ORBITSAND REVOLUTIONS STORIES I , OF THE WORLD NOW: 30 Years of Great Music Inter-Cultural and Improvisational I am very excited to welcome you to Orbits and Revolutions: Stories of the World, the first concert of the New Orchestra Workshop Society's 30th Anniversary year. I want to give thanks to the long line of great artists that have made NOW survive and flourish for such a long time: founding players Lisle Ellis, Gregg Simpson, Paul Cram, Paul Plimley, Ralph Eppel and Don Druick and other important figures like Clyde Reed, Ron Samworth, Kate Hammett-Vaughan,Bruce Freedman and Graham Ord. On behalf of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, let me say that it is a great honour and pleasure to be collaborating with the New Orchestra Workshop Society. This first time collaboration between our two organizations is one that will bear much fruit for future endeavours, both individually and hopefully, again together. Let me congratulate the NOW for reaching its 30th year - may the spirit of your creativity only deepen in the years to come. It is a natural marriage that brings together nonwestern musics and the principles of improvisation. Since our inception in 1977, we have kept our Much of the art music of the non-western world is focus on developing and presenting artists and groups that reflect a uniquely west coast perspective transmitted aurally, from generation to generation, of imagination and diversity. As we build our work and holds a significant place in it for the art of on the foundation of the oral/aural tradition of the improvisation. Tobe sure, these musics of the world improvised musics of the world, we follow a thread - among them Persian, Arabic, and Indian - practice different forms of improvisation than that of the free that brings us to many kindred musical spirits. jazz of the western world, of which the NOW is a With that in mind, it is a privilege and very fitting major exponent. But the aurality of all improvisation to start our year with this project that features traditions is an excellent starting point for a successful Vancouver's own NOW Orchestra and the Vancouver blending of the musical aesthetics of different cultures. Inter-Cultural Orchestra. Over the course of two Improvisation is all about being 'in the moment'. It nights we'll premiere six powerful and varied new works, performed by an amazing array of Canada's is this present tense which gives improvisation its interest, and - if I may be permitted to share a little greatest musician/improvisers. advice - the listener is encouraged to look for the I am proud to have been involved with the immediacy of expression in what he or she hears. organization for 29 years. One of my proudest This is our moment, a moment in the world which contributions to the organization was starting the is all of ours for the sharing. Here and now we NOW Orchestra twenty years ago, and since that can say to each other, within the embrace of time, I have seen it continue to grow and evolve as music, that the planet and its stories belong to we have had the good fortune to record, tour and each and every one of us. • perform with some of the foremost exponents of This is our moment, a moment in the world which improvised music in the world. is all of ours for the sharing. Here and now we Thank you for joining us, and I hope you continue can say to each other, within the embrace of to join us in our musical journey for many years to music, that the planet and its stories belong to come. each and every one of us. Coat Cooke Artistic Director New Orchestra Workshop Society Moshe Denburg Artistic Director Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra NOW Orchestra Coat Cooke - alto and tenor sax, flute Graham Ord - soprano and tenor sax, flute Saul Berson - alto and tenor sax, clarinet, flute JP Carter - trumpet Bill Clark - trumpet, flugelhorn Rod Murray - trombone Brad Muirhead - bass trombone Ron Samworth - electric guitar Program Set One Green Wind* (2007) by Jin Zhang Paul Blaney - bass Strathcona (a short walk)* (2007) DB Boyko - voice Music and Text by Ron Samworth VICO Agua Azul* Randy Raine-Reusch- zheng, dulcimer, bawu, khane, bamboo flute, guanzi, voice by Coat Cooke Gordon Grdina - ud, guitar Joseph "Pepe" Danza - percussion, shakuhachi Camel Hop at the Caravanserai* (2007) Mei Han - zheng Navid Goldrick - santur, ud Bic Hoang - danbau, bass danbau, koni, by Moshe Denburg soprano voice Guest Conductor John Zoltek Production Staff Set Two Spirit House* (2007) by Mark Armanini Chris Gestrin - Recording Engineer Jon Bentley - Assistant Recording Engineer Lawrence Anthony - Stage Manager Steve Bagnell - Production Manager Allyson McGrane - Administrative Director Emma Lancaster - Publicist King of Wands* by Joseph "Pepe" Danza *World premieres commissioned by the NOW Orchestra and VICO Spirit House (2007) Notes by Mark Armanini Green Wind (2007) koni, don bau, bass don bau, male and female voice, zheng, ud, santur, khane, bamboo flute, guanzi, by Jin Zhang shakuhachi, percussion, hand drums, electric guitar, string bass, 3 flutes/tenor saxes, 2 trumpets, soprano sax, alto sax, clarinet, flute, danbau, soprano voice, dulcimer, zheng, bawu, bass, percussion, trombone, bass trombone drum kit. Spirit House is my attempt to build a musical space we can all live in. The multitude of musical instruments Green fields and fresh air, what beautiful nature and a great environment! The music of Green Wind is and musical styles are a direct reflection of the outside world, and the music is a manifestation of the based on a Mongolian tonality, and is meant to bring you a feeling of relaxation and delight as you spiritual experience. The music provides a place to shore the same experience. The work has six face the light wind and the greenery all around fills your eyes. The piece is in two sections, one slow movements and uses musical forms such as drone, shuffle, and chorale to give maximum support for the and one fast. instruments and the many solo passages which appear throughout the work. The improvisation will enable the work to change and transform depending on the players involved. At the same time I have Strathcorrm (a short walk} (2007) tried to make a big sound, a sound that tests the outer limits of the large and the small delicate aspects, Music and Text by Ron Samworth a sound that blends together into a fresh and everchanging textural landscape. sax, flute, guitar, bass, voice, danbou, zheng, percussion This composition is constructed around a piece of original text of mine evoking my experience of walking King of Wands through Strathcona on a spring day. The juxtaposition of beauty and decoy gradually reveals a poetical wholeness - everything belongs as it is. by Joseph "Pepe" Danza flute, clarinet, flugelhorn, voice, percussion, santur, ud, bass Agua Azul "If the King loves music there is little wrong in the land." by Coat Cooke The King of Wands, in the Tarot tradition, is a figure of energy, positive thinking and optimism, sensuality flute, trumpet, trombone, bass trombone, voice, donbau, ud, percussion, zheng, bass Agua Azul is a piece about a perfect place. A place that exists in solitude, and in friendship. Great simplicity and complexity simultaneously. Ever constant-ever changing. The piece features a latin-influenced melody, unaccompanied solos on zheng, danbau, a trio of voice, zheng and danbau, and improvisation on ten cells by the ensemble. Camel Hop at the Carcrvanserai (2007) by Moshe Denburg tenor sax, trumpet, trombone, electric guitar, bass, 2 zhengs (chinese long zithers), ud (orabic Lute), santur (persian hammered dulcimer), hand drums The Coravanserai was an inn along the Silk Road, in the area of modern Iran, where Caravans could stop for refreshment. So it is easily a metaphor for a meeting place where stories of the world are shared, and, we fervently imagine, music jamming happens nightly. Aah my friend, remember the night the camels in the courtyard began to dance? and intuition. This is a groove piece with middle eastern colors. It was specially written for this event. My compositional technique generally is to let the piece arise almost by itself while I get out of the way. There is very little or no editing and lots of room for different choices and improvisation. Composers Moshe Denburg worldwide, Mark Armcmini was raised, and educated in Vancouver, Canada and holds a B.Mus. (1981) and has studied music extensively, both formally and informally. He has travelled living and studying music in Israel, India, and Japan. From 1986-90 he studied composition with John Celona at the University of Victoria. His compositions reflect his Jewish roots as well as an M.Mus. (1984) in composition from the University of British Columbia. Since 1989 Mark has been ongoing commitment to the principle of inter-cultural music making. He has written a good number of composing for various combinations of Chinese, Asian, and Western instrumentation and has received chamber works utilizing instruments from non-Western cultures (East Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic numerous commissions and awards for his work. His compositions have been performed by many and more). His works have been performed and broadcast at festivals and on radio, both in Canada orchestras and ensembles including the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and abroad. Moshe has been the moving force behind the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra's the Edmonton Symphony, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, the BC Chinese Orchestra, and establishement and ongoing activities since its inception in the year 2000. ensembles such as Orchid Ensemble and Silk Road. With a catalogue of over 40 works for choir, solo voice, chamber and orchestral ensembles, Mark has built on his Vancouver roots. This 'Vancouver Ron Samworth style' has resulted in several concertos: ' ... of Wind and Water' for Pipa; 'Concerto for Erhu'; textural improviser and a strong fluid soloist inspired by a variety of traditions including jazz, rock, is known on the Canadian improvised/contemporary music scene as an inventive 'Concerto for Yangqin'; 'Dance of Many Colours' for two Dan Bau (a native Vietnamese one-string contemporary and world musics. He leads the Vancouver-based quartet Talking Pictures and co-directed zither), and 'Incense and Flowers', a double concerto for Yangqin and Harp with intercultural orchestra. the acclaimed NOW Orchestra from 1993-2003. The delicacy, refinement, and versatility of the oriental instruments, in combination with orchestra Vancouver collective, the Peggy Lee Band, DarkBlueWorld, Fran<;:oisHoule's electro-acoustic quartet and makes for a refreshing sound palette for western ears. Mark is an associate composer of the Canadian the Hard Rubber Orchestra. He has appeared at all the major Jazz Festivals across Canada, the Festival Music Centre and since 1994 has been on faculty as composition instructor at Capilano College in International de Musique Actuelle de Victorioville, at New York's Knitting Factory, and the New York North Vancouver. Improvisation Festival, New Music America, Vienna's "Let's Cool One" Chamber Jazz Festival, Chicago Coat Cooke is the NOW Orchestra Artistic Director and one of Canada's most lyrical and inventive saxophonists and composers. His work has included a wide selection projects with dance, theatre, multi-media and film over the last thirty years, and his catalogue includes more than one hundred compositions. Coat has toured Canada, the USA and Europe performing in major festivals in Berlin, Lisbon and Chicago, and his collaborations include work with George Lewis, Wadada Leo Smith, Roscoe Mitchell, Butch Morris, Marilyn Crispell, Oliver Lake and most recently with Diane Labrosse, Pierre Tanguay and John Oswald. His most recent Coat Cooke Trio recording, Up Down Down Up is available on Cellar Live Records (www.cellarlive.com), and you can also hear his work on a number of NOW Orchestra CDs available in the lobby or learn more at our website at www.noworchestra.com. voices in contemporary music such as John Zorn, Dave Douglas, Evon Parker, Barry Guy, George Lewis, He is also a member of The Unexpected, a Montreal- and Berlin jazz festivals, and other leading venues in Europe. He has performed with many of the leading Wayne Horvitz, Kuzuhisa Uchihashi, Yasuhiro Otani, Butch Morris, Han Bennink, Barre Phillips, Marilyn Crispell, Claude Ranger, Rene Lussier, and Jean Derome. Jin Zhang received his musical education at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and at Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, where he studied conducting with Prof. Morihiro Okabe. He has also studied with maestro Kazuyoshi Akiyama and took master class instruction from Seiji Ozawa. Jin has worked with many ensembles and choirs including: the China Broadcasting Troupe, Nora Chorus, and the Capitol Philharmonic Orchestra. In Canada since 1990, he has conducted and composed actively, for Symphony Orchestras, Chinese Folk Orchestras, Small Ensembles, and Choirs. Jin's work hos been heard in concert, on radio, television, film, and recordings. He is presently Music Director and Joseph 1 Pepe' Danza is a native of Montevideo, Uruguay, where he studied extensively at the Conductor for the New Westminster Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Youth Symphony National Conservatory. Pepe's interest in world music developed during more than 5 years of travel Orchestra. He also conducts for the West Coast Symphony Orchestra and the BC Chinese Music and study - Shakuhachi in Japan, Indian Music in India and Sri Lanka, Gamelan in Indonesia, and Association Ensemble. other studies in Korea, the Philippines and Brazil. Since moving to Canada in 1989 he has established himself as one of the foremost all-round musicians on the West coast, performing, composing, arranging and serving as a musical director. He has toured extensively in North America, Europe, Korea and New Zealand. Among his composition credits, he has written two large scale compositions for the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, The Hermit and the Princess (2001) and / Saw a Mountain (2002). Guest Condudor John Zoltek is entering his tenth year as Music Director and Conductor of the Glacier Symphony and Chorale. He holds degrees in music composition from The University of British Columbia (1983, M.M.), and Berklee College of Music in Boston, ( 1981, B.M. cum laude). His previous positions include: Conductor of the Vancouver Pro Musica Orchestra; Conductor for Marzena, a Seattle-based new music ensemble associated with Seattle Spring; Music Director of the Renton Youth Symphony Orchestra, and Music Director of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Seattle. He has also conducted the Southwestern Honors Orchestra in Knoxville, Tennessee and made his European debut with the Philharmonic Bohuslav Martinu in Luhachovice, Czech Republic. Mr. Zoltek appears as conductor with that same orchestra on The Spirit Emerges, a CD of music of Canadian composer Mark Armanini. John's other recordings include: The Music of Diane Thome on the Opus One label and three live CD concert recordings of the Montana Summer Symphony where he conducts the music of Rossini and Dvorak. The NOW and the VICO wish to acknowledge the generous support of our many funders - government departments, foundations and private donors - without whom our work would not be possible. The NOW Orchestra wants to offer a special thanks to Laurence Svirchev for his photographic contributions over the years. Thanks to Steve Bagnell for his important contributions musically and administratively and to Andrew Laurenson, Sean Lang and Radix Theatre. Also a warm thanks to composers Jin Zhang, Pepe Danza, Ron Samworth and conductor John Zoltek. The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra wishes to acknowledge the dedicated work of administrator Melanie Thompson and consultant Richard Marcuse. Our heartfelt gratitude for keeping the VICO moving forward. Q BRITISH COLUMBIA ~4',. BRITISH ~ BRITISH COLUMBIA ARTS COUNCIL ,""'1 .·d,,ofBrl<,,l,Cw"'.O" ~ COLUMBIA ~YOF VANCOUVER FOUNDATION Ministry of Attorney General Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch