Echoes of Now – Programme Notes
Composer Bios & Notes on the Music
Mark Armanini: NightSong Dance (2024)
NightSongDance is an abstract work in two movements conceived as a yin and yang dream sequence, exploring the explosion of colours and textures from the VICO ensemble’s instrumental cultural makeup. The santour and sheng act much like a continuo in a Baroque style, while the erhu, viola and bass make up the bowed string section. The duo of tar and santour also strongly shape and colour both the melodic motives and the rhythmic propulsion, as the plucked string section. The ensemble displays a multitude of ornamentation which also enlivens and challenges the brilliant expressivity of the dizi, with glissandi and its vividly recognizable sound and variety of sizes and ranges. The percussion leads the way in the primal second movement, a dancing skeleton: macabre, angular; alternating intense and comic. The colours continue to transform, evolve and surprise.
L .Mark Armanini ( b. 1952), a native Vancouverite, studied composition with Elliot Weisgarber and piano with Robert Rodgers at the University of British Columbia, graduating with a MMus. in 1984. In 1990 Mark began composing for various combinations of Asian and Western instruments; the major works being five concerti recorded with the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic in 1995 (an album entitled The Spirit Emerges with Qiu Xia He, pipa), and in 2003 with the Latvian National Symphony with Vivian Xia, yangqin, Heidi Krutzen, harp, and the Khac Chi Bamboo Ensemble, all under the direction of Maestro John Zoltek (album entitled Rain in the Forest). Mark’s latest release is Night Bird Singing, an erhu concerto performed by Song Yun, available on the Chroma Disc label. In 2000 Mark travelled to Taipei and in 2003 to Beijing and Shanghai as part of composer exchanges. In 2006 he performed at the Nanjing Jazz Festival and in 2007 he travelled to Wuhan to study the ancient Marquis Yi Bell Set. In 2009- 2016 Mark attended the Atlas Academy, a two week intercultural orchestra intensive in Amsterdam where his composition Chroma premiered at the Concertgebouw concert hall. In 2009 Mark became Co- Artistic Director of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) and from 2014-2024 he was the Artistic Director. From 2009-2021 he was Producer of the BC Chinese Music Ensemble , the largest professional Chinese traditional instrument ensemble in Canada. He is Co- Artistic Director, with Rita Ueda, of the AU Ensemble, who have recently made their US debut with Maestro Zoltek at Festival Amadeus in Whitefish Montana and were Guest Composers at the 2023 Cremona Music Festival, Cremona Italy.
Moshe Denburg: Passion’s Passage (2006-2024)
Passion’s Passage is a reworking of a piece I created in 2004, for a duo of Pipa and Guitar. Commissioned by Silk Road Music (Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault), funding for the composition was awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts. The original piece was titled Passion’s Promise, and the new title was invented to differentiate the present work for intercultural tentet. Though the two renditions utilise the same melodies and harmonies, Passion’s Passage is more elaborate and challenging. There are many more voices, and a more marked intercultural fabric emerges. The work is very high energy for the most part, with a calmer middle section for contrast. Many of the rhythmic gestures were influenced by my experiences studying Carnatic Music (the Art Music of South India), and Indian music generally. While the overall metrical scheme is 6/8, many cross rhythms are introduced; ‘internalised’ counting is relied upon and a very strict metronomic adherence is paramount throughout.
Moshe Denburg, who hails from a well known Montreal Rabbinical family, came to the West Coast of Canada in 1982. His musical career has spanned 5 decades and his accomplishments encompass a wide range of musical activities, including Composition, Performance, Music Education, and Artistic Direction. He is the founder of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) and has been involved in its evolution since its inception in the year 2001. He has studied music extensively, both formally and informally, and for the past 35 years has been engaged in exploring the musical resources of the non-Western world, creating music that challenges musicians of differing disciplines to work together across aural/written cultural divides, and to find a common musical aesthetic. He has travelled worldwide, living and studying in the United States, Israel, India and Japan. From 1986 to 1990 he studied composition with John Celona at the University of Victoria, Canada.
He has written a large number of works which have been performed, recorded, and broadcast at festivals and on the radio both in Canada and abroad. He is the recipient of many Canada Council grants and commissions and is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre.
Saeed Mirzazadeh: Mirage (2024)
Mirage is a piece of ambiguity which appears in two opposite ways: cloudy sounds and interacting melodic shapes. The cloudiness that creates smooth yet dissonant events, prevents the exact perception of time, while diverse directions of counterpointed melodies interrupt recognizing a certain clear end. Such an ambiguous situation is what occurs innumerous times in a real life. So the belief of humanity’s capability of understanding, controlling and figuring everything out is nothing but a mirage. – Saeed Mirzazadeh
Saeed Mirzazadeh was born in 1979 in Tehran, Iran. He is a composer, tar player, and music teacher, and also the founder and artistic director of Sarir Ensemble, and co-founder of the Neshat Duo. He graduated in composition from the Conservatory of Milan under the supervision of Mario Garuti, and has also studied with Farshid Samandari and Giorgio Tedde, and participated in master classes of such distinguished composers as Claudio Ambrosini, Marco Stroppa and Frédéric Durieux. He learned to play the tar and studied Persian musical repertoire (Radif) by participating in the class of the prominent master Mohammadreza Lotfi, as well as other renowned musicians and tar teachers such as Sahba Motallebi, Fariborz Azizi and Behrooz Hemmati. His compositions and arrangements are in Persian and western classical music genres in both traditional and contemporary styles, as well as chamber/orchestral pop music. He also blends the idea of one genre/style with the techniques of another in his pieces. He has worked with different ensembles and orchestras including the Roadrunner Trio, Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Ex Novo Ensemble and Sofia Session Orchestra. The remarkable artists he has collaborated with include Olaf John Laneri (Italian pianist), Maliheh Moradi (Iranian singer), Francesco Leprino (Italian musicologist and filmmaker), and Ashkan Khatibi (Iranian writer, director and Actor). He has received different awards such as special mention from Maurice Ravel Foundation (Italy) in 2015, merit award from Valentino Bucchi Foundation (Italy) in 2012, first prize in Behzisti Music festival II edition (Tehran, Iran) in 2008, and selected performer award in Tar festival (Tehran, Iran) in 2003. He has been invited as a composer to several festivals such as Global Soundscapes Festival 2018 (Vancouver, Canada), Maratona Contemporanea 2015 (Venice, Italy), New Made Week – il progetto “SIAE – Classici di Oggi” 2015 (Lovere, Italy). He has performed in many concerts and festivals as a tar player in Iran (various cities), Italy, the USA, Canada and Cyprus, as the soloist or with different ensembles. Some of his published works include: Ey Kash, for vocal and Persian ensemble on a poem by Ahmad Shamloo; Lightscape, for clarinet, accordion and cello; Magma, for piano; The New Color, for vocal and orchestra (arrangement); and the album Solook, in dastgah-e Nava (a Persian music system) for vocal and Persian instruments. He is an instructor and faculty member of BIHE (Baha’i Institute for Higher Education) since 2016. He has long term experience in teaching tar, as well as the theory of music and aural training particularly based on the ABRSM system.
Farangis Nurulla-Khoja: Pareidolia (2021-2025)
Notes coming soon!
Farshid Samandari: planh: de temps (2020)
“planh: de temps for a friend” is inspired by the troubadour musical form, planh (old Occitan word meaning lament), which was often used in composing a lament for the loss of a great personage or a friend. The composition of planh: de temps started in memory of a specific friend; however, throughout the process, influenced by world events, it turned into a lament for a friend more generally, and for these times (de temps). The piece refers to a work by Josquin Deprez. It generally reflects on and reminisces about a life. The struggles of one’s bird of spirit are reflected through brief beating sounds that depict the sound of flapping wings of a bird fluttering. The intercultural ensemble is divided into four groups: three wind instruments, three bowed strings, three plucked strings, and percussion.
Farshid Samandari‘s music reflects his interest in contemporary classical vocabulary, spectral analysis, and extended techniques. In addition, his profound faith in Unity in diversity stirs him toward integrating different cultural musics and vocabularies in his compositions. This vision has directed him to collaborate with such ensembles as Tehran National Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Experimental Studio (Germany), Conlon Disklavier (Netherlands), Red Shift Vertical Orchestra, Atlas Ensemble (Netherlands), Turning Point Ensemble, Motion Ensemble, Musica Nova, Nu:bc Collective, Borealis String Quartet, Emily Carr String Quartet, Standing Wave Ensemble, Red Chamber Quartet, Orchid Ensemble, and Vancouver Peace Choir, as well as soloists such as Karin Aurel, Ariel Barnes, Neal Bennett, Jeremy Berkman, Arnaldo de Felice, Connie Gitlin, Corey Hamm, Rachel Iwaasa, Garth Knox, Mark McGregor, Julie Nesrallah, Julia Nolan, Beth Orson, Heather Pawsey, Suzanne Snizek, Michael Strutt, Yamai Tsunao and Eric Wilson. His music has been presented by Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Netherlands), Musik Forum Viktring (Austria), and the Casalmaggiore Festival (Italy). He has been Composer-in-Residence with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra since 2013, and Artistic Director since 2024. He has led and collaborated on many of the ensemble’s programs including festivals, concerts, and educational activities such as the VICO Summer Academy and Sounds Global Composers’ Workshop.
Rita Ueda: As the first spring blossoms awaken through the snow (2021)
First Spring flowers have always filled me with hope and joy. They withstand the long, cold winters by patiently biding their time underneath layers of snow and ice. Then, when the time is right, they always manage to navigate through the frozen ground to greet the warmth of the sun. The year 2020 was one of the worst winters we have ever experienced, and many of us have been left exhausted and traumatized. I hope the coming year will be filled with strength, kindness, patience, and recovery. We can all begin our healing journey like the first spring blossoms that pierce through the snow.
Rita Ueda is a Canadian composer based in Vancouver, Canada. Notable recent works include “as the first spring blossoms awaken through the snow” (2021 – Canada Council for the Arts Jules Léger Prize for New Classical Music), “let us not be the reason why someone out there is praying for peace” (2020), “forty years of snowfall will not heal an ancient forest” (2010), and “Birds Calling… From the Canada in You” (2022), described as “… fresh, thoroughly Canadian, and breathtakingly original” (James Imam, Musical America Worldwide). Winner of the 2022 Azrieli Prize in Canadian Music and the 2014 Penderecki International Composers’ Competition, Ms. Ueda has premiered works with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Prague Modern, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and the SYC Ensemble Singers (Singapore). Since 2012, she has been creating intercultural collaborations with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, BC Chinese Music Ensemble, Allegra Chamber Orchestra, and the Turning Point Ensemble. Her intercultural chamber opera, “One Thousand White Paper Cranes for Japan” (2012) has been performed in six countries across Europe, North America, and Asia. Her latest intercultural chamber opera, “I Have My Mother’s Eyes: a Holocaust Memoir Across Generations” featuring musicians from Japan and Canada premiered with the Chutzpah! Festival (Vancouver) in November 2023. Ms. Ueda holds degrees from Simon Fraser University and the California Institute for the Arts where she studied with Rudolf Komorous, Rodney Sharman, David Rosenboom, Wadada Leo Smith, and Morton Subotnick. She is currently completing her PhD at Durham University (UK) with Richard Rijnvos and James Weeks. Her latest recordings are I Solisti Della Scalla – Octets (Warner Classics) and Il Viaggio di Dante (Stingray Classica).