{"id":102659,"date":"2024-03-22T15:38:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-22T19:38:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=102659"},"modified":"2024-03-22T15:38:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-22T19:38:39","slug":"preview-composer-pianist-paul-grabowsky-comes-soundstreams-keyed-festival-2024-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/03\/22\/preview-composer-pianist-paul-grabowsky-comes-soundstreams-keyed-festival-2024-toronto\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Composer\/Pianist Paul Grabowsky Comes To Soundstreams\u2019 Keyed Up! Festival 2024 In Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L-R:
L-R: Composer and pianist Paul Grabowsky (Photo: Pia Johnson); Image of six pianists (Photo: Trevor Haldenby, courtesy of Soundstreams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lawrence Cherney, Founding Artistic Director of Soundstreams has announced Keyed Up! a three-day festival that takes place in Toronto from April 18 to 20 as a showcase for exceptional artists and keyboard instruments.<\/p>\n

The works of composers from J.S. Bach to Steve Reich, Ann Southam, Terry Riley, Ana Sokolovi\u0107, and more will be featured, including four world premieres. A range of performers will play the piano, harpsichord, electronic keyboards and digital organ.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Australian composer and musician Paul Grabowsky about his work in the festival, which is inspired by Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations.<\/p>\n

\"Composer
Composer and pianist Paul Grabowsky (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Paul Grabowsky<\/h2>\n

Composer and pianist Paul Grabowsky is well known in his home base of Australia, where he\u2019s been a popular musician across multiple genres for decades. He began to play the piano at the age of five, and studied classical repertoire at the Conservatorium of Music at the University of Melbourne from age seven.<\/p>\n

Later, studying at Wesley College, he learned jazz, which took him from Australia to New York City to study at Juilliard. After his studies, he embarked on a performing career as a jazz pianist, adding movie score composing to his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

He founded the Australian Art Orchestra in 1994, an ensemble that began with a focus on jazz, but gradually blurred the lines between cultural traditions and genres. One of their projects under his leadership revolved around Bach\u2019s St. Matthew\u2019s Passion. Grabowsky left AAO in 2013 to pursue his solo work.<\/p>\n

Paul Grabowsky: The Q&A<\/h3>\n

What is it about Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations that we still find so interesting \u2014 and such fruitful territory for new work \u2014 even today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Goldbergs are fascinating in so many ways. They represent a summa of late baroque keyboard music, demonstrating in their considerable technical demands what a wonderful keyboardist JSB must have been. They demonstrate remarkable playfulness throughout, with the full array of contrapuntal wizardry and harmonic sophistication, all realised within the restrictions of the Aria\u2019s elegant structure.<\/p>\n

As an improviser, using this theme as a springboard, even a provocation, is an exhilarating challenge. The Goldbergs are a distillation of JSB\u2019s genius, and continue to inspire composers and performers across many fields. They speak, like all great art, across time and space.<\/p>\n

Perhaps along the same lines \u2014 your music practice is very broad in scope. What led you to create a piece based on Bach?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an improviser, I draw inspiration from any and every source. The jazz tradition taught me a language of kinesis, a forward motion of equal parts in a constant interrelationship. JSB was a renowned improviser, so I regard the act of performing this concert as an homage.<\/p>\n

How do you see the fusion of jazz and classical music idioms \u2014 which are, as they have evolved today, very different in approach? Would you say that, in some respects, it actually goes back to the roots of the music that Bach himself played?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jazz can be seen from a number of different perspectives. I understand the word as providing a world of possibility in which the improvisational moment is a constant, ephemeral reality. In classical music (an expression, like jazz, which is not necessarily a 21st Century one), the textual aspect of music, its ability to be reproduced according to sets of carefully ordered instructions, is paramount. Of course, improvisation is present in the performance of any piece of music if the performer is open to spontaneous decisions. It is a question of intention, degree and aesthetic context.<\/p>\n

What are you hoping the audience takes from your work and your performance?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never try and second-guess my listeners. I can only hope they are satisfied.<\/p>\n

Being a festival with keyboards as its theme, I\u2019m wondering about your own keyboard collection \u2014 how many do you have? Which is your favourite?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I really only perform on piano. I have a B\u00f6sendorfer at home, slightly shorter than an Imperial, but with a 92 note keyboard. It was built in 1980 and I\u2019ve had it since 1991. I love it. I have keyboards, but they are mostly used for composing.<\/p>\n

\"Image
Image of six pianists (Photo: Trevor Haldenby, courtesy of Soundstreams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Festival in Brief<\/h2>\n

A Prelude to Keyed Up! | April 3: Piano Works of Unsung Masters<\/h3>\n

This prelude to the three main concerts puts the work of little known masters of the 20th and 21st centuries under the spotlight.<\/p>\n

Rising stars of The Royal Conservatory of Music\u2019s Glenn Gould School and Taylor Academy in Toronto and McGill University\u2019s Schulich School of Music in Montreal will perform a program of new music. That includes: Fantasie N\u00e9gre by Florence Price, and In The Bottoms \u2013 IV: Barcarolle by R. Nathaniel Dett, both performed by Elijah Stevens; Frozen Road by Ian Cusson performed by Jesse Plessis; and Troubled Water by Margaret Bonds performed by Irene Huang. More information, and register for your free ticket here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The three festival concerts<\/strong> take place at the Jane Mallett Theatre with resident ensemble: Gregory Oh (electronic keyboard), Wesley Shen (harpsichord), Jackie Leung (piano), and John Paul Farahat (digital organ).<\/p>\n

Keyed Up! Opening Night | April 18: Variations on Goldberg Variations<\/h3>\n

The festival opener presents the world premieres of four variations on J.S. Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations by Canadian composers Taylor Brook, Dorothy Chang, Emily Doolittle and Andr\u00e9 Ristic, each preceded by Bach\u2019s original aria. The other half of the program is the North American premiere of Australian composer\/pianist Paul Grabowsky\u2019s jazz-inflected take on Bach\u2019s masterpiece. Grabowsky will perform his own works.<\/p>\n

Keyed Up! #2 | April 19: Notations (RBC BRIDGES Composer Showcase)<\/h3>\n

This showcase concert premieres six keyboard works for keyboards by emerging composers who participated in this year\u2019s RBC Bridges program: Uko Abara, Alexandra Gorlin-Crenshaw, Gustav Knudson, Maria-Eduarda Mendes Martins, Prokhor Protasoff, and Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu. Their pieces will be performed by the resident ensemble.<\/p>\n

The second half of the free concert will feature four short works: T. REX by Ana Sokolovi\u0107 (North
\nAmerican premiere) performed by John Paul Farahat; Mutations by Alvin Singleton performed
\nby Jackie Leung; Toile de Jouy by Monica Pearce performed by Wesley Shen; and Glass Houses
\n(#5) by Ann Southam performed by Gregory Oh.<\/p>\n

Keyed Up! #3 | April 20: 6 Pianos 12 Hands<\/h3>\n

Works for six grand pianos are on the program for this concert, including: Steve Reich\u2019s iconic Six Pianos, Terry Riley\u2019s A Rainbow in Curved Air, Andr\u00e9 Ristic\u2019s Vivaldi Variations. The concert rounds out with works for two pianos by Ana Sokolovi\u0107 and Julia Wolfe.<\/p>\n

Pianists performing in this concert include: Stephanie Chua, Geoffrey Conquer, Simon Docking,
\nGregory Oh, Midori Koga and Wesley Shen.<\/p>\n

Find out more about the Keyed Up! Festival, and tickets, [HERE<\/a>].<\/p>\n

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We spoke to Australian composer and musician Paul Grabowsky about his work in Soundstreams Keyed Up! festival, inspired by Bach\u2019s Goldberg Variations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":102661,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40967,74,18,19,29,38,47,4557,63],"tags":[4577,3079,5889],"yst_prominent_words":[37599,19825,29987],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/03\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-4.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-qHN","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102659"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102659"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":102664,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102659\/revisions\/102664"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102659"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=102659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}