Rocky Mountain high: Calgary New Music Festival delivers a breath of fresh air
by Christine Leonard11 May 2015
You don’t have to be Philip Glass to wrap your mind around the creative impetus at the core of the Calgary New Music Festival. Clear in her ambition to introduce Calgarians to a new breed of classical musicians, the festival’s forward-thinking artistic director Mélanie Léonard saw a unique opportunity to kick off the New Works Calgary 2014-2015 season with a blast of fresh air.
“The fantastic team of people behind me a NeWorks Calgary was having discussion music about the music scene in Calgary, and it was obvious that we were all passionate about new music. We felt there was a need to bring attention to local ensembles and individual musicians, who are devoted to that repertoire,” Léonard, who also performs with professional chamber music ensemble The Wild West New Music Ensemble, explains. “In partnering with other organizations and venues the city we have been able to come together and present a festival that taps into an established audience while covering a rich spectrum of music that is often difficult to describe.”
Encouraging the Classical Revolution to pass through its door, Café Koi will launch the stage-hopping series of concerts that comprise the two-week-long Calgary New Music Festival’s well-paced schedule. One of the Festival’s most popular acts, The Land’s End Ensemble will attune Festival Hall the following evening. Allowing a day, or two, off between artistic epiphanies, Spiritus Chamber Choir will roost in Knox United Church and the Kensington Sinfonia will illuminate Hope Lutheran Church. Avant-garde Flux Quartet and Evan Ziporyn are to collaborate at the Eckhardt-Gramatte Hall, while MRU’s Wyatt Recital Hall welcome’s the contemporary deconstruction of Neil Cockburn. Another reason to check out the National Music Centre, Luciane Caradassi goes it solo on May 13, and the whole thing rounds-up with the Wild West New Music Ensemble May 16 Inspiration Stage (TELUS Spark).
“I wanted to highlight composers and music more closely related to more traditional, romantic, and post-romantic styles, alongside more challenging forms. New harmonies, new sound and new musical material, these artists are utilizing extended techniques for a new musical era. It’s about presenting what’s being written today in the context of the past 100 years of modern composition since composers have started to break free and evolve.”
Given the vast and uncharted territory that is home to the new music genre, how does one go about making high art accessible to the curious and cultured who wish to glimpse behind the veil of philharmonic genius? The CPO’s former associate conductor, Léonard suggests that the most fundamental of human traits are the key to unlocking the unfathomable depths of the neo-classical movement.
“The important thing to remember is that the music, language, and technique are all just approaches that are used by the composer as carriers of emotion. You can apply that philosophy to all art in general,” she says. “For that reason, live performances are an important form of communication about the human experience. There’s a palpable energy and graceful synergy that comes from being in a shared space together; connecting through live art and live music in the presence of musicians, and sharing a common interest with an audience in those moments of grace. There is a synergy that happens when you leave yourself open to new experiences like that. I hope people surprise themselves by stepping out of the box and exploring the repertoires of these new composers.”
Go to neworkscalgary.com for more information.
AB, Alberta, New Works Calgary, New Works Music Festival
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