{"id":107728,"date":"2024-09-20T13:32:04","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T17:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=107728"},"modified":"2024-09-23T08:00:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-23T12:00:03","slug":"preview-esprit-orchestra-offers-rebranding-new-season-new-international-festival-2024-25","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/09\/20\/preview-esprit-orchestra-offers-rebranding-new-season-new-international-festival-2024-25\/","title":{"rendered":"PREVIEW | Esprit Orchestra Offers Rebranding, A New Season & A New International Festival for 2024\/25"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Esprit
Esprit Orchestra (Photo courtesy of Esprit Orchestra)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Esprit Orchestra, Toronto\u2019s new music specialists, have unveiled their 2024\/25 season, an ambitious series that includes a new international festival. As usual, new music fans can look forward to Canadian and world premieres, along with guests both new and familiar.<\/p>\n

\u201cEsprit\u2019s 24\/25 Edge of Your Seat Season, launching with two Prelude Concerts, expands the breadth of our activity yet again after 42 years of concertizing. We include a new Edge of Your Seat International Festival bringing fantastic visiting composers and their music to listeners\u2019 ears and minds. We also have excellent soloists joining us who\u2019ve been making big waves on the global music scene,\u201d says conductor and Music Director Alex Pauk.<\/p>\n

Subscriptions for the season go on sale on September 23, 2024, and a rebranding, with a new website, is in the works. Here\u2019s a look at the lineup for this season.<\/p>\n

Esprit Orchestra: 2024\/25 Season<\/h2>\n

Two concerts act as Preludes to the inaugural Edge of Your Seat International Festival that kicks off in the spring of 2025.<\/p>\n

f(x)= (November 27, 2024 at Koerner Hall)<\/h3>\n

Gabriella Smith (USA) f(x)=sin2x-1\/x (2019) Canadian Premiere
\nBent S\u00f8rensen (DNK) It is pain flowing down slowly on a white wall (2010) North American Premiere
\nMaki Ishii (JPN) Fu-Shi (\u201cShape of the Wind\u201d) (1989)<\/p>\n

Guest artist: Michael Bridge<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve discovered an exciting new composer this season, Gabriella Smith, whose music opens the season with flare,\u201d says Esprit\u2019s Music Director Alex Pauk.<\/p>\n

American composer Gabriela Smith conveys the essence of a mathematical formula, f(x)=sin2x-1\/x, in the form of sound. Guest artist accordionist Michael Bridge, who brings the instrument into the classical world, performs a gorgeous concerto by Bent Sorensen. Maki Ishii\u2019s work creates a rich and massive sound-space continuum with a cross-cultural fabric made up of elements from both East and West.<\/p>\n

Runner (February 23, 2025 at Koerner Hall)<\/h3>\n

Steve Reich (USA) Runner (2016) Canadian Premiere
\nHans Abrahamsen (DNK) Double Concerto (2011)
\nAlex Pauk (CAN) Harp Concerto (2005)
\nHenryk Gorecki (POL) Harpsichord Concerto (1980)<\/p>\n

Guest artists include Mark Fewer on violin, Kevin Ahfat on piano, Erica Goodman on harp, and Wesley Shen on harpsichord in a concert that focuses on the talents of soloists, including artists within the orchestra. Steve Reich\u2019s Runner was written for a large ensemble, and receives its Canadian premiere. To accompany it, the program adds three concertos that spotlight different instruments, including conductor\/music director Alex Pauk\u2019s own Harp Concerto.<\/p>\n

\"Esprit
Esprit Orchestra Conductor & Music Director Alex Pauk (Photo courtesy of Esprit Orchestra)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Edge of Your Seat International Festival | March 4 to April 17, 2025<\/h2>\n

Chasing Vito (March 4, 2025, Koerner Hall)<\/h3>\n

Keiko Abe (JPN) The Wave (2000)
\nCaroline Shaw (USA) Entr’acte (2011)
\nVito \u017duraj (SVN) Anemoi (2024) North American Premiere, commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker & Esprit Orchestra<\/p>\n

Guest artist: noted percussionist Ryan Scott performs on the marimba.
\nVisiting Guest Composer: Vito \u017duraj<\/p>\n

\u201cEsprit\u2019s reputation as a unique new music orchestra continues to grow internationally and has lead to co-commissioning projects with important orchestras worldwide. An example is a co-commission with the Berlin Philharmonic for a work from Vito \u017duraj. Esprit will give the North American Premiere of this work for gigantic orchestra to open our Edge of Your Seat Festival,\u201d Pauk says.<\/p>\n

Icefire, Do-Re-Mi & Caring For The Earth (March 27, 2025, Koerner Hall)<\/h3>\n

Lisa Streich (SWE) ISHJ\u00c4RTA (2024) North American Premiere
\nPeter E\u00f6tv\u00f6s (HUN) Violin Concerto #2 \u201cDoReMi\u201d (2011-12) Canadian Premiere
\nAndrew Norman (USA) Sustain (2018)<\/p>\n

Guest artist violinist Akiko Suwanai (1999 Tchaikovsky Competition winner) joins the Orchestra in performing works by Visiting Guest Composers Andrew Norman and Lisa Streich, along with Peter E\u00f6tv\u00f6s Concerto.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only will Vito attend as our guest from Slovenia,\u201d Pauk adds, \u201cbut we\u2019ll have Lisa Streich from Sweden, a composer having whole festivals devoted to her music abroad. Los Angeles composer Andrew Norman, whose music we\u2019ve thrilled audiences with in the past, will also be one of our guests. Akiko Suwanai, a superb Japanese violinist, will perform the DoReMi Concerto (2nd Violin Concerto) of the late Peter Eotvos, one of the greatest composer\/conductors of the past few decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Intimate Concerts at Trinity St. Paul\u2019s Centre<\/h3>\n

Trinity St. Paul\u2019s is an intimate setting for diverse concerts that include world premieres, and works by emerging Canadian composers Roydon Tse, Julia Mermelstein, and Quinn Jacobs. A stellar lineup of guest soloists bring the music to life. After the show, audience members can stay and mingle during a reception.<\/p>\n

Carrot Revolution (April 2, 2025, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre)<\/h4>\n

Gabriella Smith (USA) Carrot Revolution (2015)
\nKeiko Abe (JPN) Michi (1979)
\nMark Duggan (CAN) Maracatu Imagin\u00e1rio (2017) previous Esprit commission
\nJulia Mermelstein (CAN) Floral Reef (2024)
\nRoydon Tse (CAN) Stepwise (2023) World Premiere & Esprit Orchestra Commission
\nIvan Trevino (MEX) Wildlings (2014)
\nJohn Rea (CAN) Objets per\u00e7us (1992)<\/p>\n

Guest artists: percussionists Ryan Scott and Michael Murphy, along with vocalist Aline Morales<\/p>\n

Imaginary Pancake (April 6, 2025, Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre)<\/h4>\n

Quinn Jacobs (CAN) New Work (2025) World Premiere & Esprit Orchestra Commission
\nBernhard Lang (AUT) D\/W 24 \u2018Loops for Al Jourgensen\u2019 (2013)
\nGabriella Smith (USA) Imaginary Pancake (2020)
\nChris Paul Harman (CAN) Partita #2 for Solo Violin (2019)<\/p>\n

Guest artists: keyboardist Wesley Shen plays piano, with Mark Fewer (violin), and Wallace Halladay (saxophone)<\/p>\n

Cosmic Heartbeats (April 17, 2025, Koerner Hall)<\/h3>\n

Nicholas Ma (CAN) Hijinks (2024) World Premiere & Esprit Orchestra Commission
\nJames O’Callaghan (CAN) New Work (2025) World Premiere & Esprit Orchestra Commission
\nClaude Vivier (CAN) Lonely Child (1980)
\nUnsuk Chin (KOR) Alaraph ‘Ritus des Herschlagz’ (2023)<\/p>\n

Guest artist: Soprano Sophia Burgos<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to reprise Lonely Child by my late friend Claude Vivier whose music I have championed throughout Esprit\u2019s history. The singer for this performance, the American Sophie Burgos, has gained high international acclaim and has become a current leading interpreter of Vivier\u2019s music for voice,\u201d Pauk says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough all of this we remain committed to our Canadian artists with a concert featuring three concerti all of which feature impressive local soloists. We\u2019ll present five Esprit-commissioned World Premieres in the Edge of Your Seat International Festival, one being the first commission for Nicholas Ma, a young composer whose career we\u2019ll be helping to launch \u2014 something we\u2019ve done for young composers from the very beginning of Esprit\u2019s history.\u201d<\/p>\n