Jubilant Red: The Composers’ Intercultural Kitchen

November 14, 2015 at 8 pm
Pyatt Hall (VSO School of Music)
843 Seymour St, Vancouver

Building bridges between contemporary classical & world music: works for string quartet & traditional instruments (zheng, santur, sanxian, oud, sho) by Jennifer Butler, Elisha Denburg, Jim Hiscott, Lisa Cay Miller, Bob Pritchard, Jeffrey Ryan, Naomi Sato and Rodney Sharman. Performed by the VICO String Quartet and soloists Navid Goldrick, Geling Jiang, Saina Khaledi & Naomi Sato.

See notes on the composers and their new pieces here.

Music of the Whole World: the Composers’ Intercultural Kitchen

Nov. 9, 2015 at 7 pm
Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
350 West Georgia St (Lower Level) – Alice MacKay Room
Admission is free; seating is limited

How would you go about writing music for an ensemble of instruments from all over the world? Join composers and musicians of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra to hear how they tackle this creative challenge! Live musical demonstrations included. This event is a special sneak preview/introduction to our upcoming concert, Jubilant Red (see below).

Sounds Global feat. Naomi Sato

November 6, 2015 at 8 pm
Highlands United Church
3255 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver

The intercultural music of the future: new pieces by up-and-coming composers, performed by Sounds Global, the VICO’s chamber ensemble, with visiting Japanese sho virtuoso Naomi Sato. Also on the bill: works by Sato and VICO composer-in-residence Farshid Samandari.

Featured musicians: Tim Chan (sheng), Sina Ettehad (kamanche), Martin Fisk (percussion), Bic Hoang (danbau), Saina Khaledi (santur), Charlie Lui (dizi), Finn Manniche (cello), Naomi Sato (sho), Lan Tung (erhu)

Featured composers: Peter Avelar, Bruce Bai, Mathilde Coté, Jessica Hua, Cathy Kuo, Lucas Oickle, Farshid Samandari, Naomi Sato, Vanessa Yeung

See notes on the composers and their new pieces here.

The Good Day Sunshine Band at CANADA DAY in Coquitlam

July 1, 2015 at 7:30 pm

Town Centre Park, Coquitlam

The Good Day Sunshine Band will be part of Canada Day celebrations in Coquitlam, a day-long festival of family entertainment, food, artisan booths and a cultural village, culminating in fireworks at the end of the night. The band will be appearing on the Cultural Village stage at 7:30 pm; click here for details and directions.

Featuring: Moshe Denburg (guitar/voice), Amy Stephen (accordion/tin whistle/voice), Bic Hoang (dan bau/voice), Ali Razmi (tar/voice) and Tim Stacey(double bass).

The Good Day Sunshine Band at Vancouver International Children’s Festival

May 29-31, 2015

hose of you who were at our fundraiser in March will remember the Good Day Sunshine Band: a groovy small ensemble of VICO musicians with a colourful repertoire of pop, folk and world music tunes. They’re performing three shows at the Vancouver International Children’s Festival this year; what better way to introduce a kid or teen in your life to the wonders of intercultural music? In an interview with Stuart Derdeyn of The Province, band leader Moshe Denburg says: “Choosing the Beatles – who really are familiar to pretty much anyone regardless of cultural origin – and adding in songs from our players’ varied musical traditions turns into something fun for everyone and really opens up a whole world of music for young audiences.” Read the full preview article here, and watch a video intro to the band on our YouTube channel.

Ontario Sound of Dragon Festival, featuring members of the VICO

The VICO is hitting the road! Growing out of our involvement as a co-presenter of the inaugural Sound of Dragon Music Festival in 2014, seven VICO musicians are participating in this mini-tour of southern Ontario, alongside guest musicians from Taiwan and the US.

May 20, 2015 at 8 pm
Fort York – Blue Barracks
250 Fort York Blvd., Toronto
Free admission (www.toronto.ca/fortevents)

This concert is the meeting ground of musicians from Vancouver, Taiwan and Toronto. Members of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, and Toronto pipa virtuoso Wen Zhao will present solo, duo, and ensemble performances of traditional and contemporary music written for the Chinese instruments. As the night unfolds, the musicians will explore various combinations of Chinese and western instruments in spontaneous compositions, collaborating with guests from Toronto’s creative music scene. www.toronto.ca/fortevents

May 21, 2015 at 8 pm
Small World Music Centre
180 Shaw Street, Toronto ON
Tickets $20 available here

Small World Music presents a small ensemble made up of players from the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra. This lively programme includes unique interpretations of folk music as well as original works with influences from Indian, Klezmer, Persian, Chinese, Taiwanese, and even Beatles music! Joining the ensemble is Toronto pipa virtuoso Wen Zhao. This concert will finish off with the Toronto premiere of John Oliver’s Eagle Flies to Mountain for a cross-cultural instrumentation.

May 22 at 8 pm
All Saints Anglican Church
1100 Denison St., Markham, ON
Tickets $25 available here

This concert features a 14-member chamber orchestra of Chinese and western instruments, conducted by maestro Chih-Sheng Chen from Taiwan. The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra’s core group is augmented by musicians from Taiwan and Toronto to perform its unique repertoire accumulated over the past decade. The Chinese classics Er-Quan and Dragon Boat, arranged by Mark Armanini, are performed alongside original compositions including Farshid Samandari’s Axiom Praxis and a world premiere of Lan Tung’s Ma Chao, which fuses Beijing Opera with energetic grooves.

May 23, 2015 at 8 pm
Aeolian Hall
795 Dundas St. E., London ON
Tickets $20 available here
May 24, 2015 at 8 pm
The Jazz Room, Huether Hotel

59 King St. North, Waterloo ON
Tickets $20 in advance/$25 at the door (Students & seniors $10 in advance/$15 at the door) available here

The London and Waterloo concerts will present a small ensemble made up of players from the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra. This international collaboration brings together erhu (Chinese violin), sheng (Chinese mouth organ), zheng (Chinese zither), ruan (Chinese lute), western violin and world percussion to present a lively program of unique interpretation of folk music as well as original works. The influences span from Indian, Klezmer, Persian, Chinese, Taiwanese, and even Beatles music!

This tour is co-presented by the Sound of Dragon Society, Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Small World Music, City of Toronto, Fort York National Historic Site, Markham Theatre, Sunfest-London Committee for Cross Cultural Arts Inc, and Waterloo’s Neruda Arts. The project is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council and the Province of British Columbia.

The Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra is sponsored by Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan), Overseas Community Affairs Council, Republic of China (Taiwan), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan), Department of Cultural Affairs, Taipei City Government.

MYSTICS & LOVERS: VICO with Laudate Singers

Friday May 8, 2015 at 8 pm
Blueshore FInancial Centre for the Performing Arts
Capilano University, North Vancouver
Tickets ($35/$30/$15) available here

The VICO and Laudate Singers are celebrating over a decade of artistic partnership with this concert, which will bring back two major works for choir and intercultural orchestra that we originally performed together in 2002 and 2006 respectively: Ani Ma-amin (I Believe) by Moshe Denburg and Asheghaneh by Farshid Samandari. 

Both pieces examine connections between personal love and spiritual devotion, as expressed in centuries-old texts (by a 12th c. Hebrew philosopher in Ani Ma-amin and a 10th-c. Persian poet/philosopher in Asheghaneh) that still resonate with us today. Both also combine the human voice with traditional instruments from China, Vietnam, Iran and India in addition to European/North American classical strings and winds. This is fusion music on a global scale: music that draws on the poetic best of many cultures to build bridges between them. It strives for unity in diversity; it expresses longing for peace and understanding, and offers hope for the future.

Also on the bill: a selection of Kurdish folk songs and traditional chants music, performed by tenor soloist Jamal Kurdistani and a small ensemble of musicians on traditional Persian instruments. Laudate Singers will also performCircular Coast by Mark Armanini, a West Coast image of a walk along the beach, in addition to the world premiere of a new commission by the choir’s composer-in-residence Chris Sivak, titled twinkle, twinkle little star.

This concert is made possible by the generous support of the following funders, sponsors & partners: Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of British Columbia (Community Gaming), the City of Vancouver, the City of North Vancouver, North Vancouver District, North Vancouver Recreation & Culture, St. Andrew’s United Church, Contact Printing, Pinnacle Hotel at the Pier, West Vancouver Memorial Library, Western Stevedores, the North Shore News, OMNI TV and Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society.

Music of the Whole World: Compositions for Choir & Intercultural Orchestra

Wednesday April 29, 2015 at 7 pm
Vancouver Public Library Central Branch
350 West Georgia St (Lower Level) – Alice MacKay Room
Admission is free; seating is limited

Choir & intercultural orchestra: a musical match made in heaven? The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and Laudate Singers think so. Join musicians from both ensembles for a sneak preview of their upcoming joint concert Mystics & Lovers. Get the inside scoop on the creative process behind two major choral-intercultural pieces: Ani Ma-amin (I Believe) by Moshe Denburg and Asheghaneh by Farshid Samandari.

GOOD DAY SUNSHINE: An afternoon of groovy folk, pop & intercultural music

Sunday February 15, 2015 at 2 pm

Frederic Wood Theatre at UBC
6354 Crescent Road, Vancouver

VICO does the Beatles…and more! Join us for a celebration of love and music: a fun afternoon of groovy folk, pop and traditional tunes, performed on instruments from all over the planet.

Featuring the Good Day Sunshine Band:

Moshe Denburg – guitar, voice
Amy Stephen – accordion, Celtic harp, voice
Bic Hoang – danbau, voice
Lan Tung – erhu, voice
Ali Razmi – tar, voice
Russell Sholberg – bass
Phil Belanger – percussion

Also on the bill: tasty refreshments, instrument petting zoo & a silent auction with a panoply of exciting items and opportunities donated by the following generous organizations and individuals:

Pacific Theatre, United Players, Vancouver International Film Centre, The Cultch, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts & NeWorld Theatre, Vancouver Pro Musica, UBC Dept of Theatre & Film, The Chan Centre for Performing Arts at UBC, Vancouver Recital Society, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Laudate Singers, The Lodge at the Old Dorm (Bowen Island), Bao Bei Chinese Brasserie, Steve Nash Fitness World (Kitsilano),Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society, Laurel Saba, Joy Salzberg, Jay Henrickson, Tama & Maurice Copithorne, Diana Stewart-Imbert, Stephan Stewart-Imbert, Moshe Denburg, Jenny Lu, Janna Sailor, Mike Dowler.

All proceeds support VICO’s artistic & educational programming.

TICKETS: $29 ($10 for students), on sale here, or at the door (cash or cheque only please).
*Price includes admission plus a 1-year VICO membership with benefits such as discounted admission to VICO concerts & more)
 
Also available: $49 Ticket/Membership Upgrade!
*Price includes admission, premium reserved seat, tax receipt for $20 plus a 1-year VICO membership with added benefits including one free ticket to any major VICO concert in 2015.

PARKING is available in the Rose Garden Parkade, which is also known as the Chan Centre Parkade. Try to get a space up on the 5th level, or as close as possible. On any level, find the exit marked ‘Stairwell E”. Go up the stairwell to street level – it is one flight of stairs from level 5. At the top, the Frederic Wood Theatre is the building on your left.

INFORMATION:  info@vi-co.org