novum musica: showcase

Following a series of workshops in the fall, musica intima is pleased to present the world premieres of seven new works for vocal ensemble,written by seven talented emerging composers as part of the novum musica program, co-presented with CMC BC.

novum musica is a continually evolving mentorship scheme – first run as a reading session in 2013, the program has grown to include a series of workshops with the members of musica intima and a mentor-composer. Previous mentors include Tawnie Olson and Jeffrey Ryan, and this year, we’re thrilled to have partnered with Leslie Uyeda. Leslie’s passion for the human voice and love for working with singers created a perfect environment for the mentored composers to explore writing for ensembles as a collection of individuals and their voices, resulting in seven new wonderful and singable works. In addition to the seven newworks, the ensemble will also be performing Leslie’s most recent work for musica intima “Small Elegy” on a text by the late Patrick Lane, premiered in October 2023.

The program participants this year come from across BC and beyond, and range from undergraduate students to emerging professionals, with backgrounds in both vocal and instrumental music. musica intima strives for diversity in programming in all our repertoire, and the novum musica cohort is no different; we’re grateful to have a variety of lived experiences represented. The seven emerging composers are: Mari Alice Conrad, Daniel Gardner, Emily Hiemstra, Nicholas Ryan Kelly, Katharine Petkovski, Hope Salmonson, and Alex Vollant. The composers chose their own texts and topics; you’ll hear settings of poetry by John Shaw Neilson, Marjorie Pickthall, Althea Davis, Aysha Chatterjee, and Natasha Kanapé-Fontaine, as well as one text by the composer himself!

Sharing new music is always exciting – so join us on February 12 at the ANNEX to hear the emerging voices of these talented composers! Tickets are pay-what-you-can, but you must register on www.musicaintima.org – there is no minimum, thanks to the generosity of our presenting partners: novum musica is presented in partnership with CMC BC, with support from the City of Vancouver and the Y. P. Heung Foundation.