MRU Presents: Journey LIVE

M R U C O N S E R VAT O RY P R E S E N T S

SOUNDSCAPE SERIES

The Fifth House Ensemble

Journey LIVE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS CONCERT SEASON 2016/17 BELLA CONCERT HALL • MAY 5, 2017 • 7:30 P.M.  @MRUPERFORMS • #BELLASTYLE #MRUBELLA  @MRUCONSERVATORY • #BELLASTYLE #MRUBELLA  MOUNT ROYAL UNIVERSITY CONSERVATORY

Music to our ears Thank you to our partners and sponsors for helping us bring concerts, community and culture to our hometown through the performing arts.

Message from the Conservatory WELCOME TO THE MUSIC TO YOUR EARS concert season at the Bella Concert Hall in the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts! We are so excited to launch our inaugural season featuring seven separate series with over 25 diverse events.

As a world-class centre for arts education and training, we are committed to providing education and performance opportunities for our students as well as showcasing exemplary artistic achievement in music and speech arts.

From reggae legends and jazz aficionados to eastern classical masters to Canadian astronauts, this year’s line-up quite literally has something for everyone.

Mark DeJong Artistic Program Coordinator

“…conviction, authority, and finesse…”

– Steve Smith, New York Times Fifth House Ensemble and Austin Wintory present

Journey LIVE You wake alone, surrounded by miles of burning, sprawling desert, and soon discover the looming mountaintop that is your goal. Faced with rolling sand dunes, age-old ruins, caves and howling winds, your passage will not be an easy one. A cloaked avatar, you travel and explore this ancient, mysterious world alone, or with a stranger you meet along the way. While the goal is to get to the mountaintop, the experience is the discovery of who you are, the story of this place, and your purpose.

The Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble (praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority and finesse”) teams up with composer Austin Wintory to present an original, interactive live performance of his Grammy-nominated score to the video game Journey.

Described as “the most beautiful game of its time” by IGN, critics have called Journey one of gaming’s crowning achievements. Created by thatgamecompany, it is the fastest selling game to date on the Sony Playstation Network.

Never quite the same each time it is played, Journey is an interactive parable, an anonymous online adventure to experience a person’s life passage and their intersections with others. In this unprecedented collaboration, live musicians respond to the actions of game players in real time on stage.

“…constantly moving in unexpected and fantastic directions…”

– Elliot Mandel, Gapers Block

The Players Austin Wintory, conductor Melissa Snoza, flute Grace Hong, oboe Elizandro Garcia-Montoya, clarinet Eric Heidbreder, bassoon Parker Nelson, horn Charlene Kluegel, violin Michael Lieberman, viola Herine Coetzee Koschak, cello Eric Snoza, double bass Katherine Petersen, piano Lillian Reasor, harp Alex Weir, percussion Pamela Hinchman, vocalist

The gamers David Ng Tiffany Lam Bass flute generously provided by Trevor James Flutes.

Journey created by thatgamecompany.

Journey PS4 and special live build by Tricky Pixels Ltd

AUSTIN WINTORY conductor Austin Wintory began his obsession with composing when he was ten years old and discovered Jerry Goldsmith. In 2012, the PlayStation3 game Journey was released and instantly became Sony’s fastestselling PlayStation title and the soundtrack debuted on the Billboard charts higher than any original score in gaming history, along with becoming the first-ever Grammynominated videogame score. Austin has also scored nearly 50 feature films and maintains a busy concert composing schedule. 2016 was also the unveiling of his partnership with the Chicago-based chamber group Fifth House Ensemble, with whom he will tour in a production of “Journey LIVE.”

Patrick O'Malley composer Patrick O’Malley (1989) is a composer whose works explore the musical interplay between emotion, color, energy, and landscape.

Currently living in Los Angeles, O’Malley grew up in Indiana, where he cultivated an interest in composition from hearing music at the local orchestra, studying piano and double bass, film scores at the movie theater, and even MIDI compositions for videogames being written at the time. His pieces span many of the contemporary mediums for classical music (orchestra, chamber ensembles, vocal music, film scores etc.), and have been performed across the United States as well as in France and Germany.

Often when writing a new piece, O’Malley considers the listener’s imagination as much as every other musical element – an admittedly and enjoyably subjective endeavor.

the fifth house ensemble The Chicago-Based Fifth House Ensemble is a versatile and dynamic group praised by the New York Times for its “conviction, authority, and finesse.� Having pioneered the art of narrative chamber music, 5HE’s innovative programs engage audiences through their connective programming and unexpected performance venues. 5HE develops young audiences through curriculum-integrated interactive concerts and residencies for grades K-12, and is currently the ensemble in residence at Carthage College. In 2012, 5HE launched fresh inc, a one of a kind chamber music festival that brings together composers and instrumentalists for side-by-side performances.

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Acquisition of our Hamburg Steinway Piano was made possible through generous support from an anonymous donor and The Community Facility Enhancement Program, Alberta Culture and Tourism.

Take Your Seat at the Bella Concert Hall Ensure that you always have the best seat in the house. A tax-deductible donation of $1000 is all it takes to place your name on a seat in Calgary's brand new Bella Concert Hall in the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts. With only 300 seats left, now is the time to support your arts community by sponsoring in your name, or the name of a loved one. Each seat sponsorship comes with the gift of a pair of concert tickets to an MRU Conservatory event of your choice at the Bella in 2017.

To take your seat, and for more information, contact Heidi Christophel at 403.440.6591.

MRU CONSERVATORY Cowtown Opera Summer Academy Ages 17 to 24 Calgary Youth Orchestra Ages 14 to 24 Children’s Cello Ages 3 to 9

Choral Programs Ages 6+ Academy for Young Artists Ages 8+ Advanced Performance Program Ages 15+

mru.ca/conservatory

MUSIC TO YOUR EARS Ron Sexsmith MAY 10, 2017

Andrés Cárdenes with the Calgary Youth Orchestra

MAY 14, 2017

Land’s End Ensemble with Evelyn Glennie MAY 26, 2017

Tickets at mru.ca/enjoy

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