Leading Irish ensemble Fidelio Trio lead Ricordi celebration

RICORDI- Beyond 200

Celebrating 200 years of publishing new music. Curated by Ricordi London

A showcase of works by internationally acclaimed Ricordi, Durand and Salabert composers Messiaen, Sciarrino, Dusapin, Eötvös - plus newer composers Dai Fujikura and Rolf Hind, performed by leading Irish contemporary music ensemble the Fidelio Trio. This concert also includes the London premiere of Fujikura’s ‘moromoro’ for piano and DVD.

The Fidelio Trio (Darragh Morgan, violin, Robin Michael, cello and Mary Dullea, piano) perform extremely diverse repertoire throughout Europe, Asia and South Africa and frequently broadcast for BBC Radio 3. Since their South Bank debut they have appeared at FuseLeeds, Reggello Festival and Contemporaneamente Festival, Lodi (Italy), West Cork Music, Belfast Festival at Queens, Royal Opera House, London, Corsham Festival, Musica Viva (Portugal) and Composer’s Choice Series, National Concert Hall, Dublin.

They have worked closely with many leading composers including Michael Nyman, Toshio Hosokawa and Howard Skempton and have premiered music by Salvatore Sciarrino, Edison Denisov, Beat Furrer and Toru Takemitsu. They are Music Network artists and the recipients of awards from PRS Foundation and the Arts Council of Ireland.

In 2009 they will undertake a concert tour of China and make their Wigmore Hall debut. CD releases in 2008 include Bulb on NMC D147 featuring trios by Kevin Volans, Donnacha Dennehy, Deirdre Gribbin and Ed Bennett, Metamorphoses, the chamber music of Icelandic composer Haflidi Hallgrimsson, on Delphian Records DCD34059, and Bartlebooth, the music of Joe Cutler, on NMC D134.

PROGRAMME

Sciarrino Piano Trio No. 1

Dai Fujikura (for piano, electronics and video)

Peter Eötvös Two poems to Polly (Solo speaking cellist)

Rolf Hind the thing is (piano trio)

Messiaen Fantaisie (for violin and piano)

Dusapin Trio Rombach (piano trio)

Renowned Violinist Hilary Hahn Performs World Premiere of American Composer Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto Fe. 6-7

VIOLINIST HILARY HAHN PERFORMS WORLD PREMIERE OF JENNIFER HIGDON’S VIOLIN CONCERTO WITH INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY FEB. 6-7

Renowned Violin Virtuoso Collaborates With Prolific American Composer on New Concerto

In Brief:

Highlight: Hilary Hahn performs world premiere of Jennifer Hidgon’s Violin Concerto

Performers: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Conductor: Mario Venzago

Soloist: Hilary Hahn, Violin

Location: Hilbert Circle Theatre

Dates(times): Fri., Feb. 6, 8 p.m.; Sat., Feb. 7, 5:30 p.m.

Repertoire: WEBER Overture to Der Freischütz

HIGDON Violin Concerto (World Premiere)

SCHUMANN Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120

Tickets: $16-$68 each, with $10 student tickets by showing valid ID

(317) 639-4300; Toll Free (800) 366-8457; online at

www.IndianapolisSymphony.org

INDIANAPOLIS—The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Mario Venzago welcome one of the most sought after artists in classical music—29-year-old American violin sensation Hilary Hahn—who will perform the world premiere of American composer Jennifer Higdon’s newest work, the Violin Concerto she wrote specifically for Hahn, to highlight Lilly Classical Series concerts Friday and Saturday, February 6 and 7, at the Hilbert Circle Theatre.

Ticket prices range from $16 to $68. Student tickets are $10 each by showing a valid student ID. Tickets may be ordered by calling the Hilbert Circle Theatre Box Office at (317) 639-4300, or online by visiting www.IndianapolisSymphony.org. To order by telephone outside of Indianapolis, call toll free (800) 366-8457. Performance times are at 8 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday.

The concerts will open with Carl Maria von Weber’s popular and colorful Overture to Der Freischütz, followed by one of the most anticipated highlights of the ISO’s 2008-2009 season: Hahn’s first performances of Higdon’s newest creation, a three-movement concerto that will showcase and accent Hahn’s many virtuosic technical and interpretive skills as a soloist. Following intermission the Orchestra will perform one of Maestro Venzago’s signature works, Robert Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, to conclude the program.

Prolific American composer Jennifer Higdon has become a major figure in contemporary classical music by writing between five to 10 commissioned works per year covering a broad spectrum of genres including orchestral, chamber music, choral and vocal pieces as well as works for wind ensemble. Her catalog of works are performed approximately 200 times each year by ensembles around the world. She has received honors and grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, two awards from the Academy of Arts & Letters, the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and funds from Meet-the-Composer, the National Endowment for the Arts and ASCAP, among others. She has received multiple commissions from many of North America’s major orchestras and upcoming projects include concerti for pianist Yuja Wang and another concerto for the avant-garde ensemble eighth blackbird; a new opera for San Francisco Opera; and band works for the President’s Own United States Marine Band and the University of Michigan Symphonic Band.

Eli Lilly and Company is the Title Sponsor of the entire 2008-2009 Lilly Classical Series season and ExactTarget is the Premiere Sponsor for the Classical Series. Indianapolis Power & Light Company, Bertelsmann Direct North America, and BSA Life Structures are the Associate Sponsors for this weekend. The performance of new music is endowed by a gift from LDI, Ltd., with support from the Lacy Foundation and the Randolph S. Rothschild Fund. The Higdon Concerto was commissioned by the ISO, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Curtis Institute of Music.

Artist Biographies:

Mario Venzago celebrates his seventh season as Music Director of the Indianapolis Symphony this year and concluded his service as Principal Conductor of the Göteborg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden at the end of the 2006-2007 season. Previous posts include Music Director of the Basel Symphony Orchestra (1997-2004), Basque Euskadi National Orchestra in Spain (1998-2001), the Graz Opera House (1992-1997), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie (1989-1992) in Frankfurt/Bremen, and the Heidelberg Opera House (1986-1989), plus a Principal Conductor post with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (1979-1986). He also served as Artistic Director of the Summer Music Fest with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Maestro Venzago’s discography includes more than 25 titles, and several have won major prizes including the Grand Prix du Disque, the Edison Prize and the Diapason d’Or.

At age 29, Hillary Hahn has earned numerous prestigious awards, including a Grammy and most recently Gramaphone Artist of the Year (2008) and has performed with many of the world’s finest orchestras. Renowned for her intellectual and emotional maturity, she was named “America’s Best Young Classical Musician” by Time magazine in 2001. Admitted to the Curtis Institute at age 10, Miss Hahn made her professional debut with the Baltimore Symphony 18 months later, and by age 15 had earned the Avery Fisher Career Grant and had appeared with many of America’s major orchestras. She has earned a Grammy Award, the Deutsche Schalplattenpreis, two Diapason d’Or awards, and she was a featured soloist on the Oscar-nominated soundtrack to M. Night Shyamalan’s film, The Village. She also has recently collaborated on several crossover albums with non-classical musicians. She is among the top violinists in classical music and continues to grow artistically in a still-rising career.

The VSO raW

Symphony at the Roundhouse: contemporary music

in the cool, intimate surroundings of the

Roundhouse Community Centre in Yaletown

Vancouver BC – The VSO presents the Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse, a three-concert series featuring a wide and eclectic range of contemporary orchestral music – including works by cutting edge Canadian composers – at the Roundhouse Community Centre in downtown Vancouver. An important aspect of the orchestra’s artistic operations, the Roundhouse series features Music Director Bramwell Tovey, as well as Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell, and a number of soloists from the orchestra. Each concert is carefully programmed by Composer-in-Residence Scott Good, ensuring an interesting and exciting mix of music that reflects what is current in the orchestra music scene and showcases the extraordinary talents of VSO musicians.

The first concert of the series this season is performed on February 9, at 8pm. The VSO raW features works by James Rolf, Helena Tulve, Ka Nin Chan and VSO Resident Composer Scott Good. Assistant Conductor Evan Mitchell conducts.

In raW (2003), by Toronto composer James Rolfe, J.S. Bach’s Second Brandenburg Concerto is heard as if filtered through Bob Marley’s War (Bach’s first movement), Burning Spear’s The Invasion (second movement), and John Philip Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever (third movement). These pieces were melded together over the course of many drafts, as if by an artist who alters a photograph by hand creating a new work with fleeting echoes of the originals. It was written just before the American invasion of Iraq, although the connection of the titles of the source pieces was only made in hindsight. raW was commissioned and premiered by Ergo Concerts with the assistance of a grant from The Toronto Arts Council. It received the 2006 Jules Léger Prize for Chamber Music, and has been performed across Canada, as well as in the U.K. and Scotland. (Program Notes © 2008 James Rolf)

Helena Tulve has studied composition at the Estonian Academy of Music with Erkki-Sven Tüür and has graduated from Jacques Charpentier’s composition class at the Conservatoire Superieur de Paris. At present Tulve teaches composition at the Estonian Academy of Music. Her music has been performed in Europe, USA and Canada. À travers (1998) was commissioned by The NYYD Ensemble. The piece begins with the flute in a high register and then unhurriedly changes to lower ones. Given the general slowness of the musical course, a few unexpected gestures brief oboe solos, the entering of brass instruments are heard as major events. At the end of the piece the flute returns to its initial material but is now joined by the whole ensemble, implying a renewed context. The musical setting itself will give us a clue to a possible meaning of the title of the piece. (Program Notes © 2008 Helena Tulve)

Commissioned by the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal with a grant from Canada Council, Par-çi, par-là is a social comment on the diversified cultures of Canada. The French title reflects the composer’s interest in Quebec’s heritage. The words, par-çi, par-là [‘this way, that way’] which are quite musical in themselves, are sung by the instrumentalists in this one movement work. On a personal level, this work also reflects the composer’s search for his own identity. Born in Hong Kong as a British subject of Chinese origin, Ka Nin Chan has spent two-thirds of his life in Canada. The composer laments the fact that when China took over Hong Kong in 1997, his birthplace began to treat him like a foreigner. The music expresses this inner conflict throughout. The spatial location of the musicians in relations to the audience enhances visually and aurally this personal musical statement. (Program Notes © 2008 Ka Nin Chan)

The compositional emphasis of Scott Good’s Variations for Chamber Orchestra is to explore a variety of timbres, moods, and structures for a chamber orchestra with a single connecting thematic idea. Chamber orchestra is a unique ensemble. It is the synthesis of the intimacy of chamber music with the size and sonic impact of an orchestra, thus, posing an interesting challenge to explore the dichotomy of these contrasting musical concepts. (1) Theme – The theme is presented over the opening gesture. As each note is sounded, the orchestration and harmony thickens. Starting with solo flute, the ensemble builds to a dense and loud texture. (2) Fast – Fleeting gestures are paired with long melodies in the beginning of this movement. Constantly surging, a groove is finally established, and rushes the work to the ending. (3) Slow – The low instruments are featured in this dirge like movement. Relating to instruments and are paired with long melodies above. Jazz like harmonies are eluded to throughout. (4) Spirited – This quick little movement is defined by a complex repeating eight measure rhythm. The theme is divided into three distinct sections, yet still maintaining the regularity of the unusual rhythmic pattern. (5) Fugatto – The subject of this “fugue” consists of four distinct melodic riffs. The countersubject contrasts the subject with irregular short note gestures. This movement is an experiment in erratic form, and should feel at times improvised, although it is highly notated. (Program Notes © 2008 Scott Good)

CONCERT INFO

The Vancouver Sun Symphony at the Roundhouse Series:

the VSO raW

Monday, February 9, 8pm, Roundhouse Theatre

Evan Mitchell, conductor

James Rolf raW

Scott Good Variations for Chamber Orchestra

Helena Tulve À Travers

Ka Nin Chan Par-çi, Par-là

Tickets $27 (Student, Senior and Subscriber discounts available)

Tickets available by phone at 604.876.3434 or online at www.vancouversymphony.ca

Generously Supported By:

Series Sponsor: The Vancouver Sun

Financial Support By: Socan Foundation

BIOGRAPHIES

Evan Mitchell, Assistant Conductor

Conductor Evan Mitchell is proving to be one of Canada’s most promising young conductors. Currently the Assistant Conductor of the Vancouver Symphony, Evan is slated to play a key role in programming, artistic development and of course performance with the VSO, leading the orchestra through a wide assortment of concerts.

Equally at home with chamber music, opera and full symphonic masterpieces, Evan has enjoyed critical acclaim with recent operatic performances including Britten’s Albert Herring, Ward’s The Crucible, Hindemith’s “Hin und Zuruck” and the world premiere of Glenn James’ opera “To Daniel.” Evan also won positions with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada for four consecutive years as both conductor and percussionist and now holds the title of Associate Mentor with the orchestra. Highlights include conducting violin soloist Elizabeth Pitcairn, the concertmaster of the New West Symphony and owner of the Mendelssohn Stradivarius 1720 “Red Violin.”

Evan is an advocate of contemporary music. Recently the resident conductor of NUMUS New Music Ensemble, he has premiered several new works, toured across Canada conducting a festival of contemporary Chinese music and recorded works for the CMC, collaborating with such Canadian artists as the Pentaedre Wind Quintet, Penderecki String Quartet and Dancetheatre David Earle. Evan has also conducted and performed works during the highly acclaimed Open Ears Festival.

As a percussionist Evan has enjoyed equal success. In demand as a recitalist and concert soloist (recent performances of the Rosauro Marimba concerto and the Mayuzumi Xylophone concerto), Evan’s percussive performance has been hailed as “breathtaking in (his) sensitivity” as well as “wizardly” and “awe-inspiring.” Evan has toured Canada, the United States and abroad, including a memorable tour as Canadian ambassador during a concert tour with virtuoso composer/percussionist Nebojsa Zivkovic, during which he performed as concert soloist and along with the composer in a sold out performance of Zivkovic's celebrated “Trio per Uno” at the Stuttgart International Theatre. Evan is a frequent performer with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and has performed with Orchestra London and the Toronto Symphony. Evan has also been a faculty member and guest lecturer with Wilfrid Laurier University, primarily as Music Director of the Flute Ensemble.

Awards include First Prize at the Werlde Musik Kontest in Kerkrade, Netherlands, finalist at the upcoming TD Canada Trust Elora Festival Competition and Winner in Marching category as part of the Kavaliers DCI Drum Corps. Evan is also the winner of the 2006 Pioneer Leading Edge Arts Award.

Evan is a graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University where he completed an Bachelor of Music degree as a percussion major; he is also a graduate of the University of Toronto, where he studied on a full scholarship sponsored by Elmer Iseler and Victor Feldbrill, earning a Masters degree in conducting. His principal conducting teachers include Raffi Armenian, Doreen Rao, Paul Pulford and Boris Brott. Additionally, he has studied and performed in concert series with Denise Grant, Martin Fischer-Dieskau and most notably, Helmuth Rilling, in the inaugural Toronto Bach festival.

TSO's New Creations Festival

Maestro Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

present the 5th Annual

NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL

March 5 - 11, 2009

Cutting edge, modern, and Canadian! The Toronto Symphony Orchestra presents the best in new music with the fifth annual NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL, March 5-11, 2009. This year's festival is devoted to string instruments with a theme that is distinctly Asian. Highlights of this year's Festival will include one world première and two Canadian premières, composer Tan Dun conducting three of his own works, American powerhouse violinist Hilary Hahn, and cellists Anssi Karttunen and Shauna Rolston.

Maestro Oundjian and the TSO established the NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL in 2005, soon after Oundjian's arrival at the helm of his hometown orchestra. He said the following about this year's Festival:

"Tan Dun is an old friend of the orchestra's, and I am thrilled to have him visit us again. I heard his dazzling cello concerto, The Map, some years ago, and it got me thinking about his music, and about string concertos. It was a natural evolution to bring some of the world's finest string soloists to Toronto to perform some of the best new concertos being created right now. I am particularly pleased that my alma mater quartet, the Tokyo Quartet, is coming! It has been many years since I've played with them, and I am very excited about working with them. Through all these concerts, I have programmed music that has been important to Tan Dun, to his heritage, and to his creative life, including music by his mentor, the great Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. I am particularly pleased to feature our outstanding Principal Viola, Teng Li, in a beautiful concerto by Takemitsu. New Creations has always been about variety, and this year's festival is going to be an eclectic and widely appealing festival experience."

This year's NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL will take over Roy Thomson Hall with contemporary art events in the lobby spaces including an ambient gong-sound installation, intermission chats with artists involved in the performances, post-concert live musical performances, and other surprises outside the building.

TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian will act as host for all of the concerts and will conduct select pieces, alongside other guest conductors. The Festival will open with Asian Inspiration on March 5 and will feature the Canadian première of The Map (Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra) by the Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun. Tan Dun will also conduct the piece and celebrated Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen will be the soloist, making his TSO debut. TSO Principal Teng Li will be the viola soloist in Takemitsu's haunting A String Around Autumn, and Frederick Schipizky's Odyssey will round out the programme.

Eastern Portraits, on March 7, will again see Tan Dun take centre stage, this time conducting his Secret Land for Twelve Cellos, as well as his Pipa Concerto, performed by pipa master Wu Man. The last piece on the programme will be the world première of TSO & CBC Radio co-commission of Alexina Louie's Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra, performed by the internationally renowned Tokyo String Quartet (in which Peter Oundjian played first violin for many years). This concert will be recorded for a future broadcast on CBC Radio.

Takemitsu's magnificent work for string orchestra, A Way A Lone II, will open the final evening of the Festival on Wednesday, March 11, titled String Creations. Grammy Award-winner and 2008 Gramophone Artist of the Year, Hilary Hahn, will be the soloist in the Canadian première of Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto, a work that was co-commissioned by the TSO, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and Curtis Institute of Music. Innovative Canadian cellist Shauna Rolston will perform Gary Kulesha's Cello Concerto, which he will also conduct. Gary Kulesha, in addition to being the TSO's Composer Advisor, has worked closely with Peter Oundjian to help shape this year's Festival.

Maestro Peter Oundjian and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra

present the 5th Annual

NEW CREATIONS FESTIVAL

March 5 - 11, 2009

Thursday, March 5 at 8 pm

ASIAN INSPIRATION

Peter Oundjian, conductor/host

Tan Dun, conductor

Teng Li, viola

Anssi Karttunen, cello

Frederick Schipizky: Odyssey

Takemitsu: A String Around Autumn

Tan Dun: The Map (Concerto for Cello, Video, and Orchestra) - Canadian Première

Saturday, March 7 at 8 pm

EASTERN PORTRAITS

Peter Oundjian, conductor/host

Tan Dun, conductor

Wu Man, pipa

Tokyo String Quartet

Tan Dun: Secret Land for Twelve Cellos

Tan Dun: Pipa Concerto

Alexina Louie: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra (TSO & CBC Radio Co-Commission) - World Première

Wednesday, March 11 at 8 pm

STRING CREATIONS

Peter Oundjian, conductor/host

Gary Kulesha, conductor

Hilary Hahn, violin

Shauna Rolston, cello

Takemitsu: A Way A Lone II

Gary Kulesha: Cello Concerto

Jennifer Higgdon: Violin Concerto (TSO/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra/Curtis Institute of Music Co-Commission) - Canadian Première

All concerts take place at Roy Thomson Hall

60 Simcoe Street, Toronto

Tickets range from $37 - $125

Call the Roy Thomson Hall box office 416.593.4828

or purchase online: www.tso.ca

University of Toronto New Music Festival 2009

FACULTY OF MUSIC TO PRESENT NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009

TORONTO –From January 20 - 23, 2009, the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto will present the NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL 2009. Coordinated by Dennis Patrick, the annual festival celebrates new music by the emerging student composers of the Faculty of Music. All events take place at the Edward Johnson Building and are open to the public free of charge (except otherwise noted).


FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Tuesday, January 20 - 12 noon
NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL PREVIEW
COC Amphitheatre, The Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre, 145 Queen Street West

PROGRAM
Fuhong Shi: Images of Colours
Lan-Chee Lam: Crystallized Tree
Igor Correia: Three Songs of Great Range (Kathleen Promane, mezzo)
Fuhong Shi: Traces of Time
Laura Silberberg: Three poems by Emily Dickenson (Allison Arends, soprano)


Tuesday, January 20 - 7:30 pm
STUDENT COMPOSER CONCERT
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park
Works by graduate student composers including the
presentation of the Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music*.

PROGRAM
Fuhong Shi: Images of Colours
Lan-Chee Lam: Crystallized Tree
Laura Silberberg: Three poems by Emily Dickenson (Allison Arends, soprano)
Igor Correia: Three Songs of Great Range (Kathleen Promane, mezzo)
Fuhong Shi: Traces of Time


Wednesday, January 21 - 12:10 pm
SOUND EXPLORATION:
A CONCERT OF ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park
Curated by Mark Nerenberg. Works by Fiona Ryan, Eric Stewart, Christian Floisand, Daniel Brophy and Igor Correia plus...The U of T Laptop Orchestra.


Wednesday, January 21 - 7:30 pm
STUDENT COMPOSER CONCERT
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park
Featuring the TAYLOR COOK QUARTET - Taylor Cook, saxophones, Robin
Claxton, drums, Jack Bodkin, piano; Mark Godfrey, bass.

PROGRAM
Fuhong Shi: Illusions (Rob MacDonald, guitar)
Kevin Lau: Alchemist’s Riddle (Tim Francom, vibraphone)
Constantine Caravassilis: Sappho de Mytiléne (Ariana Chris, soprano)


Thursday, January 22 - 12:10 pm
LEGACY OF KARLHEINZ STOCKHAUSEN (1928- 2007)
Lecture / presentation with performance of selected works.
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park


Thursday, January 22 - 7:30 pm
NEXUS: BACK TO THE FUTURE
A concert of improvisations by Nexus with guests
Phil Nimmons, Parmela Attariwala, Mark Laver and others.
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park


Friday, January 23 - 12:10 pm
OPERA SCENES BY STUDENT COMPOSERS
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park


Friday, January 23 - 7:30 pm
STUDENT COMPOSER CONCERT
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park

PROGRAM
Cecilia Livingston: Multiple Personality Disorder
Saman Shahi: Observations of a Tree in a Park
Bence Kutrik: Motive, Variations and a Tune
Avalon Rusk: Running Fire

Jazz with the U of T Outreach Ensemble featuring Patrick Boyle.