- Six unforgettable Celebrations of six outstanding composers
- Unique immersion experience concerts in the powerfully intimate Murray Adaskin Salon
- More savings, more flexibility, more freedom, and a new low student price:
- Pick 6: 30% savings: $ 165
- Pick 5: 25% savings: $ 145
- Pick 4: 20% savings: $ 125
- Pick 3: 15% savings: $ 100
- Pick 2: 10% savings: $ 70
- Single Tickets: just $ 39.50
- Students: just $10.00 — 75% savings (In-person with valid student ID 2 weeks in advance)
- Tickets go on sale to the public on Monday, August 13, 2018.
We have experienced something magical together over the first two seasons of our new and unique, composer-centric immersion Celebration Concerts. Season One explored the first innovative generation to write concert music on the West Coast of Canada — Murray Adaskin, Rudolf Komorous, Barbara Pentland, Jean Coulthard, Sylvia Rickard, and Elliot Weisgarber.
Season Two explored the profoundly transformative influence of R. Murray Schafer through the magical acoustic world of Hildegard Westerkamp’s revolutionary Soundwalks, and the evocative work of Barry Truax, a world pioneer in the field of electroacoustic composition.
We also rediscovered a lost composer last season — Hubert Klyne Headley — and delved deep into the world of opera through Lloyd Burritt’s tragic Miracle Flight 571 and Jean Ethridge’s moving The Ballad of Isabel Gunn. And we limned the world of song and poetry through Burritt’s moving art songs, Leslie Uyeda’s lushly evocative and deliciously erotic evocations, and through the moving settings of Carl Sandburg and Pauline Johnson by Jean Ethridge.
Season Three opens with the internationally-renowned Borealis String Quartet performing all three radiant string quartets of Imant Raminsh; features a milestone Birthday Celebration of Vancouver iconoclast Owen Underhill; explores the dazzling and virtuosic chamber music of Alexina Louie; and puts Michael Conway Baker at the keyboard with friends in an innovative Celebration including live dance, film, a world premiere, and an audience-inspired improvisation.
We will also celebrate Women’s History Month with Janet Danielson‘s spellbinding chamber works along with excerpts from her opera The Marvelous History of Mariken of Nimmegen, a tale of the positive and destructive power of words, as relevant today as in 1500. And finally, we present our second Victoria Celebration, featuring the moving and poignant music and poetry of Leila Lustig.
We are also moving to a new night! All concerts take place on Mondays at 7pm in the Murray Adaskin Salon in Vancouver, and in the Robin and Winifred Wood Recital Hall in Victoria.
Imant Raminsh: 75th Birthday Celebration
Monday, September 17, 2018 – 7:00 PM
Murray Adaskin Salon
Our 2018/19 season opens with a celebration of beloved BC composer Imant Raminsh’s 75th birthday. Imant is renowned for his choral music, but this concert features a rare, intimate performance of his most deeply-felt and personal statements, the three string quartets, played by his long-time champions the Borealis String Quartet. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience!
Janet Danielson: Celebration of Women’s History Month
Monday, October 15, 2018 – 7:00 PM
Murray Adaskin Salon
October is Women’s History Month in Canada, a time for us to celebrate the achievements of trailblazing women who have shaped our country. One of these remarkable women is Janet Danielson, composer, music theorist, teacher, organizer, philosopher, and much more. Join us as we celebrate Janet’s spellbinding chamber works along with excerpts from her opera, The Marvelous History of Mariken of Nimmegen, a tale of the positive and destructive power of words that is as relevant today as it was in 1500.
Michael Conway Baker: Celebration of Lifetime Achievement
Monday, November 26, 2018 – 7:00 PM
Murray Adaskin Salon
Michael Conway Baker has, over the course of an astonishing, pioneering, six-decade (and counting) career, achieved enormous success across his triple passions of writing music for the concert hall, for film and television, and for dance. Join us as we celebrate Michael’s extraordinary contribution to Canadian musical life with selections from all three major bodies of work, presented by Michael himself in his own inimitable style.
Owen Underhill: 65th Birthday Celebration
Monday, January 21, 2019 – 7:00 PM
Murray Adaskin Salon
A true Renaissance man, Owen Underhill lives in Vancouver, where he is highly active as a composer, conductor, artistic director, and as a beloved teacher. Join us as we celebrate Owen’s 65th birthday with a performance of his colourful, exuberant, lyrical, moving, surprising, and delightful chamber music, especially curated for this evening by Owen himself, and played by some of his closest friends and frequent collaborators!
Leila Lustig: 75th Birthday Celebration
Monday, April 29, 2019 – 7:00 PM
Robin and Winifred Wood Recital Hall, Victoria Conservatory of Music
Leila Lustig’s main focus, and her life’s work, is writing expressive, poignant, and sincere music for the human voice, often in atypical combinations with other instruments, and frequently on her own texts. Join us in Victoria for this intimate and joyous celebration of Leila’s 75th birthday!
Alexina Louie: 70th Birthday Celebration
Monday, May 27, 2019 – 7:00 PM
Murray Adaskin Salon
One of Canada’s most highly regarded and performed composers, Alexina Louie was born in Vancouver in 1949, the daughter of second-generation Canadians of Chinese descent. While Alexina is already celebrated around the world for her many award-winning solo piano compositions, this concert focuses on several of her brilliant and virtuosic chamber works on the occasion of her 70th birthday.