WINNIPEGNEW MUSIC

FESTIVALAlexander Mickelthwate

WNMF Artistic Director

Matthew PattonCurator

Harry StafylakisComposer-in-Residence

JANUARY 28 –FEBRUARY 3

2017

Message from ALEXANDER MICKELTHWATEWelcome to the 26th Winnipeg New Music Festival.

This year, we are celebrating Canada 150 with a diverse and colourful mosaic of Canadian ethnic composers starting with a major new work by Christos Hatzis.

Meredith Monk, our distinguished guest composer will be performing on three different evenings. We will explore new spaces: the basement of the Hudson’s Bay and the Duncan Sportsplex behind the Centennial Concert Hall. Our collaboration with Melissa Auf der Maur and Basilica Hudson is bringing a 12-HOUR DRONE extravaganza to Winnipeg. Sound artist William Basinski will play his own work The Deluge. And Turkish composer Fazil Say’s enormous Mesopotamia Symphony will end our festival.

See you soon,

Alexander Mickelthwate, WNMF Artistic Director

Tickets available at the WSO Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

WSO Box Office 204 949 3999 wso.ca | wnmf.ca

Ticketmaster 1 855 985 ARTS Ticketmaster.ca

TICKET INFORMATION

Generously sponsored by

We gratefully acknowledge our funders & partners

Sandi & Ron Mielitz

TICKETS

Regular $25 Student $12

FESTIVAL PASSES

Early Bird Regular $69 Student $39

After January 9th Regular $89 Student $49

Add Opening Night The HUB after party for $15

WNMF1

MIGRATION PATTERNS Saturday, January 28 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

WNMF5

THE END AND THE BEGINNING OF MUSICWednesday, February 1 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

WNMF3

SONGS OF ASCENSION Monday, January 30 | 7:30pmWestminster United Church

WNMF2

THE WORLD OF MEREDITH MONK Sunday, January 29 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

WNMF4

NEW MUSIC TOMORROW - CANADA Tuesday, January 31 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

WNMF7

THE NEW WORLDFriday, February 3 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

WNMF6

GHOSTS OF THE HUDSON’S BAY BUILDING Thursday, February 2 | 7:30pmHudson’s Bay [450 Portage Ave]

BASILICA HUDSON AND WINNIPEG NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL PRESENT:

12-HOUR DRONE: EXPERIMENTS IN SOUNDS OF WINTERFebruary 4, 2017 - Midnight to Noon Duncan Sportsplex [55 Duncan Str.]

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Piano Nobile

Meredith Monk, composer Katie Geissinger, vocalist Allison Sniffin, vocalist Alexander Mickelthwate, host Matthew Patton, host

W NMF1

MIGRATION PATTERNS Saturday, January 28 | 7:30pm

Centennial Concert Hall

“We are witnessing the heyday of the singer-composer…Meredith Monk, Caroline Shaw, Laurie Anderson,

Diamanda Galas…they have in common a tendency to use their own voices

not merely as lead instruments but as structuring principles. No matter how intricate the composition, it wells up

from the body at the center of the stage. Significantly, this is the first classical

genre to be dominated by women…the expressivity of the female voice speaks, at

last, for female ideas.“- Alex Ross, New Yorker magazine

Meredith Monk’s “spectacularly beautiful” Weave, commissioned by the St. Louis Symphony and the LA Master Chorale, opens WNMF 2017. The World premiere of Syn-Phonia: Migration Patterns by Christos Hatzis for orchestra, electronics, and visuals features two singers of migrant (Arabic) and indigenous (Inuit) backgrounds, plus Tajik-Canadian composer Farangis Nurulla-Khoja’s whirlwind L’infini de l’instant.

FARANGIS NURULLA-KHOJA

Concert Sponsor

WORKS

Farangis Nurulla-Khoja L’infini de l’instant NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Weave for two voices, chorus and orchestra CANADIAN PREMIERE Christos Hatzis Syn-Phonia: Migration Patterns WORLD PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Jeffrey Gavett, vocalist Katie Geissinger, vocalist Maryem Hassan-Tollar, singer

Tiffany Ayalik, throat singer Horizon, choir Robert Pasternak, visual artist Khaled Shariff, creative director

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

The State of Arts in Canada at 150

6:15PM | Piano Nobile

Simon Brault, presenter Christos Hatzis, presenter Harry Stafylakis, presenter Alexander Mickelthwate, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00PM | Piano Nobile

River East Collegiate Wind Ensemble

POST-CONCERT

The HUB Opening Night After-Party Presented by Culture Card in partnership with WNMF

The HUB is a Fashion, Art, Music & Networking event hosted by Culture Card Inc. The HUB offers an opportunity to local fashion designers, local musicians, and a variety of local artists to showcase their talent every month in Winnipeg.

Add to concert ticket or festival pass for $15.

TIFFANY AYALIK MARYEM HASSAN-TOLLAR

W NMF2

THE WORLD OF MEREDITH MONK

Sunday, January 29 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

“At once visceral and ethereal, raw and rapt, her works banish the spurious

complexities of urban life and reveal a kind of underground civilization, one that sings, dances, and meditates on

timeless forces.”- Alex Ross, New Yorker magazine

“I remember hearing (Monk’s music) as a teenager. It most definitely provided me with one of my musical DNA’s. I learned

that vinyl by heart.” - Björk

“(Meredith Monk) harks back to a time before disciplines existed and categories were set in stone,” Alex Ross has written. MacArthur

“Genius” Award-winner, National Medal of Arts and Guggenheim Fellowships recipient, Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair at Carnegie Hall, Musical America’s Composer of the Year, Grammy nominated and ECM New Series recording artist Meredith Monk, and members of her Ensemble, will perform music from throughout her incredible and multifaceted career.

MEREDITH MONK

WORKS

Meredith Monk Selections from Juice (1969), Songs from the Hill (1977), and Light Songs (1988) Meredith Monk Gotham Lullaby (1975) Meredith Monk Travelling (1973) Meredith Monk Madwoman’s Vision (1988) Meredith Monk Choosing Companions from ATLAS: an opera in three parts (1991) Meredith Monk Hips Dance, from Volcano Songs: Duets (1993) Meredith Monk Hocket, from Facing North (1990) Meredith Monk Prayer I, from The Politics of Quiet (1996) Meredith Monk Scared Song (1986) CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk epilogue and woman at the door, from Mercy (2001) CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk clusters 3, from Songs of Ascension (2008) CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Panda Chant I and Memory Song, from The Games (1984) CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk masks, from Mercy (2001) Meredith Monk between song, from impermanence (2004/2006)

ARTISTS Meredith Monk, vocalist & pianist Katie Geissinger, vocalist Allison Sniffin, vocalist & pianist Bohdan Hilash, winds

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

The World of Meredith Monk

6:15PM | Piano Nobile

Robert Enright, presenter Katie Geissinger, presenter Allison Sniffin, presenter Matthew Patton, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00PM | Piano Nobile

University of Manitoba Percussion Ensemble, Victoria Sparks, director

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Piano Nobile

Meredith Monk, composer Katie Geissinger, vocalist Allison Sniffin, vocalist Alexander Mickelthwate, host Matthew Patton, host

Border Crossings Issue Launch After Party

POST-CONCERT LOUNGE

Piano Nobile

Tony Neustaedter, DJ Joel Friesen, DJ

W NMF3

SONGS OF ASCENSION

Monday, January 30 | 7:30pmWestminster United Church

“When the time comes, perhaps a hundred years from now, to tally up achievements

in the performing arts during the last third of the 20th century, one name that seems

sure to loom large is that of Meredith Monk. In originality, in scope, in depth,

there are few to rival her.”- The Washington Post

“brimming with imagination”- Toronto Star on the music of Ana Sokolovic

“one of the year’s crowning film music achievements”

- Movie Music UK on Mychael Danna’s Life of Pi score

Meredith Monk and her music once again take centre stage, this time working with local choirs Camerata Nova and Polycoro. Selections from Winnipeg-born composer and Academy Award-winner Mychael Danna’s Mass from the movie Lilies, originally performed by the Hilliard Ensemble, will be heard in concert version. New music by Andrew Balfour, of Cree descent, and Filipino Francisco Feliciano will bring forward and contrast their own local interconnectivity themes. Serbian-Canadian composer Ana Sokolovic and Quebec composer/novelist Nicolas Gilbert also present recent work.

ANA SOKOLOVIC

WORKS

Meredith Monk Other Worlds Revealed (Atlas) Francisco Feliciano Pamugun Andrew Balfour Bawajigaywin (Vision Quest) Meredith Monk Jewish Storyteller/Dance Dream CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Plague CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Churchyard Entertainment CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Earth Seen From Above (Atlas) CANADIAN PREMIERE Meredith Monk Fields/Clouds CANADIAN PREMIERE Ana Sokolovic Dring Dring Mychael Danna Mass from Lilies (selections) Nicolas Gilbert Qu’avons-nous oublié Meredith Monk Panda Chant 2 CANADIAN PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Camerata Nova, Mel Braun, conductor Polycoro Chamber Choir, John Wiens, conductor Allison Sniffin, organist

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

7:00PM

Meredith Monk, composer Andrew Balfour, composer Matthew Patton, host

CAMERATA NOVAPOLYCORO

Sandi & Ron MielitzConcert Sponsor

W NMF4

NEW MUSIC TOMORROW- CANADA

Tuesday, January 31 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

“the finest French composer of his generation.”

- György Ligeti on Claude Vivier

Two new concertos by Israeli-born Avner Dorman and Sri Lankan-born Canadian Dinuk Wijeratne each scored for a rarely heard solo instrument, Widjeratne’s for tabla and Dorman’s for mandolin. Also heard will be Orion by Claude Vivier, whom many consider the greatest composer Canada ever produced. The piece for full orchestra developed out of his formative trip through Asia a few years before his murder in Paris in 1983. Métis composer Eliot Britton will present a world premiere commission for orchestra and electronics, and WSO Composer-in-Residence Harry Stafylakis will present a world premiere for orchestra.

JULIAN PELLICANO

DINUK WIJERATNE

WORKS

Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region Emerging Composer Competition Winning Work WORLD PREMIERE Claude Vivier Orion Avner Dorman Mandolin Concerto Harry Stafylakis Never the Same River WORLD PREMIERE Eliot Britton Heirloom Bison Culture WORLD PREMIERE Dinuk Wijeratne Tabla Concerto

ARTISTS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Dinuk Wijeratne, conductor Julian Pellicano, conductor

Dylan McKinstry, mandolin Ed Hanley, tabla Eliot Britton, electronics

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

Latent Histories and Ghosts of Winnipeg

6:15PM | Piano Nobile

Frank Albo, presenter Serena Keshavjee, presenter Christian Cassidy, presenter Sotirios Kotoulas, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00PM | Piano Nobile

Laura Gow: Morgues and Meows (cello, percussion, countertenor)

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Piano Nobile

Harry Stafylakis, composer Dinuk Wijeratne, composer Eliot Britton, composer Dylan McKinstry, mandolin Ed Hanley, tabla Alexander Mickelthwate, host Matthew Patton, host

POST-CONCERT LOUNGE

Piano Nobile

Tony Neustaedter, DJ Joel Friesen, DJ

DYLAN MCKINSTRYELIOT BRITTONCLAUDE VIVIER

W NMF5

THE END AND THE BEGINNING OF MUSIC

Wednesday, February 1 | 7:30pmCentennial Concert Hall

“This music reminds us of how everything eventually falls apart and returns to dust. We’re listening to music as it disappears in front of us… Basinski is creating the sound of something being almost remembered.”

- Pitchfork Magazine, 10 out of 10

“It is my belief that music is great if, at some moment, the listener catches ‘a

glimpse of eternity through the window of time’... This, to my mind, is the only true justification for art. All else is of

secondary importance.” - Einojuhani Rautavaara

The haunting soundscapes of William Basinski slowly deteriorate even as they are being created. Employing obsolete technology and analog tape loops, his haunting and melancholy soundscapes are created using decades old tape loops which are slowly degraded, leaving a history of their demise through fragmenting reverberations of memory. Einojuhani Rautavaara was the leading Finnish composer of his generation. His musical language evolved throughout his life, fusing elements of modernism, neo-classicism, and romanticism into a unique voice. His Seventh Symphony, Angel of Light, encapsulates the composer’s musical history, growing inexorably from serene and ethereal textures to a vision of apocalyptic intensity.

WILLIAM BASINSKI

WORKS

William Basinski The Deluge CANADIAN PREMIERE

Einojuhani Rautavaara Symphony No. 7 “Angel of Light” CANADIAN PREMIERE

This performance is dedicated to the composer’s memory

ARTISTS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor William Basinski, electronics

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

Creative Destruction; The End and the Beginning of Music

6:15PM | Piano Nobile

William Basinski, presenter John Schaefer, presenter Matthew Patton, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00PM | Piano Nobile

Brandon University New Music Ensemble, Megumi Masaki, conductor

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Piano Nobile

Alexander Mickelthwate, host Matthew Patton, host William Basinski, composer John Schaefer, presenter

POST-CONCERT LOUNGE

Piano Nobile

Tony Neustaedter, DJ Joel Friesen, DJ

EINOJUHANI RAUTAVAARA

W NMF6

GHOSTS OF THE HUDSON’S BAY

BUILDING Thursday, February 2 | 7:30pmHudson’s Bay [450 Portage Ave]

“Five stars out of five”- The Guardian on Lubomyr Melnyk

Building on last year’s concert at the Pan-Am Pool, the Winnipeg New Music Festival continues its exploration of alternative spaces and local histories, this time at the iconic Hudson’s Bay Building. Winnipeg Sony Classical recording artist and Continuous Music pianist Lubomyr Melnyk will be presenting a new live music and film collaboration with the National Ballet based on the paintings of Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris. The Cecilia String Quartet will perform two new commissions, and the Winnipeg Chamber Music Society will give the world premiere of Alexina Louie’s new Piano Quintet. Festival Curator Matthew Patton will present a new work for strings and voices.

WINNIPEG CHAMBER MUSIC SOCIETY

LUBOMYR MELNYK

WORKS

Alexina Louie Piano Quintet WORLD PREMIERE Lubomyr Melnyk The Dreamers Ever Leave You – with film Emilie LeBel Taxonomy of Paper Wings – with film Jessica Moss Glaciers I & II – with film WORLD PREMIERE Nicole Lizée Isabella Blow at Somerset House Matthew Patton The Limits of Almost – with film WORLD PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Winnipeg Chamber Music SocietyDavid Moroz, pianist; Gwen Hoebig, violinist; Karl Stobbe, violinist; Daniel Scholz, violist; Yuri Hooker, cellist

Cecilia String QuartetMin-Jeong Koh, violinist; Sarah Nematallah, violinist; Caitlin Boyle, violist; Rachel Desoer, cellist

Matthew Patton, electronics Jessica Moss, violinist & electronics Lubomyr Melnyk, pianist Miles Macdonell Vocal Ensemble WNMF String Quartet

POST-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Plug In ICA [460 Portage Ave]Ben Shemie: Music for Two Radios WORLD PREMIERE Ben Shemie, electronics Limited seating. Free for pass holders .

MATTHEW PATTON CECILIA STRING QUARTET

W NMF7

THE NEW WORLDFriday, February 3 | 7:30pm

Centennial Concert Hall

“The quality of the orchestral writing was astonishing, and the beautiful piece an unexpected highlight of the festival.”

– TEMPO on the premiere of Cassandra Miller’s Duet for Cello and Orchestra

A fascinating new work for cello and orchestra by Canadian Cassandra Miller will be heard. The world premiere was recently given by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra with the piece being commissioned by cellist Charles Curtis, who himself has worked closely with iconic artists La Monte Young, Elaine Radigue Alvin Lucier, and others. The concert will begin with Icelandic-Canadian composer Fjóla Evans’ short, textural work and will end with Turkish composer Fazil Say’s major work for extra large orchestra Symphony No. 2 Mesopotamia. Born and raised in Ankara, pianist and composer Fazıl Say is one of the most distinctive artists to emerge from Turkey in the last twenty years. His works blend folk traditions from his homeland with elements of Western classical music. Say has been charged more than once by the Turkish government for political offences but he continues to fight for freedom of expression in his country.

FJOLA EVANS

WORKS

Fjóla Evans Find Light in the Beautiful Sea WORLD PREMIERE Cassandra Miller Duet for Cello and Orchestra NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Fazil Say Mesopotamia Symphony Op. 38 NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor Charles Curtis, cello

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

Ethnicity and Gender; The Politics of Music Programming

6:15PM | Piano Nobile

Holly Harris, presenter Melissa Auf der Maur, presenter Alexander Mickelthwate, presenter Harry Stafylakis, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00PM | Piano Nobile

Creative Destruction - Art City - Kerrigan Salnikowski

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Alexander Mickelthwate, host Matthew Patton, host Harry Stafylakis, host Charles Curtis, cello Cassandra Miller, composer Fjóla Evans, composer

POST-CONCERT LOUNGE

Piano Nobile

Steve Kirby’s Oceanic Jazz Orchestra

Tony Neustaedter, DJ Joel Friesen, DJ

CHARLES CURTIS CASSANDRA MILLER

BASILICA HUDSON AND WINNIPEG NEW MUSIC FESTIVAL PRESENT:

12-HOUR DRONE: EXPERIMENTS IN SOUNDS OF WINTER

EMBRACING WINNIPEG’S WINTER. HIBERNATION. COMING TOGETHER IN SLOW BREATHING & HEART RATE.

MIDNIGHT TO NOON

February 4, 2017 - Midnight to Noon Duncan Sportsplex [55 Duncan Str]

A satellite of 24-HOUR DRONE, a partnership of Basilica Hudson and Le Guess Who?

12-HOUR DRONE is a satellite of 24-HOUR DRONE, an immersive event and all-encompassing experience, and a roving, transatlantic series created and presented by Basilica Hudson and Le Guess Who?, featuring musicians and sound artists experimenting within the spectrum of drone.

Bringing 12-HOUR DRONE to Winnipeg for the first time during winter’s depths as part of a significant new music festival is a divine opportunity to invite the threads of the region’s culture to weave into one. Melissa Auf der Maur, co-founder of Basilica Hudson, in collaboration with WNMF Curator Matthew Patton, are curators of the 12-HOUR DRONE.

We aim to bring cultures together, demonstrating the diversity inherently present within all music. The cross-pollination of instrumentation, musical traditions and culture creates a tapestry of human experience, elevating the whole, greater than the sum of its parts. Diversity of sound links things not usually linked through a seamless sonic and communal experience, with connections and dialogues opened in unexpected ways.

ARTISTS

Melissa Auf der Maur, solo voice William Basinski, electronics Matthew Patton, electronics Lubomyr Melnyk, piano

Jessica Moss, electronics Miles Macdonell Vocal Ensemble Ben Shemie, electronics More artists to come

THE HUB OPENING NIGHT AFTER-PARTYJanuary 28, 2017Presented by Culture Card in partnership with WNMF

Add to concert ticket or festival pass for $15

The HUB is a Fashion, Art, Music & Networking event hosted by Culture Card Inc. The HUB offers an opportunity to local fashion designers, local musicians, and a variety of local artists to showcase their talent every month in Winnipeg.

CUSTOM FURNITURE BY ART UPHOLSTERYArt Upholstery works with designers and architects to build contemporary furniture that is flexible enough to meet your needs at home or at work. For the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Art Upholstery created custom furniture to elevate the post-concert lounge experience. The company strives to bring you modern furniture that works today. Get in touch to see how Art Upholstery can update your home or work place.

ART & HAPPENINGS

BORDER CROSSINGSJanuary 29, 2017Border Crossings is launching Volume 35, Number 4, Issue No. 140 at the Winnipeg New Music Festival, presenting a feature interview with the New Music Festival’s highlighted guest, Meredith Monk. The issue features a 14 page interview titled, “The Voice of Moving Mediation: An Interview with Meredith Monk.” This issue marks the third consecutive year of Border Crossings’ collaboration with the New Music Festival. “We are delighted with our collaboration,” says Border Crossings Editor, Meeka Walsh. “The New Music Festival is Canada’s preeminent musical event.”

PLUG IN ICA INSTALLATIONWNMF Plug In ICA Installation

Plug In ICA will once again install art throughout the Piano Nobile during WNMF.

wnmf.ca wso.ca