2011/2012 Overture #4

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY

January – February 2012

ORCHESTRA

ISSUE 4

DISTINGUISHED GUEST COMPOSER:

FEATURED COMPOSERS:

Kaija Saariaho

Daníel Bjarnason Tim Hecker Jóhann Jóhannsson Alexina Louie Nico Muhly Valgeir Sigurdsson Kjartan Sveinsson Atli Heimir Sveinsson

DISTINGUISHED GUEST ARTISTS: La La La Human Steps Jennifer Koh, violin Shauna Rolston, cello

CURATORS Alexander Mickelthwate, music director Vincent Ho, composer-in-residence

JANUARY 28 - FEBRUARY 3 I 2012 www.newmusicfestival.ca

WSO SPONSORS, FUNDERS

AND

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The WSO proudly acknowledges the ongoing support of the following sponsors, media and funders: EDUCATION & OUTREACH PROGRAMS

IN MEMORY OF PETER D. CURRY

POWER SMART HOLIDAY TOUR

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL

CONCERTS FOR KIDS

INDIGENOUS FESTIVAL

WSO IN BRANDON

SUMMER CONCERT SERIES

CANADA DAY AT THE FORKS

SOUNDCHECK PROGRAM

PIANO RAFFLE

SHARE THE MUSIC

CAR RAFFLE

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY Women’s Committee of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

MEDIA SPONSORS

FUNDERS

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 1

GOVERNMENT GREETINGS Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages Our Government knows how important arts and culture are to our communities, our identity, and our economy. This is why we are proud to support events like the Winnipeg New Music Festival that allow Canadians to expand their musical horizons and discover new music. This festival is a wonderful way to promote our artistic heritage and the talent of our musicians.

On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I would like to congratulate the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and all the organizers, artists, and volunteers who have helped bring the 2012 New Music Festival to life.

The Honourable James Moore

Minister of Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism Welcome to the WSO’s New Music Festival, now in its 21st year of presenting excellence and innovation in symphonic music.

Congratulations to the musicians, composers, organizers, volunteers, sponsors and fans for making this much-anticipated festival an annual success. The event celebrates creativity and imagination, and encourages music appreciation while adding warmth and spirit to our Manitoba winter.

Our government is proud to support the WSO. Your long legacy of musical excellence has made you a leader in our rich cultural community and a memorable ambassador for our capital city and province. Bravo!

The Honourable Flor Marcelino

Mayor of Winnipeg On behalf of the citizens of Winnipeg and my colleagues on City Council, I am honoured to extend greetings to everyone attending the 21st Annual New Music Festival, hosted by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.

The New Music Festival is a world-class attraction that continues to be a source of excitement in our City. Considering that more than 50 outstanding pieces are performed in just seven days with attendance each year surpassing 10,000, it is easy to see why this is such a treasured event offering tremendous value to our society. By providing Winnipeg with exceptional symphonic music over the past 21 years, the New Music Festival has contributed greatly to our City’s artistic identity and downtown economy.

I would also like to applaud the efforts of the many volunteers, performers, sponsors, and employees who have made the New Music Festival such a success with their hard-work, passion and dedication for over two decades.

The Festival this year is sure to be an unforgettable experience, as the esteemed composer-in-residence, Vincent Ho, will be showcasing the world premiere of his new cello concerto – City Suites with the brilliant Shauna Rolston.

Once again, I would like to offer congratulations on your outstanding success, and offer best wishes for many more successful seasons.

Warm regards, His Worship Sam Katz 2 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director Welcome everybody. Every year I am thrilled for our New Music Festival. Last year though, with our 20th anniversary, it was the first time that I wondered how we could ever top that.

We realized it’s not about topping anything. It’s about being excited about something new. And boy, did we get excited about something new. It’s called Iceland. Well, you’re rightfully thinking that Iceland isn’t new at all. You are correct. But to us, the musical language that we discovered was absolutely new, beautiful and different from what we were used to. So this year we will delve into the meditative, spiritual, calm, brutal, heavenly, earthy, childlike and complex music of Iceland’s most exciting composers: Bjork collaborator and founder of Greenhouse Studios Valgeir Sigurdsson, Bedroom Community member Daniel Bjarneson, Sigur Rós pianist Kjartan Sveinsson and one of the godfathers of Icelandic composition Atli Heimir Sveinsson. We will give the world premiere to the first ever WSO-led commissioned international composer, Jóhan Jóhansson as well as the Canadian premiere of the worldwide phenomenon, composer Nico Muhly.

In addition, we are starting the Festival with Finnish superstar Kaija Saariaho’s impressionistic music, inspired by spectral sound concepts; we add a “little” Kancheli, a Georgian composer, who fits right into the profound spiritual language of some of the Icelandic geniuses; there will be Canadian mastermind Alexina Louie’s work, whose music I fell in love with last year; Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker will blow your ears out; and Vincent Ho will continue writing music for the A-list. This year it’s a new cello concerto for Shauna Rolston. And we continue our relationship with Winnipeg's own Groundswell.

And the cherry-on-top will be La La Human Steps, who will finish a year long world tour here in Winnipeg to the music of English composer Gavin Bryars.

For this festival I want to thank two muses: Vincent Ho, whose enormous knowledge of contemporary music is completely awe inspiring; and Matthew Patton, whose consuming love for Iceland is exactly that, consuming, and so incredibly refreshing.

Alexander Mickelthwate

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 3

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA GREETINGS Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence Welcome to another exciting New Music Festival! This year we take you on a musical journey to the Nordic regions. Throughout the week you will hear many new works by some of Iceland’s most celebrated composers, including Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Atli Heimir Sveinsson and Jóhann Jóhannsson. You will experience works from a nation few ever get to hear outside of Iceland. As our distinguished guest, we are proud to have with us one of the world’s foremost composers Kaija Saariaho.

Returning to our event this year is one Canada’s greatest performers, cellist Shauna Rolston, featured in two special performances on her carbon-fiber cello: the world premiere of my own cello concerto City Suites, and the North American premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s Bow to String (for cello and orchestra). Also featured are the works of some of the most celebrated composers of today: Alexina Louie, Tim Hecker and Nico Muhly. Finally, international dance sensation La La La Human Steps makes their New Music Festival debut here with their latest show, New Work, featuring the music of Gavin Bryars.

Grab your tickets and join us in another week long musical extravaganza as we bring you 2012’s New Music Festival: The Nordic Edition.

Vincent Ho, DMA

4 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL GREETINGS Matthew Patton, Artistic Associate I first heard Sigur Rós over ten years ago (in 2000) with their album Agaetis Byrjun. Actually, I heard a live version of Fyrsta, which never made that record and was recorded at Gaukur á Stöng, the now defunct club on the corner of Tryggvagata in Reykjavík. Listening, I felt I had been searching for this music my whole life and I knew it within a few seconds. A music where beauty and simplicity co-existed with absence and imperfection and an ecstatic emotional quality swept over everything and absolutely nothing else in the world mattered or ever mattered.

I started going to Iceland every year, spending a few months there each time at a loft in Kópavogur. I met with various musicians that I admired regarding various music projects I was developing with Guy Maddin and others, hoping somebody might be interested. I went to Sigur Ros' Sundlaugin recording studio in Mosfellsbaer to meet with engineer Biggi as he told me about his ocean canoe. I went to Sigur Rós' tour rehearsals at the Austerbaer, the old cinema on Snorribraut with John and Dean in again from London to help with everything while Jonsi, Kjartan Sveinsson and Solrun set off the confetti machine at the end of rehearsal. A few hours later, at 3:46 pm, walking back on Laugevegur, I experienced a 6.3 earthquake while at Tíu Dropar, which cut the road between Hveragerdi and Selfoss. I went to the Greenhouse studio near Mjodd to have some tea and talk about marionettes with Valgeir Sigurdsson, to speak with Daniel Bjarnason about not reading Stanislaw Lem while he, Daniel, was making new instrumental arrangements for a Bedroom Community concert in Moscow, and while engineer Paul Evans fried some bacon for the soup he was making. I sat across the table from Ben Frost while he told me about his new "Solaris" project with the Krakow Sinfonietta, which he and Daniel composed using Melodyne software programmed in a war against itself. I met with Jóhann Jóhannsson at Kaffitar while he extolled the virtues of our mutual heroes of failed science Nikola Tesla and David Reimer. And there were other artists like Nico Muhly and Tim Hecker who I spoke with about "The Rings of Saturn" by author W.G. Sebald during a break at soundcheck near a graveyard of overturned chairs.

Tim knew all of Sebald's work.

None of this has anything at all to do with music and that's precisely the point I wish to make: interesting people make interesting music. There are big problems in the classical music world, at least what is left of it. A paradigm shift is taking place. These are a few of the composers that are bringing it back to life and giving it a deeper, more profound emotional narrative. People forget that music is first and foremost an experience - there is never anything to "get." Stop reading now and go and listen.

Matthew Patton

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 5

CONDUCTORS & COMPOSERS Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director

Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence

Recognized as one of the most exciting young conductors of his generation, Alexander Mickelthwate is in his sixth season as Music Director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, where he has significantly raised the ensemble’s profile through innovative programming and active community engagement. Praised for his “splendid, richly idiomatic readings” (LA Weekly), “fearless” approach and “firstrate technique” (Los Angeles Times), the German-born conductor has attracted attention for his charismatic presence on the podium and command of a wide range of musical styles.

In August 2007, Alexander culminated his three-year tenure as Associate Conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, with which he appeared regularly at Walt Disney Concert Hall and at the Hollywood Bowl. Previously as Assistant Conductor with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, he co-founded the new music ensemble Bent Frequency, which was hailed as "one of the brightest ensembles on the scene” (Gramophone Magazine).

Recent highlights include debuts with the Houston Symphony, the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, the Johannesburg Philharmonic and the Bukarest Philharmonic, a re-engagement with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa and a highly successful last-minute replacement with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. As guest conductor, Alexander has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony, NDR Hannover, as well as with symphony orchestras in several Canadian and U.S. cities.

Vincent Ho is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding composers of his generation. His works have been hailed for their profound expressiveness and textural beauty that has audiences talking about with great enthusiasm. His many awards have included Harvard University’s Fromm Music Commission, The Canada Council for the Arts’ “Robert Fleming Prize,” ASCAP’s “Morton Gould Young Composer Award,” four SOCAN Young Composers Awards, and CBC Radio’s Audience Choice Award (2009 Young Composers’ Competition).

Born in Ottawa, Ontario in 1975, Vincent Ho began his musical training through the Royal Conservatory of Music. He received his Associate Diploma in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto) in 1993, his Bachelor of Music from the University of Calgary in 1998, his Master of Music degree from the University of Toronto in 2000, and his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the University of Southern California (2005). His mentors have included Allan Bell, David Eagle, Christos Hatzis, Walter Buczynski, and Stephen Hartke. In 1997, he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Schola Cantorum Summer Composition Program in Paris, where he received further training in analysis, composition, counterpoint, and harmony, supervised by David Diamond, Philip Lasser, and Narcis Bonet.

Richard Lee, Resident Conductor From the time his mother sat him down at a toy piano when he was three years old, Richard Lee has spent his life immersed in music. He graduated to a real piano at the age of five and took up the violin at age seven. At age seventeen, he passed – with honours – the grade X piano and violin exams at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.

Richard pursued a degree in Music Performance at the University of Toronto as both a violinist and a violist while studying conducting. After five years, Richard obtained a Master’s degree under the tutelage of Raffi Armenian.

Formerly conductor-in-residence of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra and assistant conductor of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Richard is currently resident conductor of the WSO, conductor of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra, as well as music director of the Korean Canadian Symphony Orchestra, based in Toronto. Guest engagements this season include the orchestras of the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), East Texas, Hamilton and Quebec. His work has been broadcast and recorded by the CBC/Radio-Canada. Musician, news junkie and connoisseur of fine ales, whiskies and cigars, Richard maintains residences in both Winnipeg and Toronto.

6 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

Matthew Patton, New Music Festival Artistic Associate Matthew Patton is a graduate in music composition from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City. His composition teachers have included studies with composers James Tenney and John Corigliano. Matthew has collaborated with such internationally acclaimed artists as choreographer Paul Taylor, and most recently with film director Guy Maddin. He has worked with Icelandic musicians including members of Sigur Ros’ string players Amiina, members of Mum, and others. His collaborative work has been called “a masterpiece for our time” by the New York Times, been mounted in new productions at the Paris Opera House and the La Scala Opera House, produced for PBS “Great Performances,” and has been released by Warner Brothers label Nonesuch Records.

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2011-2012 SEASON MUSIC DIRECTOR Alexander Mickelthwate RESIDENT CONDUCTOR Richard Lee COMPOSER-IN-RESIDENCE Vincent Ho FIRST VIOLINS Gwen Hoebig, Concertmaster The S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté Memorial Chair, endowed by the Eckhardt-Gramatté Foundation Karl Stobbe, Associate Concertmaster Mary Lawton, Assistant Concertmaster

Chris Anstey Raymond Chrunyk Mona Coarda Hong Tian Jia *Trevor Kirczenow Simon MacDonald **Meredith McCallum Rachel Moody Julie Savard Jun Shao SECOND VIOLINS Darryl Strain, Principal Elation Pauls, Assistant Principal Karen Bauch **Tomomi Brennan Rodica Filipoi *Barbara Gilroy Boyd MacKenzie Susan McCallum † Jane Radomski Claudine St. Arnauld Phoebe Tsang VIOLAS Daniel Scholz, Principal Anne Elise Lavallée, Assistant Principal

Laszlo Baroczi Richard Bauch Greg Hay Suzanne McKegney Merrily Peters Mike Scholz

CELLOS Yuri Hooker, Principal **Desiree Abbey, Assistant Principal Alex Adaman Margaret Askeland Arlene Dahl Carolyn Nagelberg Emma Quackenbush BASSES Meredith Johnson, Principal Theodore Chan, Assistant Principal Paul Nagelberg Bruce Okrainec Zdzislaw Prochownik Patrick Staples FLUTES Jan Kocman, Principal Martha Durkin

TRUMPETS Brian Sykora, Principal Paul Jeffrey Isaac Pulford The Patty Kirk Memorial Chair

TROMBONES Steven Dyer, Principal John Helmer BASS TROMBONE Julia McIntyre, Principal TUBA Chris Lee, Principal TIMPANI Jeremy Epp, Principal PERCUSSION Frederick Liessens, Principal

PICCOLO Martha Durkin

HARP Richard Turner, Principal Endowed by W.H. & S.E. Loewen

OBOES Bede Hanley, Principal Robin MacMillan

ORCHESTRA PERSONNEL MANAGER Chris Lee

ENGLISH HORN Robin MacMillan

PRINCIPAL LIBRARIAN Raymond Chrunyk

CLARINETS Micah Heilbrunn, Principal Richard Klassen

ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN Laura MacDougall

BASSOONS Alexandra Eastley, Principal James Ewen CONTRABASSOON James Ewen HORNS Patricia Evans, Principal Ken MacDonald, Associate Principal James Robertson The Hilda Schelberger Memorial Chair

Caroline Oberheu Michiko Singh

*On Leave **Temporary Position † Dual Section Position Please note: Non-titled (tutti) string players are listed alphabetically and are seated according to a rotational system.

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 7

PRE-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES All pre-concert events occur on the Piano Nobile, Monday, January 30 Centennial Concert Hall, except Sunday, January 29 Doors open at 6:30 pm at the Park Theatre and Westminster United Church. SHAUNA ROLSTON:

CITY SUITES Saturday, January 28 Doors open at 7:00 pm

OPENING GALA: KANCHELI AND SAARIAHO 7:10-7:30 pm • Discussion Join us for a discussion with this year’s distinguished guest composer Kaija Saariaho, hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent Ho. 7:30-7:50 pm • Performance Brandon University New Music Ensemble; Professor Megumi Masaki, director Program: Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952): Calices (2009) Maria Cherwick, violin; Jesse Plessis, piano Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Structure (1998) Geordie Waddell, piano Haukur Tómasson (b. 1960): Spring Chicken (2001) Preston Rocan, clarinet Sunday, January 29

NMF AT THE MOVIES

The Park Theatre 698 Osborne Street Free admission 1:30 pm Dreamland Music by Valgeir Sigurdsson based on Andri Snaer Magnason’s seminal book.

3:30 pm Heima Music by Sigur Rós as they tour tiny hamlets around Iceland playing unannounced concerts.

Doors open at 6:50 pm

RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN 7:00-7:20 pm • Discussion Join us at the Westminster United Church for a discussion with featured guest composer Kaija Saariaho, Tim Hecker and Vincent Ho. 8 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

(WORLD PREMIERE)

6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion Join us for a discussion with featured composers Alexina Louie, Daniél Bjarnason and Vincent Ho. 7:00-7:20 pm • Performance The Brandon University Clarinet Choir; Dr. Cathy Wood, director Members: Christopher Byman, Eric Calrow, Danning Chen, Chantale Crivea, Amanda Forest, Justine Gould, Chelsey Hiebert, Stevie MacPherson, Greg Monias, Joelle Nielsen, Preston Rocan, John Woodridge Program: Elliot Del Borgo: Dodecaphonic Essay Paul Richards (1969): Stem Cell Wednesday, February 1 Doors open at 6:30 pm

ICELANDIA 6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion Join us for a discussion with NMF artistic associate Matthew Patton and this year’s guest composers Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson (collectively known as the Bedroom Community), hosted by Vincent Ho. 7:00-7:20 pm • Performance Brandon University New Music Ensemble; Professor Megumi Masaki, director James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes; Preston Rocan, Eric Calrow, clarinets; Joelle Nielson, bass clarinet; Matthew May, trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria Cherwick, violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass; Nic Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan Klassen, Geordie Waddell, piano/keyboards; Melissa Ballard, Cole Ediger, percussion/drum set

Program: Sigur Rós: Von Jón Thór Birgisson (b. 1975): Andvari Kjartan Sveinsson (b. 1978): Orri Páll D´yrason (b. 1977), Georg Hólm (b. 1976) (arr. Jesse Plessis 2011): Hoppípolla

Thursday, February 2 Doors open at 6:30 pm

LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS 6:40-7:00 pm • Discussion Join us for a chat with La La La Human Steps’ creator and choreographer Édouard Lock, hosted by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent Ho. 7:00-7:20 pm • Performance Brandon University New Music Ensemble; Professor Megumi Masaki, director Program: Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Due Bagatelle II For Clarinet and Instrumental Background (1997) Preston Rocan, Eric Calrow, Joelle Nielson, solo clarinets; James Paluk, Sara Bittner, flutes; Matthew May, trumpet; Julia Watson, Maria Cherwick, violins; Natalie Bohrn, double bass; Nic Lawrenz, guitar; Sarah Engen, Jarrad Perron, Theresa Thordarson, Jonathan Klassen, Geordie Waddell, piano/keyboard; Melissa Ballard, Cole Ediger, percussion Atli Ingólfsson (b. 1962): Vink II (1993) James Paluk, piccolo; Preston Rocan, Eric Calrow, clarinets; Julia Watson, Maria Cherwick, violins; Joelle Nielson, bass clarinet; Theresa Thordarson, Sarah Engen, piano Kjartan Ólafsson (b. 1958): Mozaik VI (2010) Theresa Thordarson, piano

Friday, February 3 Doors open at 6:30 pm

ICELANDIC FINALE: JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON 6:40-7:10 pm • Book Launch Book launch of Birna Bjarnadottir’s Recesses of the Mind: Aesthetics in the Work of Gudbergur Bergsson with book signing and reading Guests: Birna Bjarnadottir, Gudbergur Bergsson and Atli Heimir Sveinsson 7:10-7:30 pm • Discussion Hear NMF artistic associate Matthew Patton and composers Jóhann Jóhannsson and Atli Heimir Sveinsson share their thoughts on Icelandic music and their works being presented in this evening’s concert, hosted

by Alexander Mickelthwate and Vincent Ho. 7:30-7:50 pm • Performance Program: Áskell Másson (b. 1953): Prím (1984) Victoria Sparks, snare drum Suomaleinen Kansansavella: Sakkijärven polkka Pizzicelli Ensemble; Minna Rose Chung, director Jimi Hendrix: Purple Haze Pizzicelli Ensemble

Shauna Rolston Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 9

POST-CONCERT EVENTS & PERFORMANCES Saturday, January 28 10:15 pm – Midnight Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall

Wednesday, February 1 9:45 pm – Midnight Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall

Join our NMF after-party as Winnipeg’s own Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening of great jazz tunes.

Join us for the after-party sponsored by Uptown Magazine Will Bonness, piano

Sunday, January 29 10:00 pm – Midnight (Doors open at 9:30 pm) Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art

Thursday, February 2 9:45 pm – Midnight Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall

(Co-Presented by Plug In ICA) Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue Free admission, cash bar Selections from the new music score “Tales from the Gimli Hospital” Wheelchair accessible; Parking on site Venue capacity is limited; no seating

Monday, January 30 9:45 pm – Midnight Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall

Join our NMF after-party as Winnipeg’s own Will Bonness (piano) performs an evening of great jazz tunes.

Friday, February 3 10:15 pm – Midnight Piano Nobile, Centennial Concert Hall Join us for the after-party sponsored by Lögberg-Heimskringla Will Bonnes, piano Richard Gillis, trumpet

Join us for the after-party and reception sponsored by the Canadian Music Centre Will Bonness, piano

Will Bonness, piano

Richard Gillis, trumpet

Will Bonness has been active on the Winnipeg, Canadian and international jazz scenes since his teen years. At age 17, he joined Maynard Ferguson’s Big Bop Nouveau Band for a year-long world tour which included performances in New York and London. He performs regularly throughout Manitoba with the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. Mr. Bonness has appeared on a number of recordings including the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra’s Steppin’ Out (2008), Larry Roy and Steve Kirby’s Wicked Grin (2008), and Papa Mambo’s Crooked Cha (2007). His 2009 debut Subtle Fire was nominated for Jazz Recording of the Year at the Western Canada Music Awards.

Bonness is on faculty at the Canadian Mennonite University and he teaches privately from his home.

Since coming to Winnipeg in 1990, Richard Gillis has performed as a recitalist with a variety of groups including the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Music Baroque, GroundSwell, Papa Mambo, the Ron Paley Big Band, the Winnipeg Wind Ensemble (which he also conducted), he has recorded 4 CDs with Icelandic guitarist Björn Thoroddsen with whom he has performed in Iceland, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Washington, DC, Minneapolis, Toronto and Edmonton. In 1997, Mr. Gillis and saxophonist Sasha Boychuk founded the Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra. With Dr. Richard Gillis as the artistic director, the WJO has become an established part of Winnipeg’s Jazz music scene.

10 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

CONCERT ONE Saturday, January 28 I 8:00 pm Centennial Concert Hall

Doors open at 7:00 pm

OPENING GALA: KANCHELI & SAARIAHO Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Jennifer Koh, violin 1 Daniel Scholz, viola 2 Canadian Mennonite University Chorus; Janet Brenneman and Rudy Schellenberg, directors 3

PROGRAM Du cristal (Canadian premiere) Graal Théâtre: for Violin & Orchestra 1 I. Delicato II. Impetuoso

Kaija Saariaho (FI) Kaija Saariaho (FI)

- INTERMISSION Styx: for Viola, Choir & Orchestra 2 3

Giya Kancheli (GE)

For this year’s New Music Festival we are proud to bring you the works of one of the world’s foremost composers: Kaija Saariaho, joining us for the performance of two of her celebrated works: Du cristal and Graal Théâtre (featuring acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh). To celebrate our many years of new music programming, we are proud to bring back a piece that has been regarded as one of NMF’s memorable highlights – Giya Kancheli’s Styx. This colossal work has been hailed as one of Kancheli’s greatest musical achievements and its performance tonight will feature the talents of our principal violist Daniel Scholz and the Canadian Mennonite University Chorus.

To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39

Festival Sponsor:

Broadcast Partner:

Music from tonight's concert will air on CBC Radio 2's "In Concert" and Concerts on Demand, online.

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 11

NMF ESSAY – SIGFRÍDUR BJÖRNSDÓTTIR Vitality – Variety The Music Scene in Iceland

2012, along with major conferences such as the Eve Online game conference in the Spring of 2012. Performing visitors are lining up to appear in Harpa; Dudamel and The most prominent event in Vengerov have conducted in the music scene in Iceland in the house and Ashkenazy recent times has to be the conducted the opening opening of a new concert and concerts. Jonas Kaufmann and conference hall in Reykjavík, Barbara Bonney have named Harpa. This long-awaited performed there and Kiri Te home of music was first opened Kanawa is expected soon. The to the public in the beginning of audiences in Iceland have a May 2011 and the building was terrific array of options. formally inaugurated with an opening ceremony in August of In many ways, this huge the same year. During the first harbour project resembles few months the numbers of some of the new concert halls guests visting the house that have recently opened mounted up to the total number around the world with its glassy of inhabitants in Iceland, look and emphasis on natural 320,000 people. light in the public areas on the inside. Special effort was made The house itself will, for some, artistically to place this house forever stand as a monument to specifically in Iceland through the spirit that drove the the design of the glass façade.

Icelandic financial market to Harpa’s façade is designed by the monumental crash in 2008, renowned artist Ólafur from which the country’s Elíasson, Henning Larsen economy will take years, if not Architects and Batteríid decades, to recover. At the same Architects. The design is based time it is heartily embraced by on geometric principles; others as the 21st century’s realised in two and three fitting venue for the many types dimensions. Reminiscent of the of music in Iceland that keep crystallised basalt columns the heartbeat of our culture commonly found in Iceland, robust and vital. the southern facades create kaleidoscopic reflections of the Harpa has already, in its city and the striking opening year, been the venue surrounding landscape. for several festivals such as the Nordic Music Days 2011, Harpa is the home of the Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík Jazz Iceland Symphony Orchestra Festival and the Reykjavík Arts which celebrated its 60th Festival as well as a series of anniversary in 2010. The Björk´s latest concerts. And orchestra has distinguished there are many more to come, itself as one of the leading including the Dark Music Days Nordic orchestras through its 12 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

acclaimed performances and recordings. The artistic achievement of the ISO is even more remarkable given that the classical music tradition in Iceland only began in the 20th century. A short description of the audience development in the orchestra’s concerts can be seen as somewhat typical of what has been happening in the last few years in the music field in Iceland. A steep increase of subscriptions sales occurred in the dark hours of the financial meltdown. One might have expected a downturn when the reality of it hit the public with the freefalling currency and thus increased prices and cost of living in general. However, on the contrary, the increase in season-ticket sales continued.

When sales for the orchestra’s 2011-2012 season began, they went through the roof! In short, in the last three years these sales have more than doubled.

The live music scene in Iceland is very active in general and music events of all kinds draw large numbers of people.

Research has shown that people in Iceland’s neighbouring countries spend as much money now as before on culture, but they tend to go to fewer, more expensive events.

We are not sure yet that this is the case in Iceland. Not everything can be measured by amounts spent; the generous support for artistic activities in Iceland ensures a wide range of music events offered for free or very little money to the people around the country.

Despite the regularly announced death of the CD, sales of locally produced music on disc in Iceland are constantly rising and every year the public buys tens of thousands of some of the titles published. As an example of this, the artist Mugison struck a chord in the nation’s heart with his album Haglél, released just before last Christmas. He invited people to a free concert in Harpa’s largest hall, Eldborg, as a “thank you” for its remarkable reception. As a result of the heavy demand for tickets, the electronic ticket ordering system crashed and extra concerts were scheduled.

A classical album of music by Anna Thorvaldsdóttir was released in the Autumn of 2011 by the USA-based publisher Innova. This album has received rave reviews and was included in top-10 lists of the year by both Time Out New York and Time Out Chicago. Just before Christmas came the announcement that one of the works on the CD has been chosen for performance at the ISCM Music Festival in 2012, a rare honour for Icelandic music.

There are more facets of the music life than the full professional in all styles that relate to and can be a part of the explanation of this vitality of the music scene in general. The music schools in Iceland serve approximately 12,000 students every year, and if we add the numbers of members of choirs in Iceland, more than 15,000. The combined number of active students and singing

amateurs in Iceland approaches 10% of the population.

by Haflidi Hallgrímsson was premiered in Scotland, a percussion concerto by Áskell Björk took the Icelandic music Másson was premiered in scene by storm in 2011, with her Tuurku, conducted by Petri series of concerts Biophilia in Sakari, a former chief conductor the Autumn. The project is on a of the ISO. A brand new horn large scale; a complicated concerto, also by Másson was phenomenon with not only premiered by the ISO in the musical aspects but permeated Autumn. This is just a part of a with the love of nature and much longer list of premieres, science, invention and and mention must be made of community. Her idealistic the continued success of Jón correlational education project Leifs’ music, both at home and where modern methods such as throughout the world. apps and live workshops for children are an integrated part One has to consider how all this of the scene have received due activity is possible in such a attention. As some may know a small society and one fact must small girls’ choir plays an be said to be part of the important role in the Biophilia explanation: every musician in project, a performance feature the country wears many hats! impossible if not for the strong They perform professionally, teach, they participate part-time roots of good education and training in music for children in in underground experimental groups and take part in the Iceland. Their conductor, Jón most extreme diversity of Stefánsson, has directed the musical performances. Theatre, choir since he founded it and they have received many awards dance, charity, opera, children, the elderly – some of these both at home and abroad. active musicians are household Among the big events of the names in Icelandic homes for Icelandic music scene were the very different reasons or premieres of several larger touching points with the works by Icelandic composers. peoples’ lives.

Welcome, Harpa by Thorkell Sigurbjornsson and In Seventh It is this melting-pot of creativity Heaven by Haukur Tómasson and performance forces from both formed a part of the all directions that can, to some Harpa opening festivities. extent, explain the sense of Emergence by Daníel Bjarnason freedom from fixed genres and was premiered at the Dark styles which can be felt in musicMusic Days 2011, the annual making in Iceland. festival of Iceland Composers Society held in the dark, winter Everything is possible, it just has to be good! days of late January/early February. Aeriality by Anna Thorvaldsdottir was premiered Sigfrídur Björnsdóttir Director, Iceland Music by the ISO in the new hall in late November. A violin concerto Information Centre JJaannuuaarryy –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 2200112 2 II O V E R T U R E 1 3

CONCERT TWO Sunday, January 29 I 7:30 pm Westminster United Church

Doors open at 6:50 pm

RAVEDEATH FOR ORGAN Megumi Masaki, piano 1 Oleg Pokhanovski, violin 2 Yuri Hooker, cello 3 Gwen Hoebig, violin 4 David Moroz, piano 5

WSO Clearwater String Quartet 6 Minna Rose Chung, cello 7 Tim Hecker, organ 8 Paul Corley, sound technician 9

PROGRAM Letter A 1 Spins and Spells 3 Reflections – Intro 2 Tocar 4 5 Reflections – Presto 2 Stigmata 7 Tune for a Child 1 Nebraska 6 I. Flat Water II. Landlocked III. Erosion IV. Plainsong

S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté (CAN) Kaija Saariaho (FI) Jurriaan Andriessen (NL) Kaija Saariaho (FI) Jurriaan Andriessen (NL) Vincent Ho (CAN) S.C. Eckhardt Gramatté (CAN) Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS)

- INTERMISSION Ravedeath for Organ 8 9

Tim Hecker (CAN)

Be dazzled by the performances of pianist Megumi Masaki and violinist Oleg Pokhanovski as they present works of S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté and Jurriaan Andriessen. This year’s distinguished guest composer Kaija Saariaho joins us for the performance of her latest compositions: Tocar (for violin and piano) and Spins and Spells (for solo cello). One of Iceland’s new music superstars, composer Valgeir Sigurdsson, also joins us for the North American premiere of his string quartet, Nebraska, performed by the WSO Clearwater String Quartet. Cellist Minna Rose Chung presents Vincent Ho’s haunting work, Stigmata. Rounding off the evening will be acclaimed Canadian sound artist Tim Hecker as he performs his new work, Ravedeath For Organ.

After-Party at the Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art Co-Presented by Plug In ICA Unit 1 – 460 Portage Avenue Free admission, cash bar, wheelchair accessible Doors open at 9:30 pm. Event at 10 pm to midnight Venue capacity is limited, no seating Music from tonight's concert will air on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and Concerts on Demand, online.

Festival Sponsor:

Broadcast Partner:

JJaannuuaarryy –– FFeebbrruuaarryy 2200112 2 II O V E R T U R E 1 3 5

NMF ESSAY – DR. BIRNA BJARNADÓTTIR Icelandic Culture The poet Matthías Jochumsson’s (1835–1920) vision of Iceland and its thousand year history was that of eternity’s flower, watered by a shivering tear. The poet’s idea could be considered a contradiction to the country’s geographical realities; Iceland, placed on the edge of Europe, a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean, this “grave of fire” where the “wastelands of earth appear” – to quote Hannes Pétursson (1931), another major poet of Icelandic literature. How to reconcile this fragile flower and its shivering tear with an unforgiving nature teetering on a spectacular, oceanic edge? It is the task of a vibrant cultural heritage to explore and perceive even the greatest paradoxes. In this case, one that crosses centuries, oceans and continents.

For those interested in the origins of Icelandic culture, medieval Iceland becomes an unavoidable destination. In fact, it was Europe’s smallest and most isolated nation that – in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries – pursued and preserved the cultural heritage of Scandinavia at large. The results can be measured in the most significant sources available on Norse mythology – namely, the two Eddas – along with several other important texts, including The First Grammatical Treatise, The Book of Settlements, and the equally fantastic Grágás, a source on medieval law. The sagas of kings, saints, and bishops – which constitute no small collection in themselves – have not failed to impress. The same holds true of the so called contemporary sagas, these

reality–bites of Iceland’s thirteenth century epic power struggle. On top of all of this, a group of anonymous writers reinforced this already solid foundation in committing to vellum Europe’s first novels, the Sagas of Icelanders. Widely considered a unique literary genre within the context of world literature, the fictional sagas tell of the lives of the settlers and their descendants during the Age of Settlement (ca. 870–930) straight into the rise and fall of The Icelandic Commonwealth (ca. 930–1262).

But how did it happen that the smallest and most isolated nation in Europe became the storehouse and creative centre of Northern culture? Snorri Sturluson (1149–1241), the politician, lawspeaker, mythographer, historian and poet, may, in part, be held responsible. Considered one of the most important interpreters of medieval European culture and society, his Edda is a brimming source on the art of poetry that had been dying out in the newly Christianized Europe. Simultaneously, when approaching the Norse Olympus, Snorri’s Edda provides us with an earthbound sense of a mythic direction. His key source, the poem Völuspá (The Seeresse’s Prophecy), is the most sacred text originating from Northern paganism. Preserved in the Codex Regius manuscript, (also known as the Poetic Edda), the poem reveals – with its shattering description of the beginning and the end of the world – the enigmatic remains of a pre–Christian worldview.

By the sheer force of a mythic legacy, a certain cultural passage

16 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

into the world had been created.

In turn, the bridge leading from the unforgiving and spectacular edge of Europe can be perceived as it crosses centuries, oceans and continents. This is not intended to suggest that the story of the Icelandic cultural heritage is a story of an unbroken victory march. Iceland’s golden age – the medieval miracle – came to an end, only to be replaced by various episodes of both natural and manmade disasters. It was thus only recently that eternity’s flower was watered by a shivering tear.

No wonder, then, that the subject of Icelandic language, literature and culture is taught in over one hundred universities world wide.

Of all the programs and centres of study and research, however, there is only one Department of Icelandic Language and Literature that exists outside of Iceland. Thanks to a group of Icelandic nineteenth century immigrants and their descendants, this department is fostered here, in this city, by the University of Manitoba. Embraced by the continuous support of the Icelandic community across North America, the old country’s equally generous mindset, and the profound cultural contribution of members of the Icelandic community on both sides of the water, the department’s task is to pursue and promote in North America a certain cultural passage in the world. Thanks to the 2012 Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival, people will now be able to hear the sound of this passage.

Dr. Birna Bjarnadóttir, Chair and Acting Head Department of Icelandic Studies University of Manitoba

CONCERT THREE Monday, January 30 I 7:30 pm Centennial Concert Hall

Doors open at 6:30 pm

SHAUNA ROLSTON: CITY SUITES (WORLD PREMIERE) Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor 1 Richard Lee, conductor 2

Shauna Rolston, cello 3 WSO Clearwater String Quartet 4

PROGRAM Emergence (North American premiere) 2 I. Silence II. Black Breathing III. Interlude IV. Emergence City Suites: Concerto for Cello and 1 3 Orchestra (World premiere)* I. Dusk II. Overdrive III. Nighthawks IV. New Dawn

Daníel Bjarnason (IS)

Vincent Ho (CAN)

- INTERMISSION Tender is the Night (World premiere)** 2 Pursuit: Concerto for String Quartet and Orchestra 1 4 I. Intro II. Still III. Rush

Jesse Plessis (CAN) Alexina Louie (CAN)

In celebration of our Festival’s Icelandic theme, we are proud to present a new work by one of Iceland’s fastest rising stars – Daníel Bjarnason. Hear the North American premiere of his orchestral work Emergence, a piece hailed for its exquisite colours and emotional profundity. Returning to our Festival as our distinguished guest artist is Canada’s superstar cellist Shauna Rolston as she presents the world premiere of Vincent Ho’s cello concerto, City Suites, written especially for her and her carbon-fiber cello. This year’s Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work receives its premiere performance tonight with Tender is the night, composed by Brandon University student Jesse Plessis. Concluding the program is Alexina Louie’s thrilling concerto for string quartet, Pursuit, performed by our very own WSO Clearwater String Quartet. *Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Arts Council **Winner of the Canadian Music Centre’s 2012 Emerging Composer Prize To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39 Music from tonight's concert will air on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and Concerts on Demand, online.

Festival Sponsor:

Broadcast Partner:

J a n u a r y – F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2 I O V E R T U R E 17

18 O V E R T U R E I J a n u a r y – F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2

CONCERT FOUR Tuesday, January 31 I 7:30 pm Winnipeg Art Gallery

Doors open at 6:30 pm

WAG EVENT: DOUBLE FEATURE:

GROUNDSWELL AND THE BEDROOM COMMUNITY David Betz 1 Heidi Ouellette 2 David Storen 3 Troy Jasper 4 Ilkim Tongur 5 Jan Kocman, flute 6 Karl Stobbe, violin 7

Anne Elise Lavallée, viola 8 Emma Quackenbush, cello 9 Diana McIntosh, performer 10 Bedroom Community: 11 Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly, Valgeir Sigurdsson

PROGRAM Part 1: :spin 1 2 3 4 5 Vertical Garden 6 After Sorrow (World premiere) 7 8 9 You, Me and The Tree (World premiere)* 10

Gordon Fitzell (CAN) Michael Matthews (CAN) Jim Hiscott (CAN) Diana McIntosh (CAN)

Part 2: The Bedroom Community 11 GroundSwell New Music returns to bring you a night of new music and theatre at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Hear wonderful new works by many of Manitoba’s illustrious composers – Michael Matthews, Jim Hiscott, Gordon Fitzell and musical artist Diana McIntosh, who will present the world premiere of her one-woman piece, You, Me and The Tree. Also featured is a special performance by Iceland’s own Bedroom Community (Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson). Be part of an evening to remember at the WAG. *Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of the Winnipeg Arts Council

Festival Sponsor:

J a n u a r y – F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 2 I O V E R T U R E 19

20 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

CONCERT FIVE Wednesday, February 1 I 7:30 pm Centennial Concert Hall

Doors open at 6:30 pm

ICELANDIA Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 1 Shauna Rolston, cello 2

PROGRAM Credo (Canadian premiere) 1 So Far So Good (Canadian premiere)*

Kjartan Sveinsson (IS) Nico Muhly (USA)

- INTERMISSION Bow to String: For Cello & Orchestra 2 (North American premiere) I. Sorrow Conquers Happiness II. Blood to Bones III. Air to Breath Dreamland (North American premiere) I. Grylukvædi II. Nowhere Land III. Helter Smelter IV. Cold Ground, Hot V. Dreamland VI. Laxness VII. “I offer prosperity and eternal life…”

VIII. Past Tundra

Daníel Bjarnason (IS)

Valgeir Sigurdsson (IS)

We bring you a very special evening of music by members of Iceland’s own composer collective – the Bedroom Community. We open with the highly anticipated performance of Credo, composed

by Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), featuring Prairie Voices and our WSO Strings. Nico Muhly joins us for the Canadian premiere of his new WSO co-commissioned work, So Far So Good.

Distinguished guest artist Shauna Rolston returns to the stage to present the North American premiere of Daniel Bjarnason’s enthralling piece for cello and orchestra, Bow to String. Finally, we present the North American premiere of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s Dreamland, a new orchestral work based on his soundtrack to the prize-winning documentary of the same name (being shown at the Park Theatre on Sunday, January 29, 1:30 pm). *Commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39 Festival Sponsor:

Broadcast Partner: Music from tonight's concert will air

on CBC Radio 2's "The Signal" and Concerts on Demand, online.

J aJnaunaurayr y– –F eFberburaurayr y2 0210211I IOO VV E RE TRU TU R ER E2 5 1

Ou r c ommu nity. Our future.

Together.

Proud to support the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

Great-West Life and the key design are trademarks of The Great-West Life Assurance Company. ™ is a trademark of The Great-West Life Assurance Company.

CONCERT SIX Thursday, February 2 I 7:30 pm Centennial Concert Hall

Doors open at 6:30 pm

LA LA LA HUMAN STEPS La La La Human Steps Édouard Lock, choreographer Gavin Bryars, composer Blake Hargreaves, composer Njo Kon Kie, musical director and pianist Jean-Christophe Lizotte, cellist Jennifer Thiessen, violist Ida Toninato, saxophonist

PROGRAM New Work Internationally acclaimed dance group La La La Human Steps returns to Winnipeg. Tonight, they present a thrilling new show choreographed to the extraordinary music of Gavin Bryars.

Witness what critics and audiences have been raving about all over the world!

Festival Sponsor:

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 23

Did you

Know...

•

Ticket sales reflect less than 41% of the actual costs to presenting our season

• The WSO performs for more than 30,000 students in Manitoba each year

• Your investment supports programs that

enhance music education and access in our community

If you would like more information about giving to the WSO, please contact Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator at (204) 949-3987 or slund@wso.mb.ca

24 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

CONCERT SEVEN Friday, February 3 I 8:00 pm Centennial Concert Hall

Doors open at 6:30 pm

ICELANDIC FINALE: JÓHANNSSON AND SVEINSSON Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Jóhann Jóhannsson, computer 1 Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director 2

PROGRAM A Prayer to the Dynamo (World premiere)* 1 I. II. III. IV.

Jóhann Jóhannsson (IS)

- INTERMISSION Symphony No. 2 (North American premiere) 2 Atli Heimir Sveinsson (IS) I. …dansandi mordunsólir… (…dancing morning suns…)

II. …vornæturregn… (…spring night rain…)

III. …einn um nótt ég sveima… (…alone at night I drift…)

IV. …blámi himinhæda… (…the blue heavens…)

V. …blik af inum draumi… (…reflection of your dream…)

For our closing gala concert, we are proud to present two monumental works by two of Iceland’s leading composers. Jóhann Jóhannsson joins us for the world premiere of his work, A Prayer to the Dynamo, commissioned by the WSO. Known for his ethereal colours and sonorous harmonies, Jóhannsson’s new piece will leave you breathless as he takes you on an emotional musical journey. To conclude our Festival, we bring you a major musical event: Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s Symphony No. 2. Hailed as an Icelandic masterpiece, Sveinsson’s magnificent work makes its North American premiere tonight with Winnipeg’s own Prairie Voices and an extended WSO. *Commissioned by the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra with the assistance of the Danish Arts Foundation To see extra musicians, please refer to page 39 Festival Sponsor:

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 25

WSO MUSICIAN PROFILES Desiree Abbey

Richard Bauch

Tomomi Brennan

Instrument: Cello

Instrument: Viola

Instrument: Violin

Joined WSO: 2011

Joined WSO: 1974

Joined WSO: 2011

Hometown: Toronto, ON

Hometown: Park Forest, Illinois, USA

Hometown: Osaka, Japan

What or who inspires you?

Children inspire me with their imaginations and dreams. To them anything is possible.

Hobbies: Cooking with friends

Jeremy Epp

What or who inspires you?

People who achieve greatness, yet still remain nice people who are thoughtful of others.

What is one of your most memorable live performances?

Playing Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with a 10,000 person choir in Japan

Hobbies: Basketball, gardening, fitness, reading

If you could have dinner with one historical figure, who would that be?

Paganini: I just want to ask why he wrote such difficult pieces.

Simon MacDonald

Bruce Okrainec

Instrument: Timpani

Instrument: Violin

Instrument: Bass

Joined WSO: 2010; Extra musician since 2000

Joined WSO: 1999

Joined WSO: 1980

Hometown: Victoria, BC

Hometown: Edmonton, AB

Hometown: Winnipeg, MB

What is your favourite piece to play? Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet

Who was your idol growing up?

The Beatles!

Favourite piece to play: Anything by Beethoven or Mahler What or who inspires you?

My parents & former WSO timpanist Jauvon Gilliam

What is one of your most memorable live performances?

Gala performance outdoors in a Piazza in Italy with L. Pavarotti

26 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

What is your favourite piece to play? Sibelius Symphonies are especially beautiful and a treat to perform.

Elation Pauls

Emma Quackenbush

Julie Savard

Instrument: Violin

Instrument: Cello

Instrument: Violin

Joined WSO: 2009

Joined WSO: 2010

Joined WSO: 2002

Hometown: Saskatoon, SK

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Hometown: Montreal, QC

What is one of your most memorable live performances?

My graduating Masters recital at the U of Toronto. My pianist jammed her finger in a door minutes before going to the hall, so I played the Kreutzer Sonata by Beethoven with pianist Peter Longworth without rehearsal.

What is your favorite piece to play? Brahms Symphony No. 4

What is one of your most memorable live performances?

Playing Beethoven's 6th Symphony in an old church during a thunderstorm

What is your favourite restaurant to go to after a WSO concert?

Hermanos for the Empananas and Heart of Palm Salad

Patrick Staples

Hobbies: Yoga, gardening, and as a result of gardening: canning. My fiancĂŠ and I make a mean salsa!

What or who inspires you?

My Dad. He is the most generous, kind, and loving person I know.

Phoebe Tsang

Hobbies: Baking, horseback riding, playing with my daughters Emilie and Chloe

Richard Turner

Instrument: Bass

Instrument: Violin

Instrument: Harp

Joined WSO: 2011

Joined WSO: 2011

Joined WSO: 1977

Hometown: Calgary, AB

Hometown: London, England

Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, USA

What is one of your most memorable live performances?

Shostakovich Symphony No. 11 with Larry Rachleff and the Rice Symphony Orchestra.

What or who inspires you?

The every day world around me: people I meet, nature, books and other works of art.

What is your favourite piece to play? Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten

What or who inspires you?

Michael Jackson

What is your favourite piece to play? Anything by Beethoven!

What or who inspires you?

Understanding the intention and conception of a master composer and then being able to bring it to life.

January – February 2012 I OVERTURE 27

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PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Jurriaan Andriessen, composer (Netherlands, 1925-1996) Jurriaan Andriessen studied composition with his father at the Utrecht Conservatory before moving to Paris where he studied with Olivier Messiaen.

The bulk of Mr. Andriessen's output is for the stage; his study in Paris was primarily in writing film music. He had a variety of musical influences which he drew upon, including American film music, Aaron Copland's ballets, folk music of various cultures, neoclassicism, and serialism; this eclecticism, combined with his compositional skill, made his writing well-suited to scoring dramatic works. In addition to the theatre works he is most noted for, Mr. Andriessen was also a prolific composer of chamber and vocal works, many of which were meant to be performed by amateurs. He has also been a director for television.

Birna Bjarnadóttir, author Birna Bjarnadóttir studied literature and aesthetics at the University of Iceland, the Freie University in Berlin and the University of Warwick, England.

She holds the position of Chair and Acting Head of Icelandic Studies at the University of Manitoba. She is the author of several books, essays and articles, lectures widely on the subjects of literature, culture and aesthetics, and works frequently with artists on creative projects. Her most recent publications include a book of fragments (Kind Publishing, 2010), illustrated by Cliff Eyland, Haraldur Jónsson and Guy Maddin, with a forward by George Toles; and Recesses of the Mind.

Aesthetics in Gudbergur Bergsson’s Work (McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2012).

Daníel Bjarnason, composer (Iceland) Daníel Bjarnason studied piano, composition and conducting in Reykjavík before studying orchestral conducting at Freiburg University of Music, Germany. Mr. Bjarnason works equally as conductor and composer and has worked with many different ensembles including the London Sinfonietta, Ulster

Orchestra and Sinfonietta Cracovia. He regularly conducts at both the Icelandic Opera and Iceland Symphony Orchestra. His music has been performed worldwide and he is currently writing new music for the LA Philharmonic, LA Children's Chorus and the American Youth Symphony. Mr. Bjarnason has won numerous awards and grants and in 2008 and 2011 was awarded a special recommendation for his work at the International Rostrum for Composers. In 2010, he was nominated for the prestigious Nordic Council's Music Prize, and won the Kraumur Music Award.

Brandon University’s New Music Ensemble (BUNME) The Brandon University New Music Ensemble (BUNME), under the direction of Professor Megumi Masaki, is a collaboration of undergraduate students, comprising all programs, years, and instruments.

The group explores a diverse array of contemporary repertoire from around the world, for large and small ensembles, and presents an annual New Music Festival at Brandon University.

The 2010 festival, “Sights and Sounds,” featured composer-in-residence Nicole Lizée. Past festivals have featured collaborations with composers T. Patrick Carrabré of Brandon and Jorge Córdoba Valencia of Mexico City.

Gavin Bryars, composer (UK) Gavin Bryars, prominent and prolific English composer, was born in Yorkshire in 1943. He initially established his musical reputation as a jazz bassist working in the early sixties with improvisers Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley. He abandoned improvisation in 1966 and worked for a time in the United States with John Cage. From 1969 to 1978, he taught in departments of Fine Art in Portsmouth and Leicester, and was instrumental in founding the legendary Portsmouth Sinfonia. He founded the music department at Leicester Polytechnic (later De Montfort University) and was professor of music there from 1986 to 1994. His first major works as a composer were The Sinking of the Titanic (1969), originally released on Brian Eno's Obscure label in 1975, and Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet (1971).

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 29

PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Canadian Mennonite University Singers; Janet Brenneman and Rudy Schellenberg, directors The CMU Singers is one of five auditioned choral ensembles at Canadian Mennonite University. This 45-voiced mixed ensemble is comprised of students from a variety of undergraduate academic programs at CMU. The CMU Singers’ diverse repertoire is highly acclaimed among its audiences and includes sacred and secular music from all eras and musical cultures. It performs regularly in worship services and concerts at CMU, throughout the city of Winnipeg and in communities across Manitoba. Each spring, the choir tours across Canada or through the northern U.S. Recently, the CMU Singers collaborated with the other CMU Choirs in the world premiere of T. Patrick Carrabre’s Creation Stories at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival, and in the release of CMU’s newest CD, On Earth as in Heaven. The choir can be heard regularly on Golden West Radio broadcasting throughout southern Manitoba. Members of the CMU Singers are also members of the CMU Women’s Chorus or the CMU Men’s Chorus.

Minna Rose Chung, cello Korean American cellist Minna Rose Chung joined the University of Manitoba Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music as assistant professor of cello in 2008 and is the director of Project Rio, a multi-collaborative program that invites Canadian musicians to teach and perform at the prestigious Rio International Cello Encounter in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Aside from teaching, Dr. Chung tours internationally as a guest artist with many festival orchestras and chamber ensembles; recently returning from a U.S. tour with the Munich Symphony. In 2007, she made her Carnegie Hall debut as a founding member with her ensemble, the Pangea String Quartet in conjunction with the Kronos Quartet Young Artists Concert series. Additionally in 2010, she joined the Azure String Quartet, a newly formed Winnipeg ensemble dedicated to exploring new interpretations of the chamber music milieu.

30 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, composer (Canada, 1899-1974) Born in Moscow as Sofia (Sonia) Fridman-Kochevskaya, Ms. Eckhardt-Gramatté studied at the Conservatoire de Paris, where her teachers included Alfred Brun and Guillaume Rémy for violin, S. Chenée for piano, and Vincent d'Indy and Camille Chevillard for composition. She also embarked on several concert tours of Western Europe, in which she performed her own works. Her legacy is preserved through the work of the EckhardtGrammaté Foundation. Her compositions included: a symphony; a concerto for orchestra; a triple concerto for trumpet, clarinet, bassoon, strings, and timpani; three piano concertos; two violin concertos; a piece for two pianos and orchestra; a bassoon concerto; various chamber works; as well as numerous instrumental solos for piano and violin.

Gordon Fitzell, composer (Canada) Gordon Fitzell is a Winnipegbased composer, producer and concert presenter. His music has been performed by a host of leading artists including Norwegian group BIT20, Canada’s Trio Fibonacci, and American sextet eighth blackbird, whose Grammy-winning album Strange Imaginary Animals features two of his works. In 2010, Mr. Fitzell was the guest composer of the Cluster Festival, where five of his works were presented. An assistant professor of music at the University of Manitoba, he also leads the eXperimental Improv Ensemble (XIE) and serves as an artistic director of GroundSwell, Winnipeg’s new music series.

GroundSwell New Music Since 1990, GroundSwell has been Winnipeg’s only concert series devoted solely to presenting new music. Now in its twenty-first season, GroundSwell is a leading force in the Prairies for the promotion and appreciation of the music of our times. From bold interpretations of twentieth-century classics to innovative integrations involving theatre, dance, film, visual art and the written word, GroundSwell continues to explore new vistas of contemporary performance.

PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Gudbergur Bergsson, author

Jim Hiscott, composer (Canada)

Born in Grindavík, Iceland in 1932, Mr. Gudbergur Bergsson received a teaching diploma from the Iceland University of Education in 1955, went to Spain for further studies and graduated in Spanish, literature and art history from La Universidad de Barcelona in 1958. His first books, the novel Músin sem lædist (The Prowling Mouse) and the poetry collection Endurtekin ord (Repeated Words), appeared in 1961. He has published numerous books, short stories, over 20 novels, children's books, autobiographical novels, and more. Mr. Bergsson is one of Iceland's most prolific translators from Spanish and has thus played an important part in introducing Spanish and LatinAmerican authors in Iceland. His own books have been translated into several languages and the novel Svanurinn (The Swan) has received strong acclaim in many countries. He received the Nordic Prize of the Swedish Academy in 2004.

Jim Hiscott was born in 1948 in St. Catharines, Ontario. In 1971, after earning a master's degree in Theoretical Particle Physics, he switched to music composition, studying with Samuel Dolin at the Royal Conservatory of Music and David Lidov and Richard Teitelbaum at York University. He is the recipient of the Creative Arts Award of the Canadian Federation of University Women. His compositions have been performed across North America, in Europe and Asia by many artists including the Hilliard Ensemble, the St. Lawrence String Quartet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver New Music Society ensemble, Rivka Golani, Arraymusic and Philadelphia's Relache.

Tim Hecker, composer & performer (Canada) Tim Hecker is a Canadianbased musician and sound artist, born in Vancouver.

Since 1996, he has produced a range of audio works for Kranky, Alien8, Mille Plateaux, Room40, Force Inc, Staalplaat, and Fat Cat. His works have been described as “structured ambient,” “tectonic colour plates” and “cathedral electronic music.” More to the point, he has focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody, fostering an approach to song craft that is both physical and emotive. The New York Times has described his work as “foreboding, abstract pieces in which static and sub-bass rumbles open up around slow moving notes and chords, like fissures in the earth waiting to swallow them whole.”

His work has also included commissions for contemporary dance, sound-art installations, as well as various writings.

Gwen Hoebig, violin Recognized as one of Canada's most outstanding violinists, Gwen Hoebig is a graduate of the Juilliard School. She joined the WSO as concertmaster in 1987, having been awarded the position as the unanimous choice of the audition committee. A champion of new music, she has given many Canadian premieres, and was recently recognized at the 50th anniversary celebrations for the Canadian Music Centre for her exemplary commitment to the performance of the music of Canadian composers.

She has performed all the major violin concerti with orchestras across Canada, the U.S. and Europe. As a chamber musician she appears frequently in recital with her husband, pianist David Moroz, and has performed at many of the country's foremost festivals.

Yuri Hooker, cello Yuri Hooker is principal cellist for both the Winnipeg Symphony and the Manitoba Chamber Orchestras. He makes regular concerto appearances with both orchestras and has been featured on CBC Radio 2. He is also a regular performer at GroundSwell New Music, the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, and the Clear Lake Chamber Music Festival. Mr. Hooker is also a dedicated teacher and the founder of the Winnipeg Summer Cello Institute. He holds a Bachelor of Music from Brandon University after which he pursued graduate studies with Janos Starker at Indiana University.

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PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Jóhann Jóhannsson, composer & performer (Denmark/Iceland) Jóhann Jóhannsson’s work frequently combines electronics with classical orchestrations. His work bears the influence of minimalism, drone music, baroque music and electroacoustic music and Mr. Jóhannsson’s background in Iceland’s flourishing independent music scene also informs his work.

He released his first solo record Englabörn in 2002 on the well-respected British label Touch, on which he combined the influence of Erik Satie, Bernard Herrmann, Purcell, Moondog and the electronic music of labels like Mille Plateaux and Mego. Later works include Virthulegu Forsetar (2004), scored for a brass ensemble, electronic drones and percussion, and the orchestral albums Fordlandia (2008) and IBM 1401 - A User's Manual (2006), a composition which uses sounds produced from the electromagnetic emissions of the old IBM 1401 mainframe computers.

Giya Kancheli, composer (Georgia) Born in Tbilisi on August 10, 1935, Giya Kancheli is Georgia's most distinguished living composer and a leading figure in the world of contemporary music. Mr. Kancheli's scores, deeply spiritual in nature, are filled with haunting aural images, varied colours and textures, sharp contrasts and shattering climaxes. His music draws inspiration from Georgian folklore and sings with a heartfelt, yet refined emotion; it is conceived dramaturgically with a strong linear flow and an expansive sense of musical time. A man of uncompromising artistic integrity, Mr. Kancheli has been called

by Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, "an ascetic with the temperament of a maximalist -a restrained Vesuvius."

Jan Kocman, flute Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra principal flutist Jan Kocman is well known to Canadian audiences for his solo, orchestral, and recital performances. He has been a featured soloist numerous 32 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

times performing concerto repertoire by Nielsen, Mozart, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Telemann, Szervansky, Quantz, Glen Buhr, John Corigliano, R. Murray Schafer, Bright Sheng, Leonard Bernstein and Christopher Rouse. He attended Indiana University, where he studied with renowned flutist James Pellerite, graduating with distinction with his master's degree in flute performance. During his graduate studies he served as associate instructor to Mr. Pellerite and completed course work in musicology with Walter Kaufmann, the founding conductor of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as principal flutist with WSO Music Directors Piero Gamba, Kazuhiro Koizumi, Bramwell Tovey, Andrey Boreyko, and now Alexander Mickelthwate.

Jennifer Koh, violin Violinist Jennifer Koh is recognized for her intense, commanding performances, delivered with dazzling virtuosity and technical assurance. She is dedicated to performing the violin repertoire of all eras from traditional to contemporary to new compositions and exploring connections in the works she performs. Since the 1994-95 season when she won the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, the Concert Artists Guild Competition, and the Avery Fisher Career Grant, Ms. Koh has been heard with leading orchestras and conductors around the world. Also a prolific recitalist, she appears frequently at major music centers and festivals. In 2009, Ms. Koh launched “Bach and Beyond,” a recital project that explores solo violin repertoire from Bach’s six sonatas and partitas to newly commissioned works. Highlights of her 2011-12 season include Bach’s complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin presented by the Miller Theater in New York, and performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Seattle, St. Louis and Toronto symphonies.

La La La Human Steps La La La Human Steps was founded in 1980 by Édouard Lock around a three-week series of performances in the small theatre l'Eskabel in Montréal's St-Henri district, which led the troupe to The Kitchen in New York City, the epicentre of contemporary dance at the time. Since then, the

PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS troupe has become one of the world's most recognized dance companies, thanks to the unique choreographic language it developed and has constantly reinvented since its inception.

Choreographic complexity, the alteration of balletic structures and the intertwining of choreographic, musical and cinematic strands are among the elements that create a sense of perceptual distortion and renewal, that encourage audiences to both reinvent and rediscover the body and its dance. The company requires that its dancers constantly redefine, question and renew themselves, to bring out performances that move from extreme physical challenge to the greatest of lyricism. The Montréal troupe has collaborated with institutions both prestigious and eclectic, from the Opéra de Paris to Frank Zappa.

Anne Elise Lavallée, viola Canadian violist Anne Elise Lavallée received her early musical training as well as her bachelor of music from Le Conservatoire de Musique de Québec. She was then invited by renowned violist Emmanuel Vardi to pursue a master’s degree in New York and was awarded a distinguished full scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music. Ms. Lavallée came back to Montreal to freelance with various groups and obtained an artist diploma from McGill University studying under Douglas McNabney. In 1997, she won the position of assistant-principal viola with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and has made Winnipeg her home. Since then she appears regularly with diverse music groups in Manitoba as well as on CBC broadcasts. In addition to her musical career, Ms. Lavallée has held various administrative positions at the WSO including serving on the board of directors. She has been a radio freelancer for French CBC since 2000 and a frequent host on WSO’s Musically Speaking radio show on CJOB, Masterworks Series pre-concert talks and Up Close and Orchestral educational series.

Édouard Lock, choreographer La La La Human Steps founder, artistic director and choreographer Édouard Lock began his choreographic career at the age of 20 and in 1980, he founded La La La Human Steps. Over the years

Mr. Lock has been invited to create works for some of the world’s leading dance companies, including the Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris, the Het Nationale Ballet of Holland and the Nederlands Dans Theater. His works have garnered many awards and in 2010, he received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement. That same year, he was also beneficiary of the Canada Council for the Arts Molson Prize while the Université du Québec à Montréal awarded him an honorary doctorate. He has collaborated with artists including David Bowie and Frank Zappa. Mr. Lock was named a Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec in 2001 and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002.

Alexina Louie, composer (Canada) Alexina Louie has been widely commissioned by Canada’s most prestigious orchestras, ensemble and soloists. Most recently, her interest in the collaborative experience has led her to write scores for dance (Wolf’s Court, The National Ballet of Canada), film and television, a medium which has garnered for her two Golden Sheaf Awards for best music from the Yorkton Film Festival (Burnt Toast, and Roxana - written with her husband and collaborator, Alex Pauk). Among her many honours, Ms. Louie has won the Jules Leger Prize in Chamber Music, the Chalmer’s Award, two Juno Awards and the National Arts Centre Composers Award. She is an Officer of the Order of Canada and holds an honourary doctorate from the University of Calgary.

Megumi Masaki, piano Award-winning pianist Megumi Masaki has established herself as an international artist renowned for her warm rapport with audiences and her superb musicianship. Her multifaceted career as acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, conductor, champion of contemporary music and multidisciplinary researcher of Peak Performance has taken her across Canada, the U.S., Europe and Asia. Ms. Masaki is presently associate professor of piano at Brandon University, is on faculty at the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival Italy, the Waterford Summer Music Festival Utah USA and is the artistic director of the EckhardtGramatté National Music Competition.

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 33

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34 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Michael Matthews, composer (Canada) Michael Matthews’ music has been performed in countries around the world. He has been the recipient of numerous commissions and awards; in 2000, he held a Rockefeller Foundation residency at the Bellagio Center in Italy. His orchestral work Two Interludes was awarded third prize in the 1997 du Maurier Arts Ltd. New Music Festival Canadian Composers Competition. He has also received Canada Council and Manitoba Arts Council grants, the Winnipeg Rh Institute Award for interdisciplinary research, a residency at the EMS computer music studios in Stockholm, Sweden, and a prize in the Premio Musicale Cittá di Trieste, Italy for his orchestral piece The Wind Was There.

Diana McIntosh, composer & performer (Canada) Bravo TV called Diana McIntosh a national treasure.

With a dynamic stage presence, she has an active career as a distinctive, provocative, and innovative composer, pianist and performance artist, having performed throughout Canada, widely in the U.S., in Europe and Nairobi, Kenya. She has been commissioned by many soloists, ensembles, and by the WSO and CBC. Most recently, CBC commissioned a piano Prelude and Fugue for their Glenn Gould celebration concert in Toronto, and Prodigies of the Nose for percussion and piano. In October 2009, she performed in the premiere of her theatrical The Rehearsal’s the Thing for four speaking/playing musicians.

David Moroz, piano Winnipeg-born pianist David Moroz enjoys a career as one of Canada's most versatile artists. He has performed in every major Canadian city and appears regularly in recital with Canada's most distinguished musicians. Mr. Moroz was awarded a doctor of music degree

from the University of Montreal, and holds both bachelor and master of music degrees from the celebrated Juilliard School in New York City. He has been artistic director of The Winnipeg Chamber Music Society since 1987, and was appointed to the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Music in 1999, where he is coordinator of the Piano Department.

Nico Muhly, composer (U.S.A.) The music of New York–based composer Nico Muhly has been played by such ensembles as eighth blackbird, the Britten Sinfonia, the Chicago Symphony, and the New York Philharmonic, and sung by soloists including David Daniels, Mark Padmore and Jessica Rivera. In addition to numerous recordings of his own music (available on Decca and Bedroom Community Records), he has collaborated on projects with Antony and the Johnsons, Björk, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Grizzly Bear, Jónsi of Sigur Rós, and Teitur Lassen. His first opera, Two Boys, premiered at the English National Opera in June 2011. Dark Sisters, commissioned by the Gotham Chamber Opera, Music-Theatre Group, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia premiered in November 2011 in New York City.

Jesse Plessis, composer (Canada) Jesse Plessis is currently working towards a master of music degree in piano performance at Brandon University. His own arrangement of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the seminal album by The Beatles, received an acclaimed premiere in August 2011. He has been featured in concert programs at the Casalmaggiore Festival in Italy, as a guest artist with the Lethbridge Symphony, the Musaeus String Quartet, the Land's End Chamber Ensemble, the International Piano Ensemble, and has worked with composers John Corigliano and Marcel Bergmann. In May 2011, he was a prize winner in the Women’s Musical Club of Winnipeg Scholarship Competition. He is also active as a conductor and his compositions have been performed in Canada, Europe, and broadcast on CBC Radio 2.

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PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Oleg Pokhanovski, violin

Emma Quackenbush, cello

Oleg Pokhanovski began his career as a violinist at the age of 6, giving his first performance with the Kuybyshev Symphony in Russia. At 10, he was accepted into renowned Special Music School for Gifted Children in Moscow and later studied at the Moscow State Conservatory. Invited to move to the United States, he received full scholarships at The Juilliard School and the Manhattan School of Music studying with Dorothy DeLay, Pinchas Zukerman and Ani Kavafian. Mr. Pokhanovski is a top prize winner of eight prestigious international violin competitions including the Paganini in Genova, Sarasate in Pamplona and CIEM in Geneva among others, and was First Prize winner of the 1990 Scheveningen International Violin Competition. He is also a twice recipient of the prestigious Canada Council National Career Development Grant, as well as a multiple recipient of Conceil des Arts du Quebec and Manitoba Arts Council Grants. He presently holds the position of associate professor of violin at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba, having previously held the same position at the Lake State Superior University in Michigan.

A gifted artist, Canadian cellist Emma Quackenbush holds a master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Michigan where she studied with Anthony Elliott. She joined the Winnipeg Symphony in 2008 and was later able to spend time at the Banff Centre in a Music Residency. Ms. Quackenbush can be heard on CBC Radio 2 and has appeared in many live performances in and around Winnipeg including appearances with GroundSwell and Virtuosi. A rapidly emerging star on the Canadian music scene, she credits John Kadz, with whom she studied for 11 years, as a major influence in her musical life. Ms. Quackenbush is thrilled to have returned to the Winnipeg Symphony in her third season.

Prairie Voices; Vic Pankratz, director

Prairie Voices is an award-winning company of singers ages 18-25 dedicated to the performance of innovative contemporary choral music from all over the world. Placing an emphasis on Canadian and Manitoban composers, the choir uses energy, expressiveness and movement to connect avantgarde composition with a popular audience.

Hailed by composer Sid Robinovitch as “the wave of the future for choral music,” Prairie Voices is known for their passionate style of performance, which combines exceptional vocals with engaging presentation to provide the ultimate choral experience.

36 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012

Shauna Rolston, cello Award-winning Canadian cellist Shauna Rolston is considered by peers and fans alike to be one of the most compelling and unique musical voices on the stage today.

Since receiving a mini cello for her 2nd birthday, Ms. Rolston has appeared around the world, performing with such distinguished artists as Krzysztof Penderecki, Sir Andrew Davis, Robert Spano, Marin Alsop, Keith Lockhart, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Hans Graf, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Andrey Boreyko, and Menahem Pressler, as well as undertaking innovative collaborations with Veronica Tennant, Evelyn Hart, and Peggy Baker.

Praised for her blazing technique and her ability to captivate the imagination and touch the heart of each audience member, she continues to astonish and delight with her concerts, recordings, and world premieres.

Kaija Saariaho, composer (Finland) Kaija Saariaho is not only among the most important Finnish composers of her time, but must be ranked as one of the leading composers of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. She studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since

PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have had a major influence on her music and her characteristically luxuriant and mysterious textures are often created by combining live music and electronics. Although much of her catalogue comprises chamber works, from the mid-nineties she has turned increasingly to larger forces and broader structures, such as the operas L’Amour de loin and Adriana Mater and the oratorio La Passion de Simone. She has won the Prix Italia and, in 1989, the Prix Ars Electronica; received commissions from Lincoln Center for the Kronos Quartet and from IRCAM for the Ensemble Intercontemporain; and has been the subject of a pan-European collaborative project to produce a CD-ROM Prisma about her work. In 2000, she won the Nordic Council Music Prize for the work Lonh for soprano and electronics. She was awarded the title Musician of the Year 2008 (announced

by Musical America, the U.S. publishing company for performing arts) for being "among the few contemporary composers to achieve public acclaim as well as universal critical respect."

Daniel Scholz, viola Daniel Scholz is the principal violist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and is a member of The Winnipeg Chamber Music Society, Brandon Chamber Players and the Rembrandt String Quartet. He studied at the University of Regina, McGill University and the University of British Columbia, and was a prize-winner at the Lionel Tertis Viola Competition, the most prestigious event of its kind, held on the Isle of Mann. As a soloist, Mr. Scholz has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchrestra, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, the Okanagan Symphony and the Vancouver Chamber Players. Highly soughtafter as a teacher, Mr. Scholz is an instructor at the University of Manitoba and the Canadian Mennonite University, and also conducts the Winnipeg Youth Symphony Orchestra. He has performed and taught at many of Canada's major festivals and is a faculty member of the University of Manitoba's Summer Chamber Music Program.

Valgeir Sigurdsson, composer (Iceland) Valgeir Sigurdsson lives in Reykjavík, Iceland. A boundless approach to music informs his work as composer, musician, engineer and mixer. In high demand as a producer, Mr. Sigurdsson has, for over a decade, cultivated projects by diverse international artists whilst developing his own particular magic brand of recording artistry – now with two solo albums to his name. Mr. Sigurdsson is the founder of the Bedroom Community record label as well as Iceland’s top recording facility Greenhouse Studios where his collaborators include Björk, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Camille, CocoRosie, Feist, Ben Frost, Sam Amidon, Nico Muhly, múm and many others. Colliding organic with synthetic, acoustic with digital, connection with isolation, and domestic with ethereal – resulting in a body of work ripe with emotion, curiosity, and humanity. He has composed for film and stage; his work has been performed by Chiara Quartet (US), Britten Sinfonia (UK), Avanti! (FI) and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Karl Stobbe, violin Described as an artist with “soulful musicianship” by the San Francisco Classical Voice (2008), Karl Stobbe regularly performs concerti, recitals, and chamber music, in addition to appearing frequently as a concertmaster in Canada and the United States. He has collaborated as a soloist with many exceptional conductors, including Andrey Boreyko, Bramwell Tovey, Roy Goodman, and Alain Trudel. His diversity has enabled him to record with many of Canada’s finest musicians. He is an avid lover and performer of new music, playing and premiering many solo and chamber works by national and international composers. Recently, he has given world premieres as a soloist in works by Michael Oesterle, Doug Smith, and Jocelyn Morlock, with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and National Arts Centre Orchestra. Mr. Stobbe continues to perform as the associate concertmaster of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, concertmaster of the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and with the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society.

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PERFORMER /ARTIST BIOS Atli Heimir Sveinsson was born in Reykjavík, Iceland and started piano lessons at the age of 10. He studied piano with Rögnvaldur Sigurjónsson at the Reykjavík College of Music and took his diploma in 1957. He went on to study at the State Academy in Cologne, Germany, from 1959, studying composition with Günter Raphael and Rudolf Petzold, instrumentation with Bernd Alois Zimmermann, conducting with Wolfgang von der Nahmer and piano with Hermann Pillney and Hans Otto Schmidt. He also took private lessons with Gottfried Michael Koenig. He completed his diploma in composition and theory in 1963 and in 1964 studied with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Henri Pousseur, Christoph Caskel and Frederic Rzewski.

He was president of the Icelandic Composers Association from 1972 to 1983. Since 1992, Mr. Sveinsson has received an honourary salary from the Icelandic Parliament. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 1993.

His Symphony No. 2 premiered in Reykjavík on June 1, 2006.

Kjartan Sveinsson, composer (Iceland) Kjartan "Kjarri" Sveinsson has been the keyboardist of the Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós since 1998. Being something of a multiinstrumentalist, he has also played such instruments as the flute, tin whistle, oboe and even the banjo, as well as many of the unorthodox instruments that contribute to Sigur Rós's distinctive sound. He has performed under the pseudonym "The Lonesome Traveller" with Sigur Rós band-mate Orri Páll D´yrason and Amiina violinist María Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir (whom he married in 2001). "The Lonesome Traveller" covered Sigur Rós songs acoustically in an alt-country style. Mr. Sveinsson also composed the score for the 2005 Academy Award nominated short film Sídasti bærinn (The Last Farm), for award winning director Ramin Bahrani's 2009 short film Plastic Bag which features the narration of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog, and for the 2009 film Ondine directed by Neil Jordan. He also contributes to Sigur Rós's orchestral and string arrangements, along with the group Amiina.

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University of Manitoba’s Pizzicelli Ensemble; Dr. Minna Rose Chung, director Pizzicelli is a self goverened ensemble at the Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music, directed

by Dr. Minna Rose Chung. The group consists of Jari Piper, Edvany Silva, Natalie Dawe, Lisa Nazarenko and Graham Isaak. For almost three years, this quintet of international students has been performing fantastic repertoire ranging from Brazilian folk songs to arrangements of our rock and popular genre.

Pizzicelli is an extension of Project Rio, a collaborative musical exchange that brings Canadian musicians to the Rio International Cello Encounter.

WSO Clearwater String Quartet

Photo: Andrew Sikorsky

Atli Heimir Sveinsson, composer (Iceland)

Formed in 2004 - but officially named in 2010 the WSO Clearwater String Quartet is comprised of four of Canada’s leading string players, whose depth of experience in solo, orchestral and chamber music performance has added much to the already rich artistic landscape of Winnipeg. Principal players with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, they are also the resident String Quartet of the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society. Members include Gwen Hoebig and Karl Stobbe, violin, Daniel Scholz, viola; and Yuri Hooker, cello.

PRESIDENTS OF THE WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1948-51 1951-53 1953-55 1955-57 1957-58 1958-61 1961-62 1962-64 1964-65 1965-67 1967-69 1969-71 1971-73 1973-74 1974-76 1976-78 1978-79 1979-80 1980-81 1981-82

Hon. Mr. Justice J. T. Beaubien Mr. J. M. Sinclair Mr. Digby Wheeler Mr. W. D. Hurst Dr. Hugh H. Saunderson Mr. E. W. H. Brown Mr. David Slater The Hon. Mr. Justice Monnin Mr. Norman J. Alexander Mr. R. W. Richards Mr. W. R. Palmer Mr. E. J. Smith Dr. M. M. Pierce Mr. H. S. Brock-Smith Mr. Allan G. Moffatt Mr. Julian D. T. Benson Mr. John L. Buckworth Mr. N. Roger McFallon Mr. John F. Fraser Mr. William W. Draper

1982-83 1983-84 1984-86 1986-88 1988-90 1990-92 1992-94 1994-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 Feb 1999 – May 1999 Jun 1999 – 2000 2000- Feb 03 Mar 2003 – Dec 2003 Dec 2003 – Jan 2005 Jan 2005 – Jul 2006 Jul 2006 – Nov 2006 Dec 2006 – Jun 2007 2007 – present

EXTRA MUSICIANS

JANUARY 28 Laurel Ridd, flute Laura MacDougall, flute Tracy Wright, oboe Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet Karine Breton, bassoon Mike Plummer, trumpet Will Bonness, synthesizer Ben Reimer, percussion Tony Cyre, percussion Matt Abraham, percussion Donna Laube, piano JANUARY 30 Laurel Ridd, flute Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet Karine Breton, bassoon Ben Reimer, percussion Tony Cyre, percussion Donna Laube, piano

Mr. John O. Baatz Mr. Andrew D. M. Ogaranko, Q.C. Mr. Harold Buchwald, Q.C. Mr. Michel Lagacé Mr. William H. Loewen Mrs. Julia DeFehr Mr. Gordon Fogg Mrs. Helen Hayles Mr. Anthony Brookes Mrs. Helen Hayles Mr. William Norrie Mr. William Loewen Mr. Bruce MacCormack Mr. Roger King Ms. Patti Sullivan Mr. Wally Fox-Decent Ms. Carol Bellringer Mr. Harvey Pollock (Interim President) Mr. Brendan MacDougall Ms. Dorothy Dobbie

PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY COUNCIL

FEBRUARY 1 Laurel Ridd, flute Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet Karine Breton, bassoon Ben Reimer, percussion Tony Cyre, percussion Donna Laube, piano FEBRUARY 3 Laurel Ridd, flute Tracy Wright, oboe Marie-Julie Chagnon, clarinet Karine Breton, bassoon Roslyn Black, horn Shannon Moses, horn Todd Martin, horn Mike Plummer, trumpet Ben Reimer, percussion Tony Cyre, percussion Matt Abraham, percussion Victoria Sparks, percussion Ann Germani, harp Donna Laube, piano

Al Alexandruk Mal Anderson Carol Bellringer Doneta Brotchie John and Bonnie Buhler Edmund Dawe Julia De Fehr Susan Feldman Jamie Dolynchuk Barbara Filuk Wally Fox-Decent John Fraser Helen Hayles Kaaren Hawkins Sherrill Hershberg Ian Kay Michael D. Kay Roger King Bill Knight Michel Lagacé

Zina Lazareck Gail Leach Dr. Hermann Lee Naomi Levine Bill Loewen Don MacKenzie Bill Marr Michael Nozick Andrew Ogaranko Harvey Pollock John Rademaker Kathleen Richardson George & Tannis Richardson Ed Richmond Lorne Sharfe Graeme Sifton Joanne Sigurdson Bonnie Staples-Lyon Dennis Wallace

Januar y – Februar y 2012 I OVERTURE 39

WSO BOARD & STAFF 2011-2012 SEASON OUR DISTINGUISHED PATRONS His Honour the Honourable Philip S. Lee C.M., O.M. Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba The Honourable Greg Selinger, Premier of Manitoba His Worship Sam Katz, Mayor of the City of Winnipeg Mr. W.H. Loewen & Mrs. S.E. Loewen, WSO Directors Emeritus WOMEN'S COMMITTEE EXECUTIVE Shirley Loewen, President Sylvia Cassie, Vice President Lesia Peet, Past President Margaret Harvie, Treasurer Evelyn Davidson, Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dorothy Dobbie, President & Chair Tim Burt, Vice-President Greg Doyle, Treasurer Muriel Smith, Secretary Dr. Brendan MacDougall, Past-President Marilyn Billinkoff Brenlee Carrington-Trepel Michael Cox Arlene Dahl

Dr. Daya Gupta Elba Haid Gregory Hay Maureen Kilgour Jackie Lowe Ed Martens Lesia Peet Dr. William Pope Terry Sargeant William Shead Karl Stobbe Richard Turner

OFFICIAL AUDITORS Runchey Miyazawa Abbott Chartered Accountants

TRUDY SCHROEDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATE, MUSIC DIRECTOR

EXECUTIVE OFFICE Lori Marks, Confidential Executive Assistant

ARTISTIC Bramwell Tovey, Conductor Laureate Richard Lee, Resident Conductor Vincent Ho, Composer-in-Residence

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION John Bacon, Director of Finance & Administration Sandi Mitchell, Payroll & Accounting Administrator Chelse McKee, Accounting & Volunteer Assistant

ARTISTIC OPERATIONS Jean-Francois Phaneuf, Director of Artistic Operations James Manishen, Artistic Operations Associate DEVELOPMENT Laura Daniel, Operations Manager Joanne Gudmundson, Director of Development Amanda Wilson, Stage Manager Carol Cassels, Development Manager Chris Lee, Orchestra Personnel Manager Sarah Lund, Development Coordinator Ray Chrunyk, Principal Librarian Gail Loewen, Manager of Strategic Advancement Projects Laura MacDougall, Assistant Librarian Lawrence Rentz, Stage Supervisor SALES & AUDIENCE SERVICES Ryan Diduck, Director of Sales & Audience Services EDUCATION & OUTREACH Jason Hayes, Patron Services Coordinator Tanya Derksen, Director of Education & Outreach Patron Services Representatives (p/t): Amy Wolfe, Education & Outreach Coordinator Matthew Brooks Brent Johnson, Community Outreach Coordinator Rachel Himelblau Theresa Huscroft MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS Clare Neil Lisa Abram, Director of Marketing & Communications Crystal Schwartz Cheryl Waldner, Communications Coordinator Heather Thornton Shaun Thompson, Graphic Designer Melissa Ungrin Stephanie Van Nest

WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA TICKET INFORMATION 1020-555 Main Street Winnipeg, MB R3B 1C3 Phone: 204.949.3950 Fax: 204.956.4271 www.wso.ca

WSO Box Office phone: 204-949-3999 www.wso.ca

Ticketmaster phone: 1-855-985-2787 www.ticketmaster.ca

Group Events phone: 204-949-3967 groupevents@wso.mb.ca

The WSO is a chartered non-profit organization operated by a voluntary Board of Directors.

40 OVERTURE I Januar y – Februar y 2012