New Music Festival - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
New Music Festival - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
New Music Festival - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
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WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA<br />
January – February 2012 ISSUE 4<br />
DISTINGUISHED<br />
GUEST COMPOSER:<br />
Kaija Saariaho<br />
DISTINGUISHED<br />
GUEST ARTISTS:<br />
La La La Human Steps<br />
Jennifer Koh, violin<br />
Shauna Rolston, cello<br />
CURATORS<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate,<br />
music director<br />
Vincent Ho,<br />
composer-in-residence<br />
FEATURED<br />
COMPOSERS:<br />
Daníel Bjarnason<br />
Tim Hecker<br />
Jóhann Jóhannsson<br />
Alexina Louie<br />
Nico Muhly<br />
Valgeir Sigurdsson<br />
Kjartan Sveinsson<br />
Atli Heimir Sveinsson<br />
JANUARY 28 -FEBRUARY 3 I 2012<br />
www.newmusicfestival.ca
WSO SPONSORS, FUNDERS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS<br />
The WSO proudly acknowledges the ongoing support of the following sponsors, media and funders:<br />
NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL<br />
INDIGENOUS FESTIVAL<br />
WSO IN<br />
BRANDON<br />
SUMMER<br />
CONCERT<br />
SERIES<br />
Women’s Committee<br />
of the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
EDUCATION & OUTREACH PROGRAMS<br />
CONCERTS<br />
FOR KIDS<br />
CANADA DAY<br />
AT THE FORKS<br />
CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY<br />
MEDIA SPONSORS<br />
FUNDERS<br />
SOUNDCHECK<br />
PROGRAM<br />
PIANO RAFFLE<br />
IN MEMORY OF<br />
PETER D. CURRY<br />
POWER SMART<br />
HOLIDAY TOUR<br />
SHARE<br />
THE MUSIC<br />
CAR RAFFLE<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 1
GOVERNMENT GREETINGS<br />
Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages<br />
Our Government knows how important arts and culture are to our communities, our<br />
identity, and our economy. This is why we are proud to support events like the <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> that allow Canadians to expand their musical horizons and discover<br />
new music. This festival is a wonderful way to promote our artistic heritage and the<br />
talent of our musicians.<br />
On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I would<br />
like to congratulate the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> and all the organizers, artists, and volunteers who<br />
have helped bring the 2012 <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> to life.<br />
The Honourable James Moore<br />
Minister of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism<br />
Welcome to the WSO’s <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>, now in its 21st year of presenting excellence<br />
and innovation in symphonic music.<br />
Congratulations to the musicians, composers, organizers, volunteers, sponsors and fans<br />
for making this much-anticipated festival an annual success. The event celebrates<br />
creativity and imagination, and encourages music appreciation while adding warmth<br />
and spirit to our Manitoba winter.<br />
Our government is proud to support the WSO. Your long legacy of musical excellence has made you a leader<br />
in our rich cultural community and a memorable ambassador for our capital city and province. Bravo!<br />
The Honourable Flor Marcelino<br />
Mayor of <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
On behalf of the citizens of <strong>Winnipeg</strong> and my colleagues on City Council, I am<br />
honoured to extend greetings to everyone attending the 21st Annual <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong><br />
<strong>Festival</strong>, hosted by the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
The <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> is a world-class attraction that continues to be a source of<br />
excitement in our City. Considering that more than 50 outstanding pieces are performed<br />
in just seven days with attendance each year surpassing 10,000, it is easy to see why this is<br />
such a treasured event offering tremendous value to our society. By providing <strong>Winnipeg</strong> with exceptional<br />
symphonic music over the past 21 years, the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> has contributed greatly to our City’s<br />
artistic identity and downtown economy.<br />
I would also like to applaud the efforts of the many volunteers, performers, sponsors, and employees who<br />
have made the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> such a success with their hard-work, passion and dedication for over<br />
two decades.<br />
The <strong>Festival</strong> this year is sure to be an unforgettable experience, as the esteemed composer-in-residence,<br />
Vincent Ho, will be showcasing the world premiere of his new cello concerto – City Suites with the<br />
brilliant Shauna Rolston.<br />
Once again, I would like to offer congratulations on your outstanding success, and offer best wishes for<br />
many more successful seasons.<br />
Warm regards,<br />
His Worship Sam Katz<br />
2 OVERTURE I January – February 2012
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, <strong>Music</strong> Director<br />
Welcome everybody. Every year I am thrilled for our <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>. Last<br />
year though, with our 20th anniversary, it was the first time that I wondered<br />
how we could ever top that.<br />
We realized it’s not about topping anything. It’s about being excited about<br />
something new. And boy, did we get excited about something new. It’s called<br />
Iceland. Well, you’re rightfully thinking that Iceland isn’t new at all. You are<br />
correct. But to us, the musical language that we discovered was absolutely<br />
new, beautiful and different from what we were used to. So this year we will delve into the<br />
meditative, spiritual, calm, brutal, heavenly, earthy, childlike and complex music of Iceland’s<br />
most exciting composers: Bjork collaborator and founder of Greenhouse Studios Valgeir<br />
Sigurdsson, Bedroom Community member Daniel Bjarneson, Sigur Rós pianist Kjartan<br />
Sveinsson and one of the godfathers of Icelandic composition Atli Heimir Sveinsson. We will give<br />
the world premiere to the first ever WSO-led commissioned international composer, Jóhan<br />
Jóhansson as well as the Canadian premiere of the worldwide phenomenon, composer Nico<br />
Muhly.<br />
In addition, we are starting the <strong>Festival</strong> with Finnish superstar Kaija Saariaho’s impressionistic<br />
music, inspired by spectral sound concepts; we add a “little” Kancheli, a Georgian composer, who<br />
fits right into the profound spiritual language of some of the Icelandic geniuses; there will be<br />
Canadian mastermind Alexina Louie’s work, whose music I fell in love with last year; Canadian<br />
sound artist Tim Hecker will blow your ears out; and Vincent Ho will continue writing music for<br />
the A-list. This year it’s a new cello concerto for Shauna Rolston. And we continue our<br />
relationship with <strong>Winnipeg</strong>'s own Groundswell.<br />
And the cherry-on-top will be La La Human Steps, who will finish a year long world tour here in<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> to the music of English composer Gavin Bryars.<br />
For this festival I want to thank two muses: Vincent Ho, whose enormous knowledge of<br />
contemporary music is completely awe inspiring; and Matthew Patton, whose consuming love for<br />
Iceland is exactly that, consuming, and so incredibly refreshing.<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 3
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS<br />
Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence<br />
4 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Welcome to another exciting <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>! This year we take you on a<br />
musical journey to the Nordic regions. Throughout the week you will hear many<br />
new works by some of Iceland’s most celebrated composers, including Kjartan<br />
Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Atli Heimir<br />
Sveinsson and Jóhann Jóhannsson. You will experience works from a nation few<br />
ever get to hear outside of Iceland. As our distinguished guest, we are proud to<br />
have with us one of the world’s foremost composers Kaija Saariaho.<br />
Returning to our event this year is one Canada’s greatest performers, cellist Shauna Rolston,<br />
featured in two special performances on her carbon-fiber cello: the world premiere of my own<br />
cello concerto City Suites, and the North American premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s Bow to<br />
String (for cello and orchestra). Also featured are the works of some of the most celebrated<br />
composers of today: Alexina Louie, Tim Hecker and Nico Muhly. Finally, international dance<br />
sensation La La La Human Steps makes their <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> debut here with their latest<br />
show, <strong>New</strong> Work, featuring the music of Gavin Bryars.<br />
Grab your tickets and join us in another week long musical extravaganza as we bring you 2012’s<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>: The Nordic Edition.<br />
Vincent Ho, DMA
NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL GREETINGS<br />
Matthew Patton, Artistic Associate<br />
I first heard Sigur Rós over ten years ago (in 2000) with their album Agaetis<br />
Byrjun. Actually, I heard a live version of Fyrsta, which never made that<br />
record and was recorded at Gaukur á Stöng, the now defunct club on the<br />
corner of Tryggvagata in Reykjavík. Listening, I felt I had been searching<br />
for this music my whole life and I knew it within a few seconds. A music<br />
where beauty and simplicity co-existed with absence and imperfection and<br />
an ecstatic emotional quality swept over everything and absolutely nothing<br />
else in the world mattered or ever mattered.<br />
I started going to Iceland every year, spending a few months there each time at a loft in<br />
Kópavogur. I met with various musicians that I admired regarding various music projects I<br />
was developing with Guy Maddin and others, hoping somebody might be interested. I went<br />
to Sigur Ros' Sundlaugin recording studio in Mosfellsbaer to meet with engineer Biggi as he<br />
told me about his ocean canoe. I went to Sigur Rós' tour rehearsals at the Austerbaer, the old<br />
cinema on Snorribraut with John and Dean in again from London to help with everything<br />
while Jonsi, Kjartan Sveinsson and Solrun set off the confetti machine at the end of<br />
rehearsal. A few hours later, at 3:46 pm, walking back on Laugevegur, I experienced a 6.3<br />
earthquake while at Tíu Dropar, which cut the road between Hveragerdi and Selfoss. I went<br />
to the Greenhouse studio near Mjodd to have some tea and talk about marionettes with<br />
Valgeir Sigurdsson, to speak with Daniel Bjarnason about not reading Stanislaw Lem while<br />
he, Daniel, was making new instrumental arrangements for a Bedroom Community concert<br />
in Moscow, and while engineer Paul Evans fried some bacon for the soup he was making. I<br />
sat across the table from Ben Frost while he told me about his new "Solaris" project with the<br />
Krakow Sinfonietta, which he and Daniel composed using Melodyne software programmed<br />
in a war against itself. I met with Jóhann Jóhannsson at Kaffitar while he extolled the virtues<br />
of our mutual heroes of failed science Nikola Tesla and David Reimer. And there were other<br />
artists like Nico Muhly and Tim Hecker who I spoke with about "The Rings of Saturn" by<br />
author W.G. Sebald during a break at soundcheck near a graveyard of overturned chairs.<br />
Tim knew all of Sebald's work.<br />
None of this has anything at all to do with music and that's precisely the point I wish to<br />
make: interesting people make interesting music. There are big problems in the classical<br />
music world, at least what is left of it. A paradigm shift is taking place. These are a few of the<br />
composers that are bringing it back to life and giving it a deeper, more profound emotional<br />
narrative. People forget that music is first and foremost an experience - there is never<br />
anything to "get." Stop reading now and go and listen.<br />
Matthew Patton<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 5
CONDUCTORS & COMPOSERS<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, <strong>Music</strong> Director<br />
Recognized as one of the most exciting<br />
young conductors of his generation,<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate is in his sixth season<br />
as <strong>Music</strong> Director of the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, where he has significantly raised<br />
the ensemble’s profile through innovative<br />
programming and active community<br />
engagement. Praised for his “splendid, richly<br />
idiomatic readings” (LA Weekly), “fearless” approach and “firstrate<br />
technique” (Los Angeles Times), the German-born conductor<br />
has attracted attention for his charismatic presence on the<br />
podium and command of a wide range of musical styles.<br />
In August 2007, Alexander culminated his three-year tenure as<br />
Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which<br />
he appeared regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the<br />
Hollywood Bowl. Previously as Assistant Conductor with the<br />
Atlanta <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, he co-founded the new music<br />
ensemble Bent Frequency, which was hailed as "one of the<br />
brightest ensembles on the scene” (Gramophone Magazine).<br />
Recent highlights include debuts with the Houston <strong>Symphony</strong>,<br />
the São Paulo <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Johannesburg<br />
Philharmonic and the Bukarest Philharmonic, a re-engagement<br />
with the National Arts Centre <strong>Orchestra</strong> in Ottawa and a highly<br />
successful last-minute replacement with the St. Paul Chamber<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>. As guest conductor, Alexander has appeared with the<br />
<strong>New</strong> York Philharmonic, Chicago <strong>Symphony</strong>, Royal Scottish<br />
National <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Hamburg <strong>Symphony</strong>, NDR Hannover, as well<br />
as with symphony orchestras in several Canadian and U.S. cities.<br />
Richard Lee, Resident Conductor<br />
From the time his mother sat him<br />
down at a toy piano when he was three<br />
years old, Richard Lee has spent his life<br />
immersed in music. He graduated to a<br />
real piano at the age of five and took up<br />
the violin at age seven. At age seventeen,<br />
he passed – with honours – the grade X<br />
piano and violin exams at the Royal<br />
Conservatory of <strong>Music</strong> in Toronto.<br />
Richard pursued a degree in <strong>Music</strong> Performance at the<br />
University of Toronto as both a violinist and a violist while<br />
studying conducting. After five years, Richard obtained a<br />
Master’s degree under the tutelage of Raffi Armenian.<br />
Formerly conductor-in-residence of the Thunder Bay<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> and assistant conductor of the Quebec<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Richard is currently resident conductor of<br />
the WSO, conductor of the University of Manitoba <strong>Symphony</strong><br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, as well as music director of the Korean Canadian<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, based in Toronto. Guest engagements this<br />
season include the orchestras of the National Arts Centre<br />
(Ottawa), East Texas, Hamilton and Quebec. His work has been<br />
broadcast and recorded by the CBC/Radio-Canada. <strong>Music</strong>ian,<br />
news junkie and connoisseur of fine ales, whiskies and cigars,<br />
Richard maintains residences in both <strong>Winnipeg</strong> and Toronto.<br />
6 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence<br />
Vincent Ho is widely<br />
recognized as one of the most<br />
outstanding composers of his<br />
generation. His works have been<br />
hailed for their profound<br />
expressiveness and textural<br />
beauty that has audiences talking<br />
about with great enthusiasm. His<br />
many awards have included Harvard University’s<br />
Fromm <strong>Music</strong> Commission, The Canada Council for the<br />
Arts’ “Robert Fleming Prize,” ASCAP’s “Morton<br />
Gould Young Composer Award,” four SOCAN Young<br />
Composers Awards, and CBC Radio’s Audience Choice<br />
Award (2009 Young Composers’ Competition).<br />
Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1975, Vincent Ho<br />
began his musical training through the Royal<br />
Conservatory of <strong>Music</strong>. He received his Associate<br />
Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal<br />
Conservatory of <strong>Music</strong> (Toronto) in 1993, his<br />
Bachelor of <strong>Music</strong> from the University of Calgary<br />
in 1998, his Master of <strong>Music</strong> degree from the<br />
University of Toronto in 2000, and his Doctor of<br />
<strong>Music</strong>al Arts degree from the University of<br />
Southern California (2005). His mentors have<br />
included Allan Bell, David Eagle, Christos Hatzis,<br />
Walter Buczynski, and Stephen Hartke. In 1997,<br />
he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Schola<br />
Cantorum Summer Composition Program in<br />
Paris, where he received further training in<br />
analysis, composition, counterpoint, and<br />
harmony, supervised by David Diamond, Philip<br />
Lasser, and Narcis Bonet.<br />
Matthew Patton, <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong><br />
Artistic Associate<br />
Matthew Patton is a graduate<br />
in music composition from the<br />
Manhattan School of <strong>Music</strong> in<br />
<strong>New</strong> York City. His composition<br />
teachers have included studies<br />
with composers James Tenney<br />
and John Corigliano. Matthew<br />
has collaborated with such<br />
internationally acclaimed artists as choreographer<br />
Paul Taylor, and most recently with film director<br />
Guy Maddin. He has worked with Icelandic musicians<br />
including members of Sigur Ros’ string players<br />
Amiina, members of Mum, and others. His collaborative<br />
work has been called “a masterpiece for our time”<br />
by the <strong>New</strong> York Times, been mounted in new<br />
productions at the Paris Opera House and the<br />
La Scala Opera House, produced for PBS “Great<br />
Performances,” and has been released by Warner<br />
Brothers label Nonesuch Records.
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 SEASON<br />
MUSIC DIRECTOR<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate<br />
RESIDENT CONDUCTOR<br />
Richard Lee<br />
COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE<br />
Vincent Ho<br />
FIRST VIOLINS<br />
Gwen Hoebig, Concertmaster<br />
The S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté<br />
Memorial Chair, endowed by the<br />
Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation<br />
Karl Stobbe, Associate Concertmaster<br />
Mary Lawton, Assistant Concertmaster<br />
Chris Anstey<br />
Raymond Chrunyk<br />
Mona Coarda<br />
Hong Tian Jia<br />
*Trevor Kirczenow<br />
Simon MacDonald<br />
**Meredith McCallum<br />
Rachel Moody<br />
Julie Savard<br />
Jun Shao<br />
SECOND VIOLINS<br />
Darryl Strain, Principal<br />
Elation Pauls, Assistant Principal<br />
Karen Bauch<br />
**Tomomi Brennan<br />
Rodica Filipoi<br />
*Barbara Gilroy<br />
Boyd MacKenzie<br />
Susan McCallum<br />
† Jane Radomski<br />
Claudine St. Arnauld<br />
Phoebe Tsang<br />
VIOLAS<br />
Daniel Scholz, Principal<br />
Anne Elise Lavallée,<br />
Assistant Principal<br />
Laszlo Baroczi<br />
Richard Bauch<br />
Greg Hay<br />
Suzanne McKegney<br />
Merrily Peters<br />
Mike Scholz<br />
CELLOS<br />
Yuri Hooker, Principal<br />
**Desiree Abbey, Assistant Principal<br />
Alex Adaman<br />
Margaret Askeland<br />
Arlene Dahl<br />
Carolyn Nagelberg<br />
Emma Quackenbush<br />
BASSES<br />
Meredith Johnson, Principal<br />
Theodore Chan, Assistant Principal<br />
Paul Nagelberg<br />
Bruce Okrainec<br />
Zdzislaw Prochownik<br />
Patrick Staples<br />
FLUTES<br />
Jan Kocman, Principal<br />
Martha Durkin<br />
PICCOLO<br />
Martha Durkin<br />
OBOES<br />
Bede Hanley, Principal<br />
Robin MacMillan<br />
ENGLISH HORN<br />
Robin MacMillan<br />
CLARINETS<br />
Micah Heilbrunn, Principal<br />
Richard Klassen<br />
BASSOONS<br />
Alexandra Eastley, Principal<br />
James Ewen<br />
CONTRABASSOON<br />
James Ewen<br />
HORNS<br />
Patricia Evans, Principal<br />
Ken MacDonald, Associate Principal<br />
James Robertson<br />
The Hilda Schelberger Memorial Chair<br />
Caroline Oberheu<br />
Michiko Singh<br />
TRUMPETS<br />
Brian Sykora, Principal<br />
Paul Jeffrey<br />
Isaac Pulford<br />
The Patty Kirk Memorial Chair<br />
TROMBONES<br />
Steven Dyer, Principal<br />
John Helmer<br />
BASS TROMBONE<br />
Julia McIntyre, Principal<br />
TUBA<br />
Chris Lee, Principal<br />
TIMPANI<br />
Jeremy Epp, Principal<br />
PERCUSSION<br />
Frederick Liessens, Principal<br />
HARP<br />
Richard Turner, Principal<br />
Endowed by W.H. & S.E. Loewen<br />
ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL<br />
MANAGER<br />
Chris Lee<br />
PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN<br />
Raymond Chrunyk<br />
ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN<br />
Laura MacDougall<br />
*On Leave<br />
**Temporary Position<br />
† Dual Section Position<br />
Please note: Non-titled (tutti) string<br />
players are listed alphabetically<br />
and are seated according to a<br />
rotational system.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 7
PRE-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES<br />
All pre-concert events occur on the Piano Nobile,<br />
Centennial Concert Hall, except Sunday, January 29<br />
at the Park Theatre and Westminster United Church.<br />
Saturday, January 28<br />
Doors open at 7:00 pm<br />
OPENING GALA:<br />
KANCHELI AND SAARIAHO<br />
7:10-7:30 pm • Discussion<br />
Join us for a discussion with this year’s<br />
distinguished guest composer Kaija Saariaho,<br />
hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent Ho.<br />
7:30-7:50 pm • Performance<br />
Brandon University <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> Ensemble;<br />
Professor Megumi Masaki, director<br />
Program:<br />
Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Calices (2009)<br />
Maria Cherwick, violin; Jesse Plessis, piano<br />
Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Structure (1998)<br />
Geordie Waddell, piano<br />
Haukur Tómasson (b. 1960): Spring Chicken (2001)<br />
Preston Rocan, clarinet<br />
Sunday, January 29<br />
NMF AT THE MOVIES<br />
The Park Theatre<br />
698 Osborne Street<br />
Free admission<br />
1:30 pm<br />
Dreamland<br />
<strong>Music</strong> by Valgeir Sigurdsson based on Andri Snaer<br />
Magnason’s seminal book.<br />
3:30 pm<br />
Heima<br />
<strong>Music</strong> by Sigur Rós as they tour tiny hamlets<br />
around Iceland playing unannounced concerts.<br />
Doors open at 6:50 pm<br />
RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN<br />
7:00-7:20 pm • Discussion<br />
Join us at the Westminster United Church for a<br />
discussion with featured guest composer Kaija<br />
Saariaho, Tim Hecker and Vincent Ho.<br />
8 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Monday, January 30<br />
Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
SHAUNA ROLSTON:<br />
CITY SUITES (WORLD PREMIERE)<br />
6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion<br />
Join us for a discussion with featured<br />
composers Alexina Louie, Daniél Bjarnason<br />
and Vincent Ho.<br />
7:00-7:20 pm • Performance<br />
The Brandon University Clarinet Choir;<br />
Dr. Cathy Wood, director<br />
Members: Christopher Byman, Eric Calrow,<br />
Danning Chen, Chantale Crivea, Amanda<br />
Forest, Justine Gould, Chelsey Hiebert,<br />
Stevie MacPherson, Greg Monias, Joelle<br />
Nielsen, Preston Rocan, John Woodridge<br />
Program:<br />
Elliot Del Borgo: Dodecaphonic Essay<br />
Paul Richards (1969): Stem Cell<br />
Wednesday, February 1<br />
Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
ICELANDIA<br />
6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion<br />
Join us for a discussion with NMF artistic<br />
associate Matthew Patton and this year’s<br />
guest composers Daníel Bjarnason, Nico<br />
Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson (collectively<br />
known as the Bedroom Community),<br />
hosted by Vincent Ho.<br />
7:00-7:20 pm • Performance<br />
Brandon University <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> Ensemble;<br />
Professor Megumi Masaki, director<br />
James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes; Preston<br />
Rocan, Eric Calrow, clarinets; Joelle<br />
Nielson, bass clarinet; Matthew May,<br />
trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria Cherwick,<br />
violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass; Nic<br />
Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad<br />
Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan<br />
Klassen, Geordie Waddell,<br />
piano/keyboards; Melissa Ballard, Cole<br />
Ediger, percussion/drum set
Program:<br />
Sigur Rós: Von<br />
Jón Thór Birgisson (b. 1975): Andvari<br />
Kjartan Sveinsson (b. 1978): Orri Páll D´yrason<br />
(b. 1977), Georg Hólm (b. 1976) (arr. Jesse<br />
Plessis 2011): Hoppípolla<br />
Thursday, February 2<br />
Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS<br />
6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion<br />
Join us for a chat with La La La Human Steps’<br />
creator and choreographer Édouard Lock,<br />
hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent<br />
Ho.<br />
7:00-7:20 pm • Performance<br />
Brandon University <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> Ensemble;<br />
Professor Megumi Masaki, director<br />
Program:<br />
Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Due Bagatelle II For<br />
Clarinet and Instrumental Background (1997)<br />
Preston Rocan, Eric Calrow, Joelle Nielson,<br />
solo clarinets; James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes;<br />
Matthew May, trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria<br />
Cherwick, violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass;<br />
Nic Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad<br />
Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan<br />
Klassen, Geordie Waddell, piano/keyboard;<br />
Melissa Ballard, Cole Ediger, percussion<br />
Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Vink II (1993)<br />
James Paluk, piccolo; Preston Rocan, Eric<br />
Calrow, clarinets; Julia Watson, Maria<br />
Cherwick, violins; Joelle Nielson, bass clarinet;<br />
Theresa Thordarson, Sarah Engen, piano<br />
Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Mozaik VI (2010)<br />
Theresa Thordarson, piano<br />
Shauna Rolston<br />
Friday, February 3<br />
Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
ICELANDIC FINALE:<br />
JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON<br />
6:40-7:10 pm • Book Launch<br />
Book launch of Birna Bjarnadottir’s Recesses<br />
of the Mind: Aesthetics in the Work of<br />
Gudbergur Bergsson with book signing<br />
and reading<br />
Guests: Birna Bjarnadottir, Gudbergur<br />
Bergsson and Atli Heimir Sveinsson<br />
7:10-7:30 pm • Discussion<br />
Hear NMF artistic associate Matthew Patton<br />
and composers Jóhann Jóhannsson and<br />
Atli Heimir Sveinsson share their thoughts<br />
on Icelandic music and their works being<br />
presented in this evening’s concert, hosted<br />
by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent<br />
Ho.<br />
7:30-7:50 pm • Performance<br />
Program:<br />
Áskell Másson (b. 1953): Prím (1984)<br />
Victoria Sparks, snare drum<br />
Suomaleinen Kansansavella:<br />
Sakkijärven polkka<br />
Pizzicelli Ensemble; Minna Rose Chung,<br />
director<br />
Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze<br />
Pizzicelli Ensemble<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 9
POST-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES<br />
Saturday, January 28<br />
10:15 pm – Midnight<br />
Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall<br />
Join our NMF after-party as <strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s own<br />
Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening<br />
of great jazz tunes.<br />
Sunday, January 29<br />
10:00 pm – Midnight<br />
(Doors open at 9:30 pm)<br />
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art<br />
(Co-Presented by Plug In ICA)<br />
Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue<br />
Free admission, cash bar<br />
Selections from the new music score<br />
“Tales from the Gimli Hospital”<br />
Wheelchair accessible; Parking on site<br />
Venue capacity is limited; no seating<br />
Monday, January 30<br />
9:45 pm – Midnight<br />
Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall<br />
Join us for the after-party and reception<br />
sponsored by the Canadian <strong>Music</strong> Centre<br />
Will Bonness, piano<br />
Will Bonness, piano<br />
Will Bonness has been active on the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong>, Canadian and<br />
international jazz scenes since his<br />
teen years. At age 17, he joined<br />
Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop<br />
Nouveau Band for a year-long world<br />
tour which included performances in <strong>New</strong> York<br />
and London. He performs regularly throughout<br />
Manitoba with the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Jazz <strong>Orchestra</strong>, the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, and the Manitoba<br />
Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>. Mr. Bonness has appeared on<br />
a number of recordings including the <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
Jazz <strong>Orchestra</strong>’s Steppin’ Out (2008), Larry Roy<br />
and Steve Kirby’s Wicked Grin (2008), and Papa<br />
Mambo’s Crooked Cha (2007). His 2009 debut<br />
Subtle Fire was nominated for Jazz Recording of the<br />
Year at the Western Canada <strong>Music</strong> Awards.<br />
Bonness is on faculty at the Canadian Mennonite<br />
University and he teaches privately from his home.<br />
10 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Wednesday, February 1<br />
9:45 pm – Midnight<br />
Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall<br />
Join us for the after-party sponsored by<br />
Uptown Magazine<br />
Will Bonness, piano<br />
Thursday, February 2<br />
9:45 pm – Midnight<br />
Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall<br />
Join our NMF after-party as <strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s own<br />
Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening<br />
of great jazz tunes.<br />
Friday, February 3<br />
10:15 pm – Midnight<br />
Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall<br />
Join us for the after-party sponsored by<br />
Lögberg-Heimskringla<br />
Will Bonnes, piano<br />
Richard Gillis, trumpet<br />
Richard Gillis, trumpet<br />
Since coming to <strong>Winnipeg</strong> in<br />
1990, Richard Gillis has<br />
performed as a recitalist with a<br />
variety of groups including the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>,<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Baroque, GroundSwell,<br />
Papa Mambo, the Ron Paley Big Band, the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Wind Ensemble (which he also<br />
conducted), he has recorded 4 CDs with<br />
Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen with<br />
whom he has performed in Iceland,<br />
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Washington, DC,<br />
Minneapolis, Toronto and Edmonton. In<br />
1997, Mr. Gillis and saxophonist Sasha<br />
Boychuk founded the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Jazz<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>. With Dr. Richard Gillis as the<br />
artistic director, the WJO has become an<br />
established part of <strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s Jazz music<br />
scene.
CONCERT ONE<br />
Saturday, January 28 I 8:00 pm Doors open at 7:00 pm<br />
Centennial Concert Hall<br />
OPENING GALA: KANCHELI & SAARIAHO<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor<br />
Jennifer Koh, violin 1<br />
Daniel Scholz, viola 2<br />
Canadian Mennonite University Chorus; Janet Brenneman and Rudy Schellenberg, directors 3<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Du cristal (Canadian premiere) Kaija Saariaho (FI)<br />
Graal Théâtre: for Violin & <strong>Orchestra</strong> 1 Kaija Saariaho (FI)<br />
I. Delicato<br />
II. Impetuoso<br />
- INTERMISSION -<br />
Styx: for Viola, Choir & <strong>Orchestra</strong> 2 3 Giya Kancheli (GE)<br />
For this year’s <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> we are proud to bring you the works of one of the world’s<br />
foremost composers: Kaija Saariaho, joining us for the performance of two of her celebrated<br />
works: Du cristal and Graal Théâtre (featuring acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh). To celebrate<br />
our many years of new music programming, we are proud to bring back a piece that has<br />
been regarded as one of NMF’s memorable highlights – Giya Kancheli’s Styx. This colossal<br />
work has been hailed as one of Kancheli’s greatest musical achievements and its<br />
performance tonight will feature the talents of our principal violist Daniel Scholz and the<br />
Canadian Mennonite University Chorus.<br />
To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor: Broadcast Partner:<br />
<strong>Music</strong> from tonight's concert will air<br />
on CBC Radio 2's "In Concert" and<br />
Concerts on Demand, online.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 11
NMF ESSAY – SIGFRÍDUR BJÖRNSDÓTTIR<br />
Vitality – Variety<br />
The <strong>Music</strong> Scene<br />
in Iceland<br />
The most prominent event in<br />
the music scene in Iceland in<br />
recent times has to be the<br />
opening of a new concert and<br />
conference hall in Reykjavík,<br />
named Harpa. This long-awaited<br />
home of music was first opened<br />
to the public in the beginning of<br />
May 2011 and the building was<br />
formally inaugurated with an<br />
opening ceremony in August of<br />
the same year. During the first<br />
few months the numbers of<br />
guests visting the house<br />
mounted up to the total number<br />
of inhabitants in Iceland,<br />
320,000 people.<br />
The house itself will, for some,<br />
forever stand as a monument to<br />
the spirit that drove the<br />
Icelandic financial market to<br />
the monumental crash in 2008,<br />
from which the country’s<br />
economy will take years, if not<br />
decades, to recover. At the same<br />
time it is heartily embraced by<br />
others as the 21st century’s<br />
fitting venue for the many types<br />
of music in Iceland that keep<br />
the heartbeat of our culture<br />
robust and vital.<br />
Harpa has already, in its<br />
opening year, been the venue<br />
for several festivals such as the<br />
Nordic <strong>Music</strong> Days 2011,<br />
Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík Jazz<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> and the Reykjavík Arts<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> as well as a series of<br />
Björk´s latest concerts. And<br />
there are many more to come,<br />
including the Dark <strong>Music</strong> Days<br />
12 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
2012, along with major<br />
conferences such as the Eve<br />
Online game conference in the<br />
Spring of 2012. Performing<br />
visitors are lining up to appear<br />
in Harpa; Dudamel and<br />
Vengerov have conducted in<br />
the house and Ashkenazy<br />
conducted the opening<br />
concerts. Jonas Kaufmann and<br />
Barbara Bonney have<br />
performed there and Kiri Te<br />
Kanawa is expected soon. The<br />
audiences in Iceland have a<br />
terrific array of options.<br />
In many ways, this huge<br />
harbour project resembles<br />
some of the new concert halls<br />
that have recently opened<br />
around the world with its glassy<br />
look and emphasis on natural<br />
light in the public areas on the<br />
inside. Special effort was made<br />
artistically to place this house<br />
specifically in Iceland through<br />
the design of the glass façade.<br />
Harpa’s façade is designed by<br />
renowned artist Ólafur<br />
Elíasson, Henning Larsen<br />
Architects and Batteríid<br />
Architects. The design is based<br />
on geometric principles;<br />
realised in two and three<br />
dimensions. Reminiscent of the<br />
crystallised basalt columns<br />
commonly found in Iceland,<br />
the southern facades create<br />
kaleidoscopic reflections of the<br />
city and the striking<br />
surrounding landscape.<br />
Harpa is the home of the<br />
Iceland <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
which celebrated its 60th<br />
anniversary in 2010. The<br />
orchestra has distinguished<br />
itself as one of the leading<br />
Nordic orchestras through its<br />
acclaimed performances and<br />
recordings. The artistic<br />
achievement of the ISO is even<br />
more remarkable given that the<br />
classical music tradition in<br />
Iceland only began in the 20th<br />
century. A short description of<br />
the audience development in<br />
the orchestra’s concerts can be<br />
seen as somewhat typical of what<br />
has been happening in the last<br />
few years in the music field in<br />
Iceland. A steep increase of<br />
subscriptions sales occurred in<br />
the dark hours of the financial<br />
meltdown. One might have<br />
expected a downturn when the<br />
reality of it hit the public with<br />
the freefalling currency and thus<br />
increased prices and cost of<br />
living in general. However, on<br />
the contrary, the increase in<br />
season-ticket sales continued.<br />
When sales for the orchestra’s<br />
2011-2012 season began, they<br />
went through the roof! In short,<br />
in the last three years these sales<br />
have more than doubled.<br />
The live music scene in Iceland<br />
is very active in general and<br />
music events of all kinds draw<br />
large numbers of people.<br />
Research has shown that people<br />
in Iceland’s neighbouring<br />
countries spend as much<br />
money now as before on<br />
culture, but they tend to go to<br />
fewer, more expensive events.<br />
We are not sure yet that this is<br />
the case in Iceland. Not<br />
everything can be measured by<br />
amounts spent; the generous<br />
support for artistic activities in<br />
Iceland ensures a wide range of<br />
music events offered for free or<br />
very little money to the people<br />
around the country.
Despite the regularly<br />
announced death of the CD,<br />
sales of locally produced music<br />
on disc in Iceland are constantly<br />
rising and every year the public<br />
buys tens of thousands of some<br />
of the titles published. As an<br />
example of this, the artist<br />
Mugison struck a chord in the<br />
nation’s heart with his album<br />
Haglél, released just before last<br />
Christmas. He invited people to<br />
a free concert in Harpa’s largest<br />
hall, Eldborg, as a “thank you”<br />
for its remarkable reception. As<br />
a result of the heavy demand for<br />
tickets, the electronic ticket<br />
ordering system crashed and<br />
extra concerts were scheduled.<br />
A classical album of music by<br />
Anna Thorvaldsdóttir was<br />
released in the Autumn of 2011<br />
by the USA-based publisher<br />
Innova. This album has received<br />
rave reviews and was included in<br />
top-10 lists of the year by both<br />
Time Out <strong>New</strong> York and Time<br />
Out Chicago. Just before<br />
Christmas came the<br />
announcement that one of the<br />
works on the CD has been<br />
chosen for performance at the<br />
ISCM <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> in 2012, a<br />
rare honour for Icelandic<br />
music.<br />
There are more facets of the<br />
music life than the full<br />
professional in all styles that<br />
relate to and can be a part of<br />
the explanation of this vitality of<br />
the music scene in general. The<br />
music schools in Iceland<br />
serve approximately 12,000<br />
students every year, and if we<br />
add the numbers of members of<br />
choirs in Iceland, more than<br />
15,000. The combined number<br />
of active students and singing<br />
amateurs in Iceland approaches<br />
10% of the population.<br />
Björk took the Icelandic music<br />
scene by storm in 2011, with her<br />
series of concerts Biophilia in<br />
the Autumn. The project is on a<br />
large scale; a complicated<br />
phenomenon with not only<br />
musical aspects but permeated<br />
with the love of nature and<br />
science, invention and<br />
community. Her idealistic<br />
correlational education project<br />
where modern methods such as<br />
apps and live workshops for<br />
children are an integrated part<br />
of the scene have received due<br />
attention. As some may know a<br />
small girls’ choir plays an<br />
important role in the Biophilia<br />
project, a performance feature<br />
impossible if not for the strong<br />
roots of good education and<br />
training in music for children in<br />
Iceland. Their conductor, Jón<br />
Stefánsson, has directed the<br />
choir since he founded it and<br />
they have received many awards<br />
both at home and abroad.<br />
Among the big events of the<br />
Icelandic music scene were the<br />
premieres of several larger<br />
works by Icelandic composers.<br />
Welcome, Harpa by Thorkell<br />
Sigurbjornsson and In Seventh<br />
Heaven by Haukur Tómasson<br />
both formed a part of the<br />
Harpa opening festivities.<br />
Emergence by Daníel Bjarnason<br />
was premiered at the Dark<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Days 2011, the annual<br />
festival of Iceland Composers<br />
Society held in the dark, winter<br />
days of late January/early<br />
February. Aeriality by Anna<br />
Thorvaldsdottir was premiered<br />
by the ISO in the new hall in<br />
late November. A violin concerto<br />
by Haflidi Hallgrímsson was<br />
premiered in Scotland, a<br />
percussion concerto by Áskell<br />
Másson was premiered in<br />
Tuurku, conducted by Petri<br />
Sakari, a former chief conductor<br />
of the ISO. A brand new horn<br />
concerto, also by Másson was<br />
premiered by the ISO in the<br />
Autumn. This is just a part of a<br />
much longer list of premieres,<br />
and mention must be made of<br />
the continued success of Jón<br />
Leifs’ music, both at home and<br />
throughout the world.<br />
One has to consider how all this<br />
activity is possible in such a<br />
small society and one fact must<br />
be said to be part of the<br />
explanation: every musician in<br />
the country wears many hats!<br />
They perform professionally,<br />
teach, they participate part-time<br />
in underground experimental<br />
groups and take part in the<br />
most extreme diversity of<br />
musical performances. Theatre,<br />
dance, charity, opera, children,<br />
the elderly – some of these<br />
active musicians are household<br />
names in Icelandic homes for<br />
very different reasons or<br />
touching points with the<br />
peoples’ lives.<br />
It is this melting-pot of creativity<br />
and performance forces from<br />
all directions that can, to some<br />
extent, explain the sense of<br />
freedom from fixed genres and<br />
styles which can be felt in musicmaking<br />
in Iceland.<br />
Everything is possible, it just has<br />
to be good!<br />
Sigfrídur Björnsdóttir<br />
Director, Iceland <strong>Music</strong><br />
Information Centre<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 13
CONCERT TWO<br />
Sunday, January 29 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:50 pm<br />
Westminster United Church<br />
RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN<br />
Megumi Masaki, piano 1 WSO Clearwater String Quartet 6<br />
Oleg Pokhanovski, violin 2 Minna Rose Chung, cello 7<br />
Yuri Hooker, cello 3 Tim Hecker, organ 8<br />
Gwen Hoebig, violin 4 Paul Corley, sound technician 9<br />
David Moroz, piano 5<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Letter A 1 S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté (CAN)<br />
Spins and Spells 3 Kaija Saariaho (FI)<br />
Reflections – Intro 2 Jurriaan Andriessen (NL)<br />
Tocar 4 5 Kaija Saariaho (FI)<br />
Reflections – Presto 2 Jurriaan Andriessen (NL)<br />
Stigmata 7 Vincent Ho (CAN)<br />
Tune for a Child 1 S.C. Eckhardt Gramatté (CAN)<br />
Nebraska 6 Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS)<br />
I. Flat Water<br />
II. Landlocked<br />
III. Erosion<br />
IV. Plainsong<br />
- INTERMISSION -<br />
Ravedeath for Organ 8 9 Tim Hecker (CAN)<br />
Be dazzled by the performances of pianist Megumi Masaki and violinist Oleg Pokhanovski as they<br />
present works of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté and Jurriaan Andriessen. This year’s distinguished guest<br />
composer Kaija Saariaho joins us for the performance of her latest compositions: Tocar (for violin<br />
and piano) and Spins and Spells (for solo cello). One of Iceland’s new music superstars, composer<br />
Valgeir Sigurdsson, also joins us for the North American premiere of his string quartet, Nebraska,<br />
performed by the WSO Clearwater String Quartet. Cellist Minna Rose Chung presents Vincent Ho’s<br />
haunting work, Stigmata. Rounding off the evening will be acclaimed Canadian sound artist Tim<br />
Hecker as he performs his new work, Ravedeath For Organ.<br />
After-Party at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art<br />
Co-Presented by Plug In ICA<br />
Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue Free admission, cash bar, wheelchair accessible<br />
Doors open at 9:30 pm. Event at 10 pm to midnight Venue capacity is limited, no seating<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor:<br />
<strong>Music</strong> from tonight's concert will air<br />
on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and<br />
Concerts on Demand, online.<br />
Broadcast Partner:<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 13 15
NMF ESSAY – DR. BIRNA BJARNADÓTTIR<br />
Icelandic Culture<br />
The poet Matthías Jochumsson’s<br />
(1835–1920) vision of Iceland<br />
and its thousand year history was<br />
that of eternity’s flower, watered<br />
by a shivering tear. The poet’s<br />
idea could be considered a<br />
contradiction to the country’s<br />
geographical realities; Iceland,<br />
placed on the edge of Europe, a<br />
volcanic island in the Atlantic<br />
Ocean, this “grave of fire” where<br />
the “wastelands of earth appear”<br />
– to quote Hannes Pétursson<br />
(1931), another major poet of<br />
Icelandic literature. How to<br />
reconcile this fragile flower and<br />
its shivering tear with an<br />
unforgiving nature teetering on a<br />
spectacular, oceanic edge? It is<br />
the task of a vibrant cultural<br />
heritage to explore and perceive<br />
even the greatest paradoxes. In<br />
this case, one that crosses<br />
centuries, oceans and continents.<br />
For those interested in the<br />
origins of Icelandic culture,<br />
medieval Iceland becomes an<br />
unavoidable destination. In fact,<br />
it was Europe’s smallest and<br />
most isolated nation that – in the<br />
twelfth and thirteenth centuries<br />
– pursued and preserved the<br />
cultural heritage of Scandinavia<br />
at large. The results can be<br />
measured in the most significant<br />
sources available on Norse<br />
mythology – namely, the two<br />
Eddas – along with several other<br />
important texts, including The<br />
First Grammatical Treatise, The<br />
Book of Settlements, and the<br />
equally fantastic Grágás, a source<br />
on medieval law. The sagas of<br />
kings, saints, and bishops –<br />
which constitute no small<br />
collection in themselves – have<br />
not failed to impress. The same<br />
holds true of the so called<br />
contemporary sagas, these<br />
16 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
reality–bites of Iceland’s<br />
thirteenth century epic power<br />
struggle. On top of all of this, a<br />
group of anonymous writers<br />
reinforced this already solid<br />
foundation in committing to<br />
vellum Europe’s first novels, the<br />
Sagas of Icelanders. Widely<br />
considered a unique literary<br />
genre within the context of<br />
world literature, the fictional<br />
sagas tell of the lives of the<br />
settlers and their descendants<br />
during the Age of Settlement<br />
(ca. 870–930) straight into the<br />
rise and fall of The Icelandic<br />
Commonwealth (ca. 930–1262).<br />
But how did it happen that the<br />
smallest and most isolated nation<br />
in Europe became the<br />
storehouse and creative centre<br />
of Northern culture? Snorri<br />
Sturluson (1149–1241), the<br />
politician, lawspeaker,<br />
mythographer, historian and<br />
poet, may, in part, be held<br />
responsible. Considered one of<br />
the most important interpreters<br />
of medieval European culture<br />
and society, his Edda is a<br />
brimming source on the art of<br />
poetry that had been dying out<br />
in the newly Christianized<br />
Europe. Simultaneously, when<br />
approaching the Norse<br />
Olympus, Snorri’s Edda provides<br />
us with an earthbound sense of a<br />
mythic direction. His key source,<br />
the poem Völuspá (The<br />
Seeresse’s Prophecy), is the most<br />
sacred text originating from<br />
Northern paganism. Preserved<br />
in the Codex Regius manuscript,<br />
(also known as the Poetic Edda),<br />
the poem reveals – with its<br />
shattering description of the<br />
beginning and the end of the<br />
world – the enigmatic remains of<br />
a pre–Christian worldview.<br />
By the sheer force of a mythic<br />
legacy, a certain cultural passage<br />
into the world had been created.<br />
In turn, the bridge leading from<br />
the unforgiving and spectacular<br />
edge of Europe can be perceived<br />
as it crosses centuries, oceans and<br />
continents. This is not intended to<br />
suggest that the story of the<br />
Icelandic cultural heritage is a<br />
story of an unbroken victory<br />
march. Iceland’s golden age – the<br />
medieval miracle – came to an<br />
end, only to be replaced by various<br />
episodes of both natural and manmade<br />
disasters. It was thus only<br />
recently that eternity’s flower was<br />
watered by a shivering tear.<br />
No wonder, then, that the subject<br />
of Icelandic language, literature<br />
and culture is taught in over one<br />
hundred universities world wide.<br />
Of all the programs and centres<br />
of study and research, however,<br />
there is only one Department of<br />
Icelandic Language and<br />
Literature that exists outside of<br />
Iceland. Thanks to a group of<br />
Icelandic nineteenth century<br />
immigrants and their<br />
descendants, this department is<br />
fostered here, in this city, by the<br />
University of Manitoba. Embraced<br />
by the continuous support of the<br />
Icelandic community across<br />
North America, the old country’s<br />
equally generous mindset, and<br />
the profound cultural<br />
contribution of members of the<br />
Icelandic community on both<br />
sides of the water, the<br />
department’s task is to pursue and<br />
promote in North America a<br />
certain cultural passage in the<br />
world. Thanks to the 2012<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>’s<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>, people will<br />
now be able to hear the sound of<br />
this passage.<br />
Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir,<br />
Chair and Acting Head<br />
Department of Icelandic Studies<br />
University of Manitoba
CONCERT THREE<br />
Monday, January 30 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
Centennial Concert Hall<br />
SHAUNA ROLSTON: CITY SUITES (WORLD PREMIERE)<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> Shauna Rolston, cello 3<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor 1 WSO Clearwater String Quartet 4<br />
Richard Lee, conductor 2<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Emergence (North American premiere) 2 Daníel Bjarnason (IS)<br />
I. Silence<br />
II. Black Breathing<br />
III. Interlude<br />
IV. Emergence<br />
City Suites: Concerto for Cello and 1 3 Vincent Ho (CAN)<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> (World premiere)*<br />
I. Dusk<br />
II. Overdrive<br />
III. Nighthawks<br />
IV. <strong>New</strong> Dawn<br />
- INTERMISSION -<br />
Tender is the Night (World premiere)** 2 Jesse Plessis (CAN)<br />
Pursuit: Concerto for String Quartet and <strong>Orchestra</strong> 1 4 Alexina Louie (CAN)<br />
I. Intro<br />
II. Still<br />
III. Rush<br />
In celebration of our <strong>Festival</strong>’s Icelandic theme, we are proud to present a new work by one of<br />
Iceland’s fastest rising stars – Daníel Bjarnason. Hear the North American premiere of his orchestral<br />
work Emergence, a piece hailed for its exquisite colours and emotional profundity. Returning to our<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> as our distinguished guest artist is Canada’s superstar cellist Shauna Rolston as she presents<br />
the world premiere of Vincent Ho’s cello concerto, City Suites, written especially for her and her<br />
carbon-fiber cello. This year’s Canadian <strong>Music</strong> Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work<br />
receives its premiere performance tonight with Tender is the night, composed by Brandon University<br />
student Jesse Plessis. Concluding the program is Alexina Louie’s thrilling concerto for string quartet,<br />
Pursuit, performed by our very own WSO Clearwater String Quartet.<br />
*Commissioned by the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> and the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Arts Council<br />
**Winner of the Canadian <strong>Music</strong> Centre’s 2012 Emerging Composer Prize<br />
To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39<br />
<strong>Music</strong> from tonight's concert will air on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and Concerts on Demand, online.<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor: Broadcast Partner:<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 17
18 OVERTURE I January – February 2012
CONCERT FOUR<br />
Tuesday, January 31 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Art Gallery<br />
WAG EVENT: DOUBLE FEATURE:<br />
GROUNDSWELL AND THE<br />
BEDROOM COMMUNITY<br />
David Betz 1 Anne Elise Lavallée, viola 8<br />
Heidi Ouellette 2 Emma Quackenbush, cello 9<br />
David Storen 3 Diana McIntosh, performer 10<br />
Troy Jasper 4 Bedroom Community: 11<br />
Ilkim Tongur 5 Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly,<br />
Jan Kocman, flute 6 Valgeir Sigurdsson<br />
Karl Stobbe, violin 7<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Part 1:<br />
:spin 1 2 3 4 5 Gordon Fitzell (CAN)<br />
Vertical Garden 6 Michael Matthews (CAN)<br />
After Sorrow (World premiere) 7 8 9 Jim Hiscott (CAN)<br />
You, Me and The Tree (World premiere)* 10 Diana McIntosh (CAN)<br />
Part 2:<br />
The Bedroom Community 11<br />
GroundSwell <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> returns to bring you a night of new music and theatre at the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Art Gallery. Hear wonderful new works by many of Manitoba’s illustrious<br />
composers – Michael Matthews, Jim Hiscott, Gordon Fitzell and musical artist Diana<br />
McIntosh, who will present the world premiere of her one-woman piece, You, Me and The<br />
Tree. Also featured is a special performance by Iceland’s own Bedroom Community (Daníel<br />
Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson). Be part of an evening to remember at the<br />
WAG.<br />
*Commissioned by the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> with the assistance of the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Arts Council<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor:<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 19
20 OVERTURE I January – February 2012
CONCERT FIVE<br />
Wednesday, February 1 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
Centennial Concert Hall<br />
ICELANDIA<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 1<br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Shauna Rolston, cello 2<br />
PROGRAM<br />
Credo (Canadian premiere) 1 Kjartan Sveinsson (IS)<br />
So Far So Good (Canadian premiere)* Nico Muhly (USA)<br />
- INTERMISSION -<br />
Bow to String: For Cello & <strong>Orchestra</strong> 2 Daníel Bjarnason (IS)<br />
(North American premiere)<br />
I. Sorrow Conquers Happiness<br />
II. Blood to Bones<br />
III. Air to Breath<br />
Dreamland (North American premiere) Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS)<br />
I. Grylukvædi<br />
II. Nowhere Land<br />
III. Helter Smelter<br />
IV. Cold Ground, Hot<br />
V. Dreamland<br />
VI. Laxness<br />
VII. “I offer prosperity and eternal life…”<br />
VIII. Past Tundra<br />
We bring you a very special evening of music by members of Iceland’s own composer collective –<br />
the Bedroom Community. We open with the highly anticipated performance of Credo, composed<br />
by Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), featuring Prairie Voices and our WSO Strings. Nico Muhly<br />
joins us for the Canadian premiere of his new WSO co-commissioned work, So Far So Good.<br />
Distinguished guest artist Shauna Rolston returns to the stage to present the North American<br />
premiere of Daniel Bjarnason’s enthralling piece for cello and orchestra, Bow to String. Finally,<br />
we present the North American premiere of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Dreamland, a new orchestral<br />
work based on his soundtrack to the prize-winning documentary of the same name (being shown<br />
at the Park Theatre on Sunday, January 29, 1:30 pm).<br />
*Commissioned by the Seattle <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, Kitchener-Waterloo <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, and the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor: Broadcast Partner:<br />
<strong>Music</strong> from tonight's concert will air<br />
on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and<br />
Concerts on Demand, online.<br />
January – – February 2012 2011 I IOVERTURE OVERTURE 21 5
Our community. Our future.<br />
Together.<br />
Proud to support the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
Great-West Life and the key design are trademarks of The Great-West Life Assurance Company.<br />
is a trademark of The Great-West Life Assurance Company.
CONCERT SIX<br />
Thursday, February 2 I 7:30 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
Centennial Concert Hall<br />
LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS<br />
La La La Human Steps<br />
Édouard Lock, choreographer<br />
Gavin Bryars, composer<br />
Blake Hargreaves, composer<br />
Njo Kon Kie, musical director and pianist<br />
Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cellist<br />
Jennifer Thiessen, violist<br />
Ida Toninato, saxophonist<br />
PROGRAM<br />
<strong>New</strong> Work<br />
Internationally acclaimed dance group La La La Human Steps returns to <strong>Winnipeg</strong>. Tonight,<br />
they present a thrilling new show choreographed to the extraordinary music of Gavin Bryars.<br />
Witness what critics and audiences have been raving about all over the world!<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor:<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 23
Did you<br />
Know...<br />
• Ticket sales reflect less<br />
than 41% of the actual costs<br />
to presenting our season<br />
• The WSO performs for more<br />
than 30,000 students<br />
in Manitoba each year<br />
If you would like more information about giving to the WSO, please contact<br />
Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator at (204) 949-3987 or slund@wso.mb.ca<br />
24 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
• Your investment supports programs that<br />
enhance music education<br />
and access in our community
CONCERT SEVEN<br />
Friday, February 3 I 8:00 pm Doors open at 6:30 pm<br />
Centennial Concert Hall<br />
ICELANDIC FINALE:<br />
JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor<br />
Jóhann Jóhannsson, computer 1<br />
Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 2<br />
PROGRAM<br />
A Prayer to the Dynamo (World premiere)* 1 Jóhann Jóhannsson (IS)<br />
I.<br />
II.<br />
III.<br />
IV.<br />
- INTERMISSION -<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> No. 2 (North American premiere) 2 Atli Heimir Sveinsson (IS)<br />
I. …dansandi mordunsólir… (…dancing morning suns…)<br />
II. …vornæturregn… (…spring night rain…)<br />
III. …einn um nótt ég sveima… (…alone at night I drift…)<br />
IV. …blámi himinhæda… (…the blue heavens…)<br />
V. …blik af inum draumi… (…reflection of your dream…)<br />
For our closing gala concert, we are proud to present two monumental works by two of<br />
Iceland’s leading composers. Jóhann Jóhannsson joins us for the world premiere of his work,<br />
A Prayer to the Dynamo, commissioned by the WSO. Known for his ethereal colours and<br />
sonorous harmonies, Jóhannsson’s new piece will leave you breathless as he takes you on an<br />
emotional musical journey. To conclude our <strong>Festival</strong>, we bring you a major musical event:<br />
Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 2. Hailed as an Icelandic masterpiece, Sveinsson’s<br />
magnificent work makes its North American premiere tonight with <strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s own Prairie<br />
Voices and an extended WSO.<br />
*Commissioned by the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> with the assistance of the Danish Arts Foundation<br />
To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39<br />
<strong>Festival</strong> Sponsor:<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 25
WSO MUSICIAN PROFILES<br />
Desiree Abbey<br />
Instrument: Cello<br />
Joined WSO: 2011<br />
Hometown: Toronto, ON<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
Children inspire me with their<br />
imaginations and dreams. To<br />
them anything is possible.<br />
Hobbies: Cooking with friends<br />
Jeremy Epp<br />
Instrument: Timpani<br />
Joined WSO: 2010;<br />
Extra musician since 2000<br />
Hometown: <strong>Winnipeg</strong>, MB<br />
Favourite piece to play:<br />
Anything by Beethoven<br />
or Mahler<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
My parents & former WSO<br />
timpanist Jauvon Gilliam<br />
26 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Richard Bauch<br />
Instrument: Viola<br />
Joined WSO: 1974<br />
Hometown: Park Forest, Illinois,<br />
USA<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
People who achieve greatness,<br />
yet still remain nice people who<br />
are thoughtful of others.<br />
Hobbies: Basketball, gardening,<br />
fitness, reading<br />
Simon MacDonald<br />
Instrument: Violin<br />
Joined WSO: 1999<br />
Hometown: Victoria, BC<br />
What is your favourite piece<br />
to play? Prokofiev’s Romeo<br />
& Juliet<br />
What is one of your most<br />
memorable live performances?<br />
Gala performance outdoors in<br />
a Piazza in Italy with L. Pavarotti<br />
Tomomi Brennan<br />
Instrument: Violin<br />
Joined WSO: 2011<br />
Hometown: Osaka, Japan<br />
What is one of your most<br />
memorable live performances?<br />
Playing Beethoven <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 9<br />
with a 10,000 person choir in<br />
Japan<br />
If you could have dinner with<br />
one historical figure, who would<br />
that be?<br />
Paganini: I just want to ask why<br />
he wrote such difficult pieces.<br />
Bruce Okrainec<br />
Instrument: Bass<br />
Joined WSO: 1980<br />
Hometown: Edmonton, AB<br />
Who was your idol growing up?<br />
The Beatles!<br />
What is your favourite<br />
piece to play? Sibelius<br />
Symphonies are especially<br />
beautiful and a treat to perform.
Elation Pauls<br />
Instrument: Violin<br />
Joined WSO: 2009<br />
Hometown: Saskatoon, SK<br />
What is one of your most<br />
memorable live performances?<br />
My graduating Masters recital at<br />
the U of Toronto. My pianist<br />
jammed her finger in a door<br />
minutes before going to the hall,<br />
so I played the Kreutzer Sonata by<br />
Beethoven with pianist Peter<br />
Longworth without rehearsal.<br />
What is your favourite restaurant<br />
to go to after a WSO concert?<br />
Hermanos for the Empananas<br />
and Heart of Palm Salad<br />
Patrick Staples<br />
Instrument: Bass<br />
Joined WSO: 2011<br />
Hometown: Calgary, AB<br />
What is one of your most<br />
memorable live performances?<br />
Shostakovich <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 11<br />
with Larry Rachleff and the Rice<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
Michael Jackson<br />
Emma Quackenbush<br />
Instrument: Cello<br />
Joined WSO: 2010<br />
Hometown: Calgary, AB<br />
What is your favorite piece<br />
to play? Brahms <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 4<br />
Hobbies: Yoga, gardening,<br />
and as a result of gardening:<br />
canning. My fiancé and I make<br />
a mean salsa!<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
My Dad. He is the most<br />
generous, kind, and loving<br />
person I know.<br />
Phoebe Tsang<br />
Instrument: Violin<br />
Joined WSO: 2011<br />
Hometown: London, England<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
The every day world around<br />
me: people I meet, nature,<br />
books and other works of art.<br />
What is your favourite piece<br />
to play? Anything by Beethoven!<br />
Julie Savard<br />
Instrument: Violin<br />
Joined WSO: 2002<br />
Hometown: Montreal, QC<br />
What is one of your most<br />
memorable live performances?<br />
Playing Beethoven's 6th<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> in an old church<br />
during a thunderstorm<br />
Hobbies: Baking, horseback<br />
riding, playing with my<br />
daughters Emilie and Chloe<br />
Richard Turner<br />
Instrument: Harp<br />
Joined WSO: 1977<br />
Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, USA<br />
What is your favourite piece<br />
to play? Ceremony of Carols by<br />
Benjamin Britten<br />
What or who inspires you?<br />
Understanding the intention and<br />
conception of a master composer and<br />
then being able to bring it to life.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 27
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Sponsored by:
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Jurriaan Andriessen, composer<br />
(Netherlands, 1925-1996)<br />
Jurriaan Andriessen studied<br />
composition with his father at<br />
the Utrecht Conservatory before<br />
moving to Paris where he<br />
studied with Olivier Messiaen.<br />
The bulk of Mr. Andriessen's<br />
output is for the stage; his study in Paris was<br />
primarily in writing film music. He had a<br />
variety of musical influences which he drew<br />
upon, including American film music, Aaron<br />
Copland's ballets, folk music of various<br />
cultures, neoclassicism, and serialism; this<br />
eclecticism, combined with his compositional<br />
skill, made his writing well-suited to scoring<br />
dramatic works. In addition to the theatre<br />
works he is most noted for, Mr. Andriessen was<br />
also a prolific composer of chamber and vocal<br />
works, many of which were meant to be<br />
performed by amateurs. He has also been a<br />
director for television.<br />
Birna Bjarnadóttir, author<br />
Birna Bjarnadóttir studied<br />
literature and aesthetics at the<br />
University of Iceland, the Freie<br />
University in Berlin and the<br />
University of Warwick, England.<br />
She holds the position of<br />
Chair and Acting Head of Icelandic Studies at<br />
the University of Manitoba. She is the author<br />
of several books, essays and articles, lectures<br />
widely on the subjects of literature, culture and<br />
aesthetics, and works frequently with artists on<br />
creative projects. Her most recent publications<br />
include a book of fragments (Kind Publishing,<br />
2010), illustrated by Cliff Eyland, Haraldur<br />
Jónsson and Guy Maddin, with a forward by<br />
George Toles; and Recesses of the Mind.<br />
Aesthetics in Gudbergur Bergsson’s Work<br />
(McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2012).<br />
Daníel Bjarnason, composer (Iceland)<br />
Daníel Bjarnason studied piano,<br />
composition and conducting in<br />
Reykjavík before studying<br />
orchestral conducting at<br />
Freiburg University of <strong>Music</strong>,<br />
Germany. Mr. Bjarnason works<br />
equally as conductor and composer and has<br />
worked with many different ensembles<br />
including the London Sinfonietta, Ulster<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong> and Sinfonietta Cracovia. He regularly<br />
conducts at both the Icelandic Opera and Iceland<br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>. His music has been<br />
performed worldwide and he is currently writing<br />
new music for the LA Philharmonic, LA Children's<br />
Chorus and the American Youth <strong>Symphony</strong>. Mr.<br />
Bjarnason has won numerous awards and grants<br />
and in 2008 and 2011 was awarded a special<br />
recommendation for his work at the International<br />
Rostrum for Composers. In 2010, he was<br />
nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council's<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Prize, and won the Kraumur <strong>Music</strong> Award.<br />
Brandon University’s <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> Ensemble<br />
(BUNME)<br />
The Brandon<br />
University <strong>New</strong><br />
<strong>Music</strong> Ensemble<br />
(BUNME), under<br />
the direction of<br />
Professor Megumi<br />
Masaki, is a<br />
collaboration of undergraduate students,<br />
comprising all programs, years, and instruments.<br />
The group explores a diverse array of<br />
contemporary repertoire from around the world,<br />
for large and small ensembles, and presents an<br />
annual <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> at Brandon University.<br />
The 2010 festival, “Sights and Sounds,” featured<br />
composer-in-residence Nicole Lizée. Past festivals<br />
have featured collaborations with composers T.<br />
Patrick Carrabré of Brandon and Jorge Córdoba<br />
Valencia of Mexico City.<br />
Gavin Bryars, composer (UK)<br />
Gavin Bryars, prominent and prolific<br />
English composer, was born in<br />
Yorkshire in 1943. He initially<br />
established his musical reputation as<br />
a jazz bassist working in the early<br />
sixties with improvisers Derek Bailey<br />
and Tony Oxley. He abandoned improvisation in<br />
1966 and worked for a time in the United States<br />
with John Cage. From 1969 to 1978, he taught in<br />
departments of Fine Art in Portsmouth and<br />
Leicester, and was instrumental in founding the<br />
legendary Portsmouth Sinfonia. He founded the<br />
music department at Leicester Polytechnic (later De<br />
Montfort University) and was professor of music<br />
there from 1986 to 1994. His first major works as a<br />
composer were The Sinking of the Titanic (1969),<br />
originally released on Brian Eno's Obscure label in<br />
1975, and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971).<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 29
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Canadian Mennonite University Singers;<br />
Janet Brenneman and<br />
Rudy Schellenberg, directors<br />
The CMU<br />
Singers is one of<br />
five auditioned<br />
choral ensembles<br />
at Canadian<br />
Mennonite<br />
University. This<br />
45-voiced mixed ensemble is comprised of<br />
students from a variety of undergraduate<br />
academic programs at CMU. The CMU Singers’<br />
diverse repertoire is highly acclaimed among its<br />
audiences and includes sacred and secular music<br />
from all eras and musical cultures. It performs<br />
regularly in worship services and concerts at CMU,<br />
throughout the city of <strong>Winnipeg</strong> and in<br />
communities across Manitoba. Each spring, the<br />
choir tours across Canada or through the northern<br />
U.S. Recently, the CMU Singers collaborated with<br />
the other CMU Choirs in the world premiere of<br />
T. Patrick Carrabre’s Creation Stories at the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>’s <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong><br />
<strong>Festival</strong>, and in the release of CMU’s newest CD,<br />
On Earth as in Heaven. The choir can be heard<br />
regularly on Golden West Radio broadcasting<br />
throughout southern Manitoba. Members of the<br />
CMU Singers are also members of the CMU<br />
Women’s Chorus or the CMU Men’s Chorus.<br />
Minna Rose Chung, cello<br />
Korean American cellist Minna<br />
Rose Chung joined the University<br />
of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels<br />
Faculty of <strong>Music</strong> as assistant<br />
professor of cello in 2008 and is<br />
the director of Project Rio, a<br />
multi-collaborative program that invites Canadian<br />
musicians to teach and perform at the prestigious<br />
Rio International Cello Encounter in Rio de<br />
Janeiro, Brazil. Aside from teaching, Dr. Chung<br />
tours internationally as a guest artist with many<br />
festival orchestras and chamber ensembles;<br />
recently returning from a U.S. tour with the<br />
Munich <strong>Symphony</strong>. In 2007, she made her<br />
Carnegie Hall debut as a founding member with<br />
her ensemble, the Pangea String Quartet in<br />
conjunction with the Kronos Quartet Young<br />
Artists Concert series. Additionally in 2010, she<br />
joined the Azure String Quartet, a newly formed<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> ensemble dedicated to exploring new<br />
interpretations of the chamber music milieu.<br />
30 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté,<br />
composer (Canada, 1899-1974)<br />
Born in Moscow as Sofia (Sonia)<br />
Fridman-Kochevskaya, Ms.<br />
Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the<br />
Conservatoire de Paris, where her<br />
teachers included Alfred Brun and<br />
Guillaume Rémy for violin, S.<br />
Chenée for piano, and Vincent d'Indy and Camille<br />
Chevillard for composition. She also embarked on<br />
several concert tours of Western Europe, in which<br />
she performed her own works. Her legacy is<br />
preserved through the work of the Eckhardt-<br />
Grammaté Foundation. Her compositions included:<br />
a symphony; a concerto for orchestra; a triple<br />
concerto for trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, strings, and<br />
timpani; three piano concertos; two violin<br />
concertos; a piece for two pianos and orchestra; a<br />
bassoon concerto; various chamber works; as well as<br />
numerous instrumental solos for piano and violin.<br />
Gordon Fitzell, composer (Canada)<br />
Gordon Fitzell is a <strong>Winnipeg</strong>based<br />
composer, producer and<br />
concert presenter. His music has<br />
been performed by a host of<br />
leading artists including<br />
Norwegian group BIT20,<br />
Canada’s Trio Fibonacci, and American sextet<br />
eighth blackbird, whose Grammy-winning<br />
album Strange Imaginary Animals features two<br />
of his works. In 2010, Mr. Fitzell was the guest<br />
composer of the Cluster <strong>Festival</strong>, where five of<br />
his works were presented. An assistant professor<br />
of music at the University of Manitoba, he also<br />
leads the eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE)<br />
and serves as an artistic director of GroundSwell,<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s new music series.<br />
GroundSwell <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong><br />
Since 1990, GroundSwell<br />
has been <strong>Winnipeg</strong>’s only<br />
concert series devoted solely to presenting new<br />
music. Now in its twenty-first season,<br />
GroundSwell is a leading force in the Prairies for<br />
the promotion and appreciation of the music of<br />
our times. From bold interpretations of<br />
twentieth-century classics to innovative<br />
integrations involving theatre, dance, film, visual<br />
art and the written word, GroundSwell continues<br />
to explore new vistas of contemporary<br />
performance.
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Gudbergur Bergsson, author<br />
Born in Grindavík, Iceland<br />
in 1932, Mr. Gudbergur<br />
Bergsson received a<br />
teaching diploma from the<br />
Iceland University of<br />
Education in 1955, went to<br />
Spain for further studies and graduated in<br />
Spanish, literature and art history from La<br />
Universidad de Barcelona in 1958. His first<br />
books, the novel Músin sem lædist (The<br />
Prowling Mouse) and the poetry collection<br />
Endurtekin ord (Repeated Words),<br />
appeared in 1961. He has published<br />
numerous books, short stories, over 20<br />
novels, children's books, autobiographical<br />
novels, and more. Mr. Bergsson is one of<br />
Iceland's most prolific translators from<br />
Spanish and has thus played an important<br />
part in introducing Spanish and Latin-<br />
American authors in Iceland. His own<br />
books have been translated into several<br />
languages and the novel Svanurinn (The<br />
Swan) has received strong acclaim in<br />
many countries. He received the Nordic<br />
Prize of the Swedish Academy in 2004.<br />
Tim Hecker, composer & performer<br />
(Canada)<br />
Tim Hecker is a Canadianbased<br />
musician and sound<br />
artist, born in Vancouver.<br />
Since 1996, he has<br />
produced a range of audio<br />
works for Kranky, Alien8,<br />
Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc,<br />
Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have<br />
been described as “structured ambient,”<br />
“tectonic colour plates” and “cathedral<br />
electronic music.” More to the point, he<br />
has focused on exploring the intersection<br />
of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering<br />
an approach to song craft that is both<br />
physical and emotive. The <strong>New</strong> York<br />
Times has described his work as<br />
“foreboding, abstract pieces in which static<br />
and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow<br />
moving notes and chords, like fissures in<br />
the earth waiting to swallow them whole.”<br />
His work has also included commissions<br />
for contemporary dance, sound-art<br />
installations, as well as various writings.<br />
Jim Hiscott, composer (Canada)<br />
Jim Hiscott was born in 1948 in St.<br />
Catharines, Ontario. In 1971, after<br />
earning a master's degree in<br />
Theoretical Particle Physics, he<br />
switched to music composition,<br />
studying with Samuel Dolin at the<br />
Royal Conservatory of <strong>Music</strong> and David Lidov and<br />
Richard Teitelbaum at York University. He is the<br />
recipient of the Creative Arts Award of the<br />
Canadian Federation of University Women. His<br />
compositions have been performed across North<br />
America, in Europe and Asia by many artists<br />
including the Hilliard Ensemble, the St. Lawrence<br />
String Quartet, the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>,<br />
the Montreal <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Vancouver<br />
<strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> Society ensemble, Rivka Golani,<br />
Arraymusic and Philadelphia's Relache.<br />
Gwen Hoebig, violin<br />
Recognized as one of Canada's most<br />
outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is a<br />
graduate of the Juilliard School. She<br />
joined the WSO as concertmaster in<br />
1987, having been awarded the position<br />
as the unanimous choice of the audition<br />
committee. A champion of new music, she has given<br />
many Canadian premieres, and was recently recognized<br />
at the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Canadian<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Centre for her exemplary commitment to the<br />
performance of the music of Canadian composers.<br />
She has performed all the major violin concerti with<br />
orchestras across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. As a<br />
chamber musician she appears frequently in recital with<br />
her husband, pianist David Moroz, and has performed<br />
at many of the country's foremost festivals.<br />
Yuri Hooker, cello<br />
Yuri Hooker is principal cellist for both<br />
the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> and the<br />
Manitoba Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>s. He<br />
makes regular concerto appearances<br />
with both orchestras and has been<br />
featured on CBC Radio 2. He is also a<br />
regular performer at GroundSwell <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong>, the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Chamber <strong>Music</strong> Society, and the Clear<br />
Lake Chamber <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong>. Mr. Hooker is also a<br />
dedicated teacher and the founder of the <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
Summer Cello Institute. He holds a Bachelor of<br />
<strong>Music</strong> from Brandon University after which he<br />
pursued graduate studies with Janos Starker at<br />
Indiana University.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 31
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer &<br />
performer (Denmark/Iceland)<br />
Jóhann Jóhannsson’s work<br />
frequently combines electronics<br />
with classical orchestrations. His<br />
work bears the influence of<br />
minimalism, drone music,<br />
baroque music and electroacoustic<br />
music and Mr. Jóhannsson’s<br />
background in Iceland’s flourishing<br />
independent music scene also informs his work.<br />
He released his first solo record Englabörn in<br />
2002 on the well-respected British label Touch,<br />
on which he combined the influence of Erik<br />
Satie, Bernard Herrmann, Purcell, Moondog<br />
and the electronic music of labels like Mille<br />
Plateaux and Mego. Later works include<br />
Virthulegu Forsetar (2004), scored for a brass<br />
ensemble, electronic drones and percussion,<br />
and the orchestral albums Fordlandia (2008)<br />
and IBM 1401 - A User's Manual (2006), a<br />
composition which uses sounds produced from<br />
the electromagnetic emissions of the old IBM<br />
1401 mainframe computers.<br />
Giya Kancheli, composer (Georgia)<br />
Born in Tbilisi on August 10,<br />
1935, Giya Kancheli is<br />
Georgia's most distinguished<br />
living composer and a leading<br />
figure in the world of<br />
contemporary music. Mr.<br />
Kancheli's scores, deeply spiritual in nature, are<br />
filled with haunting aural images, varied colours<br />
and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering<br />
climaxes. His music draws inspiration from<br />
Georgian folklore and sings with a heartfelt, yet<br />
refined emotion; it is conceived dramaturgically<br />
with a strong linear flow and an expansive sense<br />
of musical time. A man of uncompromising<br />
artistic integrity, Mr. Kancheli has been called<br />
by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, "an<br />
ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist -a<br />
restrained Vesuvius."<br />
Jan Kocman, flute<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
principal flutist Jan Kocman is<br />
well known to Canadian<br />
audiences for his solo, orchestral,<br />
and recital performances. He has<br />
been a featured soloist numerous<br />
32 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
times performing concerto repertoire by Nielsen,<br />
Mozart, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Telemann,<br />
Szervansky, Quantz, Glen Buhr, John Corigliano,<br />
R. Murray Schafer, Bright Sheng, Leonard<br />
Bernstein and Christopher Rouse. He attended<br />
Indiana University, where he studied with<br />
renowned flutist James Pellerite, graduating with<br />
distinction with his master's degree in flute<br />
performance. During his graduate studies he served<br />
as associate instructor to Mr. Pellerite and<br />
completed course work in musicology with Walter<br />
Kaufmann, the founding conductor of the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>. He has performed<br />
as principal flutist with WSO <strong>Music</strong> Directors Piero<br />
Gamba, Kazuhiro Koizumi, Bramwell Tovey,<br />
Andrey Boreyko, and now Alexander Mickelthwate.<br />
Jennifer Koh, violin<br />
Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized<br />
for her intense, commanding<br />
performances, delivered with<br />
dazzling virtuosity and technical<br />
assurance. She is dedicated to<br />
performing the violin repertoire of<br />
all eras from traditional to contemporary to new<br />
compositions and exploring connections in the<br />
works she performs. Since the 1994-95 season when<br />
she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition<br />
in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition,<br />
and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh has<br />
been heard with leading orchestras and conductors<br />
around the world. Also a prolific recitalist, she<br />
appears frequently at major music centers and<br />
festivals. In 2009, Ms. Koh launched “Bach and<br />
Beyond,” a recital project that explores solo violin<br />
repertoire from Bach’s six sonatas and partitas to<br />
newly commissioned works. Highlights of her<br />
2011-12 season include Bach’s complete Sonatas<br />
and Partitas for solo violin presented by the Miller<br />
Theater in <strong>New</strong> York, and performances with the<br />
Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia <strong>Orchestra</strong>,<br />
and the Seattle, St. Louis and Toronto symphonies.<br />
La La La Human Steps<br />
La La La Human Steps was<br />
founded in 1980 by Édouard Lock<br />
around a three-week series of<br />
performances in the small theatre<br />
l'Eskabel in Montréal's St-Henri<br />
district, which led the troupe to The<br />
Kitchen in <strong>New</strong> York City, the epicentre of<br />
contemporary dance at the time. Since then, the
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
troupe has become one of the world's most<br />
recognized dance companies, thanks to the unique<br />
choreographic language it developed and has<br />
constantly reinvented since its inception.<br />
Choreographic complexity, the alteration of<br />
balletic structures and the intertwining of<br />
choreographic, musical and cinematic strands are<br />
among the elements that create a sense of<br />
perceptual distortion and renewal, that encourage<br />
audiences to both reinvent and rediscover the<br />
body and its dance. The company requires that its<br />
dancers constantly redefine, question and renew<br />
themselves, to bring out performances that move<br />
from extreme physical challenge to the greatest of<br />
lyricism. The Montréal troupe has collaborated<br />
with institutions both prestigious and eclectic,<br />
from the Opéra de Paris to Frank Zappa.<br />
Anne Elise Lavallée, viola<br />
Canadian violist Anne Elise Lavallée<br />
received her early musical training<br />
as well as her bachelor of music<br />
from Le Conservatoire de Musique<br />
de Québec. She was then invited by<br />
renowned violist Emmanuel Vardi<br />
to pursue a master’s degree in <strong>New</strong> York and was<br />
awarded a distinguished full scholarship from the<br />
Manhattan School of <strong>Music</strong>. Ms. Lavallée came<br />
back to Montreal to freelance with various groups<br />
and obtained an artist diploma from McGill<br />
University studying under Douglas McNabney. In<br />
1997, she won the position of assistant-principal<br />
viola with the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong><br />
and has made <strong>Winnipeg</strong> her home. Since then she<br />
appears regularly with diverse music groups in<br />
Manitoba as well as on CBC broadcasts. In<br />
addition to her musical career, Ms. Lavallée has<br />
held various administrative positions at the WSO<br />
including serving on the board of directors. She<br />
has been a radio freelancer for French CBC since<br />
2000 and a frequent host on WSO’s <strong>Music</strong>ally<br />
Speaking radio show on CJOB, Masterworks<br />
Series pre-concert talks and Up Close and<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>l educational series.<br />
Édouard Lock, choreographer<br />
La La La Human Steps founder,<br />
artistic director and choreographer<br />
Édouard Lock began his<br />
choreographic career at the age of<br />
20 and in 1980, he founded La La<br />
La Human Steps. Over the years<br />
Mr. Lock has been invited to create works for some of<br />
the world’s leading dance companies, including the<br />
Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Het Nationale Ballet of<br />
Holland and the Nederlands Dans Theater. His works<br />
have garnered many awards and in 2010, he received<br />
the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for<br />
Lifetime Artistic Achievement. That same year, he<br />
was also beneficiary of the Canada Council for the<br />
Arts Molson Prize while the Université du Québec à<br />
Montréal awarded him an honorary doctorate. He<br />
has collaborated with artists including David Bowie<br />
and Frank Zappa. Mr. Lock was named a Chevalier<br />
de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2001 and Officer<br />
of the Order of Canada in 2002.<br />
Alexina Louie, composer (Canada)<br />
Alexina Louie has been widely<br />
commissioned by Canada’s most<br />
prestigious orchestras, ensemble and<br />
soloists. Most recently, her interest<br />
in the collaborative experience has<br />
led her to write scores for dance<br />
(Wolf’s Court, The National Ballet of Canada),<br />
film and television, a medium which has garnered<br />
for her two Golden Sheaf Awards for best music<br />
from the Yorkton Film <strong>Festival</strong> (Burnt Toast, and<br />
Roxana - written with her husband and<br />
collaborator, Alex Pauk). Among her many<br />
honours, Ms. Louie has won the Jules Leger Prize<br />
in Chamber <strong>Music</strong>, the Chalmer’s Award, two<br />
Juno Awards and the National Arts Centre<br />
Composers Award. She is an Officer of the Order<br />
of Canada and holds an honourary doctorate<br />
from the University of Calgary.<br />
Megumi Masaki, piano<br />
Award-winning pianist Megumi<br />
Masaki has established herself as an<br />
international artist renowned for her<br />
warm rapport with audiences and<br />
her superb musicianship. Her multifaceted<br />
career as acclaimed soloist,<br />
chamber musician, pedagogue, conductor,<br />
champion of contemporary music and<br />
multidisciplinary researcher of Peak Performance<br />
has taken her across Canada, the U.S., Europe and<br />
Asia. Ms. Masaki is presently associate professor of<br />
piano at Brandon University, is on faculty at the<br />
Casalmaggiore International <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> Italy,<br />
the Waterford Summer <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> Utah USA<br />
and is the artistic director of the Eckhardt-<br />
Gramatté National <strong>Music</strong> Competition.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 33
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34 OVERTURE WSO I January Box Office – February 2012 949-3999 I www.wso.ca
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Michael Matthews, composer (Canada)<br />
Michael Matthews’ music has<br />
been performed in countries<br />
around the world. He has been<br />
the recipient of numerous<br />
commissions and awards; in<br />
2000, he held a Rockefeller<br />
Foundation residency at the Bellagio Center in<br />
Italy. His orchestral work Two Interludes was<br />
awarded third prize in the 1997 du Maurier<br />
Arts Ltd. <strong>New</strong> <strong>Music</strong> <strong>Festival</strong> Canadian<br />
Composers Competition. He has also received<br />
Canada Council and Manitoba Arts Council<br />
grants, the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Rh Institute Award for<br />
interdisciplinary research, a residency at the<br />
EMS computer music studios in Stockholm,<br />
Sweden, and a prize in the Premio <strong>Music</strong>ale<br />
Cittá di Trieste, Italy for his orchestral piece<br />
The Wind Was There.<br />
Diana McIntosh, composer &<br />
performer (Canada)<br />
Bravo TV called Diana<br />
McIntosh a national treasure.<br />
With a dynamic stage presence,<br />
she has an active career as a<br />
distinctive, provocative, and<br />
innovative composer, pianist<br />
and performance artist, having performed<br />
throughout Canada, widely in the U.S., in<br />
Europe and Nairobi, Kenya. She has been<br />
commissioned by many soloists, ensembles,<br />
and by the WSO and CBC. Most recently,<br />
CBC commissioned a piano Prelude and<br />
Fugue for their Glenn Gould celebration<br />
concert in Toronto, and Prodigies of the Nose<br />
for percussion and piano. In October 2009,<br />
she performed in the premiere of her<br />
theatrical The Rehearsal’s the Thing for four<br />
speaking/playing musicians.<br />
David Moroz, piano<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong>-born pianist David<br />
Moroz enjoys a career as one<br />
of Canada's most versatile<br />
artists. He has performed in<br />
every major Canadian city and<br />
appears regularly in recital with<br />
Canada's most distinguished musicians. Mr.<br />
Moroz was awarded a doctor of music degree<br />
from the University of Montreal, and holds<br />
both bachelor and master of music degrees<br />
from the celebrated Juilliard School in <strong>New</strong><br />
York City. He has been artistic director of The<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Chamber <strong>Music</strong> Society since 1987,<br />
and was appointed to the University of<br />
Manitoba's Faculty of <strong>Music</strong> in 1999, where he<br />
is coordinator of the Piano Department.<br />
Nico Muhly, composer (U.S.A.)<br />
The music of <strong>New</strong> York–based<br />
composer Nico Muhly has been<br />
played by such ensembles as<br />
eighth blackbird, the Britten<br />
Sinfonia, the Chicago <strong>Symphony</strong>,<br />
and the <strong>New</strong> York Philharmonic,<br />
and sung by soloists including David Daniels,<br />
Mark Padmore and Jessica Rivera. In addition<br />
to numerous recordings of his own music<br />
(available on Decca and Bedroom Community<br />
Records), he has collaborated on projects with<br />
Antony and the Johnsons, Björk, Bonnie<br />
"Prince" Billy, Grizzly Bear, Jónsi of Sigur Rós,<br />
and Teitur Lassen. His first opera, Two Boys,<br />
premiered at the English National Opera in<br />
June 2011. Dark Sisters, commissioned by the<br />
Gotham Chamber Opera, <strong>Music</strong>-Theatre<br />
Group, and the Opera Company of<br />
Philadelphia premiered in November 2011 in<br />
<strong>New</strong> York City.<br />
Jesse Plessis, composer (Canada)<br />
Jesse Plessis is currently working towards a master<br />
of music degree in piano performance at Brandon<br />
University. His own arrangement of Sgt. Pepper's<br />
Lonely Hearts Club Band, the seminal album by<br />
The Beatles, received an acclaimed premiere in<br />
August 2011. He has been featured in concert<br />
programs at the Casalmaggiore <strong>Festival</strong> in Italy, as<br />
a guest artist with the Lethbridge <strong>Symphony</strong>, the<br />
Musaeus String Quartet, the Land's End<br />
Chamber Ensemble, the International Piano<br />
Ensemble, and has worked with composers John<br />
Corigliano and Marcel Bergmann. In May 2011,<br />
he was a prize winner in the Women’s <strong>Music</strong>al<br />
Club of <strong>Winnipeg</strong> Scholarship Competition. He<br />
is also active as a conductor and his compositions<br />
have been performed in Canada, Europe, and<br />
broadcast on CBC Radio 2.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 35
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Oleg Pokhanovski, violin<br />
Oleg Pokhanovski began his career<br />
as a violinist at the age of 6, giving<br />
his first performance with the<br />
Kuybyshev <strong>Symphony</strong> in Russia. At<br />
10, he was accepted into renowned<br />
Special <strong>Music</strong> School for Gifted<br />
Children in Moscow and later studied at the<br />
Moscow State Conservatory. Invited to move to the<br />
United States, he received full scholarships at The<br />
Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of<br />
<strong>Music</strong> studying with Dorothy DeLay, Pinchas<br />
Zukerman and Ani Kavafian. Mr. Pokhanovski is a<br />
top prize winner of eight prestigious international<br />
violin competitions including the Paganini in<br />
Genova, Sarasate in Pamplona and CIEM in<br />
Geneva among others, and was First Prize winner<br />
of the 1990 Scheveningen International Violin<br />
Competition. He is also a twice recipient of the<br />
prestigious Canada Council National Career<br />
Development Grant, as well as a multiple recipient<br />
of Conceil des Arts du Quebec and Manitoba Arts<br />
Council Grants. He presently holds the position of<br />
associate professor of violin at the Marcel A.<br />
Desautels Faculty of <strong>Music</strong> at the University of<br />
Manitoba, having previously held the same position<br />
at the Lake State Superior University in Michigan.<br />
Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director<br />
Prairie Voices is an award-winning company of<br />
singers ages 18-25 dedicated to the performance<br />
of innovative contemporary choral music from all<br />
over the world. Placing an emphasis on Canadian<br />
and Manitoban composers, the choir uses energy,<br />
expressiveness and movement to connect avantgarde<br />
composition with a popular audience.<br />
Hailed by composer Sid Robinovitch as “the wave<br />
of the future for choral music,” Prairie Voices is<br />
known for their passionate style of performance,<br />
which combines exceptional vocals with engaging<br />
presentation to provide the ultimate choral<br />
experience.<br />
36 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
Emma Quackenbush, cello<br />
A gifted artist, Canadian cellist<br />
Emma Quackenbush holds a<br />
master’s degree in <strong>Music</strong><br />
Performance from the University<br />
of Michigan where she studied<br />
with Anthony Elliott. She joined<br />
the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> in 2008 and was later<br />
able to spend time at the Banff Centre in a<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Residency. Ms. Quackenbush can be<br />
heard on CBC Radio 2 and has appeared in<br />
many live performances in and around<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> including appearances with<br />
GroundSwell and Virtuosi. A rapidly emerging<br />
star on the Canadian music scene, she credits<br />
John Kadz, with whom she studied for 11 years,<br />
as a major influence in her musical life. Ms.<br />
Quackenbush is thrilled to have returned to the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> in her third season.<br />
Shauna Rolston, cello<br />
Award-winning Canadian cellist<br />
Shauna Rolston is considered by<br />
peers and fans alike to be one of<br />
the most compelling and unique<br />
musical voices on the stage today.<br />
Since receiving a mini cello for<br />
her 2nd birthday, Ms. Rolston has appeared<br />
around the world, performing with such<br />
distinguished artists as Krzysztof Penderecki,<br />
Sir Andrew Davis, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop,<br />
Keith Lockhart, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Hans<br />
Graf, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrey Boreyko,<br />
and Menahem Pressler, as well as undertaking<br />
innovative collaborations with Veronica<br />
Tennant, Evelyn Hart, and Peggy Baker.<br />
Praised for her blazing technique and her ability<br />
to captivate the imagination and touch the<br />
heart of each audience member, she continues<br />
to astonish and delight with her concerts,<br />
recordings, and world premieres.<br />
Kaija Saariaho, composer (Finland)<br />
Kaija Saariaho is not only<br />
among the most important<br />
Finnish composers of her time,<br />
but must be ranked as one of the<br />
leading composers of the late<br />
twentieth and early twenty-first<br />
centuries. She studied composition in Helsinki,<br />
Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have<br />
had a major influence on her music and her<br />
characteristically luxuriant and mysterious<br />
textures are often created by combining live<br />
music and electronics. Although much of her<br />
catalogue comprises chamber works, from the<br />
mid-nineties she has turned increasingly to<br />
larger forces and broader structures, such as the<br />
operas L’Amour de loin and Adriana Mater and<br />
the oratorio La Passion de Simone. She has won<br />
the Prix Italia and, in 1989, the Prix Ars<br />
Electronica; received commissions from Lincoln<br />
Center for the Kronos Quartet and from<br />
IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain;<br />
and has been the subject of a pan-European<br />
collaborative project to produce a CD-ROM<br />
Prisma about her work. In 2000, she won the<br />
Nordic Council <strong>Music</strong> Prize for the work Lonh<br />
for soprano and electronics. She was awarded<br />
the title <strong>Music</strong>ian of the Year 2008 (announced<br />
by <strong>Music</strong>al America, the U.S. publishing<br />
company for performing arts) for being "among<br />
the few contemporary composers to achieve<br />
public acclaim as well as universal critical<br />
respect."<br />
Daniel Scholz, viola<br />
Daniel Scholz is the principal<br />
violist with the <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong> and<br />
Manitoba Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>,<br />
and is a member of The<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Chamber <strong>Music</strong><br />
Society, Brandon Chamber Players and the<br />
Rembrandt String Quartet. He studied at the<br />
University of Regina, McGill University and<br />
the University of British Columbia, and was a<br />
prize-winner at the Lionel Tertis Viola<br />
Competition, the most prestigious event of its<br />
kind, held on the Isle of Mann. As a soloist,<br />
Mr. Scholz has performed with the <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
<strong>Symphony</strong> Orchrestra, the Manitoba Chamber<br />
<strong>Orchestra</strong>, the Okanagan <strong>Symphony</strong> and the<br />
Vancouver Chamber Players. Highly soughtafter<br />
as a teacher, Mr. Scholz is an instructor at<br />
the University of Manitoba and the Canadian<br />
Mennonite University, and also conducts the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Youth <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>. He has<br />
performed and taught at many of Canada's<br />
major festivals and is a faculty member of the<br />
University of Manitoba's Summer Chamber<br />
<strong>Music</strong> Program.<br />
Valgeir Sigurdsson, composer (Iceland)<br />
Valgeir Sigurdsson lives in<br />
Reykjavík, Iceland. A boundless<br />
approach to music informs his<br />
work as composer, musician,<br />
engineer and mixer. In high<br />
demand as a producer, Mr.<br />
Sigurdsson has, for over a decade, cultivated<br />
projects by diverse international artists whilst<br />
developing his own particular magic brand of<br />
recording artistry – now with two solo albums to<br />
his name. Mr. Sigurdsson is the founder of the<br />
Bedroom Community record label as well as<br />
Iceland’s top recording facility Greenhouse<br />
Studios where his collaborators include Björk,<br />
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Camille, CocoRosie, Feist,<br />
Ben Frost, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, múm and<br />
many others. Colliding organic with synthetic,<br />
acoustic with digital, connection with isolation,<br />
and domestic with ethereal – resulting in a body<br />
of work ripe with emotion, curiosity, and<br />
humanity. He has composed for film and stage;<br />
his work has been performed by Chiara Quartet<br />
(US), Britten Sinfonia (UK), Avanti! (FI) and the<br />
Iceland <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>.<br />
Karl Stobbe, violin<br />
Described as an artist with “soulful<br />
musicianship” by the San<br />
Francisco Classical Voice (2008),<br />
Karl Stobbe regularly performs<br />
concerti, recitals, and chamber<br />
music, in addition to appearing<br />
frequently as a concertmaster in Canada and the<br />
United States. He has collaborated as a soloist<br />
with many exceptional conductors, including<br />
Andrey Boreyko, Bramwell Tovey, Roy<br />
Goodman, and Alain Trudel. His diversity has<br />
enabled him to record with many of Canada’s<br />
finest musicians. He is an avid lover and<br />
performer of new music, playing and premiering<br />
many solo and chamber works by national and<br />
international composers. Recently, he has given<br />
world premieres as a soloist in works by Michael<br />
Oesterle, Doug Smith, and Jocelyn Morlock, with<br />
the Manitoba Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong> and National<br />
Arts Centre <strong>Orchestra</strong>. Mr. Stobbe continues to<br />
perform as the associate concertmaster of the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, concertmaster of<br />
the Manitoba Chamber <strong>Orchestra</strong>, and with the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Chamber <strong>Music</strong> Society.<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 37
PERFORMER/ARTIST BIOS<br />
Atli Heimir Sveinsson, composer (Iceland)<br />
Atli Heimir Sveinsson was born in<br />
Reykjavík, Iceland and started piano<br />
lessons at the age of 10. He studied<br />
piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson<br />
at the Reykjavík College of <strong>Music</strong><br />
and took his diploma in 1957. He<br />
went on to study at the State Academy in Cologne,<br />
Germany, from 1959, studying composition with<br />
Günter Raphael and Rudolf Petzold,<br />
instrumentation with Bernd Alois Zimmermann,<br />
conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and<br />
piano with Hermann Pillney and Hans Otto<br />
Schmidt. He also took private lessons with<br />
Gottfried Michael Koenig. He completed his<br />
diploma in composition and theory in 1963 and in<br />
1964 studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henri<br />
Pousseur, Christoph Caskel and Frederic Rzewski.<br />
He was president of the Icelandic Composers<br />
Association from 1972 to 1983. Since 1992,<br />
Mr. Sveinsson has received an honourary salary<br />
from the Icelandic Parliament. He is a member of<br />
the Royal Swedish Academy of <strong>Music</strong> since 1993.<br />
His <strong>Symphony</strong> No. 2 premiered in Reykjavík on<br />
June 1, 2006.<br />
Kjartan Sveinsson, composer (Iceland)<br />
Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson has been<br />
the keyboardist of the Icelandic<br />
post-rock band Sigur Rós since<br />
1998. Being something of a multiinstrumentalist,<br />
he has also played<br />
such instruments as the flute, tin<br />
whistle, oboe and even the banjo, as well as many<br />
of the unorthodox instruments that contribute to<br />
Sigur Rós's distinctive sound. He has performed<br />
under the pseudonym "The Lonesome Traveller"<br />
with Sigur Rós band-mate Orri Páll D´yrason and<br />
Amiina violinist María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir<br />
(whom he married in 2001). "The Lonesome<br />
Traveller" covered Sigur Rós songs acoustically in<br />
an alt-country style. Mr. Sveinsson also composed<br />
the score for the 2005 Academy Award nominated<br />
short film Sídasti bærinn (The Last Farm), for<br />
award winning director Ramin Bahrani's 2009<br />
short film Plastic Bag which features the narration<br />
of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, and for<br />
the 2009 film Ondine directed by Neil Jordan. He<br />
also contributes to Sigur Rós's orchestral and string<br />
arrangements, along with the group Amiina.<br />
38 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
University of Manitoba’s Pizzicelli<br />
Ensemble; Dr. Minna Rose Chung,<br />
director<br />
Pizzicelli is a self goverened ensemble at the<br />
Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of <strong>Music</strong>, directed<br />
by Dr. Minna Rose Chung. The group consists<br />
of Jari Piper, Edvany Silva, Natalie Dawe, Lisa<br />
Nazarenko and Graham Isaak. For almost<br />
three years, this quintet of international<br />
students has been performing fantastic<br />
repertoire ranging from Brazilian folk songs to<br />
arrangements of our rock and popular genre.<br />
Pizzicelli is an extension of Project Rio, a<br />
collaborative musical exchange that brings<br />
Canadian musicians to the Rio International<br />
Cello Encounter.<br />
WSO Clearwater String Quartet<br />
Photo: Andrew Sikorsky<br />
Formed in 2004 - but officially named in 2010 -<br />
the WSO Clearwater String Quartet is<br />
comprised of four of Canada’s leading string<br />
players, whose depth of experience in solo,<br />
orchestral and chamber music performance has<br />
added much to the already rich artistic<br />
landscape of <strong>Winnipeg</strong>. Principal players with<br />
the <strong>Winnipeg</strong> <strong>Symphony</strong> <strong>Orchestra</strong>, they are<br />
also the resident String Quartet of the<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong> Chamber <strong>Music</strong> Society. Members<br />
include Gwen Hoebig and Karl Stobbe, violin,<br />
Daniel Scholz, viola; and Yuri Hooker, cello.
1948-51 Hon. Mr. Justice J. T. Beaubien<br />
1951-53 Mr. J. M. Sinclair<br />
1953-55 Mr. Digby Wheeler<br />
1955-57 Mr. W. D. Hurst<br />
1957-58 Dr. Hugh H. Saunderson<br />
1958-61 Mr. E. W. H. Brown<br />
1961-62 Mr. David Slater<br />
1962-64 The Hon. Mr. Justice Monnin<br />
1964-65 Mr. Norman J. Alexander<br />
1965-67 Mr. R. W. Richards<br />
1967-69 Mr. W. R. Palmer<br />
1969-71 Mr. E. J. Smith<br />
1971-73 Dr. M. M. Pierce<br />
1973-74 Mr. H. S. Brock-Smith<br />
1974-76 Mr. Allan G. Moffatt<br />
1976-78 Mr. Julian D. T. Benson<br />
1978-79 Mr. John L. Buckworth<br />
1979-80 Mr. N. Roger McFallon<br />
1980-81 Mr. John F. Fraser<br />
1981-82 Mr. William W. Draper<br />
EXTRA MUSICIANS<br />
JANUARY 28<br />
Laurel Ridd, flute<br />
Laura MacDougall, flute<br />
Tracy Wright, oboe<br />
Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet<br />
Karine Breton, bassoon<br />
Mike Plummer, trumpet<br />
Will Bonness, synthesizer<br />
Ben Reimer, percussion<br />
Tony Cyre, percussion<br />
Matt Abraham, percussion<br />
Donna Laube, piano<br />
JANUARY 30<br />
Laurel Ridd, flute<br />
Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet<br />
Karine Breton, bassoon<br />
Ben Reimer, percussion<br />
Tony Cyre, percussion<br />
Donna Laube, piano<br />
PRESIDENTS OF THE<br />
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA<br />
FEBRUARY 1<br />
Laurel Ridd, flute<br />
Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet<br />
Karine Breton, bassoon<br />
Ben Reimer, percussion<br />
Tony Cyre, percussion<br />
Donna Laube, piano<br />
FEBRUARY 3<br />
Laurel Ridd, flute<br />
Tracy Wright, oboe<br />
Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet<br />
Karine Breton, bassoon<br />
Roslyn Black, horn<br />
Shannon Moses, horn<br />
Todd Martin, horn<br />
Mike Plummer, trumpet<br />
Ben Reimer, percussion<br />
Tony Cyre, percussion<br />
Matt Abraham, percussion<br />
Victoria Sparks, percussion<br />
Ann Germani, harp<br />
Donna Laube, piano<br />
1982-83 Mr. John O. Baatz<br />
1983-84 Mr. Andrew D. M. Ogaranko, Q.C.<br />
1984-86 Mr. Harold Buchwald, Q.C.<br />
1986-88 Mr. Michel Lagacé<br />
1988-90 Mr. William H. Loewen<br />
1990-92 Mrs. Julia DeFehr<br />
1992-94 Mr. Gordon Fogg<br />
1994-96 Mrs. Helen Hayles<br />
1996-97 Mr. Anthony Brookes<br />
1997-98 Mrs. Helen Hayles<br />
1998-99 Mr. William Norrie<br />
Feb 1999 – May 1999 Mr. William Loewen<br />
Jun 1999 – 2000 Mr. Bruce MacCormack<br />
2000- Feb 03 Mr. Roger King<br />
Mar 2003 – Dec 2003 Ms. Patti Sullivan<br />
Dec 2003 – Jan 2005 Mr. Wally Fox-Decent<br />
Jan 2005 – Jul 2006 Ms. Carol Bellringer<br />
Jul 2006 – Nov 2006 Mr. Harvey Pollock (Interim President)<br />
Dec 2006 – Jun 2007 Mr. Brendan MacDougall<br />
2007 – present Ms. Dorothy Dobbie<br />
PRESIDENT’S<br />
ADVISORY COUNCIL<br />
Al Alexandruk<br />
Mal Anderson<br />
Carol Bellringer<br />
Doneta Brotchie<br />
John and Bonnie<br />
Buhler<br />
Edmund Dawe<br />
Julia De Fehr<br />
Susan Feldman<br />
Jamie Dolynchuk<br />
Barbara Filuk<br />
Wally Fox-Decent<br />
John Fraser<br />
Helen Hayles<br />
Kaaren Hawkins<br />
Sherrill Hershberg<br />
Ian Kay<br />
Michael D. Kay<br />
Roger King<br />
Bill Knight<br />
Michel Lagacé<br />
Zina Lazareck<br />
Gail Leach<br />
Dr. Hermann Lee<br />
Naomi Levine<br />
Bill Loewen<br />
Don MacKenzie<br />
Bill Marr<br />
Michael Nozick<br />
Andrew Ogaranko<br />
Harvey Pollock<br />
John Rademaker<br />
Kathleen Richardson<br />
George & Tannis<br />
Richardson<br />
Ed Richmond<br />
Lorne Sharfe<br />
Graeme Sifton<br />
Joanne Sigurdson<br />
Bonnie Staples-Lyon<br />
Dennis Wallace<br />
January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 39
WSO BOARD & STAFF 2011-2012 SEASON<br />
OUR DISTINGUISHED PATRONS<br />
His Honour the Honourable<br />
Philip S. Lee C.M., O.M.<br />
Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba<br />
The Honourable Greg Selinger,<br />
Premier of Manitoba<br />
His Worship Sam Katz,<br />
Mayor of the City of <strong>Winnipeg</strong><br />
Mr. W.H. Loewen & Mrs. S.E. Loewen,<br />
WSO Directors Emeritus<br />
WOMEN'S COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE<br />
Shirley Loewen, President<br />
Sylvia Cassie, Vice President<br />
Lesia Peet, Past President<br />
Margaret Harvie, Treasurer<br />
Evelyn Davidson, Secretary<br />
TRUDY SCHROEDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR<br />
EXECUTIVE OFFICE<br />
Lori Marks, Confidential Executive Assistant<br />
FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION<br />
John Bacon, Director of Finance & Administration<br />
Sandi Mitchell, Payroll & Accounting Administrator<br />
Chelse McKee, Accounting & Volunteer Assistant<br />
DEVELOPMENT<br />
Joanne Gudmundson, Director of Development<br />
Carol Cassels, Development Manager<br />
Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator<br />
Gail Loewen, Manager of Strategic Advancement Projects<br />
SALES & AUDIENCE SERVICES<br />
Ryan Diduck, Director of Sales & Audience Services<br />
Jason Hayes, Patron Services Coordinator<br />
Patron Services Representatives (p/t):<br />
Matthew Brooks<br />
Rachel Himelblau<br />
Theresa Huscroft<br />
Clare Neil<br />
Crystal Schwartz<br />
Heather Thornton<br />
Melissa Ungrin<br />
Stephanie Van Nest<br />
1020-555 Main Street<br />
<strong>Winnipeg</strong>, MB R3B 1C3<br />
Phone: 204.949.3950<br />
Fax: 204.956.4271<br />
www.wso.ca<br />
WSO Box Office<br />
phone: 204-949-3999<br />
www.wso.ca<br />
40 OVERTURE I January – February 2012<br />
BOARD OF DIRECTORS<br />
Dorothy Dobbie,<br />
President & Chair<br />
Tim Burt,<br />
Vice-President<br />
Greg Doyle, Treasurer<br />
Muriel Smith, Secretary<br />
Dr. Brendan MacDougall,<br />
Past-President<br />
Marilyn Billinkoff<br />
Brenlee Carrington-Trepel<br />
Michael Cox<br />
Arlene Dahl<br />
ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, MUSIC DIRECTOR<br />
ARTISTIC<br />
Bramwell Tovey, Conductor Laureate<br />
Richard Lee, Resident Conductor<br />
Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence<br />
Dr. Daya Gupta<br />
Elba Haid<br />
Gregory Hay<br />
Maureen Kilgour<br />
Jackie Lowe<br />
Ed Martens<br />
Lesia Peet<br />
Dr. William Pope<br />
Terry Sargeant<br />
William Shead<br />
Karl Stobbe<br />
Richard Turner<br />
OFFICIAL AUDITORS<br />
Runchey Miyazawa Abbott Chartered Accountants<br />
ARTISTIC OPERATIONS<br />
Jean-Francois Phaneuf, Director of Artistic Operations<br />
James Manishen, Artistic Operations Associate<br />
Laura Daniel, Operations Manager<br />
Amanda Wilson, Stage Manager<br />
Chris Lee, <strong>Orchestra</strong> Personnel Manager<br />
Ray Chrunyk, Principal Librarian<br />
Laura MacDougall, Assistant Librarian<br />
Lawrence Rentz, Stage Supervisor<br />
EDUCATION & OUTREACH<br />
Tanya Derksen, Director of Education & Outreach<br />
Amy Wolfe, Education & Outreach Coordinator<br />
Brent Johnson, Community Outreach Coordinator<br />
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS<br />
Lisa Abram, Director of Marketing & Communications<br />
Cheryl Waldner, Communications Coordinator<br />
Shaun Thompson, Graphic Designer<br />
WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TICKET INFORMATION<br />
Ticketmaster<br />
phone: 1-855-985-2787<br />
www.ticketmaster.ca<br />
Group Events<br />
phone: 204-949-3967<br />
groupevents@wso.mb.ca<br />
The WSO is a chartered non-profit organization operated by a voluntary Board of Directors.