Music of healing, of hope

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This article was published 26/09/2014 (4367 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While the city still basks in the afterglow of last week’s opening of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra will also trumpeting the lofty ideal of freedom all year long with its new 2014-15 season, inspired by human rights.

“Music has a real transformative power,” WSO music director Alexander Mickelthwate says during an interview in his panoramic office overlooking The Forks, now home of the CMHR. “Whenever you enter the sanctuary of the concert hall, it’s almost like a deep meditation where you feel a higher level of hope and even love — and that can make a difference in healing the world.”

The orchestra’s 67th year kicks off tonight with its first Masterworks concert, Dvor°k: New World. The triple bill features acclaimed Moscow-born pianist Natasha Paremski performing George Gershwin’s jazz-infused Piano Concerto in F. The crowd-pleasing piece is the quintessentially American composer’s sole piano concerto penned on the heels of his Rhapsody of Blue in 1925.

“It’s a very poignant work, and yet it has a lot of humour and beauty,” Paremski says over the phone from her New York City home. “I love this piece for all of those qualities, and I know the audience is going to really enjoy it. It’s quite grand and fun and gorgeous.”

The 26-year old spitfire, who moved with her family to California from post-perestroika Russia in the mid-1990s, electrified Winnipeg audiences exactly two years ago with her interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor, Op. 23. Mickelthwate says he knew right away that he wanted the pianist back — and soon.

“Natasha brings the music to life in the most sophisticated way, but with all these bubbly fireworks,” he says of her compelling artistry. “She also had an amazing connection with the orchestra and audience, with a fun personality that’s just so alive and right for this piece.”

The program also includes Aaron Copland’s stirring Canticle of Freedom with the University of Manitoba Singers led by Elroy Friesen, and Dvor°k’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World,” described by Mickelthwate as a “colourful kaleidoscope of multiculturalism” famed for its plaintive, spiritual-inspired Goin’ Home second movement theme.

On Nov. 14 and 15, the WSO also performs the Canadian première of Native American composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Clans from Lowak Shoppala’ (Fire & Light), which depicts the story of the Chickasaw Nation, with American maestro Gerard Schwarz marking his WSO debut.

“I feel that this piece really reflects the soul of the indigenous peoples,” Mickelthwate says. “Jerod captures the feel of nature and space of Native American culture, but with our classical European instruments.”

That program also showcases WSO associate concertmaster Karl Stobbe in John Williams’ Three Pieces from Schindler’s List, derived from the 1993 Oscar winner for Best Picture. Copland’s third and final Symphony No. 3 with its elevating Fanfare for the Common Man theme rounds out the night.

Later this season, Winnipeg-based composer Andrew Balfour, who is of Cree descent, unveils his newest choral work, the provocatively titled Take the Indian, performed with his own troupe, Camerata Nova, during the WSO’s weeklong 2015 New Music Festival being held Jan. 31 to Feb. 6, 2015.

Also slated in early 2015 is a world première by Winnipeg’s Vincent Ho on WSO Feb. 27 and 28 Masterworks program, tentatively titled Postlude. The orchestral tone poem, which will feature Winnipeg soprano Lara Ciekiewicz is “more a reflection on peace and humanity,” Ho says, adding he was inspired by Chinese-Canadian writer Lien Chao’s text Song of Hope, created especially for the new work.

“My aim was to acknowledge how far we’ve come while pointing towards a hopeful future. This is most fitting considering that this will also be my last work for the WSO as composer-in-residence.”

Audiences will be treated to a rare performance of Benjamin Britten’s monumental War Requiem on March 27 and 28, performed by an army of musical forces, including guest soloists Joni Henson (soprano), Noah Baetge (tenor), and Phillip Addis (baritone), as well as the Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir, Mennonite Festival Chorus and the Winnipeg Boys Choir, with the epic concert led by Mickelthwate.

“Britten’s War Requiem is a huge work that is usually performed only every 20 years or so. This concert will be one of those landmark moments in the WSO’s history,” Mickelthwate promises.

Other season highlights include the weeklong Nordic Festival, Oct. 24 – Nov. 1, a pair of Handel’s Messiah concerts led by Tafelmusik Chamber Choir’s founding director Ivars Taurin, Dec. 12 and 13, and the return of Nobuyuki “Nobu” Tsujii performing Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto, May 8 and 9.

WSO season-opener Dvoô°k: New World will be performed tonight and Saturday night at the Centennial Concert Hall, 8 p.m. The concert will be repeated at Brandon’s Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. For more information, visit: www.wso.ca.

holly.harris@shaw.ca