Grandview Park Playlist

Programme

The VICO and Little Chamber Music respectfully acknowledge that this concert takes place on the traditional, unceded territories of the Coast Salish people, in particular the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tseil-Waututh First Nations. We are grateful for their stewardship of the land – past, present, and future.

Robyn Jacob

Edge of the Sky
Lonesome Endure
Forever in the Eye of a Dreamer

All composed and arranged by Robyn Jacob (Immix)

Saina Khaledi

Hidden Being | Composed & arranged by Saina Khaledi | Text: Rumi

Amy Stephen

Johnny Is Gone For A Soldier | Traditional (Irish)
She’s Like The Swallow | Traditional (Newfoundland)
I Shall Be Released | Bob Dylan

All arranged by Amy Stephen

D’arcy Han (ZiZi)

The Poetry Song | Music by Qin Jian Bo | Lyrics by Che Xing
Love for the Land | Music by D’arcy Han | Lyrics by Ma Yong & Wang Wei (Tang dynasty) | Quotation from “Summertime” by George Gershwin, DuBose Heyward, Ira Gershwin

All arranged by Mariah Mennie

*****

Curious about the instruments you are seeing on stage?

Visit our Instrument Corner to learn about the ones that may be new to you!

Quick Links

About the Artists / Notes on the Music

Robyn Jacob (featured vocalist & composer)

Robyn Jacob is a composer, pianist, vocalist and educator living and working from the unceded territories of the Sḵwxwú7mesh, Xwməθkwəyəm and Səl’il’wətaʔ Nations, also known as Vancouver. Her compositions include commissions by Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion (Chicago), Architek Percussion (Montreal), Grammy Award-winning Sō Percussion (Brooklyn), Chor Leoni (Vancouver), and the Victoria Symphony, as well as collaborations with visual artists and instrument makers. Her avant-pop project Only A Visitor (Mint Records) has toured internationally and released four albums to date. She has released two albums with her duo project The Giving Shapes in collaboration with harpist Elisa Thorn. Her new solo project Immix explores the emotive narratives of voice and electronics. From 2012 – 2024 she was part of the multi-disciplinary art collective Publik Secrets, whose work includes a variety of public space interventions, performances, installations and ephemeral gatherings, including Gamelan Bike Bike, which she co-led with artist and composer George Rahi for over ten years.

Notes on the Music

The songs performed in this concert are from my solo project, Immix. The core of Immix’s material explores the possibilities held in the use of limited means. Exploring the vocoder/harmonizer as its own instrument, the resulting songs dance between the vulnerability of the human voice and the potential of an emergent vocabulary hidden within the glitch and grain of synthesized voice.

In dialogue with the theme of the transition from light to dark as we start to see on the horizon the coming of the shorter days of fall, the song Edge of the Sky celebrates the joys and challenges of being an outsider, sitting on the edge and looking over it, just as we are sitting on the edge of a season. Lonesome Endure takes this idea a little further, exploring the lightness that we seek, while sometimes burdened by the darkness in our minds. Forever In The Eye of a Dreamer meditates upon the metaphor that we can only achieve the peace and stillness that we seek once we have been transformed into light, and radiating from a star, become the point of light absorbed in the eye of a dreamy stargazer.

Saina Khaledi (featured vocalist & composer)

Saina Khaledi, an Iranian-Canadian musician, achieved significant recognition by emerging victorious in the Iranian Santour Festival in 2003. Holding a diploma from Iran’s most prestigious music school, the Tehran Music Conservatoire, Khaledi dedicated herself to her musical education and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Music in 2007. Subsequently, she relocated to Canada in 2009. Since her arrival, Khaledi has performed extensively across various countries, including Iran, Austria, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, andCanada. Her performances have showcased her versatility as a composer, soloist, and collaborator with esteemed groups such as Music On Main, the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), Vashaan Ensemble, Vancouver Bach Choir, BC Chinese Music Ensemble (BCCME), Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO), Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Canadian Music Centre (CMC), Allegra Chamber Orchestra, Richmond Choir, VanChoir, Medusa Society, Artemis Society, National Orchestra of Iran Conservatoire, Mellal Orchestra, and Hamnavazan Ensemble. Currently, Khaledi holds teaching positions at Capilano University, and offers private lessons.

Notes on the Music

Hidden Being is a piece based on Rumi’s poem that I composed in memory of my beloved father back in 2017. It has been arranged for different ensembles during the past few years as well as solo Santour and voice performed by myself. This arrangement is for a VICO ensemble including 7 instruments and voice, to be performed for the first time on August 16, 2025.

Amy Stephen (featured vocalist & composer)

Born in 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta, Amy Stephen grew up in Vancouver, BC and now resides in Coquitlam. Amy was a founding member of internationally-acclaimed celtic funk ensemble ‘Mad Pudding’ and is currently a member of Vancouver’s World Music Collective. She writes and performs cultural fusion music with her husband, Persian vocalist Amir Haghighi, and is a popular studio musician and performer around Vancouver, playing piano, accordion, celtic harp and penny whistle.

The founder and director of Vancouver’s Aurora Celebration Choir and the Coquitlam Celebration Choir, Amy obtained a B.Mus. and a B.Ed. from UBC, studying conducting with James Fankhauser, and sang with the University Singers and the University Chamber Singers. Since then, she has sung with various groups around Vancouver, including the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Vancouver Cantata Singers and Musica Intima.

Notes on the Music

Johnny Has Gone for a Soldier is an Irish traditional song in Gaelic and English, sung by a young woman whose lad has gone off to war and she’s determined to follow him in order to be with him.

She’s Like the Swallow is a traditional Newfoundland song sung by a young woman who was seduced by a deceitful boyfriend, becomes pregnant and despairs.

I Shall Be Released is a song by Bob Dylan about prisoners being released. I dedicate this arrangement to all prisoners of conscience / those imprisoned unjustly around the world.

D’arcy Han / ZiZi (featured vocalist & composer)

Beijing born, Vancouver raised D’arcy Han has been singing and performing since she made her vocal debut on Chinese national TV at the age of 7. As a vocalist and artist, she performed at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and toured the USA, Europe, and Asia with her many music projects. In 2017, D’arcy appeared on Sing! China (“The Voice”) with an international audience of over 400 million. The program vaulted this Canadian singer/songwriter to celebrity status. This was followed up by special performances and appearances at national television events including the Chinese Spring Gala show, the Miss World 2017 Final, the Silk Road International Film Festival, the Strawberry Music Festival and China International Fashion Week, and more. In 2018, her debut EP This is Me, reached #4 on the BBC Soul Charts, and is still peaking on Spotify and other online mediums. From stadiums to intimate stages, D’arcy captivates with what critics describe as a uniquely charming voice paired with an unmatched classiness in personal style and stage presence. An honorary member of the Canadian Association of Songwriters, D’arcy co-writes, produces and collaborates with songwriters/producers, artists, and performers from both North America and Asia. She is a cultural ambassador, committed to bridging people through music, acting and performances.

Notes on the Music

Inspired by Za Shi San Shou (“Three Miscellaneous Poems”) by Tang dynasty poet Wang Wei, The Poetry Song blends classical Chinese verse with contemporary interpretation to create a poignant reflection on longing, memory, and home. Composer D’arcy Han and lyricist Ma Yong weave the timeless imagery of plum blossoms, spring grass, and riverside homes into a heartfelt meditation on homesickness and quiet yearning. In this intimate arrangement by Mariah Mennie featuring sophisticated and spacious instrumentation, the piece sheds its original pop-orchestral style in favor of a gentler, more contemplative voice. Performed in Mandarin, the song speaks to the universal experience of finding oneself far from home, echoing especially in a city like Vancouver, where many carry distant roots and deep memories.

Originally composed for youth choir by renowned Chinese composer Qin Jian Bo and lyricist Che Xing, Love for the Land is a lyrical tribute on the deep bond between humanity and nature. Through poetic metaphors—sunshine and silken thread, river and spring, farmer and seed—the song evokes a sense of reverence for the earth and its rhythms. In this new arrangement by composer and arranger Mariah Mennie, the piece is reimagined for a beautifully curated ensemble of classical Western and world instruments, creating a unique sound that has never been heard before. Performed in Mandarin, this interpretation invites listeners to reflect on their own connection to the land—especially fitting for the season of growth and renewal in Vancouver’s spring and summer.

Mariah Mennie (composer & arranger)

A sound sculptor in a coat of many colors, Vancouver based artist Mariah Mennie is a composer, pianist, vocalist, percussionist, fire dancer, yogi and music educator. Her eclectic compositional world is effervescent, evoking programmatic vistas of mystical lands, wild natural places, fantastical words and psychological intricacies of the mind. She has a special interest in rare and unique instruments and loves studying different music traditions from around the world. Lately she has been exploring sound within ceremonial and healing settings. She has received commissions from Redshift, the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, Standing Wave Ensemble, Vancouver New Music and Turning Point Ensemble, with notable performances of her works at the ISCM World New Music Days, the VSO New Music Festival and the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. She holds a MMUS and BMUS (Composition) from the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Production Credits

For the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra:

Farshid Samandari – Artistic Director
Melanie Thompson – Managing Director
Miriam Davidson – Operations Manager
Gina Hernandez Sanchez – Marketing & Production Coordinator

For Little Chamber Music:

Molly MacKinnon – Artistic Director

For Rumble Theatre:

Jivesh Parasram – Artistic Director
Maria Zarillo – Managing Director
Angie Descalzi – Artistic Producer
Jack Goodison – Technical Director

******

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), founded in 2001, is a contemporary classical music ensemble – one of the world’s first concert orchestras devoted specifically to performing new intercultural music on a grand scale. It is currently the only professional ensemble of its kind in Canada. The ensemble includes Western strings and winds (violin, viola, cello, contrabass, oboe, flute, clarinet) alongside Chinese erhu, pipa, sanxian, zheng, and sheng/suona; Persian kamanche, tar/setar, oud, and tombak; percussion from many world music traditions; and a variety of other instruments as required. Through composition, performance and educational outreach to both music professionals and the general public, the VICO supports the development of BC composers and musicians of diverse backgrounds (including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, Persian (Iranian), Latin and South American, Vietnamese, North American and European). Since repertoire for the VICO’s novel instrumentation does not already exist, creating new works (150+ new Canadian compositions since 2001, and counting!) is an integral component of all our programming – providing a framework for bringing musicians and composers together to learn from each other, in a uniquely collaborative process. The VICO’s programming includes standalone concerts and our biannual Global Soundscapes Festival; public educational events; a biannual Summer Academy, professional development workshops for established and emerging musicians and composers; the creation and distribution of educational materials (video, audio, text) via the web; outreach and collaboration with other artists and organisations in the contemporary and world music scenes of Vancouver, Canada, Europe and Asia; and more. https://www.vi-co.org

Little Chamber Music

Little Chamber Music (LCM) is a non-profit performing arts society that supports diverse artistic practice through the creation of distinctive, free public events that combine music (new music/classical music/world music) with other art forms such as dance, poetry, and storytelling, as well as local history. Founded in 1990, LCM quickly became highly regarded as an innovative presenter of new music in Vancouver. As resident series at the Cultch, it gained acclaim for commissioning and producing original work (The White Album Concert, Cam Wilson’s Playground Rhymes for Grownups). From 2012-2015 Little Chamber Music was in residence with the Vancouver Park Board as part of their Field House Artist program, and in January 2015, Mark Haney became the first Composer in Residence for Vancouver’s Mountain View Cemetery. In the years that followed, LCM created more than 25 free events at the cemetery that welcomed a total audience of over 12,000. During the pandemic, Little Chamber Music launched the Isolation Commissions, a series which saw $30,000 donated by the community and redistributed to almost 150 artists who created 130 short videos, which have accumulated over 85,000 views to date. LCM welcomed new leadership in 2024 with Molly MacKinnon stepping in as Artistic Director. Molly has a long history of working with the organization as a performer, producer, and artistic associate. She is extremely excited to continue and expand on LCM’s reputation for innovative, interdisciplinary, community-minded projects. littlechambermusic.com

Quick Links

The VICO and Little Chamber Music extend grateful thanks to Rumble Theatre for their crucial support of this project. We are also grateful to the following funders:

The Canada Council for the Arts
City of Vancouver Cultural Services
The Province of BC (Community Gaming)
BC Arts Council

Quick Links