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At first blush, creating a mix of chamber music together with the sounds of an Indonesian percussion ensemble, and performing it in a First Nations cultural centre, might seem like a random mish-mash of cultures.
But conductor Bill Linwood and others involved in the New Music in New Places series put a lot of thought and careful consideration into the upcoming free performance at Whistler’s Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre on March 5.
The program has been crafted to include powerful, complex pieces interspersed with a couple of solo flute songs to “clear the air,” Linwood said. The whole thing will take only an hour and the audience is encouraged to move around during the show.
“It’s about opening your mind up and listening and exploring this new sound,” Linwood said about the New Music in New Places concept.
The idea is to make contemporary music accessible and comprehensible to people, as well as finding an environment where the music can be heard differently, he said.
In this case, the circular and glass-encased Istken Hall at the cultural centre will serve as the “stage” for a group of 17 musicians. Linwood said the musicians will be set up within the hall’s central pillars, leaving the outer ring for people to “mill around” during the performance.
Of the concert’s four numbers, the centerpiece is titled “L’Arbre de Borobudur” by Quebec composer Gilles Tremblay. The song, which is inspired by an ancient carving of a tree on a Buddhist temple in Java, blends the sounds of a chamber ensemble and a Sudanese gamelan, or percussion ensemble.
“It’s an east-meets-west kind of thing,” Linwood said.
The eastern sounds of the Vancouver Community College (VCC) Gamelan Ensemble include 10 musicians playing gongs, drums and a suling, an Indonesian flute made of bamboo. The contemporary Aventa Ensemble is made up of two harps, French horn, double bass, percussion and an ondes Martenot, which is an early electronic instrument similar to a theremin, he said.
“It’s very science fiction at times,” Linwood said.
It feels like the two distinct sounds of east and west are at odds at the beginning of the piece, he said, but they become more incorporated as it goes on.
Linwood is co-founder and artistic director for the Aventa Ensemble, which has often featured the music of Gilles Tremblay. The Canadian composer has a “huge” international influence with his music, Linwood said.
“It’s (his) innovation that I find just so incredible,” he said.
Other pieces in the Whistler program include “Fragrance of Cedar,” by Jon Siddal for gamelan ensemble, “Four Directions” by Jennifer Butler for solo flute, and “Turmalin” by Danish composer Anders Nordentoft for solo flute. The concert will be the first performance together with the Aventa Ensemble and VCC Gamelan Ensemble.
The performance is free and open to all. Linwood said “pretty much anyone” would enjoy the concert and it’s designed to engage people.
“I think you just have to come with open ears,” he said.
The show is set for March 5 at 2 p.m. at the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre. New Music in New Places is designed by the Canadian Music Centre to bring contemporary Canadian music out of the concert hall and into the lives of Canadians. Visit www.musiccentre.ca for more information.
