series of 

performances in the small theatre 

l'Eskabel in Montréal's St-Henri 

district, which led the troupe to The 

Kitchen in New York City, the epicentre of 

contemporary dance at the time. Since then, the


troupe has become one of the world's most 

recognized dance companies, thanks to the unique 

choreographic language it developed and has 

constantly reinvented since its inception. 

Choreographic complexity, the alteration of 

balletic structures and the intertwining of 

choreographic, musical and cinematic strands are 

among the elements that create a sense of 

perceptual distortion and renewal, that encourage 

audiences to both reinvent and rediscover the 

body and its dance. The company requires that its 

dancers constantly redefine, question and renew 

themselves, to bring out performances that move 

from extreme physical challenge to the greatest of 

lyricism. The Montréal troupe has collaborated 

with institutions both prestigious and eclectic, 

from the Opéra de Paris to Frank Zappa. 

Anne Elise Lavallée, viola 

Canadian violist Anne Elise Lavallée 

received her early musical training 

as well as her bachelor of music 

from Le Conservatoire de Musique 

de Québec. She was then invited by 

renowned violist Emmanuel Vardi 

to pursue a master’s degree in New York and was 

awarded a distinguished full scholarship from the 

Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Lavallée came 

back to Montreal to freelance with various groups 

and obtained an artist diploma from McGill 

University studying under Douglas McNabney. In 

1997, she won the position of assistant-principal 

viola with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra 

and has made Winnipeg her home. Since then she 

appears regularly with diverse music groups in 

Manitoba as well as on CBC broadcasts. In 

addition to her musical career, Ms. Lavallée has 

held various administrative positions at the WSO 

including serving on the board of directors. She 

has been a radio freelancer for French CBC since 

2000 and a frequent host on WSO’s Musically 

Speaking radio show on CJOB, Masterworks 

Series pre-concert talks and Up Close and 

Orchestral educational series. 

Édouard Lock, choreographer 

La La La Human Steps founder, 

artistic director and choreographer 

Édouard Lock began his 

choreographic career at the age of 

20 and in 1980, he founded La La 

La Human Steps. Over the years 

Mr. Lock has been invited to create works for some of 

the world’s leading dance companies, including the 

Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Het Nationale Ballet of 

Holland and the Nederlands Dans Theater. His works 

have garnered many awards and in 2010, he received 

the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for 

Lifetime Artistic Achievement. That same year, he 

was also beneficiary of the Canada Council for the 

Arts Molson Prize while the Université du Québec à 

Montréal awarded him an honorary doctorate. He 

has collaborated with artists including David Bowie 

and Frank Zappa. Mr. Lock was named a Chevalier 

de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2001 and Officer 

of the Order of Canada in 2002. 

Alexina Louie, composer (Canada) 

Alexina Louie has been widely 

commissioned by Canada’s most 

prestigious orchestras, ensemble and 

soloists. Most recently, her interest 

in the collaborative experience has 

led her to write scores for dance 

(Wolf’s Court, The National Ballet of Canada), 

film and television, a medium which has garnered 

for her two Golden Sheaf Awards for best music 

from the Yorkton Film Festival (Burnt Toast, and 

Roxana - written with her husband and 

collaborator, Alex Pauk). Among her many 

honours, Ms. Louie has won the Jules Leger Prize 

in Chamber Music, the Chalmer’s Award, two 

Juno Awards and the National Arts Centre 

Composers Award. She is an Officer of the Order 

of Canada and holds an honourary doctorate 

from the University of Calgary. 

Megumi Masaki, piano 

Award-winning pianist Megumi 

Masaki has established herself as an 

international artist renowned for her 

warm rapport with audiences and 

her superb musicianship. Her multifaceted 

career as acclaimed soloist, 

chamber musician, pedagogue, conductor, 

champion of contemporary music and 

multidisciplinary researcher of Peak Performance 

has taken her across Canada, the U.S., Europe and 

Asia. Ms. Masaki is presently associate professor of 

piano at Brandon University, is on faculty at the 

Casalmaggiore International Music Festival Italy, 

the Waterford Summer Music Festival Utah USA 

and is the artistic director of the Eckhardt- 

Gramatté National Music Competition. 


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Michael Matthews, composer (Canada) 

Michael Matthews’ music has 

been performed in countries 

around the world. He has been 

the recipient of numerous 

commissions and awards; in 

2000, he held a Rockefeller 

Foundation residency at the Bellagio Center in 

Italy. His orchestral work Two Interludes was 

awarded third prize in the 1997 du Maurier 

Arts Ltd. New Music Festival Canadian 

Composers Competition. He has also received 

Canada Council and Manitoba Arts Council 

grants, the Winnipeg Rh Institute Award for 

interdisciplinary research, a residency at the 

EMS computer music studios in Stockholm, 

Sweden, and a prize in the Premio Musicale 

Cittá di Trieste, Italy for his orchestral piece 

The Wind Was There. 

Diana McIntosh, composer & 

performer (Canada) 

Bravo TV called Diana 

McIntosh a national treasure. 

With a dynamic stage presence, 

she has an active career as a 

distinctive, provocative, and 

innovative composer, pianist 

and performance artist, having performed 

throughout Canada, widely in the U.S., in 

Europe and Nairobi, Kenya. She has been 

commissioned by many soloists, ensembles, 

and by the WSO and CBC. Most recently, 

CBC commissioned a piano Prelude and 

Fugue for their Glenn Gould celebration 

concert in Toronto, and Prodigies of the Nose 

for percussion and piano. In October 2009, 

she performed in the premiere of her 

theatrical The Rehearsal’s the Thing for four 

speaking/playing musicians. 

David Moroz, piano 

Winnipeg-born pianist David 

Moroz enjoys a career as one 

of Canada's most versatile 

artists. He has performed in 

every major Canadian city and 

appears regularly in recital with 

Canada's most distinguished musicians. Mr. 

Moroz was awarded a doctor of music degree 

from the University of Montreal, and holds 

both bachelor and master of music degrees 

from the celebrated Juilliard School in New 

York City. He has been artistic director of The 

Winnipeg Chamber Music Society since 1987, 

and was appointed to the University of 

Manitoba's Faculty of Music in 1999, where he 

is coordinator of the Piano Department. 

Nico Muhly, composer (U.S.A.) 

The music of New York–based 

composer Nico Muhly has been 

played by such ensembles as 

eighth blackbird, the Britten 

Sinfonia, the Chicago Symphony, 

and the New York Philharmonic, 

and sung by soloists including David Daniels, 

Mark Padmore and Jessica Rivera. In addition 

to numerous recordings of his own music 

(available on Decca and Bedroom Community 

Records), he has collaborated on projects with 

Antony and the Johnsons, Björk, Bonnie 

"Prince" Billy, Grizzly Bear, Jónsi of Sigur Rós, 

and Teitur Lassen. His first opera, Two Boys, 

premiered at the English National Opera in 

June 2011. Dark Sisters, commissioned by the 

Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre 

Group, and the Opera Company of 

Philadelphia premiered in November 2011 in 

New York City. 

Jesse Plessis, composer (Canada) 

Jesse Plessis is currently working towards a master 

of music degree in piano performance at Brandon 

University. His own arrangement of Sgt. Pepper's 

Lonely Hearts Club Band, the seminal album by 

The Beatles, received an acclaimed premiere in 

August 2011. He has been featured in concert 

programs at the Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, as 

a guest artist with the Lethbridge Symphony, the 

Musaeus String Quartet, the Land's End 

Chamber Ensemble, the International Piano 

Ensemble, and has worked with composers John 

Corigliano and Marcel Bergmann. In May 2011, 

he was a prize winner in the Women’s Musical 

Club of Winnipeg Scholarship Competition. He 

is also active as a conductor and his compositions 

have been performed in Canada, Europe, and 

broadcast on CBC Radio 2. 



Oleg Pokhanovski, violin 

Oleg Pokhanovski began his career 

as a violinist at the age of 6, giving 

his first performance with the 

Kuybyshev Symphony in Russia. At 

10, he was accepted into renowned 

Special Music School for Gifted 

Children in Moscow and later studied at the 

Moscow State Conservatory. Invited to move to the 

United States, he received full scholarships at The 

Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of 

Music studying with Dorothy DeLay, Pinchas 

Zukerman and Ani Kavafian. Mr. Pokhanovski is a 

top prize winner of eight prestigious international 

violin competitions including the Paganini in 

Genova, Sarasate in Pamplona and CIEM in 

Geneva among others, and was First Prize winner 

of the 1990 Scheveningen International Violin 

Competition. He is also a twice recipient of the 

prestigious Canada Council National Career 

Development Grant, as well as a multiple recipient 

of Conceil des Arts du Quebec and Manitoba Arts 

Council Grants. He presently holds the position of 

associate professor of violin at the Marcel A. 

Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of 

Manitoba, having previously held the same position 

at the Lake State Superior University in Michigan. 

Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 

Prairie Voices is an award-winning company of 

singers ages 18-25 dedicated to the performance 

of innovative contemporary choral music from all 

over the world. Placing an emphasis on Canadian 

and Manitoban composers, the choir uses energy, 

expressiveness and movement to connect avantgarde 

composition with a popular audience. 

Hailed by composer Sid Robinovitch as “the wave 

of the future for choral music,” Prairie Voices is 

known for their passionate style of performance, 

which combines exceptional vocals with engaging 

presentation to provide the ultimate choral 

experience. 


Emma Quackenbush, cello 

A gifted artist, Canadian cellist 

Emma Quackenbush holds a 

master’s degree in Music 

Performance from the University 

of Michigan where she studied 

with Anthony Elliott. She joined 

the Winnipeg Symphony in 2008 and was later 

able to spend time at the Banff Centre in a 

Music Residency. Ms. Quackenbush can be 

heard on CBC Radio 2 and has appeared in 

many live performances in and around 

Winnipeg including appearances with 

GroundSwell and Virtuosi. A rapidly emerging 

star on the Canadian music scene, she credits 

John Kadz, with whom she studied for 11 years, 

as a major influence in her musical life. Ms. 

Quackenbush is thrilled to have returned to the 

Winnipeg Symphony in her third season. 

Shauna Rolston, cello 

Award-winning Canadian cellist 

Shauna Rolston is considered by 

peers and fans alike to be one of 

the most compelling and unique 

musical voices on the stage today. 

Since receiving a mini cello for 

her 2nd birthday, Ms. Rolston has appeared 

around the world, performing with such 

distinguished artists as Krzysztof Penderecki, 

Sir Andrew Davis, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, 

Keith Lockhart, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Hans 

Graf, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrey Boreyko, 

and Menahem Pressler, as well as undertaking 

innovative collaborations with Veronica 

Tennant, Evelyn Hart, and Peggy Baker. 

Praised for her blazing technique and her ability 

to captivate the imagination and touch the 

heart of each audience member, she continues 

to astonish and delight with her concerts, 

recordings, and world premieres. 

Kaija Saariaho, composer (Finland) 

Kaija Saariaho is not only 

among the most important 

Finnish composers of her time, 

but must be ranked as one of the 

leading composers of the late 

twentieth and early twenty-first 

centuries. She studied composition in Helsinki, 

Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since


1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have 

had a major influence on her music and her 

characteristically luxuriant and mysterious 

textures are often created by combining live 

music and electronics. Although much of her 

catalogue comprises chamber works, from the 

mid-nineties she has turned increasingly to 

larger forces and broader structures, such as the 

operas L’Amour de loin and Adriana Mater and 

the oratorio La Passion de Simone. She has won 

the Prix Italia and, in 1989, the Prix Ars 

Electronica; received commissions from Lincoln 

Center for the Kronos Quartet and from 

IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain; 

and has been the subject of a pan-European 

collaborative project to produce a CD-ROM 

Prisma about her work. In 2000, she won the 

Nordic Council Music Prize for the work Lonh 

for soprano and electronics. She was awarded 

the title Musician of the Year 2008 (announced 

by Musical America, the U.S. publishing 

company for performing arts) for being "among 

the few contemporary composers to achieve 

public acclaim as well as universal critical 

respect." 

Daniel Scholz, viola 

Daniel Scholz is the principal 

violist with the Winnipeg 

Symphony Orchestra and 

Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, 

and is a member of The 

Winnipeg Chamber Music 

Society, Brandon Chamber Players and the 

Rembrandt String Quartet. He studied at the 

University of Regina, McGill University and 

the University of British Columbia, and was a 

prize-winner at the Lionel Tertis Viola 

Competition, the most prestigious event of its 

kind, held on the Isle of Mann. As a soloist, 

Mr. Scholz has performed with the Winnipeg 

Symphony Orchrestra, the Manitoba Chamber 

Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony and the 

Vancouver Chamber Players. Highly soughtafter 

as a teacher, Mr. Scholz is an instructor at 

the University of Manitoba and the Canadian 

Mennonite University, and also conducts the 

Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has 

performed and taught at many of Canada's 

major festivals and is a faculty member of the 

University of Manitoba's Summer Chamber 

Music Program. 

Valgeir Sigurdsson, composer (Iceland) 

Valgeir Sigurdsson lives in 

Reykjavík, Iceland. A boundless 

approach to music informs his 

work as composer, musician, 

engineer and mixer. In high 

demand as a producer, Mr. 

Sigurdsson has, for over a decade, cultivated 

projects by diverse international artists whilst 

developing his own particular magic brand of 

recording artistry – now with two solo albums to 

his name. Mr. Sigurdsson is the founder of the 

Bedroom Community record label as well as 

Iceland’s top recording facility Greenhouse 

Studios where his collaborators include Björk, 

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Camille, CocoRosie, Feist, 

Ben Frost, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, múm and 

many others. Colliding organic with synthetic, 

acoustic with digital, connection with isolation, 

and domestic with ethereal – resulting in a body 

of work ripe with emotion, curiosity, and 

humanity. He has composed for film and stage; 

his work has been performed by Chiara Quartet 

(US), Britten Sinfonia (UK), Avanti! (FI) and the 

Iceland Symphony Orchestra. 

Karl Stobbe, violin 

Described as an artist with “soulful 

musicianship” by the San 

Francisco Classical Voice (2008), 

Karl Stobbe regularly performs 

concerti, recitals, and chamber 

music, in addition to appearing 

frequently as a concertmaster in Canada and the 

United States. He has collaborated as a soloist 

with many exceptional conductors, including 

Andrey Boreyko, Bramwell Tovey, Roy 

Goodman, and Alain Trudel. His diversity has 

enabled him to record with many of Canada’s 

finest musicians. He is an avid lover and 

performer of new music, playing and premiering 

many solo and chamber works by national and 

international composers. Recently, he has given 

world premieres as a soloist in works by Michael 

Oesterle, Doug Smith, and Jocelyn Morlock, with 

the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and National 

Arts Centre Orchestra. Mr. Stobbe continues to 

perform as the associate concertmaster of the 

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, concertmaster of 

the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and with the 

Winnipeg Chamber Music Society. 



Atli Heimir Sveinsson, composer (Iceland) 

Atli Heimir Sveinsson was born in 

Reykjavík, Iceland and started piano 

lessons at the age of 10. He studied 

piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson 

at the Reykjavík College of Music 

and took his diploma in 1957. He 

went on to study at the State Academy in Cologne, 

Germany, from 1959, studying composition with 

Günter Raphael and Rudolf Petzold, 

instrumentation with Bernd Alois Zimmermann, 

conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and 

piano with Hermann Pillney and Hans Otto 

Schmidt. He also took private lessons with 

Gottfried Michael Koenig. He completed his 

diploma in composition and theory in 1963 and in 

1964 studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henri 

Pousseur, Christoph Caskel and Frederic Rzewski. 

He was president of the Icelandic Composers 

Association from 1972 to 1983. Since 1992, 

Mr. Sveinsson has received an honourary salary 

from the Icelandic Parliament. He is a member of 

the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 1993. 

His Symphony No. 2 premiered in Reykjavík on 

June 1, 2006. 

Kjartan Sveinsson, composer (Iceland) 

Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson has been 

the keyboardist of the Icelandic 

post-rock band Sigur Rós since 

1998. Being something of a multiinstrumentalist, 

he has also played 

such instruments as the flute, tin 

whistle, oboe and even the banjo, as well as many 

of the unorthodox instruments that contribute to 

Sigur Rós's distinctive sound. He has performed 

under the pseudonym "The Lonesome Traveller" 

with Sigur Rós band-mate Orri Páll D´yrason and 

Amiina violinist María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir 

(whom he married in 2001). "The Lonesome 

Traveller" covered Sigur Rós songs acoustically in 

an alt-country style. Mr. Sveinsson also composed 

the score for the 2005 Academy Award nominated 

short film Sídasti bærinn (The Last Farm), for 

award winning director Ramin Bahrani's 2009 

short film Plastic Bag which features the narration 

of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, and for 

the 2009 film Ondine directed by Neil Jordan. He 

also contributes to Sigur Rós's orchestral and string 

arrangements, along with the group Amiina. 


University of Manitoba’s Pizzicelli 

Ensemble; Dr. Minna Rose Chung, 

director 

Pizzicelli is a self goverened ensemble at the 

Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music, directed 

by Dr. Minna Rose Chung. The group consists 

of Jari Piper, Edvany Silva, Natalie Dawe, Lisa 

Nazarenko and Graham Isaak. For almost 

three years, this quintet of international 

students has been performing fantastic 

repertoire ranging from Brazilian folk songs to 

arrangements of our rock and popular genre. 

Pizzicelli is an extension of Project Rio, a 

collaborative musical exchange that brings 

Canadian musicians to the Rio International 

Cello Encounter. 

WSO Clearwater String Quartet 

Photo: Andrew Sikorsky 

Formed in 2004 - but officially named in 2010 - 

the WSO Clearwater String Quartet is 

comprised of four of Canada’s leading string 

players, whose depth of experience in solo, 

orchestral and chamber music performance has 

added much to the already rich artistic 

landscape of Winnipeg. Principal players with 

the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, they are 

also the resident String Quartet of the 

Winnipeg Chamber Music Society. Members 

include Gwen Hoebig and Karl Stobbe, violin, 

Daniel Scholz, viola; and Yuri Hooker, cello.

1948-51 Hon. Mr. Justice J. T. Beaubien 

1951-53 Mr. J. M. Sinclair 

1953-55 Mr. Digby Wheeler 

1955-57 Mr. W. D. Hurst 

1957-58 Dr. Hugh H. Saunderson 

1958-61 Mr. E. W. H. Brown 

1961-62 Mr. David Slater 

1962-64 The Hon. Mr. Justice Monnin 

1964-65 Mr. Norman J. Alexander 

1965-67 Mr. R. W. Richards 

1967-69 Mr. W. R. Palmer 

1969-71 Mr. E. J. Smith 

1971-73 Dr. M. M. Pierce 

1973-74 Mr. H. S. Brock-Smith 

1974-76 Mr. Allan G. Moffatt 

1976-78 Mr. Julian D. T. Benson 

1978-79 Mr. John L. Buckworth 

1979-80 Mr. N. Roger McFallon 

1980-81 Mr. John F. Fraser 

1981-82 Mr. William W. Draper 

EXTRA MUSICIANS 

JANUARY 28 

Laurel Ridd, flute 

Laura MacDougall, flute 

Tracy Wright, oboe 

Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet 

Karine Breton, bassoon 

Mike Plummer, trumpet 

Will Bonness, synthesizer 

Ben Reimer, percussion 

Tony Cyre, percussion 

Matt Abraham, percussion 

Donna Laube, piano 

JANUARY 30 







PRESIDENTS OF THE 

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 

FEBRUARY 1 







FEBRUARY 3 


Tracy Wright, oboe 



Roslyn Black, horn 

Shannon Moses, horn 

Todd Martin, horn 

Mike Plummer, trumpet 



Matt Abraham, percussion 

Victoria Sparks, percussion 

Ann Germani, harp 


1982-83 Mr. John O. Baatz 

1983-84 Mr. Andrew D. M. Ogaranko, Q.C. 

1984-86 Mr. Harold Buchwald, Q.C. 

1986-88 Mr. Michel Lagacé 

1988-90 Mr. William H. Loewen 

1990-92 Mrs. Julia DeFehr 

1992-94 Mr. Gordon Fogg 

1994-96 Mrs. Helen Hayles 

1996-97 Mr. Anthony Brookes 

1997-98 Mrs. Helen Hayles 

1998-99 Mr. William Norrie 

Feb 1999 – May 1999 Mr. William Loewen 

Jun 1999 – 2000 Mr. Bruce MacCormack 

2000- Feb 03 Mr. Roger King 

Mar 2003 – Dec 2003 Ms. Patti Sullivan 

Dec 2003 – Jan 2005 Mr. Wally Fox-Decent 

Jan 2005 – Jul 2006 Ms. Carol Bellringer 

Jul 2006 – Nov 2006 Mr. Harvey Pollock (Interim President) 

Dec 2006 – Jun 2007 Mr. Brendan MacDougall 

2007 – present Ms. Dorothy Dobbie 

PRESIDENT’S 

ADVISORY COUNCIL 

Al Alexandruk 

Mal Anderson 

Carol Bellringer 

Doneta Brotchie 

John and Bonnie 

Buhler 

Edmund Dawe 

Julia De Fehr 

Susan Feldman 

Jamie Dolynchuk 

Barbara Filuk 

Wally Fox-Decent 

John Fraser 

Helen Hayles 

Kaaren Hawkins 

Sherrill Hershberg 

Ian Kay 

Michael D. Kay 

Roger King 

Bill Knight 

Michel Lagacé 

Zina Lazareck 

Gail Leach 

Dr. Hermann Lee 

Naomi Levine 

Bill Loewen 

Don MacKenzie 

Bill Marr 

Michael Nozick 

Andrew Ogaranko 

Harvey Pollock 

John Rademaker 

Kathleen Richardson 

George & Tannis 

Richardson 

Ed Richmond 

Lorne Sharfe 

Graeme Sifton 

Joanne Sigurdson 

Bonnie Staples-Lyon 

Dennis Wallace 


WSO BOARD & STAFF 2011-2012 SEASON 

OUR DISTINGUISHED PATRONS 

His Honour the Honourable 

Philip S. Lee C.M., O.M. 

Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba 

The Honourable Greg Selinger, 

Premier of Manitoba 

His Worship Sam Katz, 

Mayor of the City of Winnipeg 

Mr. W.H. Loewen & Mrs. S.E. Loewen, 

WSO Directors Emeritus 

WOMEN'S COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE 

Shirley Loewen, President 

Sylvia Cassie, Vice President 

Lesia Peet, Past President 

Margaret Harvie, Treasurer 

Evelyn Davidson, Secretary 

TRUDY SCHROEDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR 

EXECUTIVE OFFICE 

Lori Marks, Confidential Executive Assistant 

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION 

John Bacon, Director of Finance & Administration 

Sandi Mitchell, Payroll & Accounting Administrator 

Chelse McKee, Accounting & Volunteer Assistant 

DEVELOPMENT 

Joanne Gudmundson, Director of Development 

Carol Cassels, Development Manager 

Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator 

Gail Loewen, Manager of Strategic Advancement Projects 

SALES & AUDIENCE SERVICES 

Ryan Diduck, Director of Sales & Audience Services 

Jason Hayes, Patron Services Coordinator 

Patron Services Representatives (p/t): 

Matthew Brooks 

Rachel Himelblau 

Theresa Huscroft 

Clare Neil 

Crystal Schwartz 

Heather Thornton 

Melissa Ungrin 

Stephanie Van Nest 

1020-555 Main Street 

Winnipeg, MB R3B 1C3 

Phone: 204.949.3950 

Fax: 204.956.4271 

www.wso.ca 

WSO Box Office 

phone: 204-949-3999 

www.wso.ca 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS 

Dorothy Dobbie, 

President & Chair 

Tim Burt, 

Vice-President 

Greg Doyle, Treasurer 

Muriel Smith, Secretary 

Dr. Brendan MacDougall, 

Past-President 

Marilyn Billinkoff 

Brenlee Carrington-Trepel 

Michael Cox 

Arlene Dahl 

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, MUSIC DIRECTOR 

ARTISTIC 

Bramwell Tovey, Conductor Laureate 

Richard Lee, Resident Conductor 


Dr. Daya Gupta 

Elba Haid 

Gregory Hay 

Maureen Kilgour 

Jackie Lowe 

Ed Martens 

Lesia Peet 

Dr. William Pope 

Terry Sargeant 

William Shead 

Karl Stobbe 

Richard Turner 

OFFICIAL AUDITORS 

Runchey Miyazawa Abbott Chartered Accountants 

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS 

Jean-Francois Phaneuf, Director of Artistic Operations 

James Manishen, Artistic Operations Associate 

Laura Daniel, Operations Manager 

Amanda Wilson, Stage Manager 

Chris Lee, Orchestra Personnel Manager 

Ray Chrunyk, Principal Librarian 

Laura MacDougall, Assistant Librarian 

Lawrence Rentz, Stage Supervisor 

EDUCATION & OUTREACH 

Tanya Derksen, Director of Education & Outreach 

Amy Wolfe, Education & Outreach Coordinator 

Brent Johnson, Community Outreach Coordinator 

MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS 

Lisa Abram, Director of Marketing & Communications 

Cheryl Waldner, Communications Coordinator 

Shaun Thompson, Graphic Designer 

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TICKET INFORMATION 

Ticketmaster 

phone: 1-855-985-2787 

www.ticketmaster.ca 

Group Events 

phone: 204-949-3967 

groupevents@wso.mb.ca 

The WSO is a chartered non-profit organization operated by a voluntary Board of Directors.

New Music Festival - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

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