INSPIRING A BOLD AND ADVENTUROUS IMAGINATION
Soundstreams encourages music lovers and students of all ages to learn more about contemporary music. Each season, Soundstreams shares unique musical resources with secondary, post-secondary and graduate students around the GTA and across Canada.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
Soundstreams Young Composer Program 2011/12
Every year Soundstreams organizes an exciting program for four young composers from across Canada. Successful candidates will develop their composition with a professional mentor, workshop it in Toronto and present it alongside other new Canadian work in a professional concert. This year’s theme is new composition for percussion, and Brian Cherney, an award-winning composer with an international reputation, will act as mentor for the project
The Project:
Successful candidates will compose a 3-minute piece for percussion under the mentorship of Brian Cherney. The new composition will be for percussion solo, duo or trio. The new composition must utilize an economical percussion set up (i.e.1 marimba, 1 xylophone, and small auxiliary percussion setup), which will be chosen from a predetermined list of available instruments the selected candidates will receive upon acceptance to the program. Found object percussion may be incorporated but should be supplied by the composer.
The candidate will be expected to meet deadlines in order to receive feedback from the mentor. The mentorship will culminate in three days in Toronto, where the mentor, composer and performers will rehearse and workshop the piece. On the final day the four compositions will be presented at Soundstreams Salon 21 event on April 16th at the Gardiner Museum.
For more information about the program and application procedure please download the Young Composer Program Information here.
INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS AND CANADIAN COMPOSERS AT YOUR SCHOOL!
IN-SCHOOL VISITS
Composers, conductors and professional musicians visit participating schools to discuss their work with students and to engage students in interactive exercises.
Trio Mediaeval from Norway gave a workshop at North Toronto Collegiate Institute on Mar 21, 2011.
YOUNG ARTIST OVERTURE - Soundstreams' Performance Program
Soundstreams' Young Artist Overture is a pre-concert performance by talented students or emerging artists.
The Young Artist Overture relates thematically to Soundstreams' main stage concert. It gives the emerging artists the opportunity to perform in front of a new audience as well as working and rehearsing with renowned artists.
Emerging percussionist Andrew Dunsmore working with composer Andrew Staniland on his work After the Crash for the Young Artist Overture on Feb 24, 2011 preceding the Soundstreams' concert with Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
Windago Chorus with young conductor Elaine Choi working with R. Murray Schafer on his composition Felix's Girls at Salon 21
Cawthra Park Chamber Choir during the Young Artist Overture, November 7, 2008. Photo by Victor Thom.
Since its inception in 1999 the Young Artist Overture has created opportunities for hundreds of student musicians and composers to work with professional musicians and perform, or see their work performed, on stage in front of a live audience prior to main stage concerts. It provides young aspiring musicians and composers with a professional performance experience and a once in a lifetime chance to be mentored by some of our greatest musicians and composers.
Past projects
The World on an Opera and the Children's Crusade
On June 10, The Music Director of the Children's Crusade, David Fallis and Nicola Smith, Canadian Children's Opera Chorus, visited a grade four class in St. Michael Catholic School to share with them what it takes to put on an opera, and the Children's Crusade in particular. They talked about the Artistic and the Production teams and what their jobs are, the various choirs and musicians involved in the new opera. The class got to learn and sing short excerpts from the Children's Crusade along with Nicola, with Mr. Fallis accompanying on the piano.
When asked what they liked the most, the kids wrote:
" My favorite part of the presentation was when we were singing songs", Lela.
" I loved that we got to sing with everyone and we got to ask questions" Jazmyn.
" I learned that there are different instruments that are played in operas" Giezel.
Love Songs on Valentine's Day
On Saturday, February 14, four University student composers from Ontario and Québec, met for the first time with performers, Wallis Giunta, mezzo soprano, Suren Barry, piano to hear their new works in a workshop setting. Composers were given a task by Soundstreams Canada to write a new piece for voice and piano. In celebration of the Québec composer, Claude Vivier and the 400th anniversary of the province, the students were asked to draw inspiration from Vivier's vocal work Love Songs, as well as have some relevance to Québec.
From left: Ana Sokolovic, Lawrence Cherney, Sean Kim, Suren Barry, Wallis Giunta, Francis St -Arnaud, Emilie LeBel and Nancy Tam at RCM after a workshop on February 14, 2009
The workshop was a success and opened a full discussion between the performers and composers about writing for voice and their intentions for the new work. Subjects such as setting text to music and speech inflections, the technical possibilities of the voice and what should be avoided in order to not harm or discomfort the performer, as well as how to write for piano to facilitate the singer to find their pitch, were all important issues. Ana Sokolovic, who is the mentoring composer for this project was a wonderful moderator in the discussion, engaging everyone in asking questions and offering advice.
All participants will take part in a second workshop in Montreal on February 27, 2009 co-presented with Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) in collaborations with Université du Québec à Montréal. This time, Ana Sokolovic will be joined by Rachid Safir, director and founder of Les Jeunes Solistes vocal ensemble to give feedback on the works and performance. This will be the final workshop before the four new works are performed at Soundstreams Canada's Young Artist Overture, in Montreal on March 1 (co-presented by SMCQ as part of their MNM Festival) and on March 3 in Toronto. Both Young Artist Overtures will be presented before concerts by Les Jeunes Solistes. Please see Our Events listings for more details.
Amir Safavi, violin; Pamela Leung, piano and Kalyna Franko, cello with Mr. Ron Royer from UTS perform on November 20, 2008 at St. Anne's Anglican Church.
Click here to listen to the trio's performance of the first movement from Paul Frehner's "Quarks Tropes" at this occasion.