Halifax musicians Gillian Smith (violin) and Jennifer King (piano) will bring an all-Canadian program titled From Sea to Sky to Toronto as part of a three-city tour. Along with Halifax, where the tour kicks off on September 12, and Toronto (September 25), they’ll be traveling north to Yellowknife, NWT (September 28).
The two musicians have been performing as the Smith | King Duo for about the last decade. The concert program includes works for solo violin and solo piano as well as piano/violin together. Three of the works were composed for the duo.
The Performers
The Smith | King Duo have performed throughout Nova Scotia and the Maritimes, including the Acadia University’s Concert and Lecture Series, Shattering the Silence Festival, Sunday Music in the Garden Room Series, the Open Waters Festival, the Classical Showcase at the 2019 East Coast Music Awards, and the Lilian Piercey Concert Hall at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts.
Violinist Gillian Smith is a strong advocate for new music. Her 2019 album Into the Stone (Leaf Music), showcased works for solo violin by five Canadian women composers. It was nominated for an ECMA award for Classical Recording of the Year in 2020. She’s also performed on two other ECMA-nominated recordings. Her second album, also featuring five Canadian composers, was released by Leaf Music in 2023.
Pianist Jennifer King has focussed on contemporary music during a three decade career. She was the recipient of an Award of Appreciation from the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia. Her first recording, O Mistress Moon (2018) can be frequently heard on CBC radio. Her 2022 follow up, O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition won Classical Album of the Year at the 2023 ECMAs. She maintains a busy career as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout Atlantic Canada.
Composers
Nova Scotia composers feature strongly in the program.
Composer/guitarist Amy Brandon received the East Coast Music Award 2022 for Composer of the Year, among other accolades. Her pieces have been performed by cellist Jeff Zeigler, Exponential Ensemble, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Chartreuse Trio, and guitarist Emma Rush, among others.
Composer and flutist Derek Charke is a JUNO and four-time ECMA award-winner. He is also a professor of music at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, where he teaches composition and music theory.
Composer and sound artist Adam V. Clarke divides his time between Canada and Antwerp. His work, which consists of ballet, contemporary chamber and theatre music, often derives inspiration from folklore, and has been performed at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, the Royal Ballet of Flankers, and other European and international companies.
Composer and zoomusicologist Emily Doolittle is Anthenaeum Research Fellow and Lecturer in Composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland based in Glasgow, Scotland. Her compositions, which have been widely performed, are often inspired by the natural world, and folkloric sources.
American-born John Plant studied at Middlebury and Harvard before coming to Canada in 1968, where he continued his studies at McGill University. He is known for vocal music, along with what he calls dance operas and orchestral works, which have been performed across Canada and the US.
Award-winning composer, violinist, and multimedia artist Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu is based in Halifax and Boston. His music ranges from Neo-romanticism to avant-garde, and has been performed by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, The Julius Quartet, Alkali Collective, Gaia Quartet, and nexbloom, among others.
Along with the Nova Scotians, the Duo will perform works by other Canadian composers.
Musician and composer Carmen Braden hails from the Canadian sub-Arctic, based in Yellowknife. Carmen received her Bachelor of Music in Composition from Acadia University, and Masters of Music in Composition from the University of Calgary. She’s the winner of the 2019 and 2020 Western Canadian Music Award for Classical Composer of the Year.
University of Toronto graduate (MMus) Alice Ping Yee Ho is a noted pianist as well as composer. Her many awards and honours include, but are not limited to, the 2022 Symphony Nova Scotia’s Maria Anna Mozart Award, 2022 Barlow Endowment Commissioning Prize, and 2019 Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize. Her work has been featured at a number of international festivals, and performed by orchestras and soloists across the world, including the Finnish Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, and China National Symphony, among others.
- Find out more about the concerts in Halifax and Yellowknife, and tickets for the Toronto concert on September 25 [HERE].
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