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Alexander Mickelthwate & Matthew Patton

January 23–29 2016

wso.ca | wnmf.ca

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“There is an irreducible element of music that connects metal, industrial music, power electronics and classical minimalism, and no word exists for it. It involves deep pulsations; excited provocation through sound and concept more than traditional technique; low end frequencies rarely encountered in life; long sustained tones enlarged through overdrive; or distortion or just force of hands on instruments. This (music) event has a presence, a clean, judicious power.”

— Ben Ratliff, New York Times

This year is a big milestone for the Winnipeg New Music Festival. Twenty-five years of crazy, audacious programs. Twenty-five years of building a new canon of Canadian works. Twenty-five years of being the leading voice for new music in North America!

This year we look both back and forward with three world premieres from our past com-posers-in-residence. We invite groundbreaking American voices to Winnipeg. And we look forward into completely new lines of exploration with a commission from Stephen O’Malley.

You will see a snapshot of our society through extremes from the core of the symphonic tradition to unheard new sound worlds where time stands still. Through it all we will have conversation, art, food, music, and experiences that will challenge, stimu-late and provoke.

Join us!

Alexander Mickelthwate, Music Director, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

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TICKETS

Regular $25 Student $12

POP NUIT

Advance $15 At the Door $20

FESTIVAL PASSES

Early Bird Regular $69 Student $39

After January 9th Regular $89 Student $49

Tickets available at the WSO Box Office and all Ticketmaster outlets.

WSO Box Office 204 949 3999 wso.ca | wnmf.ca

Ticketmaster 1 855 985 ARTS Ticketmaster.ca

TICKET INFORMATION

Generously sponsored by

We gratefully acknowledge our funders & supporters

WNMF 1

NEW MUSIC TOMORROW David Lang & Joan Tower

Saturday, January 23 Centennial Concert Hall

WNMF 3

INVITATION TO SILENCE The Rothko Chapel

Monday, January 25 Westminster United Church

WNMF 5

THE TRANSCENDENT DRONE Niblock & Snow

Wednesday, January 27 Centennial Concert Hall

POP NUIT

STEPHEN O’MALLEY

Thursday, January 28 Union Sound Hall

WNMF 2

SO PERCUSSION Steve Reich, David Lang, Bryce Dessner

Sunday, January 24 Centennial Concert Hall

WNMF 4

BACK TO THE FUTURE World Premieres from Canada

Tuesday, January 26 Centennial Concert Hall

WNMF 6

MUSIC AND TRAUMA The Sinking of the Titanic; Gavin Bryars

Thursday, January 28 Pan Am Pool

WNMF 7

THE SLOWING OF EXPERIENCE Stephen O’Malley & Henryk Górecki

Friday, January 29 Centennial Concert Hall

CALENDAR

Michael Nesbitt

Sandi & Ron Mielitz Daniel Friedman & Robert Dalgliesh

Dr. Alex Grunfeld & Silvester Komlodi

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm New Music Tomorrow David Lang, Joan Tower, Alexander Mickelthwate, Matthew Patton

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00pm Brandon University New Music Ensemble Megumi Masaki, director

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Glenn Buhr, David Lang, Joan Tower, Alexander Mickelthwate, Matthew Patton

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POST-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

Glenn Buhr & Button Factory Band Glenn Buhr, guitar/vocals Gilles Fournier, electric bass/vocals Daniel Roy, drums/vocals With special guests The Players Arne MacPherson, piano/vocals Debbie Patterson, percussion/vocals Margaret Sweatman, harmonica/vocal

POST-CONCERT RECEPTION

Tony Neustaedter, DJ

WORKS

Glenn Buhr (CAN) Solstice ii, 2015 WORLD PREMIERE (1)

David Lang (US) Mountain CANADIAN PREMIERE

David Lang Man Made CANADIAN PREMIERE (2)

Intermission

Joan Tower (US) Concerto for Orchestra CANADIAN PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

(1) Jan Kocman, flute

(2) So Percussion Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting

"With his winning of the Pulitzer Prize, Lang, once a postminimalist enfant terrible, has solidified his standing as an American master."

— The New Yorker

“One of the most successful woman composers of all time”

— The New Yorker on Joan Tower

WNMF 2016 opens with major works by American composers David Lang and Joan Tower, plus a special commission from festival co-founder Glenn Buhr. Behind every one of Lang’s pieces is a fascinating concept being worked out as he gives musical form to the ideas of both Man and Nature with the assistance of ensemble/soloists So Percussion. Tower's Grammy-nominated Concerto for Orchestra is a magnificent story of how an idea grows from the previous ideas in the strongest and most natural way — a lesson the composer learned from the music of Beethoven.

Concert Sponsor

David Lang Joan Tower

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WNMF 2

“An exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam…”

– The New Yorker on So Percussion

Acclaimed percussion quartet So Percussion perform three major works for unconventional instruments in-cluding Steve Reich’s 20th century masterwork Drumming Part 1, David Lang’s The So-Called Laws of Nature, for which So Percussion built their own instruments, and Bryce Dessner of The National’s Music for Wood and Strings. Dessner’s work is performed on “chord sticks,” a cross between a hammer dulcimer and an electric guitar, created by instrument builder Aron Sanchez in collabora-tion with the composer.

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PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm The Art of Obsession Ed Ackerman, artist; Jeanne Randolph, psychoanalyst; Matthew Decter, psychoanalyst; Matthew Patton

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00pm University of Manitoba Percussion Ensemble Victoria Sparks, director

POST-CONCERT Q+A

David Lang, So Percussion, Alexander Mickelthwate, Matthew Patton

POST-CONCERT RECEPTION

Tony Neustaedter, DJ

WORKS

Steve Reich (US) Drumming Part I

Bryce Dessner (US) Music for Wood and Strings CANADIAN PREMIERE

Intermission

David Lang (US) the so-called laws of nature

ARTISTS

So Percussion Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting

Steve Reich

So Percussion

Daniel Friedman & Rob Dalgliesh

Concert sponsor

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WNMF 3

“There is no more stunning passage in postwar composition than (the ending) of Rothko Chapel… the final effect is so magical I hope never to understand it.”

– Tim Johnson, musicologist

Morton Feldman’s masterwork was inspired by the feeling of suspension and floating one senses in the tranquil Houston sanctuary filled with large Mark Rothko canvasses. A world premiere choral work by Feldman’s widow, composer Barbara Monk Feldman will also be performed. David Lang’s The National Anthems explores what might be common in national anthems from around the world. Canadian Oleksa Lozowchuk’s startlingly assured Waters of Rest provides a rich and ornate counterpoint. WSO soloists and two outstanding choral ensembles perform.

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PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm The Rothko Chapel, Invitation to Silence Barbara Monk Feldman, Robert Enright, host

WORKS

Barbara Monk Feldman (CAN) Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins WORLD PREMIERE (1)

Morton Feldman (US) Rothko Chapel (2,3)

Intermission

Oleksa Lozowchuk (CAN) Waters of Rest (2)

David Lang (US) The National Anthems CANADIAN PREMIERE (1,4)

ARTISTS

(1) Camerata Nova, Mel Braun, conductor

(2) Polycoro Chamber Choir, John Wiens, conductor

(3) Daniel Scholz, viola, Frederick Liessens, percussion, Donna Laube, celesta

(4) WSO Clearwater String Quartet

Presenting Patron Sandi & Ron Mielitz

Morton Feldman

Barbara Monk Feldman Oleksa Lozowchuk

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Gary Kulesha (CAN) Echoes Of Light WORLD PREMIERE

Winner of the Canadian Music Centre Composition Competition

Randolph Peters (CAN) Thermokarst WORLD PREMIERE (1)

Intermission

Derek Charke (CAN) Earth Airs (Symphony No. 2) WORLD PREMIERE (2)

ARTISTS

Gary Kulesha, conductor

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

(1) Micah Heilbrunn, clarinet, Yuri Hooker, cello

(2) Horizon, choir; Vic Pankratz, director"A masterpiece.” — Georgia Straight on Derek Charke’s Tundra Songs

“One of the finest pieces of Canadian symphonic writing ever produced.”

— John Terauds, Musical Toronto on Gary Kulesha’s Third Symphony

An evening of world premieres all commissioned especially for WNMF 2016 and conducted by Gary Kulesha. Derek Charke’s choral symphony Earth Airs (Symphony No. 2) draws on a text of Greek philosopher Anaximenes, who muses on the infinite nature of air, the soul of the world, the crystalline vault of the heavens and the moon being fire. Randolph Peters, former composer-in-resi-dence of the WNMF will premiere Thermokarst for solo clarinet, cello and orchestra, while composer/conductor Gary Kulesha will present the world premiere of his new work Echoes of Light.

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm 25 Years of the New Music Festival Glenn Buhr, Randolph Peters, T. Patrick Carrabre, Vincent Ho, Alexander Mickelthwate

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00pm Viewing Method Group, Natanielle Felicitas, cello; Signe Knutson, piano; Skye Rousseau, guitar; Brian Longfield, Thor Aitkenhead, Greg Hanec: Composers and Video Manipulators

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Gary Kulesha, Randolph Peters, Derek Charke

POST-CONCERT RECEPTION

Tony Neustaedter, DJ

Gary Kulesha

Randolph Peters

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Phill Niblock (US) #9 (Number 9) NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE

Vincent Ho (CAN) O Glorious Arcticus - Postlude (from Arctic Symphony, 5th movement)

T. Patrick Carrabre (CAN) Winter Wind WORLD PREMIERE (1)

Lera Auerbach (US) Icarus CANADIAN PREMIERE

Intermission & Launch of Border Crossings Issue #136

FILM Michael Snow: Snow in Vienna

INTERVIEW Michael Snow and Robert Enright

ARTISTS

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

(1) Patricia Evans, horn

presents Michael Snow

"[Phill Niblock is] one of the living legends of the early minimalist generation and universally recognized as one of the authentic masters of drone music.”

— Chain DLK

Phill Niblock incorporates drone and its microtonal vari-ation. “(Niblock’s) pieces never fail to induce new ways of hearing sound.” (The Quietus). Michael Snow is, without a doubt, one of the foremost North American artists of the latter half of the 20th century.

Russian-American composer Lera Auerbach’s Icarus incorporates the rarely heard theremin. Former WSO composer-in-residence T. Patrick Carrabré will premiere Winter Wind for French horn and orchestra. Vincent Ho, the most recent WSO composer-in-residence, will have the Postlude from his Arctic Symphony performed.

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm The Fabrication of Experience Kyle Balharry, producer, Winnipeg Jets; Melentie Pandilovski, video artist; Diane Lewis, pro-fessor, Cooper Union ; Eduardo Aquino, artist & architect; Sotirios Kotoulas, host

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00pm Keri Latimer, theremin; Devin Latimer, bass

POST-CONCERT RECEPTION

Tony Neustaedter, DJ

Sponsored by

Phill Niblock Lera Auerbach

Michael Snow

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Matthew Patton (CAN) Afterlife Mutilation WORLD PREMIERE

Gavin Bryars (UK) The Sinking Of The Titanic

ARTISTS

Julian Pellicano, conductor and percussion

Elise Lavallée, viola; Gregory Hay, viola; Leana Rutt, cello; Michiko Singh, horn; Bruce Okrainec, double bass; Michelle Goddard, bass clarinet; Victoria Sparks, percussion

Winnipeg Synchronized Swimming Club

Sistema Winnipeg Choir

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm The Use of Music in Recovery from Trauma Jeffrey Hatcher, Lee-Anne Adams, Darcy Ataman (Aquatic Hall of Fame of Canada Entrance)

PRE-CONCERT EVENT

7:00pm Tour of Aquatic Hall of Fame

POP NUIT

Stephen O’Malley Union Sound Hall See Pop Nuit page for details

“Words can’t do justice to The Sinking of the Titanic, there is a timelessness, a patience and an ineffable beauty to this music that is almost impossible to describe. Unique, flawless and totally essential music.”

— Boomkat, U.K.

“One of the great musical events of the 20th century.” — Sinfini Music, U.K.

Gavin Bryars’s The Sinking of the Titanic has been called “devastatingly poignant” by Uncut magazine. Taking countless forms and variations both musical and visual in performances around the world, ours will be heard at the Pan-Am Pool, the water, in effect, becoming the virtual protagonist. In this piece, Bryars explores the prolongation of music into eternity through the metaphor that sounds once generated never die. Composer Matthew Patton will premiere a new parallel work to Titanic, based around a more personal haunting trauma of the present age, the plane crash.

Gavin Bryars

Matthew Patton

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Thursday, January 28 Union Sound Hall Tickets available through Union Sound Hall

“A slow-motion pyroclastic flow of primal frequencies… Sunn (O))) have ended up highly rated in the meditative uplands of the avant-garde. This show is like a giant, maleficent “om” offered up to the gods of amplification - mesmeric and involving.”

— The Guardian

“Monoliths and Dimensions becomes one of the boldest and most completely realized albums of the year.”

— The Guardian on the album by Sunn(O))

PROGRAM

10:15pm Burden: Doreen Girard, Caitlin Hutchison, Shelagh Pizey-Allen

11pm Stephen O’Malley, guitar

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Stephen O’Malley (US) Un vide dans le ciel WORLD PREMIERE*

Intermission

Henryk Górecki (PO) Symphony No. 4 CANADIAN PREMIERE

ARTISTS

Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

PRE-CONCERT PANEL

6:15pm Mysticism and Drone Stephen O’Malley, Mikolaj Górecki, Matthew Patton

PRE-CONCERT PERFORMANCE

7:00pm XIE – eXperimental Improv Ensemble, Gordon Fitzell, director

POST-CONCERT Q+A

Stephen O’Malley, Mikolaj Górecki, Alexander Mickelthwate, Matthew Patton

FESTIVAL CLOSING PARTY

Tony Neustaedter, DJ

“Gruidés (Stephen O’Malley’s first orchestral work, 2014) is a wonderfully droning, heaving, and dissonant epic of modern composition… It is an impressively satisfying, inventive, and disquieting tour de force.”

— Brainwashed

Stephen O’Malley’s drone music is associated with several of the genre’s key groups. He is a noted figure in European modernism and has collaborated with Pierre Boulez’ IRCAM Institute in Paris. We will hear O’Malley’s first work for chamber orchestra in this world premiere. Henryk Górecki is best known for his mega-hit Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs). Górecki’s Symphony No. 4 was left unfinished at his death in 2010 and will receive its Canadian premiere on our Festival finale. The composer’s son Mikolaj Górecki will be in attendance.

Concert sponsor* Commission sponsored by

MICHAEL NESBITTDr. Alex Grunfeld & Silvester Komlodi

Stephen O’Malley

Henryk Górecki

For the second consecutive year Border Crossings is publishing a special issue focussing on the WSO’s Winnipeg New Music Festival.

The issue,”Son et Lumiere” features interviews with four of the guest artists appearing at this year’s 25th Anniversary Festival: David Lang, Barbara Monk Feldman, Joan Tower and Michael Snow.

On Wednesday, January 27th Border Crossings is present-ing “Snow in Vienna,” a film directed by Laurie Kwasnik, followed by an onstage conversation with Michael Snow and Robert Enright.

Border Crossings will launch “Son et Lumiere”, issue no 136, at the Concert Hall on Wednesday, January 27, 2016.

Creativity and Critical Thinking Workshop for Song Writing and Composing Zane Zalis, presenter

Saturday, January 23 | 1:30pm – 4:00pm Centennial Concert Hall, Piano Nobile

Participants will be introduced to a novel method of creating music and the process of creativity that can quickly and effectively change how we create music for self-expression. A simple and powerful method that can benefit novice and experienced creators of music. Participants should be prepared to share and/or perform their original work for critical feedback. Lead sheets are welcome but not necessary. A piano will be provided - otherwise participants should bring their own instrument if so desired.

Free, limited availability. Visit wnmf.ca or call 204 949 3999 to reserve your spot.

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As part of the Winnipeg New Music Festival, Plug In presents the following distinct projects.

Moon Rehearsal Tape P|lug In ICA Special Performance

Sunday, January 24 | 4:00pm – 5:00 pm

Moon Rehearsal Tape by Aston Coles and Irene Bindi will take the form of an intricate hand-made sound system built by the artists in the Plug In ICA galleries. The functional sculpture will serve the ground for a series of performances.

Centennial Concert Hall WNMF Plug In ICA Installation

A site-specific artwork by Krisjanis Kaktins-Gorsline will be presented throughout Centennial Concert Hall. This installation will display an arrangement of stenciled tile paintings in a sprawling, wallpaper-like mural.

For hours of operation, visit plugin.org

Neil Farber & Michael Dumontier An ambient image project that will be projected before the concert and during intermission.

Simon Hughes | Lobby Installation A video loop project with stalactites and keyboard with a slowed down Ode to Joy. Simon Hughes has shown at the National Gallery with Michael Snow.

wso.ca | wnmf.ca