collectif9, a nine-piece string ensemble based in Montréal, will bring RITUÆLS, a piece that combines music drawn from centuries of repertoire with dance, to Toronto. Dancer Maïka Giasson will perform the choreography of Stacey Désilier for the performance on November 23.
Toronto’s VC2 Cello Duo will perform an opening set of music from their latest albums, Beethoven’s Cellists and I and Thou.
RITUÆLS
During the performance, the musicians are situated in several spaces to enhance the works on the programme. The music includes:
- Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): O vis aeternitatis
- Arvo Pärt (born in 1935): Psalom and Summa
- Nicole Lizée (born in 1973): Another Living Soul*, **
- Bryce Dessner (born in 1976): Aheym and Tenebre*
- Michael Tippett (1905-1998): Lament
- Jocelyn Morlock (1969-2023): Exaudi*
* arrangement by Thibault Bertin-Maghit
** written for Kronos Performing Arts Association’s Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire
Carefully crafted lighting and stage design enhance the music, which begins with the medieval chants of von Bingen. Each piece of music emerges from the last. Michael Tippett’s Lament reaches into the past, based on Purcell’s aria Ah! Belinda, which in turn takes its inspiration partly from an Irish tune popular during the Renaissance.
The late Jocelyn Morlock’s work Exaudi moves from grief to acceptance and even hope. The piece will spotlight cellist Andrea Stewart, who will be performing on the 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano II cello recently loaned to her from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.
Collectif9 is:
- Chloé Chabanole, John Corban, Robert Margaryan, TJ Skinner, violin
- Cynthia Blanchon, Xavier Lepage-Brault, viola
- Jérémie Cloutier, Andrea Stewart, cello
- Thibault Bertin-Maghit, double bass
As an ensemble, they’re dedicated to presenting works in unique and immersive environments.
Dancer Maïka Giasson attended the Montréal School of Contemporary Dance, and was awarded the Sofia-Borella scholarship and the TransFormation Danse scholarship. She continued her training at an advanced level in Europe, and has since returned to Canada to work with a number of prominent companies and choreographers in her native Montréal.
Creative Team
- Thibault Bertin-Maghit, concept and artistic direction
- Andrea Stewart, associate direction and communication
- Stacey Désilier, choreography
- Joëlle Harbec, scenography
- Renaud Pettigrew, lighting design
More information and tickets for the November 23 performance at George Weston Hall are available [HERE].
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.
Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.
- PREVIEW | Upper Canada Choristers Celebrate 30th Anniversary With World Premieres, New Beginnings - May 3, 2024
- THE SCOOP | Could The Kitchener Waterloo Symphony Be On The Road To Renewal? - May 3, 2024
- PREVIEW | The Orpheus Choir Of Toronto Ends The Season With Jocelyn Hagen’s The Notebooks Of Leonardo Da Vinci - May 2, 2024
