Still Life and Titanic
Sunday, Apr 2, 2023 8pm
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
(UVic School of Music, MacLaurin Building)
Tickets at the door $25 or online
Aventa Ensemble
Bill Linwood, conductor
Missy Mazzoli, Still Life With Avalanche
György Ligeti, Chamber Concerto
Taylor Brook, Lore *
Gavin Bryars, The Sinking of the Titanic
Alongside the iconic Chamber Concerto and Gavin Bryars’ masterpiece The Sinking of the Titanic, Aventa presents music from the astonishing American composer Missy Mazzoli. Described by Time Out as a “post-millennial Mozart,” Mazzoli is one of the most inventive and surprising composers creating today. In Still Life With Avalanche, a strange and evocative sonic landscape emerges as piles of melodies collapse in a chaotic free fall, with bursts of sounds layering over the static drones of harmonicas. “At its core, this is a piece about finding beauty in chaos, and vice versa.” – Missy Mazzoli
Rounding out the evening’s performance is the world premiere of Taylor Brook’s Lore. Written for Aventa in the Summer and Fall of 2022, Lore is a set of six “songs”, each focusing on a different lead instrument or instrumental group. “I call these pieces “songs,” despite having no voice part, to help conjure a sense of imaginary musical tradition. Each of the songs is envisioned as belonging to a musical tradition in another reality, perhaps an alternate version of our own history. These imaginary musical traditions have their own unique performance practice, understanding of musical meaning, expression, and sense of cultural place.” – Taylor Brook
* World premiere
Aequilibria
Sunday, Sept 25, 2022 8pm
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
(UVic School of Music, MacLaurin Building)
Tickets at the door $25 or online
Aventa Ensemble
Bill Linwood, conductor
Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Ró
Rolf Wallin, Topologie d’une cité fantôme
Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Hrim
Bent Sørensen, Deserted Churchyards
Bent Sørensen, Funeral Procession
Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Aequilibria
For our opening concert, Aventa highlights the striking and distinctive music of Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Praised as “never less than fascinating” (Gramophone) and for a sound world of “seemingly boundless textural imagination” (NY Times), Anna’s music has struck a chord with audiences worldwide. Her classic work for ensemble, Aequilibria, serves as a musical anchor for this concert over which the other works interweave and float alongside.
Life Emerging
Sunday, Nov 13, 2022 8pm
Phillip T. Young Recital Hall
(UVic School of Music, MacLaurin Building)
Tickets at the door $25 or online
Aventa Ensemble
Bill Linwood, conductor
David Eagle, As mountain winds
Jocelyn Morlock, Velour
Jordan Nobles, Simulacrum
Giorgio Magnanensi, QUID
Marcus Goddard, Antarctica: Life Emerging *
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 and SeaLegacy co-founder Paul Nicklen the work is an emotionally engaging symphonic journey that reveals the beauty and the plight of Earth’s most remote continent. “I aspire to bring audiences 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” – Marcus Goddard.