Symphony Nova Scotia performs new music in partnership with the Canadian New Music Network

Halifax, NS ’Äì Symphony Nova Scotia partners with the Canadian New Music Network, Upstream Music Association, and Vocalypse Productions to present ’ÄúNew Music for a New Year,’Äù an innovative concert of all-new Canadian music on Wednesday, January 7 at 7:30 pm at the Sir James Dunn Theatre, Halifax.

Conducted by Symphony Nova Scotia Music Director Bernhard Gueller, ’ÄúNew Music for the New Year’Äù features six brand-new diverse Canadian works for orchestra by composers Mark Armanini, Sandeep Baghwati, Jˆ©rˆ¥me Blais, Tim Brady, Paul Cram, and Derek Charke. The performance also serves as the opening event of the Canadian New Music Network’Äôs international Forum 2010 conference, ’ÄúPartnering Diversity.’Äù

’ÄúSymphony Nova Scotia is always ready to rise to a challenge,’Äù says Gueller. ’ÄúAnd what can be more challenging for musicians and interesting for audiences than to have a whole concert dedicated to contemporary music?

’ÄúWe are very happy to collaborate with the Canadian New Music Network. The music that was sent to me for consideration showed again what at what a high level our composers produce. The first challenge for me was to choose from amongst the submissions. I know audiences will also enjoy the challenge, for the pieces range from very free improvisation to formally structured notation, with lyricism and minimalism.’Äù

Each of the works on the program presents an imaginative new vision of creating music in the 21st century. Paul Cram's Beyond Benghazi is a rollicking collision of jazz improvisation and high-energy orchestral composition, while Derek Charke's Inuit Throat Singing Games is a colourful score crossing cultural boundaries into the North.

Mark Armanini's Heartland features the ethereal playing of Vancouver erhu player Lan Tung, Jerome Blais' Dremlen Feigl oyf di tsvaygn is sung in Yiddish by Halifax's own Janice Jackson, and Tim Brady's Three or Four Days After the Death of Kurt Cobain uses music from the Nirvana song Smells Like Teen Spirit to create a haunting orchestral miniature.

The program also features Sandeep Baghwati's Steel 3 for James Tenney, a work that makes the conductor "compose" the music in real time, working with the players to create the piece during the performance.

During the concert, the composers and soloists will be interacting with the audience and musicians, sharing inside stories about the process, results, and motivations behind their works.

Tickets for this unique performance are $20 / $15 / $10, and are available at the Dalhousie Arts Centre Box Office at 494.3820 or 1.800.874.1669 or online at http://artscentre.dal.ca.

For more information about the Forum 2010 ’ÄúPartnering Diversity’Äù and other concerts during the conference, visit www.newmusicnetwork.ca.

About Symphony Nova Scotia

Symphony Nova Scotia is Nova Scotia’Äôs orchestra. Each year more than 50,000 audience members (including 15,000 young music lovers) join us in communities across Nova Scotia for performances of the music they love ’Äì from baroque and classical to pop and rock and folk. Under the inspirational leadership of Music Director Bernhard Gueller, Symphony Nova Scotia is recognized as one of the finest orchestras in the country. Visit www.SymphonyNovaScotia.ca to learn more, listen online, or subscribe today!

About the Canadian New Music Network

The Canadian New Music Network (CNMN) / Rˆ©seau canadien pour les musiques nouvelles (RCMN) is a network of artists, ensembles, orchestras, production companies, record labels, music educators, music media, musicologists, music lovers and fans who believe in the importance and value of creative music making in Canadian society. The CNMN was founded in November 2005, after almost 3 years of discussions with the national new music community.

Symphony Nova Scotia is grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts, Nova Scotia Tourism, Culture, and Heritage, and the Halifax Regional Municipality for their continued support.