Welcome to the 22nd annual New Music Festival!
This year we celebrate the music of one of the world’s greatest composers: Steve Reich. As this year’s Distinguished Guest Composer, we are proud to have him here for the first time ever as we present many of his greatest compositions. From his Pulitzer Prize-winning Double Sextet to his deeply religious Tehillim, we bring to you a musical portrait of a man whose contributions have defined minimalism as we know it.
Also joining us is one of Canada’s leading composers: Christos Hatzis. In honour of his 60th birthday, we are proud to present two of his latest works including the world premiere of his WSO-commissioned piece, Redemption. One of Pacific Rim’s most celebrated composers, Gareth Farr, comes to us from New Zealand as we present (for the first time in North America!) his highly acclaimed percussion concerto, Hikoi.
As our Distinguished Guest Artist, we are proud to present to you none other than Dame Evelyn Glennie, one of the world’s greatest percussionists. After her sensational appearance here at 2011’s NMF, she returns to premiere two new concertos written especially for her that will sure to leave you mesmerized.
Also featured this week will be dancers of The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Elmer Iseler Singers, and bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly. Be sure to join us for this major musical celebration: the WSO’s 2013 New Music Festival.
We look forward to seeing you at the concerts.
Click here to download the 2013 NMF brochure.
Press Releases:
January 22 – WSO New Music Festival heats up Winnipeg with world renowned composers and performers
December 11 – The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival adds Fire
The Elmer Iseler Singers
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Monday, January 28, 2013
7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
ARTISTS:
Elmer Iseler Singers
Lydia Adams, conductor
Jeff Reilly, bass clarinet
Rebecca Whelan, soprano
Repertoire:
| Harry Freedman (CAN): Voices |
| Timothy Corlis (CAN): Silent Dawn |
| Kaija Saariaho (FI): Tag Des Jahrs (Day of the Year) Click here to watch a clip. |
| Peter-Anthony Togni (CAN): Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae (Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah)* Listen here to III. Silentio. Listen here to V. Recordare, Domine. |
For our opening gala we are proud to present one of the world’s most celebrated choirs: the Elmer Iseler Singers. Joining them this evening is one of Canada’s premiere bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly, and soprano Rebecca Whelan. Together they bring to you a performance of the extraordinary work Lamentatio Jeremiae Prophetae (Lamentations of the Prophet Jeremiah) by Canada’s own Peter-Anthony Togni. Hailed by critics around the world, the work has captivated audiences for its powerful interpretation of “The Book of Lamentations”. We open this evening’s concert with a work by iconic Canadian composer Harry Freedman titled Voices, followed by Silent Dawn composed by Timothy Corlis, one of this generation’s fastest rising stars. Also featured is Kaija Saariaho’s haunting work Tag Des Jahrs (Day of the Year) for choir and electronics.
Christos Hatzis: World Premiere
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013
7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
***Richard Lee, conductor
Repertoire:
| Michael Gordon (USA): Romeo Click here to listen. |
| Jim Hiscott (CAN): Cantu (World premiere)* |
| Daniel Belland (CAN): Voyage – Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer’s Prize-winning work*** |
| Christos Hatzis (CAN): Redemption: Book 3 (World premiere)** |
*Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of The Manitoba Arts Council.
**Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
This year, we celebrate the 60th birthday of one of our nation’s foremost composers: Christos Hatzis. Since his immigration to Canada from Greece in 1982, Christos has established himself as one of the most important voices of our time. Tonight, we are proud to present to you the world premiere performance of his latest large-scale work, Redemption: Book 3 (commissioned by the WSO). Also premiering this evening is a new work by Winnipeg’s own Jim Hiscott titled Cantu, a work inspired by the music of Corsican chant. Opening tonight’s concert is Michael Gordon’s Romeo that was inspired by the short symphonies of J.S. Bach. Rounding out the program is this year’s Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work.
Ghost Train
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
7:30 pm
Pantages Theatre
ARTISTS:
The University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble; Fraser Linklater, conductor*
The University of Manitoba Wind Ensemble; Richard Lee, conductor**
The University of Manitoba Flute Ensemble***
The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble; Jacqueline Dawson, conductor****
Repertoire:
| Andrew Staniland (CAN): Four Horsemen* |
| Steve Reich (US): Vermont Counterpoint*** Click here to listen. |
| Malcolm Forsyth (CAN): Colour Wheel** |
| Eric Whitacre (US): Ghost Train Triptych**** Click here to listen to I. Ghost Train Click here to listen to II. At the Station Click here to listen to III. Motive Revolution |
Tonight we bring you a special program of new works for winds, brass, and percussion featuring Winnipeg’s finest ensembles. Joining us this evening is our Distinguished Guest Composer, Steve Reich. We begin the celebration of his music tonight with his classic work Vermont Counterpoint performed by The U of M Flute Ensemble. Canadian composer Andrew Staniland, winner of 2009’s CBC Young Composers’ competition, returns to NMF for the U of M Wind Ensemble’s presentation of his latest work, Four Horsemen, written especially for wind ensemble and electronics. To commemorate one of Canada’s greatest composers, Malcolm Forsyth, we pay tribute to him with a special performance of his radiant work Colour Wheel. Concluding this evening’s event is a special performance of Eric Whitacre’s Ghost Train Triptych by The Winnipeg Wind Ensemble, a work that has thrilled audiences everywhere for its colourful sounds and haunting beauty.
In addition to the exciting line up of avant-garde programming Winnipeggers have come to expect from the WSO, this year the NMF has added a little vodka to its soda pop in a special twist for the cool kids. Its called Pop Nuit: new music, but from a pop perspective. Ever since The Beatles threw in the towel on Love Me Do and started recording their guitars backwards, pop music has played a major role in pushing the boundaries of conventional composition. This part of the festival will highlight these advances and will be headlined by Grammy award-winning violinist Sarah Neufeld of Montreal’s Arcade Fire. Winnipeg’s instrument builder Jesse Krause will open the night.
In addition to this headlining show, Pop Nuit will be hosting the NMF wrap-up party, featuring local critically acclaimed avant- pop group Royal Canoe performing an album by California artist Beck which has been released only on sheet music. Opening that night will be Tasman Richardson of Toronto, a video artist who uses only audio from film clips.
Wednesday, January 30
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9:00 pm
West End Cultural Centre
586 Ellice Avenue, Winnipeg, MB
Program:
9:30 pm – Jesse Krause performing Geräuschbiest
10:00 pm – Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire) performing her solo project
Steve Reich’s Chamber Music
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Thursday, January 31, 2013
7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
ARTISTS:
University of Manitoba Percussion Ensemble:*
Shanyce Crighton
Sean Adams
Matthew Careless
Joshua Bater
Victoria Sparks, director
Gwen Hoebig, violin**+
Karl Stobbe, violin**
Daniel Scholz, viola**
Yuri Hooker, cello**+
Allen Harrington, saxophone***
Jan Kocman, flute+
Micah Heilbrunn, clarinet+
Ben Reimer, percussion+
David Moroz, piano+
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet:+
Dancers:
Amanda Green
Jo-Ann Sundermeier
Sophia Lee
Alanna McAdie
Yosuke Mino
Alexander Gamayunov
Repertoire:
| Steve Reich (US): Clapping Music* Click here to listen. |
| Steve Reich (US): Different Trains** Listen here to: I. America – Before the War Listen here to: II. Europe – During the War Listen here to: III. America – After the War |
| Steve Reich (US): New York Counterpoint *** |
| In Tandem+^ Choreography: Peter Quanz Music: Steve Reich (US): Double Sextet Listen here to: I. Fast Listen here to: II. Slow Listen here to: III. Fast Costume Design: Anne Armit |
^Works & Process at the Guggenheim commissioned and premiered In Tandem on September 11, 2009 with assistance from the Cooper Family Foundation with the additional support of Karin & Stanley Schwalb, Judith M. Hoffman, Cheryl Bergenfeld, and Steven & Michele Pesner.
Steve Reich’s Different Trains (1988) was commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. Recalling his travels from coast to coast visiting his divorced parents, Reich realized that if living in occupied Europe as a Jew, he would be travelling on very different trains. The music uses fragments of speech from a Pullman porter, reminiscences from Holocaust survivors and Reich’s governess, to create this multi-layered masterpiece.
Double Sextet won Steve Reich the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for music, his first. Commissioned by the group eighth blackbird who performed it in our 2010 New Music Festival, we are proud to bring the work back, this time titled In Tandem, with new choreography by Peter Quanz and danced by members of Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
Glennie & Reich: Part 1
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Friday, February 1, 2013
8:00 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Mickelthwate (conductor)
ARTISTS:
Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion*
Ellen Wieser, soprano**
Stacey Nattrass, mezzo-soprano**
Donnalynn Grills, alto**
Sarah Kirsch, soprano**
Repertoire:
| Jonny Greenwood (UK): Suite from There Will Be Blood (North American premiere) Click here to listen. |
| Gareth Farr (NZ): Hikoi* (North American premiere) |
| Steve Reich (USA): Tehillim** Listen here to: Part I: Fast Listen here to: Part II: Fast Listen here to: Part III: Slow, and Part IV: Fast |
Jonny Greenwood, member of the band Radiohead, has emerged as one of the most exciting contemporary composers of his generation. After the critical success of the movie There Will Be Blood, his work on the film has now garnered him international praise as a major film composer. Tonight we are proud to present the North American premiere of his work Suite from There Will Be Blood.
We welcome to Winnipeg one of the towering composers of our time. From the early 1960s, Steve Reich sought to restore contemporary music to the familiar territory of stable harmony and steady pulse for audiences.
Steve Reich’s work has been called “grand minimalism” – an exhilarating recasting of sounds and rhythms we know but without the trappings of nostalgia. As the eminent author Alex Ross further wrote, Steve Reich’s music “resonates cleanly through the caverns of the mind, leaving the listener in a state of wide-awake delight.” A large ensemble of traditional instruments and singers are featured in Tehillim, whose story is taken from parts of the Psalms, classical Western text and original Hebrew.
New Zealand composer Gareth Farr also joins us this evening as we present to you his stunning percussion concerto Hikoi, a work inspired by indigenous cultures of the Pacific islanders. We welcome back the renowned percussion virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie as soloist for this special concert.
Glennie & Reich: Part 2
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Saturday, February 2, 2013
8:00 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Alexander Mickelthwate (conductor)
ARTISTS:
Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion*
Winnipeg Singers, Yuri Klaz, artistic director**
Repertoire:
| Vincent Ho (CAN): From Darkness to Light: A Spiritual Journey* (World premiere)^ |
| Steve Reich (US): The Desert Music** Click here to listen. |
^Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.
Our 2011 New Music Festival sent listeners home with unforgettable memories of both Evelyn Glennie’s performance and WSO composer-in-residence Vincent Ho’s stunning percussion concerto The Shaman. Vincent and Evelyn are back with From Darkness to Light. This powerful new work, written in honour of the victims and survivors of cancer, expresses the horrors of the disease and the spiritual journey within.
Steve Reich’s The Desert Music for large orchestra and amplified chorus takes its title from collected poems by William Carlos Williams written between 1954 and 1963, a time when the poet was acutely aware of the atom bomb with a plea for man to sensitize and change. Reich’s repeating interlocking melodic patterns and instantly recognizable musical language combine rigorous structures, propulsive rhythms and seductive instrumental colour underscoring this message of hope. As Reich’s colleague composer John Adams has written, “He [Steve Reich] didn’t reinvent the wheel so much as he showed us a new way to ride.”
Saturday, February 2, 2013
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11:00 pm
Pantages Playhouse Lobby
180 Market Avenue, Winnipeg, MB
Program:
11:30 pm – Tasman Richardson performing Temple
12:00 am – Royal Canoe performing Beck’s Song Reader
PRE-CONCERT TALKS & PERFORMANCES
Overture Issue 4: January – February – New Music Festival
NMF Inserts
French Translation: Glennie Reich 1ere partie
French Translation: Glennie Reich 2eme partie
