Blog
A Night At The Symphony
The night following the opening concert of Esprit’s 32nd season, Alex and I were at another symphony’s performance — The London Philharmonic Orchestra and their conductor Vladimir Jurowski, presented by Roy Thomson Hall.
The LPO closed with the monumental Shostakovich Symphony No. 8, one of his three great “war” symphonies. It was the first time we had ever heard it live and it was an absolutely shocking and stunning revelation — a huge and dramatic piece which moves you through emotions from the greatest human anguish, through grimness and despair, finally resolving in peace and tranquility.
The orchestra played with enormous depth and power. It is a massive piece, clocking in at almost an hour. By the end you have experienced a full range of emotions. We were exhilarated and emotionally exhausted.
While we were leaving the hall we were surprised to bump into two longtime Esprit supporters who were at the Esprit POLARIS concert the previous night. They told Alex how much they loved every piece on Esprit’s concert and how meaningful the experience was for them.
Two wonderful back-to-back nights out at the symphony. Breathtaking!
(Photo: Alex with Dr. Estera Bekier and Wodek Szemberg, producer of TVO's program, The Agenda.)
– Alexina Louie
Tales of a Tuba
As part of our new Esprit Orchestra initiative Meet the Band, a segment of last night’s pre-concert talk, I invited our long-time tuba player Scott Irvine to talk about his instrument.
Scott entertained composer Paul Frehner and I with a lively tuba rendition of “Tequila.” Then he fascinated the concert-goers with an inside look at what it takes to play such a large instrument, and what it feels to be the “low man” in the orchestra.
He let us in on all kinds of insider information. For example, I didn’t know that tuba players think ill of composers who add the words con sordino in their tuba parts. (con sordino means ‘with mute’ - an instruction telling the musician to place the mute, a large sound-dampening tool, inside the bell of the instrument.) And I admit to having used this instruction in my scores.
But why do they curse us when we write con sordino?
Because the mute is as big as the tuba, and the player has to carry it, along with the big instrument, to and from rehearsals and concerts. No Smart Cars for the tuba player!
Scott remarked about how well Paul Frehner wrote for the brass section in his piece, Phantom Suns, which opened the second half of Esprit’s POLARIS concert.
In our ensuing discussion about how composers come to write for tuba I revealed that, although I have written for tuba in many pieces, I had never even held one. Scott leaned over to pick up the tuba and hand it to me, but I graciously declined!
-- Alexina Louie
U of T New Music Meet & Greet
U of T Faculty of Music, Edward Johnson Building
This past Tuesday, I had the pleasure of presenting with Alex Pauk at the U of T Faculty of Music. We represented the Esprit Orchestra alongside a dozen other Toronto based New Music organizations. Even though it was a dreary day with pouring rain outside, the room was full of 30+ music and composition students from both the undergraduate and graduate level. Presenters from New Music Concerts, Continuum, Toy Piano Composers and more, all took part. It was spectacular to see so many vibrant New Music vehicles together in the same room. It made me thankful that we live and perform in such a culturally rich city.
- J.R.
Filming our Season Trailer
Last week Steven & Mitsuo worked their magic as we filmed our 2014/2015 Season promo video. It was a beautiful summer day and Alex & Zina's house was the most picturesque backdrop. Even Potassium (the neighbour's cat) agreed and decided to watch. Check back soon to see the finished product!
