Several renowned international artists will help the University of Victoria’s School of Music celebrate its golden anniversary in the 2017-2018 season.
Renowned Canadian violinist James Ehnes — who recently toured all Canadian provinces and territories in a van with his wife and two children – will perform Sept. 29. Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, who won the 2014 Polaris Music Prize recognizing the best Canadian album on artistic merits, will perform Oct. 17. Other highlights include a performance of Das Liede von der Erde by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) on Oct. 27.
The Austrian composed the piece for two voices and orchestra between 1908 and 1909 against the background of personal and political struggles , including the death of his oldest daughter and rising anti-Semitism that forced him out out of his position as Director of the Vienna Court Opera, perhaps the most prestigious position in music at the time.
Israeli contralto Noa Frenkel and tenor Benjamin Butterfield will be the featured voices on Oct. 27, when audiences can also hear the overture to Rienzi by German composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), whose anti-Semitic views gained him infamy, and a new piece from Canadian film music composer Howard Shore, who has won three Academy Awards for his work on The Lords of the Rings film trilogy.
Maestro Timothy Vernon will conduct the UVic Chorus & Orchestra in a gala concert on Dec. 2, featuring pieces by G. F. Handel (Utrecht Te Deum), Hindemith (Symphonic Metamorphosis), Beethoven (Coriolanus Overture) and Shostakovich (Piano Concerto No. 1 for Strings and Trumpet).
Electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani, whose work has appeared in popular music, movies and commercials, will give the celebrations a touch of the advant-garde in the first week of February.
For more information, see https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/calendar/events/ or https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/events/e-pulse/onthepulse/eOnthePulse-2017-18-web.pdf
