collectif9 and VC2 Cello Duo program

Meridian Arts Centre George Weston Recital Hall

collectif9 and VC2 Cello Duo November 23, 2023

TO Live would like to acknowledge Tkaronto, which is a Mohawk word meaning the place in the water where the trees are standing.

We live and work on the traditional territory of Haudenosaunee-speaking nations, including the Huron-Wendat, Seneca, and Mohawk. Haudenosauneespeaking nations have been here since time immemorial, and were more recently joined by the Mississaugas of the Credit.

This place has many Indigenous ports, including where the Humber and Rouge rivers meet other waterways such as Lake Ontario. Ancient longhouses— typical Haudenosaunee housing structures—have been found along both these rivers and in the north of Toronto near modern-day York University. This territory is covered by the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) Confederacy and the Anishnaabe (Ojibwe) and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the lands and the relationships around the Great Lakes.

What this means is that by living and working here, we all have a responsibility to the environment and to each other, to treat each other and the environment with peace and respect. This means we have responsibilities to honour, renew, and consistently uphold the values and relationships outlined in the ancient agreements.

Today, Toronto is home to Indigenous peoples and settlers from around the world. Let us all come together in an atmosphere of respect and peace to do good work together with good minds. Let’s start building stronger and healthier relationships with each other and the spaces we inhabit in Tkaronto, Ontari:io, Kanata.

Let’s hold our minds together in kindness.

Nia:wen. Thank you. © Dawn Maracle

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Welcome letter from TO Live Welcome to George Weston Recital Hall. Tonight, TO Live is proud to present an exciting double bill: Juno-nominated Montréal string ensemble collectif9, performing their chamber music and dance crossover work Rituæls; and VC2 Cello Duo—cellists Amahl Arulanandam and Bryan Holt—who play a wide selection of classical masterworks, unknown gems, and new contemporary compositions and arrangements. Both groups are shining lights in the vibrant neo-classical music scene in Canada.

Thank you for joining us on a musical journey this evening with these wonderful artists. TO Live is committed to reanimating and revitalizing the great George Weston Recital Hall at Meridian Arts Centre in North York, and we have many exciting performances planned.

Next Thursday, November 30, the legendary jazz guitarist John Scofield brings his trio with Vicente Archer, hailed as one of the most sought-out bassists of his generation, and acclaimed drummer Bill Stewart. Only a few tickets remain!

Recently announced shows here at the George Weston Recital Hall include: Doos Trio, featuring Kayhan Kalhor, Wu Man, and Sandeep Das, established soloists teaming up to bring a 21st-century program that highlights the ancient traditions of Iran, China, and India (February 9, 2024); Wild Up, called “a raucous, grungy, irresistibly exuberant…funloving, exceptionally virtuosic family” by The New York Times and lauded as one of classical music’s most exciting groups by critics (March 27, 2024); Jazz at Lincoln Center Presents: Sing & Swing, featuring trumpeters and vocalists Bria Skonberg and Benny Benack III in a celebration of the Great American Songbook (March 30, 2024); and Eve Egoyan, renowned Armenian-Canadian pianist who will explore the piano through an Armenian folkloric lens (May 9, 2024).

And that is only the beginning. Thank you for supporting live music.

Enjoy the show.

Clyde Wagner President & CEO TO Live

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Max Rubino Director of Programming TO Live

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VC2 Cello Duo Amahl Arulanandam & Bryan Holt Program Arboreto Salvatico Giovanni Sollima (b. 1962) II. Il tasso III. La sequoia A Lure of Freedom Kathryn Knowles (b. 1992) Final Glimpse Kelly-Marie Murphy (b. 1964) Ridge & Furrow Fjóla Evans (b. 1987) Violoncello Duet (“I and Thou”) Kati Agócs (b. 1975) I. With dignified elegance II. With great tenderness

Photo credit: Bo Huang 3

A note from VC2 Cello Duo Welcome to a musical evening with VC2 Cello Duo and collectif9, presented by TO Live. We are overjoyed to have you here in this exquisite George Weston Recital Hall, where the beauty of music will unfold before you. We are honoured to share this program with our Montréal colleagues and friends, collectif9.

Tonight, we embark on a journey that transcends mere performance. What VC2 offers is a tapestry of emotions, a vivid narrative spun through the resonance of our cellos. Through this special and diverse program, we extend an invitation for you to explore the stories hidden within the notes.

Music is not just an arrangement of sounds; for us, it’s a storyteller.

It transports the instruments to enchanting realms, like the lush visions of Giovanni Sollima’s “Arboreto Salvatico” or the captivating tales woven by Katherine Knowles in “A Lure of Freedom.” You will feel the heart-wrenching tragedy of the Hindenburg explosion in Kelly-Marie Murphy’s “Final Glimpse” and uncover the mysteries of ancient geology in Fjola Evans’ “Ridge and Furrow.” Kati Agocs’ “I and Thou” will lead you on an introspective journey into the depths of oneself.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude for being a part of this extraordinary evening. You are in for a genuine feast of the senses, an experience that will linger long after the final note has faded.

Let us embark on this captivating adventure together. Enjoy all that unfolds before you, for tonight, thank you for letting us become storytellers through the language of music.

Amahl Arulanandam & Bryan Holt VC2 Cello Duo

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VC2 Cello Duo

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VC2 Cello Duo, consisting of Amahl Arulanadam and Bryan Holt, is one of Canada’s most innovative and exciting new duos. Both musicians are highly trained and have extensive performance experience. The pair met in 2008 while attending the University of Toronto where they individually studied under Shauna Rolston.

They both chose to continue their studies at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University where they completed their master’s degrees with Matt Haimovitz.

In 2015, they both found themselves back in Toronto and a musical partnership was born.

Bringing their unique brand of cello-fuelled music coast to coast, VC2 seeks to take a place at the forefront of the Canadian chamber music world. In February 2018, VC2 embarked on a tour of the east coast of Canada, presented by Debut Atlantic. In 2019, they toured the prairie provinces under the auspices of Prairie Debut.

They continue to perform at summer festivals, concert organizations, and halls ranging from Burlington Performing Arts to Ottawa Chamber Music Festival and many other large or intimate venues.

Rituæls by collectif9 Program Drone (collectif9) O vis æternitatis (Hildegard Von Bingen, 12th century) Psalom (Arvo Pärt, 1985) Another Living Soul (Nicole Lizée, 2016) (a, b) Lament (Michael Tippett, 1952) Aheym (Bryce Dessner, 2009) The Beatitudes (Arvo Pärt, 1990) Summa (Arvo Pärt, 1977) Exaudi (Jocelyn Morlock, 2004) (a) Tenebre (Bryce Dessner, 2011) (a) (a) arrangement by Thibault Bertin-Maghit (b) written for Kronos Performing Arts Association’s Fifty for the Future: The Kronos Learning Repertoire

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A note from collectif9 about Rituæls We cannot tell you how thrilled we are to be back in Toronto, this time for a performance of one of our favourite programmes, Rituæls. The music we will play for you tonight dates from the Middle Ages all the way to the 21st century with a narrative that recalls the human tradition of passing on knowledge and practices in culture and art. What better place to come together and share our humanity than here at the beautiful space that is the George Weston Recital Hall? We are equally thrilled to be joined by the fabulous dancer Maïka Giasson, who will be our guiding presence through time and music during Rituæls. What a joy to also share this evening with our friends from VC2 Cello Duo! This will be a memorable night. But what can you expect to hear from us?

The minimalist sound universe that opens the program is an opportunity to slow down and refocus our energies, creating a fertile ground from which the rest of the program can take root. This collective improvisation is inspired by the work of French composer Éliane Radigue (a pioneer in electronic music), whose works consist exclusively of drones, apparently motionless, while in constant transformation.

We begin with our own murmuring drone, from which the monodic chant of medieval composer Hildegard von Bingen slowly appears: “O vis æternitatis” (Oh force of eternity) is an expression of her devotion to holy powers, originally written for women’s voices. Saint Hildegard was an abbess and polymath as well as a writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, and medical writer and practitioner—a true feminist of the 12th century.

The radically minimalist music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt appears at two different moments in our program. In “Psalom” we haven’t strayed far from von Bingen, following a style reminiscent of medieval and renaissance music: here, the tonality is grounding, and his use of silence is as rich and eloquent as the sounds that come before and after. The enigmatic “Summa” is based on the text of the Latin Credo, yet we are left only with whispers of its sacred origins in this instrumental form.

With “Another Living Soul”, Montréal composer Nicole Lizée creates a serene, yet intensely detailed world inspired by stop-motion animation.

Her homage to this centenarian art form mimics the intimacy and scrutiny of stop-motion itself, creating a work that has its own life. “The impossible becomes possible—souls emerge from where once there were none.”

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The journey between and beyond darkness and light guides us through the music of American Bryce Dessner. A Yiddish word that translates to “Homeward,” “Aheym” is a tormented pilgrimage that testifies to Dessner’s cultural identity and his connection to his family’s past as Jewish immigrants to America. Another example of a sacred idea turned secular, Dessner’s “Tenebre” is not based on the religious service, but rather the symbolism of life and light, inverting the usual form of the service to ascend out of darkness.

Grief is a central element in Michael Tippett’s “Lament”. He uses Henry Purcell’s aria “Ah! Belinda” (from his opera Dido and Aeneas) as a foundation—from the repeating motive in the basses to the tragic melody played by the violas—during which a solo violin comments with a barely recognizable variation on an Irish popular tune of the Renaissance, “Sellinger’s Round”. This “lament” can be seen as the juxtaposition of pain and heartbreak with the continuation of everyday life, changed as it may be.

Originally written for voices and cello, Jocelyn Morlock’s “Exaudi”, also an expression of grief, includes hope. In her all-embracing interpretation of grief and mourning, Morlock’s music “moves us from an inability to comprehend our loss to passionate cries of anguish, to acceptance and angelic reassurance.” Today, the idea of grief as it pertains to “Exaudi” is particularly vivid for us as the composer passed away this past March. Jocelyn was a beautiful and sensitive artist. She wrote deeply touching music and the loss of her voice is profoundly felt across the country. “Exaudi” is one of the many special examples of her humanity and compassion.

We are grateful to share this evening with you here in Toronto. It is a great privilege to invite you into our collective imagination, and to experience a moment of togetherness through music and movement. We hope you enjoy the show.

Andrea Stewart and Thibault Bertin-Maghit collectif9

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Rituæls by collectif9 On stage Dance: Maïka Giasson collectif9 Violin: Chloé Chabanole Violin: John Corban Violin: Robert Margaryan Violin: TJ Skinner Viola: Cynthia Blanchon Viola: Xavier Lepage-Brault Cello: Jérémie Cloutier Cello: Andrea Stewart Double bass: Thibault Bertin-Maghit Off stage Artistic direction and staging: Thibault Bertin-Maghit Associate direction and communication: Andrea Stewart Choreography: Stacey Désilier Set design: Joëlle Harbec Lighting design: Renaud Pettigrew Lighting adaptation and operator: Simon Rossiter Set design adaption: Kim Sue Bartnik Costumes (Maïka Giasson): Rémi van Bochove Andrea Stewart performs on the 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano II cello, on loan by the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.

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collectif9

Known for their innovative programming and approach to chamber music, Juno-nominated Montreal string ensemble collectif9 performs “with an infectious energy and vigour that grabs an audience’s attention” (The WholeNote). Since their 2011 debut, collectif9 has performed many concerts across North America, Europe, and Asia. As performers of classical and contemporary music, the ensemble combines the power of an orchestra with the agility of a chamber ensemble. collectif9 operates on the premise that a change of context can influence communication and experience. collectif9 is grateful to the arts councils of Montreal, Quebec, and Canada, and to FACTOR for their continued financial support, but also their local and Canadian community, thanks to whom our governments ensure support for the arts, an essential investment for the quality of our lives.

Maïka Giasson

Born in Montreal, Maïka Giasson trained at the Montreal School of Contemporary Dance, graduating in 2017. She was awarded the Sofia-Borella scholarship and the TransFormation Danse scholarship, which launched her into the professional world. At the age of 21, she undertook advanced training courses in Europe, notably in Germany and Belgium. Maïka has since worked with a number of Montreal companies and choreographers, including Jacques Poulin-Denis, Stacey Désilier, Miranda Chan, and Parts+Labour_Danse.

In 2021, Maïka choreographed the duet Tracking, presented at the Festival Quartiers Danses in Montreal, which won the prize for best work in an urban context.

She is also artistic director and choreographer of the multidisciplinary show Dyneema, which had its world premiere at the M.A.D. Festival in August 2023.

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Artist stories: VC2 Cello Duo Toronto locals Amahl Arulanadam and Bryan Holt of VC2 Cello Duo recently stopped by the TO Live offices to give us a lesson on the cello, share their take on classical music, and get quizzed on who knows the other one better. Check out the fun videos at the link below!

Click here to watch!

Photo credit: Bo Huang 13

Artist stories: collectif9 Want to learn where collectif9 finds inspiration? How each member of the ensemble came to be an artist? Or which one is super excited about the food scene in Toronto? That last one is a trick question—they all are—but you can discover more about collectif9 by reading our interviews with the artists at the link below.

Click here to read the interviews!

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