Karen Kieser Prize Concert : U of T New Music Festival

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by  University of Toronto. Faculty of Music

Karen Kieser Prize Concert

U of T New Music Festival

Tuesday, January 14, 2020
7:30 pm
Walter Hall, 80 Queen’s Park
Presented by Gregory Lee Newsome
We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates.
For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat,
the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation.
Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across
Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.
PROGRAM
Like A Memory (2002) Hildegard Westerkamp
Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano - Hildegard Westerkamp, diffusion
Marla Hlady, sculpture
Attending to Sacred Matters (2002) Hildegard Westerkamp
Hildegard Westerkamp, diffusion
Klavierklang (2017) Hildegard Westerkamp
Text by Hildegard Westerkamp
Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano & spoken voice - Hildegard Westerkamp,
diffusion
Intermission
Prélude (2019) Francis St-Germain
Quatuor Cobalt
(Guillaume Villeneuve, Diane Bayard, Benjamin Rota, François Leclerc)
Karen Kieser Prize Presentation
Gregory Lee Newsome & Francis Ubertelli
Quartetto 2 (2018) Francis Ubertelli
Quatuor Cobalt
(Guillaume Villeneuve, Diane Bayard, Benjamin Rota, François Leclerc)
Technical Assistance: Eliot Britton, Peter Olsen, Kristen Antunes,
Adam Fainman, Ryan O’Grady, Tristan Zaba
Special thanks to: Sherry Lee, Institute for Music in Canada,
Jackman Humanities Institue
The Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music
The Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music is awarded each year to a graduate
student in composition whose work is judged to be especially promising. Karen
Kieser was a distinguished triple-graduate of the Faculty of Music at the University
of Toronto and a former Head of Music at CBC Radio. Friends and colleagues
endowed The Karen Kieser Prize in Canadian Music upon her death in 2002 as a
tribute to her life, her work and her passionate devotion to the cause of Canadian
music and musicians.
Past winners of the Karen Kieser Prize are:
Rebekah Cummings (2018) and Fearless
Bekah Simms (2018) Microlattice
Tyler Versluis (2017) 3 Unuttered Miracles
Sophie Dupuis (2016) Perceptions de La Fontaine
Shelley Marwood (2015) Imaginings
Patrick McGraw (2014) Glass
Christopher Thornborrow (2013) Walking
Adam Scime (2012) After the rioT
Riho Esko Maimets (2011) squall
Kevin Lau (2010) Starsail
Constantine Caravassilis (2009) Sappho de Mytilène
Igor Correia (2008) Three Songs of Great Range
Fuhong Shi (2007) Lightenings
Christopher William Pierce (2006) Melody with Gesture
Katarina Curcin (2005) . . . walking away from . . .
Craig Galbraith (2004) The Fenian Cycle
Andrew Staniland (2003) Tapestry
Abigail Richardson (2002) dissolve
a concert pianist, and indeed
she gave many performances
throughout the 1970s in North
America and Europe, both as a
soloist and with the Canadian
Electronic Ensemble. But by then,
she had already been bitten by
the broadcasting bug. From 1973
to 1977, while still in her twenties,
she hosted important CBC Radio
and CBC Stereo music programs
like Music Alive and Themes and
Variations. The quality of grace
under pressure she displayed in
Karen Kieser (1948-2002) that role would characterize all her
Karen Kieser was a passionate later endeavours, and she never
woman. She cared deeply about lost her focus on the audience
many people – her friends and as the ultimate raison d’être for a
colleagues, her husband Larry, broadcaster’s work.
her parents, siblings, nieces and
nephews – and about many As music producer with the flagship
things – her work, her religious network program Arts National
faith, her home and garden, from 1977 to 1982, Karen spent
travel, art and music. But Karen’s the following decade as first deputy
strongest passions and deepest head (1982-1986), and later head
commitments were dedicated to (1986-1992), of CBC Radio Music.
two things: Canadian music and She set three records, as the
public broadcasting. The two came youngest, longest-serving head of
together in her distinguished career music, and – what probably made
at the CBC. Karen Kieser was born her most proud – the first woman
in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire, to hold the position. Throughout
England, on February 19, 1948. her career, she was a trailblazer
She died just 10 days before for women in senior positions at
what would have been her 54th the CBC. Her tireless work ethic,
birthday, on February 8, 2002, after ability to master countless details
a courageous, five-year battle with while keeping an eye on the big
ovarian cancer. She held three picture, and unique combination
degrees from the Faculty of Music of unfailing good manners and
at the University of Toronto: a steely determination, made her
Bachelor of Music and a Master of both an inspiration and a role
Music, both in Piano Performance, model. Karen’s tenure at CBC
and a Master of Arts in Musicology. Radio Music had many highlights,
She could have had a career as including a renewed emphasis on
live broadcasts and documentaries, dance special, among many others.
numerous prestigious special Despite being diagnosed with
events and international awards, cancer in 1997, she continued
and expanded audiences. She to work for another two years:
championed the cause of a decision typical of her lifelong
Canadian music and musicians devotion to duty. Even thereafter,
through the creation of Canadian she remained active as an arts
content policies for classical music consultant, writer and volunteer,
broadcasting on CBC, an ambitious serving on juries and panels for the
commissioning program, and the Canada Council, the Ontario Arts
establishment of CBC Records as Council and Metro Toronto. In 2000,
a high-profile label with a reputation she was honoured with the Vice-
for excellence both at home and President’s Award for outstanding
abroad. She was equally committed achievement in the service of CBC
to finding and developing new Radio. For the first time, the vice-
broadcasting talent, and many president of English radio, Alex
of the leading lights of the music Frame, insisted on presenting the
department today (both on and off award personally.
the air) were recruited and nurtured
under her watchful eye. While still Those who knew Karen Kieser
head of music, Karen had been an well remember her warm smile
eloquent advocate for the creation and thoughtful concern for other
of Glenn Gould Studio. In 1992, she people, whom she always treated
became the facility’s first general with dignity, respect and countless
manager. In a very real sense, quiet acts of kindness. They speak
this “jewel in the crown,” which also of her unflaggingly positive
combines an intimate live recital and sincerely optimistic outlook,
hall and a state-of-the-art digital restless curiosity and wide range
recording studio, is another of her of interests, insatiable appetite
lasting legacies. for hard work, ability to motivate
and inspire people to exceed their
From 1994 until illness forced her own expectations, and insistence
to stop working in 1999, Karen on holding others (and most of all
was co-ordinator of strategic herself) to the highest standards
initiatives for CBC English Radio. of quality in every aspect of life,
Among the numerous projects she both professional and personal.
worked on during this time were She conducted her battle against
the Festival television specialty cancer with characteristic rigour,
channel application, the successful energy, clear-sightedness, humour,
application for the CBC’s pay a stubborn refusal to surrender,
audio channel Galaxie, the move and, in the end, calm acceptance
of CBC Radio in Toronto from and inner peace.
AM to FM, and a CBC Television
PROGRAM NOTES
Like a Memory explores that through the abandoned industrial
area of aural perception in which sites, “playing” on anything and
we hear music in sounds and everything and finding the most
sounds in music, where scrap fascinating resonances. Whether
metal structures become musical the sounds came from an old
instruments and the piano becomes steam engine or an out–of–tune
a strange sound sculpture. piano with broken strings, they have
become the musical instruments for
Many things came together in this Like A Memory.
composition. In 1985 I took my
tape recorder and microphone Attending to Sacred Matters is
and walked along Slocan Lake in one in a series of pieces based
the interior of British Columbia, on the sounds of India. Here I am
Canada, to an abandoned old working specifically with the sounds
house I had discovered some days of the many religious and spiritual
before. Among the few remains practices that I encountered and
inside was a piano. Many strings recorded in this country—such
had broken, pieces of wood, as the chanting from the Sikh
some rusty nails and wires were Golden Temple in Amritsar, bells
lying among the strings, and rats and ritual sounds from various
had nested in its sounding board. Hindu temples, sounds from an
Some keys were missing and of the Ashram in Rishikesh and the voice
remaining ones, not all keys were of Swami Brahmananda, Muezzins
working. I had found a “prepared calling for prayer from various
piano” in the deepest Cagean mosques, chanting at dusk on the
sense and delighted in improvising Ganges in Rishikesh, bells from a
on this “instrument” and recording Jain temple, the chanting of OM,
the sounds that emerged. I also and so on. In addition, there are
played and recorded snippets of the sounds of water and the voice
classical music that I remembered of environmental activist Vandana
from piano lessons years ago. They Shiva.
sounded delightfully out of tune and
“off”. What do we consider to be sacred
in our lives and how do we attend
In 2000 I went back to the same to it? This question, my travels
region with photographer Florence in India and my long-standing
Debeugny to collect sounds and environmental concerns formed
images for a project on ghost the impetus for this composition
towns called At the Edge of and are somehow brought together
Wilderness. Fallen down buildings here.
and rusty metal structures became
soundmaking devices as I moved
Klavierklang is a sonic-musical this period are put forward: those
journey into the complexities of of the Middle Ages; a return to
piano playing. During the past few nature, to pure emotion and the
years Rachel and I often reflected acceptance of dissymmetry. Thus,
on the challenging and traumatic, for approximately seven minutes,
but also inspiring experiences we Prélude plays with our cultural
have had with piano teachers, the references by navigating between
roles our mothers’ ears played in microtonal motet, contrasts and an
our musical development and how almost grotesque quote of sacred
much the piano has been both a music.
sanctuary for sonic explorations
and soundmaking, and a site Quartetto 2 illustrates a parallel
of trauma and discouragement. between the shift to atonalism
Ultimately Klavierklang is a journey and the Dionysian experience
towards the piano playing we have of looking into the irrational. It
always loved, into the magic of its seeks to overwhelm the listening
sound. parameters and redesign the tonal
music geometries through an
Klavierklang was commissioned by analysis of language in a structure
Rachel Iwaasa and was created that is ontologically posterior to the
with the financial assistance of the system that instantiates it, i.e., the
Canada Council and the BC Arts complex relationships between the
Council. Many thanks go to David signified and the signifier. Quartetto
Bloom, who directed Rachel in the 2 seeks to reschedule music inside
dramaturgical aspects of her live a system of logically inevitable
performance. propositions, such as “protocol
sentences” in the definition of a
Prélude is an updated vision of grammar where any identity of
German Romanticism. Namely, as if opposites, any “transformational
Franz Schubert, Gustav Mahler and equivalent,” entails a denial of the
E.T.A. Hoffmann lived today with “principle of non-contradiction.”
the same aesthetic and political
concerns as before. It is, moreover, Changing things make possible
in Hoffmann’s writings that the the continued existence of other
piece initially draws its inspiration. things. The reality of a string quartet
His tales – strewn with mises en in today’s technological world is
abyme, caricatured characters and confronted with a present that is no
dichotomies – which constantly longer recognizable, in which the
plunge into fantastic realism make screams of expressionism fossilized
him a faithful representative of the long ago. The ideas conveyed
essence of this troubled time. In here would like to challenge this
order to get closer to the romantic assertion.
spirit, some idealized values of
COMPOSER BIOGRAPHIES
Hildegard Westerkamp was born at SFU together with colleague
in Osnabrück, Germany in 1946 Barry Truax. Since then she has
and emigrated to Canada in 1968. written numerous articles and
After completing her music studies texts addressing issues of the
at the University of British Columbia soundscape, acoustic ecology
in the early seventies she joined the and listening, has travelled widely,
World Soundscape Project under giving lectures and conducting
the direction of R. Murray Schafer soundscape workshops
at Simon Fraser University (SFU). internationally.
Her involvement with this project
not only activated deep concerns In 1993 she was instrumental in
about noise and the general state helping found the World Forum for
of the acoustic environment in Acoustic Ecology (www.wfae.net),
her, but it also changed her ways an international network of affiliated
of thinking about music, listening organizations and individuals who
and soundmaking. Vancouver share a common concern for the
Co-operative Radio – founded state of the world’s soundscapes.
during the same time - provided She was chief editor of its journal
an invaluable opportunity to learn Soundscape between 2000 and
much about broadcasting, and 2012.
ultimately enabled her to produce
and host her weekly program Born in 1994, Francis St-Germain
Soundwalking in 1978/79. is a composer, saxophonist and
improviser based in Montreal.
One could say that her career in He holds a Bachelor of Music in
soundscape composition and mixed composition (2017) from the
acoustic ecology emerged from Université de Montréal, under the
these two pivotal experiences and direction of Pierre Michaud, where
found support in the cultural and he also studied with Ana Sokolović.
political vibrancy of Vancouver at Interested in long-term
that time. In addition, composers performances, he founded the
such as John Cage and Pauline company Les Concerts en Alcôve
Oliveros have had a significant in 2016, producing in situ
influence on her work. multidisciplinary events focused
on sound, movement, chance
While completing her Master’s and spatialization, with the aim of
Thesis in the 1980s, entitled democratizing contemporary art.
Listening and Soundmaking - A These include the Concert aux
Study of Music-as-Environment, puces (2016) – which was created
she also taught acoustic in collaboration with the composer
communications courses until 1990 Maxime Daigneault at the Arte Flea
in the School of Communication Market – and the Molécules concert
series (2017), held at LOCAL 250 as a teacher, he returned to music
(temporary art gallery), as well as at following the birth of his son and
MaBrasserie Brewery Cooperative. a chance encounter with an old
acquaintance. He is currently
Francis St-Germain also preparing his thesis as part of his
collaborated with the theater doctoral studies at the University of
companies Tête au corps Toronto.
(HISTOIRES ORDINAIRES, Limbes)
and La reine ninja (Festival des Arts Francis Ubertelli has written
de Ruelle, Arène ninja), as well as numerous works for chamber
with the collective of filmmakers Le ensemble and received grants and
Zoo. Most recently, his research commissions from the Canada
is focused on linking aspects of Council for the Arts and the Monte
mysticism and cerebralism. His dei Paschi di Siena in Italy, the
piece Beata Ludovica Albertoni Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Toronto’s
(2019), commissioned by the Arraymusic, the Charm of Finches
violinist Simon Alexandre, is his flute quintet, the Sounds of Silence
most recent representation of this Project, Brussels’s Thelema Trio,
idea. the Fibonacci Trio, the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, the
Born in 1968 in Quebec City, Alizée flute ensemble, the Ensemble
Canada, Francis Ubertelli began contemporain de Montréal,
studying composition under Antwerp’s Champ d’Action, the
Armando Santiago at the Quebec Alcan string quartet and the
Conservatory. He later studied National Arts Centre Orchestra
under Franco Donatoni and Azio in Ottawa. In addition, selected
Corghi at the Accademia Nazionale works have been featured at the
di Santa Cecilia in Rome, taking Conservatoire royale de Bruxelles’s
classes with Ennio Morricone and trombone examination and at
Luciano Berio. He graduated in the Université de Montréal string
1996. A few years later, following quartet performance section. His
the death of his mentor, plagued music is regularly played in Canada,
by a profound aesthetic crisis the United States, Europe and
combined with an extended South America.
nervous exhaustion, he quit music.
That year, he met the shadow of Hailed in the press as a “keyboard
the divine during a game of chess, virtuoso and avant-garde muse”
which redirected his path in life. In (Georgia Straight) with the
2011, he published his first novel “emotional intensity” to take a
in France, an essay comparing piece “from notes on a page to a
ongoing social changes with the stunning work of art” (Victoria Times
9/11 attacks, which he witnessed. Colonist), Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa
In 2015, after some years spent is recognized among Canada’s
foremost contemporary music “unforgettable” (Vancouver Sun)
pianists. Selected to close the ISCM and for “the passion, intensity
World New Music Days 2017 in and the nuanced playing she’s
Vancouver, Rachel has performed in acclaimed for... she manages to
the Netherlands, Germany, US and instill a sense of dynamic tension
across Canada, with engagements and pull to every note” (The
including Muziekweek Gaudeamus, Province). Rachel was a co-
Music TORONTO, Music on Main, founder of the Queer Arts Festival
Vancouver New Music, Redshift, in Vancouver, recognized as one
Western Front, Vancouver of the top 5 festivals of its kind
Symphony, Victoria Symphony, worldwide.
the Aventa Ensemble (Victoria),
CONTACT contemporary music Emerging ensemble, the Cobalt
(Toronto), New Works Calgary, Quartet stands out for its eclectic
Groundswell New Music (Winnipeg), and modern musical approach,
and Vancouver Pro Musica. exploring with as much enthusiasm
the ancient music on period
Rachel has commissioned or instrument as the contemporary
premiered works by many of creations. Socially engaged
Canada’s most eminent composers, musicians, the members of the
such as Hildegard Westerkamp, quartet are dedicated to making
Rodney Sharman, Jocelyn Morlock, music ever more accessible to a
Nicole Lizée, Jordan Nobles, Jeffrey wide audience, defying stylistic
Ryan, Farshid Samandari, Marci and social boundaries. Increasingly
Rabe, and Emily Doolittle. One half active, the quartet concluded
of the acclaimed contemporary its first French tour in 2019 and
flute/piano duo Tiresias with Mark multiplies collaborations with
Takeshi McGregor, Rachel has also internationally renowned artists
collaborated with Yannick Nézet- such as Laura Andriani, Yegor
Séguin, Judith Forst, Heather Dyachkov, Yukari Cousineau, Jutta
Pawsey, the Bozzini Quartet, Puchhammer, Silvia Mandolini and
Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Vincent Lauzer. The ensemble has
Caroline Shaw, and Richard also been a collaborative quartet at
Reed Parry of Arcade Fire. Her Domaine Forget since 2018.
interdisciplinary adventures have
led to work with photo-based artist Involved in the display of today’s
SD Holman, playwright/director repertoire, the ensemble showcases
David Bloom, choreographer Tara contemporary music with several
Cheyenne Friedenberg, and multi- collaborations and creations by
media provocateur Paul Wong. Quebec composers. The quartet
performed the world premiere of
Rachel’s debut CD, Cosmophony, Francis Ubertelli’s Quartetto No.
has been praised as “brilliant” and 2 at the Canadian Music Center