Toronto’s Esprit Orchestra Presents: Revealed Time

From the dramatic interplay of soloist and orchestra in Revealed Time, featuring Violist Teng Li to the delicate sounds of The Shadows of Time with the children of the CCOC, a piece “dedicated to Anne Frank and all the children of the world”.

On Sunday November 23^rd at Koerner Hall, Esprit Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Alex Pauk, presents a concert titled Revealed Time that includes Canadian premieres of music by two important composers from France and Japan, as well as World Premieres of Esprit-commissioned pieces by two Canadian composers. The concert reflects a strong Canadian identity fostered in an international perspective.

The Japanese work, Revealed Time (for viola and orchestra) by Joji Yuasa, features the virtuoso Chinese-Canadian violist Teng Li.

“Yuasa’s music shapes time through a dramatic interplay between soloist and orchestra, and calls for a wealth of sonorities to be produced by the soloist,” states Alex Pauk, Music Director & Conductor.

The work ranges from crystalline, prismatic, kaleidoscopic forms to dramatic, even romantic statements of passion – from the intimate to the gigantic, using the full range of the viola’s possible sonic resources.

The French work, The Shadows of Time by Henri Dutilleux commemorates the 50^th anniversary of the end of WW ll and includes an episode alluding to the heroism of Anne Frank and the discovery of her diary. At the “heart” of the score are “three voices of a child” – singing alternately in solo and together.

The piece involves solo voices of children from the Canadian Children’s Opera Company and is “dedicated to Anne Frank and all the children of the world, the innocents”. The Shadows of Time, a colourful garden of delicately cultivated sounds, comprises five orchestral episodes with evocative titles, a sensuousness of texture and emotional immediacy.

A brand new work by Douglas Schmidt, a Victoria-born Canadian composer living in Germany, is titled Just a Stranger Here Myself — that, as stated by the composer, “refers to places that I have either visited or lived in. Most particularly since moving to Germany, I often find myself feeling like a stranger. The odd thing is that when I return to my home country Canada I feel the same way after becoming somewhat acculturated to a German mentality.”

Toronto composer Adam Scime, in describing the inspiration for the form and content of Rise, his new work for Esprit, writes “I have been doing considerable research on the nature of the ocean tide as we understand it in modern oceanography, as well as various wave patterns. I have also been studying how ancient civilizations understood the ocean. For example, in ancient India the name Ras? was used to explain a massive stream that surrounded the earth. In fact, I thought about naming the piece Ras? at one point.” Scime uses a stereophonic division of the orchestra to move sound around in great, swirling, shimmering waves.

REVEALED TIME, Sunday November 23, 2014

Alex Pauk, conductor

Teng Li, viola

Canadian Children’s Opera Company Soloists: Mara Bowman, Alexandra Bernstein, Morgan Graves-Ward

Programme:

Henri Dutilleux – The Shadows of Time (1997) (Canadian Premiere)

Joji Yuasa – Revealed Time (1991)  for viola and orchestra (Canadian Premiere)

Adam Scime – Rise (2014) (World Premiere)*

Douglas Schmidt – Just a Stranger Here Myself (2014) (World Premiere)**

*commission funding from the Canada Council for the Arts

**commission funding from The Koerner Foundation

REVEALED TIME, Sunday, November 23^rd 2014, Koerner Hall

8:00PM Concert | 7:15PM Pre-Concert Chat

Royal Conservatory of Music TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto

Four-concert subscription packages starting at: Adult Regular $160; Senior 65+ $145; Under 30 $65

Individual concert tickets starting at: Adult Regular $45; Senior 65+ $40; Under 30 $20

Please call (416) 408 0208 or visit performance.rcmusic.ca

For more details: www.espritorchestra.com

Season Sponsor: Esprit Orchestra is Canada’s only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to performing and promoting new orchestral music. Esprit Orchestra gratefully acknowledges Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, SOCAN Foundation, The Koerner Foundation, The Hal Jackman Foundation, The Mary Margaret Webb Foundation, The Max Clarkson Family Foundation and The J.P. Bickell Foundation for the their generous support.