Soundstreams Returns to the Stage With  ‘A Love Song to Toronto’

April 5, 2022 // Toronto, ON – Lawrence Cherney, Founding Artistic Director, Soundstreams, today announced details about the company’s inaugural onstage production since March 2020 ‘A Love Song To Toronto’. Presented on the eve of an historic Soundstreams tour taking Canadian music to Germany and the U.K., ‘A Love Song to Toronto’ is a celebration of renowned Canadian composer Claude Vivier’s works. This in-person event will be performed live at St. Andrew’s Church, Toronto on April 28^th, 2022.

As a love offering to the beloved city of Toronto, this event is aptly named after the piece ‘Love Songs’ by Vivier, an eclectic piece that draws from nursery rhymes, Shakespeare and folkloric traditions. This concert also highlights Vivier’s fascination with non-Western music, which was greatly stimulated by his travels to the Near and Far East during the 1970’s. His Cinq chansons pour percussion, composed a few years after Vivier‘s 1976 trip to Bali, is scored for metal instruments, many of which are found in Indonesian gamelans, or percussion orchestras. These instruments were created especially for Cinq chansons and Ryan Scott’s performance will be the first on the instruments Vivier intended.

Equally powerful is Shiraz, another technically brilliant work that was created after Vivier’s trip to the Iranian city of Shiraz. He was inspired by two blind musicians wandering the city and used this image to fashion a brilliant toccata-like work with constant pairs of double notes.

Vivier’s Shiraz and Cinq Chansons pour percussion inspired renowned choreographer, director, and actor Michael Greyeyes to create choreography for two new dance films. These two films, ‘Leora’ & ‘2’ will be projected on screen with live music performances of Vivier’s works.

The performance is rounded out with an homage to Claude Vivier, Oceano Nox, composed by Christopher Mayo and commissioned with support from the Ontario Arts Council. Though the music has been lost, Vivier’s first known composition was inspired by Victor Hugo’s poem Oceano Nox about sailors lost at sea.

Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney added: “Claude Vivier was preoccupied with Death, Sex and Eternity. He led a dangerous life, taking risks equally with his person and with his art. But from the extremes of human experience, he brought us back a glimpse of the eternal in 49 extraordinary works. This Love Songs program is another in a series of Soundstreams’ Vivier productions over several seasons. This year includes live presentations in Toronto in April and a European tour in May, featuring linchpin appearances at a Claude Vivier Festival hosted by London’s Southbank Centre.”

ARTISTS

Music Director: David Fallis
Vocal ensemble: Carla Huhtanen, Lindsay McIntyre, Vania Chan, Robin Dann, Bud Roach, Alex Samaras, and Keith Lam
Pianist: Serouj Kradjian
Percussionist: Ryan Scott

REPERTOIRE

Claude Vivier Cinq Chansons Pour Percussions (accompanied by filmed dance “2”)

Claude Vivier Shiraz (accompanied by filmed dance “Leora”)

Claude Vivier Love Songs

Claude Vivier Hymnen an die Nacht

Christopher Mayo Oceano Nox

Individual tickets are available through RCM Tickets – this link. Visit Soundstreams.ca for more information.

A LOVE SONG TO TORONTO
Presented on April 28, 2022

In-Person show, lasting approximately 84 minutes

Single Tickets are three tiered- $25/-, $50/- and $75/-

This production is coproduced with Signal Theatre and National Arts Centre.

Soundstreams acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council. A Love Song to Toronto is also supported by the City of Toronto; co-produced by Signal Theatre and the National Arts Centre. Oceano Nox was commissioned with funding from the Ontario Arts Council.

This project is part of Soundstreams’ 2021 Digital Residency at Crow’s Theatre and made possible with the generous support of Yonge Suites.

Soundstreams is one of the world’s leading contemporary music companies, and the largest global presenter of new Canadian music. Founder and Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney is committed to showcasing the work of Canadian and international composers, and has commissioned over 170 new works, and programmed hundreds of unique and compelling concerts including chamber music events, multi-choir spectaculars, operas, music-theatre works, and seven highly successful international festivals. Soundstreams serves a broad community of music lovers through the yearly Main Stage series, and free outreach and education programs that include Encounters, the Insider program, RBC Bridges, and SoundMakers. Years of collaboration with artists from diverse cultures have laid the groundwork for Soundstreams’ leap onto the world stage, with productions like Claude Vivier’s Musik für das Ende, the Cree- and Sámi-language Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit, and Hell’s Fury: The Hollywood Songbook enjoying international success and rave reviews through The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times.
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