{"id":109220,"date":"2024-11-06T11:30:51","date_gmt":"2024-11-06T16:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=109220"},"modified":"2024-11-06T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2024-11-06T18:00:02","slug":"interview-exploring-ideas-music-composer-ana-sokolovic-talks-composition-concerto-orchestra","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2024\/11\/06\/interview-exploring-ideas-music-composer-ana-sokolovic-talks-composition-concerto-orchestra\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Exploring Ideas In Music: Composer Ana Sokolovi\u0107 Talks About Composition And Her Concerto For Orchestra"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_109221\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-109221\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-109221\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Copy-of-NEWS-87.jpg\" alt=\"Composer Ana Sokolovi\u0107 (Photo: Raoul Manuel Schnell)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Copy-of-NEWS-87.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Copy-of-NEWS-87-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Copy-of-NEWS-87-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/11\/Copy-of-NEWS-87-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-109221\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Composer Ana Sokolovi\u0107 (Photo: Raoul Manuel Schnell)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>On November 16 and 17, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra will be performing Ana Sokolovi\u0107\u2019s Concerto for Orchestra. It\u2019s the first time she\u2019ll be working with the TSO and conductor Gustavo Gimeno.<\/p>\n<p>We spoke to the composer about her start in music, and the work that Maestro Gimeno and the TSO will be performing.<\/p>\n<h2>Composer Ana Sokolovi\u0107<\/h2>\n<p>Ana Sokolovi\u0107 was born in Belgrade, Serbia. She has made Montr\u00e9al her base since 1992.<\/p>\n<p>Her formal musical education began with ballet lessons at the age of four. She went on to study composition at the university level in Belgrade. Ana followed that with a master&#8217;s degree with Jos\u00e9 Evangelista at l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montreal, and her reputation quickly began to grow in that city.<\/p>\n<p>Her growing body of works includes operas, solo and chamber music, and orchestral pieces. She often draws on the rhythmic folk music of her Balkan heritage for inspiration, along with a range of compositional and artistic techniques. Her work is performed across Canada, the US, and throughout Europe, and she is the fourth most frequently performed woman opera composer in the world.<\/p>\n<p>She has also worked on music for stage, including collaborations with legendary choreographer Louise Lecavalier, director Denis Marleau, playwright St\u00e9phanie Jasmin, and Oscar-nominated director Theodore Ushev.<\/p>\n<p>Ana\u2019s work has collected numerous accolades over the years, including two consecutive JUNOs for Classical Composition of the Year. She served as Composer-in-Residence at the Orchestre symphonique de Montr\u00e9al (OSM) for three seasons. Ana teaches composition at l\u2019Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al, where she was awarded the first Canada Research Chair in Opera Creation in 2022.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/qWeU5YnkLOk?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h3>Ana Sokolovi\u0107: The Interview<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cI think that I composed \u2014 I improvised \u2014 because I was a young pianist. I started piano at the age of 8,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>It came as an offshoot of her ballet lessons, as she explains. With no piano at home, during breaks from dance class, she\u2019d improvise on the keyboard. \u201cI was impressed by this sonic object,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>She began to compose music almost right away, including a duet with a friend who played the bass line.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter that, I started piano lessons, and eventually, started theatre lessons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She counts the influence of all three arts \u2014 dance, music, and theatre \u2014 as vital to her work and education. When she began to play the piano, she continued to improvise. \u201cI changed pieces,\u201d she says. \u201cMy piano teacher told [&#8230;] my parents, I think she is a composer,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI thought that it was normal for everybody who was playing an instrument to compose.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t until high school, however, that she actually made her intentions of becoming a composer professionally clear.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI vocalised it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Incorporating the elements of dance and theatre into her work isn\u2019t always the norm, traditionally, in Western culture, where we tend to separate the disciplines. As Ana points out, though, popular music already brings theatricality and other elements into the mix. \u201cIt&#8217;s only since Romanticism that we really started to separate music.\u201d Prior to that era, as she notes, composer, improviser and performer were the same person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe&#8217;re specialized in our era, but we&#8217;re coming back to our roots somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Concerto for Orchestra<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cIt was actually the musical world of the concert where the piece was premiered.\u201d That\u2019s how Sokolovi\u0107 describes the idea behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.boosey.com\/cr\/music\/Ana-Sokolovic-Concerto-pour-orchestre\/104913\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Concerto for Orchestra<\/a> at its genesis.<\/p>\n<p>The Concerto for Orchestra premiered in 2007, and was written for an OSM tour while Kent Nagano was Music Director. It was the first cross-Canada tour for both the orchestra and Nagano, and took them from Yellowknife to St. John&#8217;s. On the program were Beethoven and Rossini.<\/p>\n<p>Nagano was fond of concepts, she noted after discussions with him. \u201cAnd I like challenges as well.\u201d She considered the juxtaposition of Beethoven\u2019s darker, deeper emotions, and the sunnier nature of Rossini\u2019s art. \u201cIt was very nice for me.\u201d To reduce them both to generalizations isn\u2019t the intention, but instead to spark an idea. \u201cIt&#8217;s not really right, but it made me think of this,\u201d she explains. \u201cJust to think about dualities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It went beyond the pieces in question. \u201cThinking about what is deep music today, what is light music today?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The music of the Concerto comes from her reflections and questioning revolving around those ideas. \u201cI give some solutions for answers, but I don\u2019t necessarily give the answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A concerto for orchestra allows her to work with the orchestra\u2019s colours in a different way. \u201cI really work with the orchestra as a soloist,\u201d she says. Different sections become the soloist at different moments during the three movement piece. It\u2019s written in a traditional fast \u2014 slow \u2014 fast format.<\/p>\n<p>Within the orchestra, she uses specific groups of instruments to play out those ideas about correlation, dialogue and duality. The whole orchestra offers a vast dynamic range, along with the various timbres of the individual instruments and sections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was searching for different kinds of expressions of duality.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The thought process behind the music, however interesting, isn\u2019t required for its enjoyment. \u201cBut, all of this is not important for people to listen to the music,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was written to be heard and to be felt.\u201d As a composer, she says, you offer the initial energy of the piece, but it has to be caught by audience.<\/p>\n<h3>Concert with the TSO<\/h3>\n<p>The program in Toronto includes Shostakovich\u2019s Violin Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 99, and Sibelius\u2019 Symphony No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 39. Lithuanian-born violinist, violist and conductor Julian Rachlin is the evening\u2019s soloist.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust being programmed with Shostakovich and Sibelius \u2014 my two gods \u2014 is so amazing. And I love Julian Rachlin,\u201d Ana adds. \u201cJust being there is a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As she points out, where a piece falls in the program can also affect how the audience receives it. It appears first in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra\u2019s Fire &amp; Ice program. That\u2019s a good spot for new works, she feels, when the audience has fresh ears.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis atmosphere of not knowing what we want to hear is very exciting for me. But, at the same time, I don\u2019t want them to think.\u201d New music shouldn\u2019t be overly intellectualized \u2014 it needs to simply be felt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the context is, they&#8217;re open,\u201d she says. \u201cI hope maybe this will arouse some interest in these ideas \u2014 or more importantly, in this soundscape.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find tickets and more details about the November 16 and 17 concerts with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tso.ca\/concerts-and-events\/events\/fire-and-ice-shostakovich-and-sibelius\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? 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