Lawrence Cherney, Founding Artistic Director of Soundstreams has announced the line-up for a season that includes returning favourites along with intriguing new works and imaginative programming. The organization’s 41st season includes three World Premieres by Cecilia Livingston, Omar Daniel, and André Ristic.
“Our post-pandemic world has made it easier to “stay home” on a grand scale. Wonderful as that can sometimes be, we’re wired to have collective experiences, to have a shared humanity. There’s something primordial about experiencing deeply-felt emotions with others, whether it be profound sadness or profound joy, and everything in between. Great music can inspire those feelings — it may happen rarely — but when it does, it’s truly nourishment for the soul. That’s the impetus behind every Soundstreams note you’ll hear next season!”
Season at a Glance
The Bright Divide | November 10 — 11, 2023
The programme includes two works inspired by the art of American painter Mark Rothko, as staged by Tim Albery.
Rothko Chapel by Morton Feldman (1971) was written for the opening of a non-denominational spiritual sanctuary in Texas that is home to 14 Rothko canvases. In his notes, Feldman wrote, “Rothko’s imagery goes right to the edge of his canvas, and I wanted the same effect with the music.” The piece is scored for solo viola with timpani and choir.
mark, by Canadian composer Cecilia Livingston with text by Duncan McFarlane, will be a world premiere presentation. The piece takes its inspiration from Rothko’s art as well as Feldman’s earlier piece to explore the “Bright Divide” between light and dark, and Rothko’s bright colour fields that juxtapose the darker works in the Chapel. mark is scored for voila soloist and choir.
Performers will include Soundstreams’ Choir 21 with David Fallis conducting and Steven Dann on viola.
Electric Messiah | December 14-17, 2023
Electric Messiah returns with a re-imagining of Handel’s Messiah, taking the beautiful and beloved melodies from Handel’s arias and choruses to create a story about love, betrayal, and redemption. While it’s the eighth iteration, Electric Messiah is never the same twice. It spotlights four vocalists with an instrumental backup that ranges from classical to jazz, blues, hip-hop and gospel. Guided by composer and synth player Adam Scime, vocalists this year include jazz vocalist Elizabeth Shepherd, Dora award-winner Rebecca Cuddy, and soprano Midori Marsh.
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir | February 3, 2024
The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir is ranked among the best in the world, led by founder Tõnu Kaljuste. The highly acclaimed chamber choir makes a return to the city to perform Magnificat, Nunc Dimittis, Dopo la Vittoria, Kanon Pokajanen, and other works by Arvo Pärt, along with Palestrina, and a world premiere by Canadian composer Omar Daniel. Daniel’s piece incorporates text from the poem A Sorrow of Stones by Canadian poet Anne Wilkinson.
Keyed Up! | April 18-20, 2024
This mini-festival showcases new music for keyboards, including piano, organ, harpsichord, and electronic keyboard.
April 18: Variations On Goldberg Variations
For the first half of the programme, four Canadian composers will write 30 new variations on the Bach masterpiece. The new pieces will alternate between piano, harpsichord, organ and electronic keyboard on an ongoing basis, in the improvisational spirit of J.S.himself. In the second half, Australian pianist and composer Paul Grabowsky, who’ll create his own jazz-inflected response to Bach’s eternally beautiful theme.
April 19: RBC BRIDGES: Emerging Composers Showcase
Composers Paul Grabowsky and André Ristic serve as mentors to the Emerging Composers in the Soundstreams Bridges programme. Six short new works for keyboard will be premiered. The RBC Bridges program supports emerging composers with a week-long programme with free tuition and accommodation. It operates annually for six Canadian and international composers who can work with experienced mentors and focus on their compositions.
April 20: 6 Pianos 12 Hands
The programme includes Steve Reich’s Music for Six Pianos, a that premiered in 1973, and begins with a rhythmic pattern that is then phased, or shifted two beats. The work was inspired by Steve’s idea for a piece that could be played by all the pianos in a piano store. André Ristic contributes a new arrangement for six pianos of Terry Riley’s A Rainbow in Curved Air, along with Ristic’s own piece Vivaldi Variations. Other works for multiple pianos by Ana Sokolovic and Alexina Louie are also on the programme.
Free Concert Series | TD Encounters
The small-scale live concert series is ongoing, and includes culturally resonant works performed in a relaxed atmosphere, along with a discussion that lets audiences delve into the music and musicians.
Season subscriptions and more information [HERE].
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