2022 SEASON BROCHURE

ESPRIT LIVE 2022!

8:00pm Concert 7:15pm Pre-Concert Chat at Koerner Hall Tickets Koerner Hall Box Office 416 408 0208

espritorchestra.com

Alexina Louie

1 y t a c A und 3 S pril A

The Void River of Stars

Christopher Goddard Piano Concerto*

Andrew Norman

Sustain Christopher Goddard – piano soloist Alex Pauk – conductor * World Premiere commissioned by Esprit Orchestra with generous support from Chantal Perrot

Moving from the blackest black of space to the radiance of the Milky Way, Alexina Louie’s music parallels the world’s current transition from darkest despair to joy. In his “dream come true”, Christopher Goddard performs his own stunning, large-scale new piano concerto. Andrew Norman’s plea for humanity “to sustain the planet that sustains us” offers “a near out-of-body experience that sounds and feels like the future we want.”

Eugene Astapov A Still Life*

(a setting of a poem by Polina Barskova) for mezzo-soprano and orchestra

Keiko Devaux

Excavated Sound*

Unsuk Chin Mannequin

y a d 2 s t e c A edn 20 W pril A

Žibuokle Martinaityte

Saudade** Shannon Mercer – mezzo-soprano Alex Pauk – conductor Eugene Astapov – RBC associate composer/conductor * World Premiere commissioned by Esprit Orchestra with generous support from The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation ** Canadian Premiere

Composer/conductor Eugene Astapov directs his setting of Polina Barskova’s poetry in an emotional exploration tied to Nikolai Sapunov’s painting The Blue Hydrangeas, A Still Life. In addition to Azrieli Music Prize winner Keiko Devaux’s world premiere, Unsuk Chin’s “tableaux vivants” (choreographic gestures with surreal story), and Martinaityte’s Aubade, an expression of multiple yearnings, provide further vibrancy to the program.

Claude Vivier

y 3 a t d c s A ur 2 h 1 T ay M

Orion

Stephanie Orlando riptide*

Julia Mermelstein

in water suspended*

Christina Volpini

waves, breaking, reflecting light* Alex Pauk – conductor Video art projections by Moira Ness commissioned by Esprit Orchestra. Lobby art exhibit of still shots from the videos. * World Premiere commissioned by Esprit Orchestra with support from the Ontario Arts Council

Claude Vivier’s meditations on an “eternal homecoming” balance with three striking world premieres by young women (Stephanie Orlando, Julia Mermelstein and Christina Volpini) making strong new impacts on Canadian musical life. The themes and images of their pieces, each making reference to water in a different way, elicit profound emotional, physical and mental states. Exquisite video art interpretations of their music by Moira Ness, projected onstage with each piece, add an immersive visual dimension.

Understanding our need for sanctuary in today’s world, Alison Yun-Fei Jiang has created a work aiming to provide a musical safe place and house of prayer. In Sofia Gubaidulina’s spellbinding Fachwerk, orchestral colours are luxuriously lowered into a bed of strings until demonic impulses emerge.

Dynamic virtuoso accordionist Michael Bridge has longed to perform Gubaidulina’s piece since he first heard it.

Polaris, the North Star, has guided sailors and explorers for thousands of years. Here it provides the inspiration for a thrilling voyage for large orchestra by Thomas Adès.

Sofia Gubaidulina Fachwerk**

for accordion, percussion and orchestra

Alison Yun-Fei Jiang Sanctuary*

Thomas Adès Polaris

voyage for orchestra

Michael Bridge – accordion Alex Pauk – conductor

* World Premiere commissioned with generous support from The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation ** Canadian Premiere

y 4 a t d c s A ur 9 h T ne u J

Esprit Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following for their generous support

The Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation The S.M. Blair Family Foundation The Max Clarkson Family Foundation The Charles H. Ivey Foundation Timothy & Frances Price Anonymous

8:00pm Concert 7:15pm Pre-Concert Chat at Koerner Hall

Tickets Koerner Hall Box Office 416 408 0208

Programming is subject to change without notice.

espritorchestra.com