Here's a video of the choral occupation of the CBC atrium Elizabeth referred to in the podcast I just posted:
Sunday, May 25, 2008
May 24 podcast part one
In this podcast:
Geoff Holbrook's Wooden Stars, performed by Fernando Rocha
Scott Wilson's Broken Allegory, performed by Aiyun Huang
Interview with Elizabeth Bihl, director of the Canadian Music Centre, on the CMC's action regarding the situation with the CBC.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Geoff Holbrook's Wooden Stars, performed by Fernando Rocha
Scott Wilson's Broken Allegory, performed by Aiyun Huang
Interview with Elizabeth Bihl, director of the Canadian Music Centre, on the CMC's action regarding the situation with the CBC.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
May 23 podcast
In this podcast:
John Cage's First Construction in Metal, Terry Riley's In C, performed by Nexus and guests, interviews with Adrienne Clarkson and Ryan Scott.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
John Cage's First Construction in Metal, Terry Riley's In C, performed by Nexus and guests, interviews with Adrienne Clarkson and Ryan Scott.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Extra-musical stuff
As inevitably happens when so many interesting people gather for a festival, I've had several opportunities to speak to people about other musical areas of our lives. As you probably know, there was a huge rally yesterday at the CBC broadcast centre on Front St. to protest the recent changes to Radio 2, the firing of the Radio Orchestra, etc. I mananged to drop by for a short time and heard a few people speak. One sour bit of irony I noticed: this weekend is Doors Open Toronto, in which many of the city's buildings are open for tours, including the CBC. Unless of course you were with the protest. They weren't letting people into the building, even just to use the washroom.
Reports are that the rally drew 1000 people at its peak. When I was there (about 2-2:30, before the first concert) there were maybe 3-400. I ran into Elizabeth Bihl, director of the Canadian Music Centre, at one of the concerts and asked her about whether she thought these protests and rallies would really make a difference. Check out the May 24 podcast (once it's posted) for a clip of that conversation.
I also had a few minutes to speak to Vince Ho about his beliefs and philosophies about music. Vince is a composer whom I respect very much, and whose music I greatly enjoy. Again, watch for the May 24 podcast for a bit of that conversation.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Reports are that the rally drew 1000 people at its peak. When I was there (about 2-2:30, before the first concert) there were maybe 3-400. I ran into Elizabeth Bihl, director of the Canadian Music Centre, at one of the concerts and asked her about whether she thought these protests and rallies would really make a difference. Check out the May 24 podcast (once it's posted) for a clip of that conversation.
I also had a few minutes to speak to Vince Ho about his beliefs and philosophies about music. Vince is a composer whom I respect very much, and whose music I greatly enjoy. Again, watch for the May 24 podcast for a bit of that conversation.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
The last of Cool Drummings
So the Soundstreams Cool Drummings portion of Soundaxis wrapped up last night. As with most festivals, Soundaxis has quickly become more than just a series of concerts, not the least because so many interesting people are gathered in one place. I've had a chance to have some really interesting conversations with performers, composers, and all sorts of other people in one way or other connected to new music. Check out my 2nd "mini-podcast" for clips of music and interviews, to be posted shortly (I'm just transferring all the audio right now).
So here's a quick run down of yesterday's music. The day (for me) started with the Wired Percussion. The McGill Percussion ensemble (with a little help from Toca Loca) presented a concert of percussion + electronics pieces. Most of these pieces I really enjoyed, a few less so. Of the less enjoyed was Six Japanese Gardens, by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. There seemed to be little if any connection between the live performed music and pre-recorded electroacoustics. Furthermore, I wasn't really captured by either part. The music seemed disconnected and directionless to me. The show closer, Rolf Wallin's Stonewave, is a real showpiece for the ensemble, and is a greatly fun piece to listen to and watch. What threw me, however, was the program note. It explained how the piece was based on fractals, though he claims the music doesn't sound like it, which is true. He then goes on to say that the piece sounds ritualistic, then went on into a brief political diatribe about the evils of liberalism, blah blah blah. I found this to really detract from my experience of the piece. Never mind my own political views, I didn't at all find the piece to sound ritualistic in any way. In fact, I found it almost silly that he'd use a program note for a political agenda, trying to force politics into music that really had nothing to do with it in any way shape or form. I have no problem whatsoever with political music (in fact, I often wish there was more of it), but this failed miserably. Ironically, I still thought it was a good piece. I just wish I hadn't read the program note!
But I'm dwelling on the negative too much. I don't mean to sound biased towards colleagues, but the highlights for me were Andrew Staniland's Adventure Music and Geoff Holbrook's Wooden Stars. Andrew's piece was not only very well-constructed, but employed really musical use of extended piano techniques (a nice change from the too-often heard overuse of playing inside the piano, just for something interesting to do).
For me, Wooden Stars was my favourite of the concert. The electronic portion was composed so as to allow very seamless integration with the live performer. The sounds plus the innovative writing, especially for the guiro, did not in at all get in the way if a musically expressive and creative piece, which for me is the perfect combination. The piece was a first prize winner in 2007's SOCAN young composer's competition, and I can see why. It didn't hurt that percussionist Fernando Rocha absolutely nailed his performance of the work.
The second concert of the day was entitled World Beats. The first half featured the Evergreen Club Gamelan, while the second half consisted of a series of different performers from various parts of the globe, each bringing their respective cultures to the stage.
I feel ill at ease writing too in-depth about music I don't know as well, but the whole show was definitely a lot of fun. I could listen to gamelan for hours and enjoy it. I think the proverbial 1000 monkeys could be playing, and it would still sound good. Evergreen went through a series of 6 or 7 pieces, all highlighting different instruments within the group. Blair Mackay introduced each piece from the stage, so unfortunately I didn't catch any titles or composers (some were traditional arrangements, some composed by members of the group). What I love about watching these guys is that they always look like they're having the time of their life.
The second half was emceed by percussionist Sal Ferreras and featured music from all around the globe, including Latin America, Africa, native Canada and Indonesia. One highlight was Yamoussa Bangoura doing a (somewhat) traditional dance full of acrobatics and juggling. The best of the evening, and perhaps the week so far, though, was the final piece, where all the musicians of the concert joined together in a huge jam session, led by Ferreras. Even though the first concert was called "Coming Together", this was the true coming together. Here we had musicians from at least 6 or 7 countries, each representative of their own style, playing together. What a great analogy of what music can and should be for all of us.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
So here's a quick run down of yesterday's music. The day (for me) started with the Wired Percussion. The McGill Percussion ensemble (with a little help from Toca Loca) presented a concert of percussion + electronics pieces. Most of these pieces I really enjoyed, a few less so. Of the less enjoyed was Six Japanese Gardens, by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho. There seemed to be little if any connection between the live performed music and pre-recorded electroacoustics. Furthermore, I wasn't really captured by either part. The music seemed disconnected and directionless to me. The show closer, Rolf Wallin's Stonewave, is a real showpiece for the ensemble, and is a greatly fun piece to listen to and watch. What threw me, however, was the program note. It explained how the piece was based on fractals, though he claims the music doesn't sound like it, which is true. He then goes on to say that the piece sounds ritualistic, then went on into a brief political diatribe about the evils of liberalism, blah blah blah. I found this to really detract from my experience of the piece. Never mind my own political views, I didn't at all find the piece to sound ritualistic in any way. In fact, I found it almost silly that he'd use a program note for a political agenda, trying to force politics into music that really had nothing to do with it in any way shape or form. I have no problem whatsoever with political music (in fact, I often wish there was more of it), but this failed miserably. Ironically, I still thought it was a good piece. I just wish I hadn't read the program note!
But I'm dwelling on the negative too much. I don't mean to sound biased towards colleagues, but the highlights for me were Andrew Staniland's Adventure Music and Geoff Holbrook's Wooden Stars. Andrew's piece was not only very well-constructed, but employed really musical use of extended piano techniques (a nice change from the too-often heard overuse of playing inside the piano, just for something interesting to do).
For me, Wooden Stars was my favourite of the concert. The electronic portion was composed so as to allow very seamless integration with the live performer. The sounds plus the innovative writing, especially for the guiro, did not in at all get in the way if a musically expressive and creative piece, which for me is the perfect combination. The piece was a first prize winner in 2007's SOCAN young composer's competition, and I can see why. It didn't hurt that percussionist Fernando Rocha absolutely nailed his performance of the work.
The second concert of the day was entitled World Beats. The first half featured the Evergreen Club Gamelan, while the second half consisted of a series of different performers from various parts of the globe, each bringing their respective cultures to the stage.
I feel ill at ease writing too in-depth about music I don't know as well, but the whole show was definitely a lot of fun. I could listen to gamelan for hours and enjoy it. I think the proverbial 1000 monkeys could be playing, and it would still sound good. Evergreen went through a series of 6 or 7 pieces, all highlighting different instruments within the group. Blair Mackay introduced each piece from the stage, so unfortunately I didn't catch any titles or composers (some were traditional arrangements, some composed by members of the group). What I love about watching these guys is that they always look like they're having the time of their life.
The second half was emceed by percussionist Sal Ferreras and featured music from all around the globe, including Latin America, Africa, native Canada and Indonesia. One highlight was Yamoussa Bangoura doing a (somewhat) traditional dance full of acrobatics and juggling. The best of the evening, and perhaps the week so far, though, was the final piece, where all the musicians of the concert joined together in a huge jam session, led by Ferreras. Even though the first concert was called "Coming Together", this was the true coming together. Here we had musicians from at least 6 or 7 countries, each representative of their own style, playing together. What a great analogy of what music can and should be for all of us.
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Saturday, May 24, 2008
"I have nothing to say and I am saying it"
Thus spake John Cage, via Adrienne Clarkson, which is perhaps the best summary I could come up with for last night's concert, entitled Minimalist Classics. We heard some pillars of minimalism, including Cage's First Construction in Metal and Terry Riley's In C. I think what really set last night's show apart was hearing these classics done so well, with Nexus forming the core group of each ensemble. I've heard Cage's First Construction performed by less-than-professional groups a few times, so it was great to hear it done so well.
The evening started off with Cage's Amores, which intersperses recited text with music for solo prepared piano and percussion trio. I'm of the belief that the more you understand about the music you're hearing, the more you'll appreciate it. In this work, the audience is more or less forced to listen to some of Cage's beliefs and philosophies, and, if unaware of such things beforehand, I think will ultimately benefit from understanding the music better. Clarkson recited the spoken text, and in speaking with her afterwards, I learned that she's no stranger to Cage's music, but this was the first time she's ever performed any of it. Listen for that short interview in my next mini-podcast, as soon as I'm able to edit up the audio and get it posted.
We also heard Steve Reich's Proverb, which was a first listening for me. It's an incredibly difficult piece for the sopranos, due to the intense concentration required. The problem here was that if you ask a solo soprano to sing senza vibrato into a microphone, even Jessye Norman will sound terrible.
The concert ended with Terry Riley's In C. Nexus and friends played for about an hour, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire time. Because as a group they're so familiar and comfortable with each other, they were able to add great depths of colour and dynamic variance to the music, which made for a much more satisfying performance.
Not far from the end, maybe 45 or 50 minutes in, the patterns move to the upper register of each instrument, and the group brought the dynamic level down quite low. I believe most of the audience felt the piece was drawing to a close and when the piano began a new pattern that was clearly moving the music in a different direction (and not ending), there was a palpable collective sigh and shuffle in the room. While expected, it did get me thinking about long pieces, particularly of the minimalist variety. I love long pieces, but after 45 minutes or so, theatre chairs get uncomfortable. Maybe these are better suited to alternative performance venues - imagine listening to such a work, lying in the grass in a park? With a cold beer?
Anyway, today promises even more great music, so look for another post tonight or tomorrow morning (depending on how late tonight goes!).
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
The evening started off with Cage's Amores, which intersperses recited text with music for solo prepared piano and percussion trio. I'm of the belief that the more you understand about the music you're hearing, the more you'll appreciate it. In this work, the audience is more or less forced to listen to some of Cage's beliefs and philosophies, and, if unaware of such things beforehand, I think will ultimately benefit from understanding the music better. Clarkson recited the spoken text, and in speaking with her afterwards, I learned that she's no stranger to Cage's music, but this was the first time she's ever performed any of it. Listen for that short interview in my next mini-podcast, as soon as I'm able to edit up the audio and get it posted.
We also heard Steve Reich's Proverb, which was a first listening for me. It's an incredibly difficult piece for the sopranos, due to the intense concentration required. The problem here was that if you ask a solo soprano to sing senza vibrato into a microphone, even Jessye Norman will sound terrible.
The concert ended with Terry Riley's In C. Nexus and friends played for about an hour, and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire time. Because as a group they're so familiar and comfortable with each other, they were able to add great depths of colour and dynamic variance to the music, which made for a much more satisfying performance.
Not far from the end, maybe 45 or 50 minutes in, the patterns move to the upper register of each instrument, and the group brought the dynamic level down quite low. I believe most of the audience felt the piece was drawing to a close and when the piano began a new pattern that was clearly moving the music in a different direction (and not ending), there was a palpable collective sigh and shuffle in the room. While expected, it did get me thinking about long pieces, particularly of the minimalist variety. I love long pieces, but after 45 minutes or so, theatre chairs get uncomfortable. Maybe these are better suited to alternative performance venues - imagine listening to such a work, lying in the grass in a park? With a cold beer?
Anyway, today promises even more great music, so look for another post tonight or tomorrow morning (depending on how late tonight goes!).
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Concert 1: Cool Drummings opening Gala
Well, that was a pretty cool way to start the festival off!
First off, a confession: I missed the first 2 pieces because I was stuck in traffic. There are some things I hate about this city... Alice Ho's Kami sounded pretty cool from the vestibule, but that's as close as I got to it.
We heard a real variety of music tonight, spanning almost a century. The highlight of the night for me was undoubtedly George Antheil's Ballet Mechanique, performed by members of the U of T and McGill percussion ensembles, plus a quartet of pianos. I've heard this piece in recording a number of times, but never live, and what a treat! It was remarkably well-performed, by a mostly student group, nonetheless! The version tonight was Antheil's edited (read: shortened) version, but still clocking in at almost 20 minutes it's a feat of accomplishment for the performers. The precision involved is staggering, and to watch it makes one appreciate it all the more.
Another highlight was Liam Teague playing the steel pan. Teague has brought this instrument to an entirely new level of virtuosity. He started with a solo piece of his own composition, which I was really thankful for. The instrument is almost irrevocably tied to its usual context of tropical beaches. That connection stayed with me for the first maybe 30 seconds or so, but he manages to break the connection fairly quickly - eventually you hear the instrument for what it is. Which was great to set the stage for the next piece, Michael Colgrass's Pan Trio. This piece, for steel pan, harp and percussion (largely vibe and marimba), is a brand new work, and the first thing you hear is brand new sounds and colours. Key to this piece, I think, was the dialogue between the different roles taken on by the instruments, and the performers (Teague on pans, Sanya Eng on harp and Ryan Scott on percussion) accomplished this very well.
The evening ended with Rzewski's Coming Together, which featured Bev Johnston narrating. I hadn't heard this piece before, and frankly would be ok never hearing it again. There's lots of good music in there, but like the original version of the Ballet Mechanique, it could use some editing. I just simply found it overly long and repetitive.
I've got some audio interviews with one of the performers, and a few sound clips of the CBC crew which I'll edit up and post tomorrow. I'm off tomorrow but I'll be at Friday's concert so watch for another post then!
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
First off, a confession: I missed the first 2 pieces because I was stuck in traffic. There are some things I hate about this city... Alice Ho's Kami sounded pretty cool from the vestibule, but that's as close as I got to it.
We heard a real variety of music tonight, spanning almost a century. The highlight of the night for me was undoubtedly George Antheil's Ballet Mechanique, performed by members of the U of T and McGill percussion ensembles, plus a quartet of pianos. I've heard this piece in recording a number of times, but never live, and what a treat! It was remarkably well-performed, by a mostly student group, nonetheless! The version tonight was Antheil's edited (read: shortened) version, but still clocking in at almost 20 minutes it's a feat of accomplishment for the performers. The precision involved is staggering, and to watch it makes one appreciate it all the more.
Another highlight was Liam Teague playing the steel pan. Teague has brought this instrument to an entirely new level of virtuosity. He started with a solo piece of his own composition, which I was really thankful for. The instrument is almost irrevocably tied to its usual context of tropical beaches. That connection stayed with me for the first maybe 30 seconds or so, but he manages to break the connection fairly quickly - eventually you hear the instrument for what it is. Which was great to set the stage for the next piece, Michael Colgrass's Pan Trio. This piece, for steel pan, harp and percussion (largely vibe and marimba), is a brand new work, and the first thing you hear is brand new sounds and colours. Key to this piece, I think, was the dialogue between the different roles taken on by the instruments, and the performers (Teague on pans, Sanya Eng on harp and Ryan Scott on percussion) accomplished this very well.
The evening ended with Rzewski's Coming Together, which featured Bev Johnston narrating. I hadn't heard this piece before, and frankly would be ok never hearing it again. There's lots of good music in there, but like the original version of the Ballet Mechanique, it could use some editing. I just simply found it overly long and repetitive.
I've got some audio interviews with one of the performers, and a few sound clips of the CBC crew which I'll edit up and post tomorrow. I'm off tomorrow but I'll be at Friday's concert so watch for another post then!
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Introductions are in order...
Hi everyone. Your intrepid guide through the world of Soundaxis here. Thought I might introduce myself, to break the virtual ice. My name's Christien Ledroit. I'm a composer, some-time performer, CMC Ontario regional councillor, small business owner, dad, husband, car buff, etc etc. I'm a pretty busy guy. But I'm setting some time aside to get knee deep in the wonderful festival that is Soundaxis, and I'm pretty excited about the whole deal!
You see, I need live music to inspire me in my own creations, and lately I've been up to my eyeballs in work (the not-good kind), so I've been low on inspiration. What that means is that my time in the studio becomes less fruitful, and that makes it frustrating. But getting out to a few concerts all of a sudden seems to open up parts of my brain, and all of a sudden my pencil can't keep up with my brain. (yes, I still compose the "old fashioned" way, with pencil, paper, and lots of erasers)
The irony about this whole blog is that I hate blogs. Absolutely detest them. Why? Because 9 times out of 10 they're self-indulgent. So this blog won't be about me, it'll be about the music.
So stay tuned throughout the entire festival, starting tonight. I can't be everywhere and hear everything, but I'll be posting about everything I do make it out to, and maybe some hear-say from friends at other shows. I'll also try to post some audio and video as I'm able.
Please feel free to post any comments, feedback, etc. or reviews of your own.
If you're curious, you can find out a bit more about me:
www.christienledroit (admittedly a couple months outdated)
www.myspace.com/copyriotspace (my band - be warned, foul language is afoot!)
(this will be the only auto-biographical info in the blog, I promise!)
Bon concert!
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
You see, I need live music to inspire me in my own creations, and lately I've been up to my eyeballs in work (the not-good kind), so I've been low on inspiration. What that means is that my time in the studio becomes less fruitful, and that makes it frustrating. But getting out to a few concerts all of a sudden seems to open up parts of my brain, and all of a sudden my pencil can't keep up with my brain. (yes, I still compose the "old fashioned" way, with pencil, paper, and lots of erasers)
The irony about this whole blog is that I hate blogs. Absolutely detest them. Why? Because 9 times out of 10 they're self-indulgent. So this blog won't be about me, it'll be about the music.
So stay tuned throughout the entire festival, starting tonight. I can't be everywhere and hear everything, but I'll be posting about everything I do make it out to, and maybe some hear-say from friends at other shows. I'll also try to post some audio and video as I'm able.
Please feel free to post any comments, feedback, etc. or reviews of your own.
If you're curious, you can find out a bit more about me:
www.christienledroit (admittedly a couple months outdated)
www.myspace.com/copyriotspace (my band - be warned, foul language is afoot!)
(this will be the only auto-biographical info in the blog, I promise!)
Bon concert!
http://soundaxis.ca/blog_view.php
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