January 28-Feb 2, 2013

For this year’s 22^nd annual New Music Festival, we are thrilled to be joined by the Elmer Iseler Singers for what promises to be a superb Festival opening gala. The group, based in Toronto, is one of the most illustrious professional choral ensembles in the country. Renowned percussion virtuoso Dame Evelyn Glennie returns to perform a new work by WSO composer-in-residence Vincent Ho, which promises to be at the same fever pitch as their 2011 performance of The Shaman. Steve Reich, one of the towering composers of our time, is also featured for two concerts with the exhilarating, propulsive and seductive sounds and rhythms he is known for.

Concert details to be announced.

www.newmusicfestival.ca

Thursday, February 2, 2012 • 7:30 p.m.

Centennial Concert Hall
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-Concert Discussion • 6:40 p.m.
Pre-Concert Performance • 7:00 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed dance group La La La Human Steps returns to Winnipeg. Tonight, they present a thrilling new show choreographed to the extraordinary music of Gavin Bryars. Witness what critics and audiences have been raving about all over the world!

Artists:

La La La Human Steps
Édouard Lock, choreographer
Gavin Bryars, composer
Blake Hargreaves, composer
Njo Kon Kie, musical director and pianist
Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cellist
Jennifer Thiessen, violist
Ida Toninato, saxophonist

Program:

New work

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 • 7:30 p.m

Centennial Concert Hall
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-Concert Discussion • 6:40 p.m
Pre-Concert Performance • 7:00 p.m

We bring you a very special evening of music by members of Iceland’s own composer collective – the Bedroom Community. We open with the highly anticipated performance of Credo, composed by Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), featuring Prairie Voices and our WSO Strings. Nico Muhly joins us for the Canadian premiere his new WSO co-commissioned work, So Far So Good. Distinguished guest artist Shauna Rolston returns to the stage to present the North American premiere of Daniel Bjarnason’s enthralling piece for cello and orchestra, Bow to String. Finally, we present the North American premiere of Valgeir Sigurðsson’s Dreamland, a new orchestral work based on his soundtrack to the prize-winning documentary of the same name.

Artists:

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director
Shauna Rolston, cello

Program:

Kjartan Sveinsson (IS): Credo (Canadian premiere)
Nico Muhly (USA): So Far So Good (Canadian premiere)*
Daníel Bjarnason (IS): Bow to String: For Cello & Orchestra (North American premiere)
Valgeir Sigurðsson (IS): Dreamland (North American premiere)

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

Tuesday, January 31, 2012 • 7:30 p.m.

Winnipeg Art Gallery, 300 Memorial Boulevard
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

LIMITED SEATING

GroundSwell New Music returns to bring you a night of new music and theatre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Hear wonderful new works by many of Manitoba’s illustrious composers – Michael Matthews, Jim Hiscott, Gordon Fitzell and musical artist Diana McIntosh, who will present the world premiere of her one-woman piece, You, Me and The Tree. Also featured this evening is a special performance by Iceland’s own Bedroom Community (Daniel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson). Be part of an evening to remember at the WAG.

Artists:

David Betz
Heide Ouellette
David Storen
Jan Kocman, flute
Karl Stobbe, violin
Anne Elise Lavallée, viola
Emma Quackenbush, cello
Diana McIntosh, performer
Bedroom Community: Daniel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly, Valgeir Sigurðsson

Program:

Part 1:

Gordon Fitzell (CAN): :Spin
Michael Matthews (CAN): Vertical Garden
Jim Hiscott (CAN): After Sorrow (World premiere)
Diana McIntosh (CAN): You, Me and The Tree (World premiere)*

Part 2:

The Bedroom Community

*Commissioned by The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of The Winnipe g Arts Council.

Monday, January 30, 2012 • 7:30 p.m.

Centennial Concert Hall
Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Pre-Concert Discussion • 6:40 p.m.
Pre-Concert Performance • 7:00 p.m.

In celebration of our Festival’s Icelandic theme, we are proud to present a new work by one of Iceland’s fastest rising stars – Daníel Bjarnason. Hear the North American premiere of his orchestral work Emergence, a piece hailed for its exquisite colours and emotional profundity. Returning to our Festival as our distinguished guest artist is Canada’s superstar cellist Shauna Rolston as she presents the world premiere of Vincent Ho’s cello concerto, City Suites, written especially for her and her carbon-fibre cello. This year’s Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work receives its premiere performance tonight. Concluding the program is Alexina Louie’s thrilling concerto for string quartet, Pursuit, performed by our very own WSO Clearwater String Quartet.

Artists:

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Richard Lee, conductor
Shauna Rolston, cello
WSO Clearwater String Quartet

Program

Daníel Bjarnason (IS): Emergence (North American premiere)
Vincent Ho (CAN): City Suites: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (World premiere)*
Jesse Plessis (CAN): Tender is the Night**
Alexina Louie (CAN): Pursuit: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra

*Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Arts Council
**Winner of the Canadian Music Centre’s 2012 Emerging Composer Prize

Sunday, January 29, 2012 • 7:30 pm

Westminster United Church, 745 Westminster Avenue
Doors open at 6:50 p.m.

Pre-Concert Discussion • 7:00 p.m

Tonight’s chamber music concert features a collection of works that are sure to excite and move you. Be dazzled by the performances of pianist Megumi Masaki and violinist Oleg Pokhanovski as they present works of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté and Jurriaan Andriessen. This year’s distinguished guest composer Kaija Saariaho joins us for the performance of her latest composition: Tocar (for violin and piano) and Spins and Spells (for solo cello). One of Iceland’s new music superstars, composer Valgeir Sigurðsson, also joins us for the North American premiere of his string quartet, Nebraska, performed by the WSO Clearwater String Quartet. Cellist Minna Rose Chung presents Vincent Ho’s haunting work, Stigmata. Rounding off the evening will be acclaimed Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker as he performs his new work, Ravedeath For Organ.

Artists:

Megumi Masaki, piano
Oleg Pokhanovski, violin
Yuri Hooker, cello
Gwen Hoebig, violin
David Moroz, piano
WSO Clearwater String Quartet
Minna Rose Chung, cello
Tim Hecker, organ
Paul Corley, sound technician

Program:

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté (CAN): Letter A
Kaija Saariaho (FI): Spins and Spells
Jurriaan Andriessen (NL): Reflections – Intro
Kaija Saariaho (FI): Tocar
Jurriaan Andriessen (NL): Reflections – Presto
Vincent Ho (CAN): Stigmata
S.C. Eckhardt Gramatté (CAN): Tune for a Child
Valgeir Sigurðsson (IS): Nebraska
Tim Hecker (CAN): Ravedeath for Organ

January 29  8:00 pm

“Ms. Glennie, as always an energetic and intensely focused performer, made the work’s rolls, rhythmic patterns and hard thwacks into something both musical and dramatic.”
- New York Times

One of the most eclectic and innovative musicians on the scene today, Dame Evelyn Glennie is the first person in musical history to successfully create and sustain a fulltime career as a solo percussionist. She will be performing the newly-commissioned Percussion Concerto by WSO composer-in-residence Vincent Ho.

We also present the return of John Corigliano’s Symphony No.1, a performance that won over the WSO audience, plus a second world premiere of a newly
commissioned overture by Winnipeg composer Randolph Peters.

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor
Dame Evelyn Glennie, percussion

Randolph Peters: New Work (World Premiere)
Vincent Ho: Percussion Concerto (World Premiere)
John Corigliano: Symphony No. 1

For more info, click here.

Meet the Composer featuring Vincent Ho

Tuesday, Jan 18, 2011
7:30 pm
McNally Robinson Grant Park in the Travel Alcove

Winner of numerous awards and prizes, Vincent Ho is widely recognized as one of the most exciting composers of his generation. His works have been hailed for their profound expressiveness and textural beauty that has audiences talking about with great enthusiasm. Since his appointment to the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra as Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho has presented a number of large-scale works that have generated much excitement and critical praise. His most recent composition, Arctic Symphony, has been described as “a beautiful work that evokes the Far North in a very special way,” and “a mature and atmospheric work that firmly establishes Ho among North American composers of note.”

His next project is a new percussion concerto, titled The Shaman, composed specially for Dame Evelyn Glennie and will be presented by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra. The Winnipeg premiere of this new piece will be the subject of his discussion this evening.