The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO)brings Iceland to Winnipeg with its internationally renowned New Music Festival (NMF), sponsored by IMRIS, from January 28 to February 3.

“The New Music Festival continues to provide a forum for exploration of new sonic landscapes and makes connections between composers and issues,” says Trudy Schroeder, executive director of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. “It is a natural place for us to forge partnerships and explore new art forms. This year, we all look forward to the Icelandic connection, the addition of a dance component, and the guest composers and special excitement that surrounds this Festival.”

This year, the Festival celebrates Nordic musical culture featuring new works that few people have the opportunity to hear – including works by Iceland’s most celebrated composers including Kjartan Sveinsson (of Sigur Rós), Daníel Bjarnason, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Atli Heimir Sveinsson and Jóhann Jóhannsson.

To kick off the Festival, the WSO is proud to feature one of the world’s foremost composers, Kaija Saariaho, joining us for the performance of two of her celebrated works: Du cristal (of which this performance is the Canadian premiere) and Graal Théâtre (featuring acclaimed violinist Jennifer Koh). Saariaho was listed by Robert Everett-Green in the Globe and Mail as a noteworthy musician to watch for in 2012 (January 1).

“The New Music Festival puts Winnipeg on the map on an international level,” says Dorothy Dobbie, president and chair of the WSO board. “The excitement and creative energy is contagious and so much in keeping with the world we live in today. It is in tune with social media and the ways people are exploring new ideas.”

To celebrate its 21-year history, the Festival is bringing back a piece that has been regarded as one of NMF’s memorable highlights – Giya Kancheli’s Styx. This colossal work has been hailed as one of Kancheli’s greatest musical achievements and its performance will feature the talents of the WSO’s principal violist Daniel Scholz and the Canadian Mennonite University Chorus.

Following the success of his percussion concerto featuring Dame Evelyn Glennie last year, the WSO’s own composer-in-residence Vincent Ho is once again anticipating another world premiere on January 30. Returning as the distinguished guest artist is Canada’s superstar cellist Shauna Rolston as she presents Ho’s cello concerto, City Suites: Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, written especially for her and her carbon-fiber cello (piece commissioned by the WSO with the assistance of the Winnipeg Arts Council).

"I am thrilled to celebrate Ms. Rolston's return to the Festival with the premiere of my new concerto, City Suites,” says Ho. “We have wanted to work together on a project like this since 1999 and it is very exciting for us to finally have this chance. This is something very meaningful to me because her family played an important role during my development as a composer. So you can say that this work represents the product of their years of nurturing and encouragement."

Sharing this concert program will be the North American premiere of Daníel Bjarnason’s Emergence, a piece hailed for its exquisite colours and emotional profundity, as well as Jesse Plessis’s Tender is the Night. Plessis, a Brandon University student, is the winner of the Canadian Music Centre’s 2012 Emerging Composer Prize.

GroundSwell New Music returns on January 31 for a special double feature concert at the Winnipeg Art Gallery featuring many of Manitoba’s illustrious composers – Michael Matthews, Gordon Fitzell as well as Jim Hiscott for the World premiere of his After Sorrow, and musical artist Diana McIntosh, for the World premiere of her one-woman piece, You, Me and The Tree (commissioned by the WSO with the assistance of the Winnipeg Arts Council). Also featured is a special performance by Iceland’s own Bedroom Community: Daníel Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson. Tickets for this concert are nearly sold out.

Cellist Rolston will also be performing North American premiere of Bjarnason’s Bow to String: For Cello and Orchestra on February 1. The program, entitled Icelandia, celebrates Iceland’s own composer collective – the Bedroom Community (Bjarnason, Nico Muhly and Valgeir Sigurdsson), featuring the North American premiere of Sigurdsson’s Dreamland and the Canadian premieres of Kjartan Sveinsson’s Credo and Muhly’s So Far So Good (commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra). Muhly composed the music to the acclaimed 2008 film The Reader.

Internationally acclaimed dance group La La La Human Steps comes to Winnipeg on February 2 to present a thrilling new show choreographed to the extraordinary music of Gavin Bryars. Founded in 1980 by Édouard Lock, the dance troupe has become one of the world's most recognized dance companies, thanks to the unique choreographic language it developed and has constantly reinvented since its inception. The Montréal troupe has collaborated with institutions both prestigious and eclectic, from the Opéra de Paris to Frank Zappa.

For the Festival finale, two monumental works by two of Iceland’s leading composer are being presented. Jóhann Jóhannsson joins the WSO for the World premiere of A Prayer to the Dynamo, commissioned by the WSO. Known for his ethereal colours and sonorous harmonies, Jóhannsson will leave audiences breathless as he takes them on an emotional musical journey. Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s Symphony No. 2 will conclude the Festival. Hailed as an Icelandic masterpiece, Sveinsson’s magnificent work makes its North American premiere that evening with Winnipeg’s own Prairie Voices and an extended WSO.

Also featured throughout the week are personal appearances and music by composers Alexina Louie and Tim Hecker, among others. Hecker is performing his own piece – for which the concert was titled: Ravedeath for Organ – on Sunday, January 29 at the Westminster United Church.

“We welcome back the loyal New Music Festival audience members,” says Schroeder, “who have made these concerts an annual event, and encourage all audience members to explore every opportunity to meet with and hear from the composers and musicians. Enjoy the journey.”

CBC Radio 2, NMF’s broadcasting partner, will be recording four Festival concerts: Opening Gala: Kancheli and Saariaho (Jan 28); Ravedeath for Organ (Jan 29); Shauna Rolston: City Suites (Jan 30); and Icelandia (Feb 1).

Concert Highlights:
Opening Gala: Kancheli and Saariaho
Saturday, January 28 – 8:00 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
The 21st annual Festival opens with Saairaho’s Du cristal (Canadian premiere) & Graal Théâtre featuring violinist Jennifer Koh; Giya Kancheli’s Styx with WSO principal violist Daniel Scholz and the Canadian Mennonite University Chorus.
 

Ravedeath for Organ
Sunday, January 29 – 7:30 pm
Westminster United Church
Chamber music night featuring works by S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatté, Kaija Saariaho, Jurriaan Andriessen, Vincent Ho, Valgeir Sigurdsson and Tim Hecker, performed by a variety of Winnipeg’s leading classical musicians.

Shauna Rolston: City Suites
Monday, January 30 – 7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Hear the World premiere of WSO Composer-in-Residence Vincent Ho’s City Suites by cellist Shauna Rolston. Also featured is the North American premiere of Iceland’s Daníel Bjarnason’s Emergence as well as this year’s Canadian Music Centre’s Emerging Composer Prize-winning work by Brandon University student Jesse Plessis.

WAG Event: Double Feature: GroundSwell & the Bedroom Community
Tuesday, January 31 – 7:30 pm
Winnipeg Art Gallery
GroundSwell New Music returns for a night of music & theatre at the WAG featuring works by Manitoba composers Gordon Fitzell, Michael Matthews as well as Jim Hiscott, and Diana McIntosh, who both have world premieres that night. Part II of this double feature presents Iceland’s own composer collective – the Bedroom Community – Nico Muhly, Daniel Bjarnson and Valgeir Sigurdsson.

Icelandia
Wednesday, February 1 – 7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Kjartan Sveinsson’s Credo receives its Canadian premiere followed byperformances of works by Iceland’s own composer collective – the Bedroom Community – Daniel Bjarnson, Valgeir Sigurdsson and Nico Muhly. Muhly’s piece So Far So Good (commissioned by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra) also receives its Canadian premiere this evening while Bjarnason’s Bow to String and Sigurdsson’s Dreamland have their North American premieres.

La La La Human Steps
Thursday, February 2 – 7:30 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Canada’s own internationally acclaimed dance company La La La Human Steps returns to present New Work choreographed to the music of Gavin Bryars.

Icelandic Finale: Jóhannsson and Sveinsson
Friday, February 3 – 8:00 pm
Centennial Concert Hall
Festival finale with two monumental works by two of Iceland’s leading composers. Jóhann Jóhannsson’s World premiere of A Prayer to the Dynamo, commissioned by the WSO, promises to leave audiences breathless followed by Atli Heimir Sveinsson’s North American premiere of Symphony No. 2, hailed as an Icelandic masterpiece.

Pass & Ticket Information
Festival Passes: $99 (regular) $89 (senior) $59 (student)
Single Tickets: $25 (regular), $10 (student)

Individual ticket prices do not include the Opening & Closing Night concerts (Jan 28 & Feb 3), as regular WSO Masterworks pricing applies. Passes and tickets are available at the WSO Box Office at 555 Main Street, (204) 949-3999, or at www.wso.ca, as well as Ticketmaster at 780-3333 or www.ticketmaster.ca.

The WSO gratefully acknowledges the support of the following New Music Festival sponsors: IMRIS, SOCAN, IcelandAir, Liquor Marts, Pattison, Uptown, Lögberg-Heimskringla, The Uniter, CBC Radio 2 and the Canadian Music Centre. The WSO also gratefully acknowledges the support of its funders: Arts Stabilization, Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Culture, Heritage and Tourism, Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg Arts Council and The Winnipeg Foundation.

For more information on the New Music Festival, please visit www.newmusicfestival.ca.