Preview
LAND’S END CHAMBER ENSEMBLE
Thursday, January 23
Rozsa Centre (U of C)
Since its formation in 1997, the mission of Land’s End Chamber Ensemble has been to bridge the gap that has developed between contemporary classical music and audiences. It’s fitting, then, that the ensemble’s latest concert will be featured as the closing event for the first University of Calgary Festival of New Music, which runs from January 19 to 23.
George Fenwick, artistic director for Land’s End, agrees with the objectives of the festival’s prime mover, Dr. David Eagle, a professor of composition at the University of Calgary.
"David’s objectives are to raise the profile of contemporary music in Calgary and to provide opportunities for student composers and new music performers to be heard," says Fenwick. "I think it’s a terrific idea."
The concert consists of a program that highlights some exciting works by Calgary composers. The featured work of the program, And She Fell…, is by Kevin Sharyk, a recent graduate from the University of Calgary. An aural and visual experience for dancer, piano and percussion, the piece will be performed with One Yellow Rabbit’s Denise Clarke.
According to Fenwick, And She Fell… acts as natural extension of previous work Land’s End has done with One Yellow Rabbit. The ensemble has performed twice at OYR’s High Performance Rodeo, including a show last year that also involved puppetry by Old Trout Puppet Workshop and dance by Denise Clarke.
"We enjoyed working with Denise very much," says Fenwick. "She brings a great deal of creative energy and pizzazz to every project she is involved with."
And She Fell… is described by the composer as a hugely abstracted, programmatic piece that traces the journey of an entity. Initially the entity exists in a metaphysical state, and then "falls" from its place of origin to a new and unfamiliar environment. This fall causes the entity to transform into a tangible state of being. The remainder of the piece involves the creature’s efforts to adapt to its new environment, and to maintain its new form.
Allan Bell’s work Innua, a piano trio in three movements, will also be featured in the concert. The title is an Inuit word that refers to the spirit that lives in all things. Fenwick believes this spiritual element is important.
"This is an intriguing program of music that has the ability to transport someone," he says, adding that the concert will also incorporate the Canadian première of Choroby Serca by Kyle Lamont, a composition that originated with Lamont’s experiences while studying in Krakow, Poland.
"It acts like a literal interpretation of the warning that came with cigarette packages referring to potential heart disease," says Fenwick. "It also acts as a kind of double entendre referring to the illnesses of the heart that can happen from love."
Along with the Land’s End closing concert, the University of Calgary Festival of New Music will feature some of the finest soloists and ensembles at the university, as well as guests Duo Solista and Ensemble Resonance. Five concerts will be presented in the Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall at the Rozsa Centre from Sunday, January 19 to Thursday, January 23. Duo Solista is also offering a free presentation on the interpretation of new music that will take place on Wednesday, January 22 at 4 p.m. |
