{"id":111430,"date":"2025-02-03T11:37:13","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T16:37:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111430"},"modified":"2025-02-03T13:00:02","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T18:00:02","slug":"interview-new-music-concerts-composer-residence-rashaan-allwood-talks-world-premiere-black-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/02\/03\/interview-new-music-concerts-composer-residence-rashaan-allwood-talks-world-premiere-black-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | New Music Concert’s Composer-in-Residence Rashaan Allwood Talks About The World Premiere Of Black Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Composer
Composer Rashaan Allwood (Photo: Kyle Poole)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New Music Concert’s Composer-in-Residence Rashaan Allwood\u2019s piece Black Ice will be premiering at NMC\u2019s next concert on February 8. It\u2019s part of their concert titled Schnee: A Window into Winter.<\/p>\n

Schnee means \u2018snow\u2019 in German, and the music celebrates the season with sound. The program includes two premieres, Allwood’s and Linda Catlin Smith’s We’ve gone forth for dancing.<\/p>\n

We spoke to Rashaan about the piece, and working with NMC.<\/p>\n

Rashaan Rori Allwood<\/h2>\n

Rashaan recently received his PhD in Composition from Western University. He earned a Bachelor\u2019s in Pano Performance from the University of Toronto, and a Master\u2019s degree in Organ Performance at McGill.<\/p>\n

He won the 2022 Marilyn Mason Award in Organ Composition from the American Guild of Organists, along with a commission for a work for solo organ that premiered in Washington in 2022. He is the former director of music at St. Ansgar Lutheran Church in Toronto, and has has toured Europe as an organ soloist, including performances at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, UK, St. Nikolai-Kirche in Leipzig, Germany and St. Pierre\u2019s Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did a Bachelor in piano first, and then a Master’s in organ at McGill,\u201d he says of his musical trajectory. It was while studying for his Masters that he discovered new music. It led to a desire to write his own.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started doing some composition.\u201d That led to completing his PhD at the University of Western Ontario.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I was so inspired by the composers as a pianist,\u201d he says. \u201cHow can I be more like them?\u201d he wondered. His first forays into writing music were for his amusement only; it gradually grew into a serious endeavour. Allwood says he wanted to take his time, and mature as a musician.<\/p>\n

Today, he plays organ at a small downtown church. \u201cI would say most of my time now is spent on my social media,\u201d he says of his performance. He\u2019s grown his Instagram account to more than 30K followers performing largely on historical instruments.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like to do all styles,\u201d Allwood says of his own listening and performing tastes. \u201cI love everything, exploring music.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Composer
Composer Rashaan Allwood (Photo courtesy of the artist)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NMC Composer-in-Residence<\/h3>\n

His piece Black Ice for Nine Instruments was written in 2024. \u201cI wanted to explore the most contemporary sounds,\u201d he says. \u201cI was looking for something that pushes the boundaries of the [piano],\u201d he says, \u201clike Beethoven, using every key. That’s the energy I have now for composition.\u201d<\/p>\n

He greatly appreciates the opportunity that being Composer-in-Residence affords. \u201cJust knowing that you can write something that professional musicians can play [is great],\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s important when your music offers advanced challenges from notation to performance. He creates soundscapes, and uses the instruments in more complex ways. As an example, he says he\u2019s sourced an old upright piano online that will be played by a percussionist. \u201cPlaying the wood of it with drum sticks and much more,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole piece is kind of about fragility and danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black ice is treacherous because it\u2019s largely unseen. He likens it to the position of marginalized communities, who deal with processes and systems that are invisible, yet have an enormous impact on their lives.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe piano is kind of a representation of that,\u201d he says. \u201cAt one point, it gets stabbed by a knife.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, the sounds produced are equally unconventional. Rashaan tends to employ densely layered techniques that are developed over the course of the piece. He cites Stockhausen, and French pianist-composer Rapha\u00ebl Cendo as influences. \u201cThey prioritize meticulously crafted textures,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe music is saturated \u2014 mirroring our lives in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The score calls for the musicians to vocalize at some sections. Because they\u2019re not singers, as Rashaan points out, he has to take a different approach. He incorporates whispers, even shouting and other techniques into the score. \u201cI also experimented a little with vocal fry at the end of the piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s part of the flow of the worke.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first movement is like a car crash on the black ice,\u201d he says, \u201cabsolute chaos. The second movement is like the same thing, but when you feel it in slow motion.\u201d Vocalizations come into the piece as the main feature, along with the electronics he\u2019s developed for the Moog Matriarch analog synthesizer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also want to combine it with samples,\u201d he says, \u201cto make the piece feel like an out of body experience.\u201d He\u2019ll be performing the electronics live. \u201cThat’ll be fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rashaan gave the musicians a manuscript with a lot of direction, and his own take on notation. \u201cA lot of it is proximate, densely notated,\u201d he says. There are passages, in contrast, where he calls for their improvisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found it was a way to free the performers.\u201d Adding improvised sections, albeit within specific parameters, gives the musicians more freedom, while other parts are to be played specifically as written.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was fun working with that kind of aleatoric approach too,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Schnee: A Window into Winter (February 8)<\/h2>\n

The concert begins at 8, with doors open at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n