ALEX PAUK
Esprit’s programming this season will keep you on the Edge of Your Seat. Our inaugural Edge of Your Seat International Festival provides an added dimension by not only bringing fantastic pieces from abroad to your ears and minds but also the sounds of performers who’ve been making big waves on the global music scene.
Esprit’s international reputation as a unique new music orchestra has been growing through co-commissions with orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian State Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Sao Paulo State Symphony and the Tongyeong Festival (Korea). A shining example of Esprit prowess in this realm will be our North American Premiere of Slovenian Vito Žuraj’s Anemoi (co- commissioned with the Berlin Philharmonic) on March 27th as a highlight of our Edge of Your Seat International Festival. With this performance and others throughout the season we’re broadening our international online presence by expanding production of recordings and videos.
A key element of the Edge of Your Seat Festival will be the presence of eminent guest composers and performers from abroad. Vito Žuraj, an international composing juggernaut, will attend and give workshops for students and the public in the days prior to the festival as will Lisa Streich who has lately been having entire European festivals and concerts devoted to her music. We’re also excited that Andrew Norman, whose music we’ve thrilled audiences with many times, will join us from Los Angeles for our third performance of his Sustain, a plea for care in looking after our planet.
One of Esprit’s outstanding Edge of Your Seat Festival guest soloists is violinist Akiko Suwanai from Japan, a foremost interpreter of contemporary music who will perform Violin Concerto #2 by the late Peter Eötvös, one of Europe’s most important composer/conductors. American soprano Sophia Burgos, gaining tremendous international praise and established as a current leading interpreter of Vivier’s vocal works, brings new vocal sensuality to my friend Claude’s Lonely Child. This is a work I’ve championed over several decades along with many of Vivier’s other outstanding pieces.
Two more intimate festival concerts at Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre, with works for chamber orchestra, smaller ensembles and soloists, are no less vital than those on our Koerner Hall programs. The two Koerner Hall Prelude Concerts serve to highlight the abundance of exceptional “home-grown” soloists who’ve been working with Esprit over the years.
I encourage you to become aware of where Esprit’s heading and join us on the journey. Want to hear what Gabriella Smith’s f(x)=sin2x-1/x sounds like?
You’ve got to be with us on the Edge of Your Seat November 27th!
ALEX PAUK, C.M. FOUNDER, MUSIC DIRECTOR & CONDUCTOR
EDGE OF YOUR SEAT SEASON
8:00PM CONCERTS
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS ON SALE OCTOBER 7
F(X) =
PRELUDE #1
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2024
KOERNER HALL
Alex Pauk Conductor
Michael Bridge Accordion
Gabriella Smith USA
Bent Sørensen DNK
Maki Ishii JPN
RUNNER
PRELUDE #2
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2025
KOERNER HALL
Alex Pauk Conductor
Mark Fewer Violin
Kevin Ahfat Piano
Erica Goodman Harp
Wesley Shen Harpsichord
Steve Reich USA
Hans Abrahamsen DNK
Alex Pauk CAN
Henryk Gorecki POL
CHASING VITO
FESTIVAL #1
TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2025
KOERNER HALL
Alex Pauk Conductor
Ryan Scott CAN Marimba
Vito Žuraj SVN
Guest Composer
Caroline Shaw USA
Keiko Abe JAP
Vito Žuraj SVN
CARROT REVOLUTION
FESTIVAL #3
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2025
TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE
Alex Pauk Conductor
Ryan Scott Percussion
Michael Murphy Percussion
Aline Morales Vocalist
Gabriella Smith USA
Keiko Abe JPN
Mark Duggan CAN
Julia Mermelstein CAN
Roydon Tse CAN
Ivan Trevino MEX
John Rea CAN
ICEFIRE, DO-RE-MI & CARING FOR THE EARTH
FESTIVAL #2
THURSDAY, MARCH 27, 2025
KOERNER HALL
Alex Pauk Conductor
Akiko Suwanai JAP Violin
Lisa Streich SWE
Guest Composer
Andrew Norman USA
Guest Composer
Lisa Streich SWE
Peter Eötvös HUN
Andrew Norman USA
IMAGINARY PANCAKE
FESTIVAL #4
SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 2025
TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE
Alex Pauk Conductor
Wesley Shen Piano
Mark Fewer Violin
Wallace Halladay Saxophone
Quinn Jacobs CAN
Bernhard Lang AUT
Gabriella Smith USA
Chris Paul Harman CAN
Ben Nobuto GBR
COSMIC HEARTBEATS
FESTIVAL #5
THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2025
KOERNER HALL
Alex Pauk Conductor
Sophia Burgos USA Soprano
Nicholas Ma CAN
James O’Callaghan CAN
Claude Vivier CAN
Unsuk Chin KOR
CAROLINE SHAW
LISA STREICH
VITO ŽURAJ
AKIKO SUWANAI
UNSUK CHIN
MUSICAL INSIGHTS
AKA PRE-CONCERT CHATS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
Looking for an opportunity to engage with the composers and soloists featured in our concerts? Curious about new music and want to learn more about what you’re hearing?
Esprit hosts FREE Musical Insights in Koerner Hall before every concert. Each discussion is hosted by Juno Award-winning Alexina Louie and features lively conversations with guest composers, soloists and Esprit musicians!
ALL MUSICAL INSIGHTS ARE FREE WITH YOUR TICKET PURCHASE AND START AT 7:15PM —45 MINUTES BEFORE SHOWTIME.
As you can see, Esprit’s season is bigger and more ambitious than ever and to help us ensure its success to the fullest degree, we need your support. Through your financial contribution to the Esprit Orchestra, you are directly and positively impacting the future of Canadian music. Donate today and demonstrate your belief in the bold, inspiring nature that characterizes the Esprit Orchestra!
F(X)=
PRELUDE CONCERT #1
WEDNESDAY
NOVEMBER 27, 2024
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Michael Bridge Accordion
PROGRAMME
Gabriella Smith USA
f(x)=sin2x-1/x*, 2019
Bent Sørensen DNK
It is pain flowing down slowly on a white wall**, 2010
Maki Ishii JPN Fū Shi (“Shape of the Wind”), 1989
Sound forms of immense power or poetic, delicate beauty are the musical essences for experiencing this concert. Flowing, pulsing, riveting energies arise in timetranscendent creations. f(x)=sin2x-1/x is a mathematical formula conveying the shape of Smith’s “in the groove” piece which moves with exhilarating rhythmic drive to end with a cascade of brass flourishes serving as our season’s opening fanfare. Sørensen’s intimate, captivating work, in slow motion, creates an intoxicating sensual atmosphere. Ishii’s massive sound-space continuum is imbued with surprise and its East/West cross-cultural fabric provides it with tremendous imaginative power. Such illusive descriptions of varied inspirations only begin to hint at the varied richness and grand scope of the three amazing works on this concert.
RUNNER
PRELUDE CONCERT #2
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 23, 2025
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Mark Fewer Violin
Kevin Ahfat Piano
Erica Goodman Harp Wesley Shen Harpsichord
PROGRAMME
Steve Reich USA Runner*, 2016
Hans Abrahamsen DNK Double Concerto, 2011
Alex Pauk CAN Concerto for Harp & Orchestra, 2005
Henryk Gorecki POL Concerto for Harpsichord & Orchestra, 1980
Soloist friends of Esprit and outstanding soloists drawn from within Esprit are spotlighted in this program performing three exceptional concertos from different cultures. Reich’s minimalist, energized and infectious Runner sets the pace for this concert and leads to the contrasting, intense and distilled poetic moments of Abrahamsen’s Double Concerto with individual soloists relating to each other separately then alternatively playing in unison. Full attention will be on Erica Goodman in her performance of Music Director Pauk’s Harp Concerto, a work of virtuosity bringing the wide-ranging musical experiences of the composer’s background into play in a kind of musical self-portrait.
Gorecki’s concerto won’t let you go. From the work’s first flurry of notes the piece takes you on an electrifying wild ride. Breathtaking!
EDGE YOUR INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
MARCH–APRIL 2025
KOERNER HALL & TRINITY-ST.
PAUL’S CENTRE
EDGE OF SEAT INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
FESTIVAL SPONSORS
THE MICHAEL & SONJA KOERNER CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
AZRIELI FOUNDATION
THE CLEARWATER FOUNDATION
THE MARY-MARGARET WEBB FOUNDATION ANONYMOUS
CHASING VITO
FESTIVAL CONCERT #1
TUESDAY
MARCH 4, 2025
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Ryan Scott CAN Marimba Vito Žuraj SVN Guest Composer
PROGRAMME
Keiko Abe JPN The Wave, 2000
Caroline Shaw USA Entr’acte, 2011
Vito Žuraj SVN Anemoi*, 2024
From the blast of percussive exuberance in Abe’s The Wave to the immense force of windpower summoned up in Žuraj’s Anemoi, audiences will be on the edge of their seats as the reverberations from these pieces wash over them. While The Wave features percussion only, a large battery of percussive forces forms part of a gigantic orchestra conveying the powers of Žuraj’s winds of antiquity. Prepare to be swept away.
In keeping with the meaning of its title, Shaw’s Entr’acte, for strings alone, is a refreshing diversion between these pieces as it riffs on classical form and “takes you to the other side of Alice’s looking glass in a kind of absurd, subtle, technicolour transition.”
ICEFIRE, DO-RE-MI & CARING FOR THE EARTH
FESTIVAL CONCERT #2
WEDNESDAY
MARCH 27, 2025
KOERNER HALL
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Akiko Suwanai JPN Violin
Lisa Streich SWE Guest Composer
Andrew Norman USA Guest Composer
PROGRAMME
Lisa Streich SWE ISHJÄRTA*, 2024
Peter Eötvös HUN Violin Concerto #2 “DoReMi”**, 2011–12
Andrew Norman USA Sustain, 2018
In Streich’s ISHJÄRTA distinctive chordal characteristics emerge in a soundspace of contrasting layers mists, shimmering veils – a capped, shielded world. This is a piece about heart and intensifying expression.
Eötvös’ DoReMi Concerto reconfigures the notes of various well-known nursery rhymes and childhood songs to create tensions and conflicts as in real life. Dramatic situations can evolve and in this work they do!
A question for audiences of 2118 about how notions of time, space, sound and history have shaped their world guided Norman in writing Sustain as a continuous spiral contemplating the rise and fall of species, the movement of tectonic plates, the birth and death of stars and the question of how the Earth will fare over long periods into the future.
CARROT REVOLUTION
FESTIVAL CONCERT #3
THURSDAY APRIL 2, 2025
TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Ryan Scott Percussion
Michael Murphy Percussion Aline Morales Vocalist
PROGRAMME
Gabriella Smith USA Carrot Revolution, 2015 for string quartet
Keiko Abe JPN Michi, 1979 for solo marimba
Mark Duggan CAN Maracatu Imaginário**, 2017 for vocalist & ensemble
Julia Mermelstein CAN Floral Reef*, 2024 for chamber orchestra
Roydon Tse CAN Stepwise*, 2023 for chamber orchestra
Ivan Trevino MEX Wildlings, 2014 for percussion duo
John Rea CAN Objets perçus, 2023 for string quartet
Along with World Premieres of two chamber orchestra works (Mermelstein & Tse), this program reprises a work with Brazilian inflections that Esprit previously commissioned from our percussionist Mark Duggan. Percussion has a strong presence on this concert with Ryan Scott performing Abe’s Michi, a marimba solo in contrast to the composer’s The Wave performed earlier in the season. A spectacular percussion duo by Trevino heightens the concert’s percussive element. Two superb string quartets, radically different from one another, highlight the styles of Smith and Rea. Gabriella Smith has a unique sensibility when it comes to naming her pieces. Experience a Carrot Revolution.
*WORLD PREMIERE Commissioned by Esprit Orchestra with support from The Michael & Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation
IMAGINARY PANCAKE
FESTIVAL CONCERT #4
SUNDAY
APRIL 6, 2025
TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE
8:00PM CONCERT
7:15PM MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA
LOUIE & GUESTS
FEATURING
Alex Pauk Conductor
Wesley Shen Piano
Mark Fewer Violin
Wallace Halladay Saxophone
PROGRAMME
Quinn Jacobs CAN New Work*, 2025 for chamber orchestra
Bernhard Lang AUT D/W 24 ‘Loops for Al Jourgensen’, 2013 for saxophone & ensemble
Ben Nobuto GBR Serenity 2.0, 2021 for string quartet, percussion and electronics
Gabriella Smith USA Imaginary Pancake, 2020 for solo piano
Chris Paul Harman CAN Partita No .2 for Solo Violin, 2019
Did you ever think that “serious” new music could make you laugh? Seriously? It’s not usual for a piece of new music to get an audience to at least chuckle but it’s likely that the work by Bernard Lang on this concert will do just that – and do it with a highly exuberant take on some of the most important elements found in the music of today. Also, in this program Esprit again gives a World Premiere of a new work for chamber orchestra and contrasts a solo work for piano with larger works by the same composer (Gabriella Smith) performed earlier in the season. A reprise of Harman’s Partita provides listeners the chance to hear Mark Fewer perform this immensely virtuosic piece in the fine acoustic environment of Trinity-St. Paul’s Centre. Another highlight will be the appearance of Wallace Halladay on saxophone as featured soloist in the Lang. And can you imagine what an Imaginary Pancake sounds like?
COSMIC HEARTBEATS
TRINITY-ST. PAUL’S CENTRE
WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS
Alluding to ritual Korean court music as well as lively traditional Korean folkloric music, Chin’s depiction blends a large array of percussion instruments with massive orchestral forces to create a work of tremendous energy and physicality. launches not only an exciting new work but also a young composer’s early career in the manner Esprit has done for young composers
The world premiere of O’Callaghan’s new work provides the composer with the opportunity to drop his usual blend of acoustic and electronic instruments and focus intensely
Vivier’s “long song of solitude”, in both French and the invented language from the composer’s extraordinary imagination, is autobiographical and subconsciously Lonely Child conveys childlike innocence as well as a profound reaching out to the Commissioned by
GUEST
AKIKO SUWANAI, VIOLIN
MICHAEL BRIDGE, ACCORDION
KEVIN AHFAT, PIANO
MARK FEWER, VIOLIN
ERICA GOODMAN, HARP
SOPHIA BURGOS, SOPRANO
ARTISTS
WESLEY SHEN, HARPSICHORD
MICHAEL MURPHY, PERCUSSION
WALLACE HALLADAY, SAXOPHONE
RYAN SCOTT, PERCUSSION
ALINE MORALES, VOCALS
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SEASON SPONSOR
INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL SPONSORS
The Michael & Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation The Clearwater Foundation
The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation Anonymous
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