TSB III - Performances
Daytime Performances
“Twiƨt” for Percussion Quartet and Fixed Media (Joshua Weinfeld) - Performed by Kairos Percussion Quartet
“Twist” is a newly composed piece by master’s student Joshua Weinfeld in collaboration with the Kairos Percussion Quartet. Written for percussion quartet and fixed stereo playback, Twist blends popular music genres like EDM and hip-hop with instrumental chamber music. This genre-bending piece features many traits of EDM and hip-hop music, including energetic drum patterns and low TR-808 bass lines in the audio playback. “Twist” challenges players through its interaction with fixed media, as the ensemble must play as a cohesive unit whilst simultaneously accompanying the audio playback.
Torrent for Vibraphone and Live Processing Electronics (Fish Yu) - Performed by Bevis Ng
Composed by Fish Yu, “Torrent” depicts how an insignificant drizzle transforms into a storm that floods the land with water through a soundscape of vibraphone and live electroacoustic processed sound. While originally composed for flute and live electronics, this new version uses vibraphone and live electronics to depict the various forms of water. “Torrent” achieves this through a wide range of vibraphone techniques, including bowing, pitch bending, harmonics, and singing. To assist percussionists, Ng and Fu worked together to compile a detailed written documentary on how to set up and control the electronics for the piece.
Hertz & Lumen: Poetry of Images & Sounds - Performed by Matthew Lau
“Hertz & Lumen: Poetry of Images & Sounds” examines the relationship between a percussionist and moving images with Massimo Lauricella’s vibraphone solo “Ritratti Surreali” (2022). Translated as “Surreal Portraits,” this 5-movement suite was written by award-winning Italian composer Lauricella for Ben Omar and later dedicated to Matthew Lau. Lau commissioned Asian-American filmmaker XUAN to create a video that enhances Lauricella’s music, connecting the space between hertz and lumen. Xuan’s video is a cross between Italian Neorealism and Spanish Pedro Almodovar, featuring bold and stated colors, intricate meticulous timed-out events, and playful composition. Each movement depicts surreal pictures as its title suggests: “Prisma Alato” depicts two hummingbirds, “Alter Ego” plays on different personalities without ourselves, “Vib! Rato! Ratooo!” combines Italian gibberish with vibraphone in a whimsical manner, “Fryderyk 5.0” pays homage to the pianist Chopin, and “Fuori Controllo” ends the suite with a bang.
FAST (Tim Brady) - Performed by the McGill Percussion Ensemble
“FAST” is a three-movement piece by Tim Brady, commissioned by the SIXTRUM percussion sextet for their 10th season anniversary. In Brady’s own words, “Really fast music requires the use of muscle memory as a basic compositional device – using scales, repeated notes, and small, repetitive rhythmic cells: things every musician has practiced a million times. But who wants to just listen to scales for 15 minutes (not me!)? So – my job as a composer was to find a way to create an auditory illusion: the music must sound like it is moving forward, changing, evolving – but the players must feel and work with simple, physical percussion patterns.”
Ignacio Corrales - The Rioplatenses Nuances
The Rioplatenses Nuances is a set of pieces exemplifying the Argentinian perspective, its unique multiculturalism and identity. The set includes works of Martin Matalon from Buenos Aires and Sergio Fidemraizer from Rosario. Matalon’s “Short Stories” honours the aesthetics of the Parisian “Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique” over a background of Argentinian elements. Fidemraiser’s “Bagajes Perdidos,” combines elements of electronic fixed media with tango iterations, featuring Piazzolla’s melodic lines and Milonga Campera tempi.
Réflexions - Performed by Jérémie Carrier
“Réflexions” is a compilation of Jérémie Carrier’s compositions and arrangements for solo vibraphone, inspired by Gary Burton’s seminal album, “Alone by the Vibraphone.” This opus is inspired by Burton’s ability to craft a rich and full sound through counterpoint, layered voices, and distinct melodies and rhythms. The album seamlessly merges jazz improvisation with modern harmony and expansive song structures. Featured in this program are two compositions: “Home Away From Home” and “In Time.”
Fantasy for Cello and Percussion (David Maves) - Performed by Duo Simuldos
I. Adagio – Allegro
II. Allegro Moderato
III. Adagio
Accompanying performance for the poster “Timpani in Chamber Music: Preliminary study on timbre-blending with cello”
New Voices in Contemporary Marimba Music - Performed by Matthew Coley
In “New Voices in Contemporary Marimba Music”, Matthew Coley presents examples of new major solo works that have been written for him between 2010 and 2019. Coley discusses the collaboration process and elements of each work that distinguish it within the contemporary solo marimba repertoire. Works presented include movements I and V from “Ghost Music” (2019) by David Colson; movements III and IV from “Nereus” (2012) by Jeffrey Holmes; and “Fugue Odyssey” (2010) by Dolores White.
Generation Recall & Starfield - Performed by Shawn Mativetsky
While the tabla’s origins are found at the heart of Hindustani music, the tabla’s great versatility has enabled it to transcend musical and cultural boundaries. The tabla being used as an amplified instrument makes a natural candidate for collaborations with electronics and other amplified sounds. The wide world of effects pedals greatly expands the sonic palette of the tabla, allowing for manipulation of timbre, pitch, time, and space. In recent years, Shawn Mativetsky has been exploring the vast possibilities of effects pedals, not only as sound modifiers, but also as interactive partners in performance. The tabla tradition is rooted in improvisation, and adding effects pedals vastly expands its tonal possibilities, opens new paths for improvisation, and inspires endless new musical avenues to explore.
Connecting the Threads - Performed by the University of Manitoba Percussion Ensemble
“Connecting the Threads” uses Paul Lansky’s percussion quartet “Threads” as a structure for developing community-based rehearsal skills. This performance divides the 10-movement work into different quartets of students, creating opportunities for students to interact with each other and explore roles as chamber music leaders and collaborators within the tradition of the ‘percussion quartet.’
Lansky describes the three ‘Threads’ woven into the work: “Arias and Preludes that focus on the metallic pitched sounds; Choruses in which drumming predominates; and Recitatives made largely from Cage-like ‘noise’ instruments. The aims of the different threads are to highlight the wide range of qualities that percussion instruments are capable of, from lyrical and tender to forceful and aggressive, and weave them into one continuous texture.”
The Flower Episode (Jessie Marino) - Performed by Triolet (Ibrahim, Ryan, and Sparks).
Music and imagery are brought to life through gesture in The Flower Episode (after Toshi Makihara), where choreography and musical interpretation are inseparable. This trio by Jessie Marino is reminiscent of Thierry DeMey’s works for hand ballet, although in this case, according to Marino, the performers are “dancing with their hands on top of a timpani”. Marino developed a unique notation system for the piece that simultaneously represents movement and rhythm. This is the debut performance for this new trio and will celebrate the creative connections made possible through the Canadian Percussion Network.