Antarctica: Life Emerging features a musical journey through the icy landscape of Antarctica as part of the global campaign to safeguard the Southern Ocean. Created in collaboration between composer Marcus Goddard, photographer Paul Nicklen, SeaLegacy, Aventa and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the work features musical contributions from forty artists from eighteen orchestras from around the world, as well as a special appearance by the celebrated cellist Yo-Yo Ma. The premiere will be followed by a conversation between the creators, moderated by Katie Couric.
“Music has a unique power to move people that no other artistic medium can match,” says Nicklen, Co-founder of SeaLegacy. “Marcus Goddard has harnessed that power in Antarctica: Life Emerging – an emotionally engaging symphonic journey that reveals the beauty and the plight of Earth’s most remote continent.”
“In Antarctica: Life Emerging, I aspire to bring audiences on a unique artistic journey into not only the awe-inspiring ruggedness and beauty of Antarctica, but also to the tenderness of life expressed so eloquently by Paul Nicklen’s stunning images,” says Goddard. “I hope to express the mysterious combination of reverence, wonder and concern that surround my own emotions when I contemplate this region.”
Over the past season, Aventa has enjoyed the privilege of recording several works from the iconic Quebec composer, Gilles Tremblay. Following our recording sessions, we always took the time to film several of these works “live”, which we are pleased to present in this virtual concert.
Aventa Ensemble
University of Victoria Farquhar Auditorium 2021
Music of Gilles Tremblay
One of Canada’s foremost composers, Gilles Tremblay travelled an exemplary route. The Quebec pianist and composer never stopped pushing back the frontiers of his research. His contribution to contemporary music is remarkable, distinguished as it is by an exceptional open-mindedness and a keen awareness of the very nature of sound.
00:18 Champs I – Gilles Tremblay
Roger Admiral, piano | Karl Williams, percussion | Aaron Mattock, percussion
09:48 Le sifflement vents porteurs de l’amour – Gilles Tremblay
Mark Takeshi McGregor, flute | Bill Linwood, percussion
26:58 Chants Convergents – Gilles Tremblay
Ansârî “Tu es tout et c’est tout”
Hillesum “…une grande vie universelle…”
d’Avila “TOI, MOI.”
Helen Pridmore, soprano | AK Coope, clarinet | Karl Williams, percussion | Aaron Mattock, percussion | Roger Admiral, piano | Bill Linwood, conductor
47:40 Solstices – Gilles Tremblay
Mark McGregor, flute | AK Coope, clarinet | Darnell Linwood, horn | Darren Buhr, double bass | Karl Williams, percussion I Aaron Mattock, percussion | Bill Linwood, conductor
Champs I for piano and percussion was completed in 1965 and later revised by the composer in 1969. Composer Bruce Mather commented: “The work is splendidly successful in its integration of the role of the piano with that of the percussion, and in the natural blending of pitched instruments of with those possessing more complex or imprecise pitches.”
Aventa’s virtual concert continues with Gilles Tremblay’s classic work for flute and percussion, “… Le sifflement des vents porteurs de l’amour…”. Gilles Tremblay wrote that “the theme of this work is wind, physically and spiritually. Its presence forms the music – breath, through the pureness of silence; frozen states, fringes of existence, a warmth that melts and fertilizes in multiplied and endless plays and possibilities.” In his 2003 work,
Chants Convergents, three chants originate from times and places far from each other: Ansârî is an Afghan Muslim mystic of the 11th century; Etty Hillesum is a young Dutch Jew who died in Auschwitz in 1943; the Castilian Thérèse d’Avila is one of the great Christian figures of the 16th century, both in her writings and in her foundations.
“Solstices” (1971) is essentially a game of music based on the four seasons. The overall feeling of the interpretation is influenced by the time of year the work is performed. This performance is influenced by the Fall season with the decomposition of sounds realized by harmonics, parasitic noises, white noises and other extended techniques. While the double bass is responsible for Fall, each of the wind instruments is given a season of its own. The flute takes the lead in Spring with lively outbursts of melody and interjection, the clarinet continues with summer in the “music of insects” and the horn foreshadows the icy coldness of winter.
Aventa’s 2020/21 season continues with two of Nicole Lizée’s most striking works, “Tarantino Études” and “Hitchcock Études”.
“Tarantino Études” for bass flute, soundtrack and video was commissioned and premiered by flutist extraordinaire Mark Takeshi McGregor. This work has a warning for explicit violence, strong language and drug use.
This version of “Hitchcock Études” features six players with soundtrack and video. Nicole Lizée writes that “the premise for “Hitchcock Études” is centred around my ongoing preoccupation with the fallibility of media. Technology has the potential to fail and can fail in spectacular ways, crating fascinating sounds and visuals. How to capture and replicate these beautiful mistakes?”
University Centre Farquhar Auditorium
University of Victoria
recorded Feb. 23, 2021
00:25 Nicole Lizée, Tarantino Études
Mark Takeshi McGregor, bass flute
21:28 Nicole Lizée, Hitchcock Études
Muge Buyukcelen, violin
Alasdair Money, cello
Mark McGregor, flute
AK Coope, bass clarinet
Roger Admiral, piano
Aaron Mattock, percussion
Bill Linwood, conductor
Concert duration 42:18
Tarantino Études and Hitchcock Études are published by the Canadian Music Centre.
Aventa’s virtual 2020/21 concert season continues with Gilles Tremblay’s classic work for flute and percussion, “… Le sifflement des vents porteurs de l’amour…”, featuring Mark Takeshi McGregor and Bill Linwood.
University Centre Farquhar Auditorium
University of Victoria
Gilles Tremblay, “… Le sifflement des vents porteurs de l’amour…” (1971)
Mark Takeshi McGregor, flute
Bill Linwood, percussion
“… The Whistling of the Winds Bearer of Love…” is a quotation from the Spiritual Canticle XIV by St. John of the Cross. The theme of this work is wind, physically and spiritually. Its presence forms the music – breath, through the pureness of silence; frozen states, fringes of existence, warmth that melts and fertilizes in multiplied and endless plays and possibilities. – Gilles Tremblay
One of Canada’s foremost composers, Gilles Tremblay travelled an exemplary route. The Quebec pianist and composer never stopped pushing the frontiers of his research. His contribution to contemporary music is remarkable, distinguished as it is by an exceptional open-mindedness and a keen awareness of the very nature of sound.
Aventa’s virtual 2020/21 concert season continues with the music of two remarkable composers, Finland’s Kaija Saariaho alongside Canada’s Gilles Tremblay.
Aventa presents Saariaho and Tremblay
University Centre Farquhar Auditorium, University of Victoria November 1, 2020
0:00 – Kaija Saariaho, Laconisme de l’aile (1982)
Mark McGregor, solo flute
10:51 – Gilles Tremblay, Solstices (1971)
Aventa Ensemble Mark McGregor, flute
AK Coope, clarinet
Darnell Linwood, horn
Darren Buhr, double bass
Karl Williams, percussion I
Aaron Mattock, percussion II
Bill Linwood, conductor
Vancouver’s Mark Takeshi McGregor is a passionate advocate for expanding both the Canadian and international flute repertoire, resulting in new works for solo flute, chamber music, and concertos. A prolific recording artist, Mark Takeshi McGregor has appeared on the Centrediscs and Redshift record labels and in 2020 was the winner of the Western Canadian Music Award “Classical Artist/Ensemble of the Year” for his album, Lutalica.
Kaija Saariaho is a prominent member of a group of Finnish artists who are making a worldwide impact. The spoken text for her 1982 work, “Laconisme de l’aile”, is based on a fragment of a poem by French poet Saint-John Perse (1887 – 1975), from a collection entitled Oiseaux (Birds):
Ignorants de leur ombre, et ne sachant de mort que ce qui s’en consume d’immortel au bruit lointain des grandes eaux, ils passent, nous laissant, et nous ne sommes plus les mêmes. Ils sont l’espace traversé d’une seule pensée.
Ignorant of their shadow, knowing of death only that immortal part which is consumed in the distant clamour of great waters, they pass and leave us, and we are no longer the same. They are the space traversed by a single thought.
One of Canada’s foremost composers, Gilles Tremblay travelled an exemplary route. The Quebec pianist and composer never stopped pushing back the frontiers of his research. His contribution to contemporary music is remarkable, distinguished as it is by an exceptional open-mindedness and a keen awareness of the very nature of sound.
“Solstices” is essentially a game of music based on the four seasons. The overall feeling of the interpretation is influenced by the time of year the work is performed. This performance is influence by the Fall season with the decomposition of sounds realized by harmonics, parasitic noises, white noises and other extended techniques. While the double bass is responsible for Fall, each of the wind instruments are given a season of their own. The flute takes the lead in Spring with lively outbursts of melody and interjection, the clarinet continues with summer in the “music of insects” and the horn brings the icy coldness of winter.
Aventa presents Spanning Tree By Michael Oesterle
Bill Linwood, solo percussion
Recorded August 20, 2020 – University of Victoria Farquhar Auditorium
Michael Oesterle, Spanning Tree (2013-14)
0:00 – introduction
00:15 – SIX
05:11 – THREE
09:55 – ONE
13:26 – FIVE
18:49 – FOUR
28:11 – TWO
Array Music’s Artistic Director and percussionist extraordinaire, David Schotzko, joins Aventa’s Bill Linwood in a chat about Michael Oesterle’s remarkable work for solo percussion, Spanning Tree.
Aventa presents The Sinking of the Titanic
Saturday, June 12, 2010 – 7:30 PM Margaret Greenham Theatre, Banff, Alberta Gavin Bryars, The Sinking of the Titanic Archival live performance with special guests: Gavin Bryars (double bass) Phil Dwyer (tenor sax) from Aventa: Mieka Michaux, Muge Buyukcelen (violas) Alasdair Money (cello) Darnell Linwood (horn, piano) Corey Rae, Bill Linwood (percussion) Kevin Lamotte, lighting designer / Tim O’Gorman, production manager Aventa Ensemble / Joel Ivany, Stage Director / Florian Krentz, Simon Gamache, Gonzolo Garcia, recording engineers. Special thanks to Sally Groves (Schott Music) and David Gleeson (The Banff Centre) The residency was a co-production of the Banff Centre and the British Columbia Arts Council.