FEATURES
Cris Derksen is home
Award-winning cellist Cris Derksen (BMus’07) on the urgency of Indigenous activism in the arts, the importance of hustle, and the future of live music in a post-pandemic world
Emmerich Kálmán, rediscovered
Dr. Jonathan Girard and the UBC Symphony Orchestra shine a light on century-old symphonic treasures
Conjuring the future
An exciting collaboration between Professor of Composition Dr. Bob Pritchard and Turning Point Ensemble imagines one possible future for humanity — and points to another for classical music performance
Chatman through the years
Professor of Composition Dr. Stephen Chatman reflects on his life’s work, teaching at UBC since the 1970s, and retiring during the COVID-19 pandemic
ALSO IN THE ISSUE
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Alumni Making Waves: Opera débuts, a virtual piano app, and a project to reclaim languages and cultures erased by colonialism
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Beyond the Gates: Sea shanties, Finnish Jazz, a Juno nomination, and a triumphant riff on Mozart’s “Gran Partita”
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Catching Up with Our Students: National Youth Band, Cosi fan tutte, and a collaboration with UBC Neuroscience
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Research & Publications: Music, Pantomime, and Freedom in Enlightenment France, Queer Identity and Visibility in the Wind Band, and more
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Winter Concerts: Bands Spring Showcase, Homage, and a special concert of Mahler and Brahms dedicated to those we have lost during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Playlist: A Musical Time Capsule by Stephen Chatman
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Thank You: A heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in the first-ever School of Music Alumni Survey
Cris Derksen is home
Cris Derksen is home. The COVID pandemic has brought the Juno-nominated cellist’s life on the road — more than a decade of near-constant travel, with frequent stops on the folk, classical, art and fashion circuits in Canada and abroad — to a sudden halt. Yet she finds herself busier than ever.
Since the lockdown began, last March, Derksen has composed music for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, collaborated on an “art-dance-fashion” film for Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto, scored a documentary series for the Knowledge Network, and performed many virtual concerts, including a Wednesday Noon Hours event for the School of Music.
“It’s been kind of a lovely treat to be at home for ten months,” she says.
Derksen credits her success during this difficult time to a determined, pan-genre approach to music that dates back to her days as a UBC music student, and to her experiences as a Two-Spirit person of Cree and Mennonite descent in Canada’s white, settler-dominated music industry. It’s an approach that has ultimately served her well as an artist and as someone immersed, out of necessity, in the business of music.
In November, Derksen spoke with the School of Music’s Prof. T. Patrick Carrabré about the urgency of Indigenous activism in the arts, the importance of hustle, and the future of live music in a post-pandemic world.
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Emmerich Kálmán, rediscovered
Photo courtesy of the Operetta Foundation
By Tze Liew
Emmerich Kálmán couldn’t sing, and wouldn’t dance — but his music has moved hundreds of thousands of operetta-goers to fits of tears and waltzes of joy. Capturing many a heart with gems like Die Csárdásfürstin (The Gypsy Princess) and Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza), Kálmán is a glittering beacon among names like Johann Strauss and Franz Lehár, and currently the most performed operetta composer in the world.
What most of his fans probably don’t know is that, early in his career, Kálmán (1882–1953) wrote orchestral works in the vein of Liszt and Bartók. These include two rarely-performed manuscripts, one of which was stowed away in a drawer for almost a century, never to see the light of day — until now.
The UBC Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Dr. Jonathan Girard, recently released Emmerich Kálmán — Symphonic Poems on the Operetta Archives label, featuring world première recordings of Kálmán’s two early symphonic poems, Saturnalia (1904) and Endre és Johanna (1906). Written before Kálmán embarked on his journey as an operetta composer, they are fascinating pieces…
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Conjuring the future
Video capture courtesy of Turning Point Ensemble/Prairie Coast Films
An oboist wanders barefoot in near-darkness. He plays a string of searching notes, trails off, and begins again, elaborating the melody. He stops, peers. Ahead, curled up on the ground, lies a body. The oboist removes the mouthpiece from his instrument and blows into the barrel. A light flickers, and there is movement. The figure of a cyborg staggers to its feet, vertebral loops pulsing a deep blue. Who are these two strangers? Creator and creation? Master and servant? Adversaries?
So begins Synapses, a new multimedia collaboration spearheaded by Professor of Composition Dr. Bob Pritchard and oboist David Owen of Vancouver’s Turning Point Ensemble. The project, which premiered in January as part of the Chan Centre’s winter programming, takes up one of the challenges musicians face right now: How do you bridge the gap between performer and audience that has opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic?
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Chatman through the years
Photo: Jonathan Girard
Interview by Tze Liew
Dr. Stephen Chatman, Professor of Composition, is one of Canada’s most prominent, versatile and frequently performed composers. From grand orchestral works, to classic piano gems for learners, to imaginative choral songs that sell 20,000 copies of sheet music a year, his music is beloved by ensembles, choirs and fledgling pianists across North America — praised as “bright, expressive, eminently accessible fare that’s easy on the ear and good for the soul” by the American Record Guide.
Prof. Chatman has been teaching at UBC since 1976. He was the youngest faculty member then, and among the oldest now. After a whopping 45-year teaching career, during which he has mentored scores of students who have gone on to great careers, Prof. Chatman will retire this year at the age of 71.
High Notes took the opportunity to talk to Prof. Chatman about his adventures as a composer and professor, and hear his perspective on how the music landscape has changed over the years. Dr. Chatman has always been a pillar of inspiration and encouragement to his students — his wellspring of lived experience, musical knowledge and quirky stories will be missed.
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In Case You Missed It: Winter 2021 concerts available online
Bands: Spring Showcase
The UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble and UBC Concert Winds perform a wildly ambitious and creative season finale, featuring works by Russell Peck, John Mackey, Bach, Shostakovich, and more. Featuring members of the UBC Jazz Ensemble.
Looking Back, Looking Ahead
Dedicated to those we have lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, Prof. Jonathan Girard and the UBC Symphony Orchestra perform a concert of works featuring Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 (Adagietto) and Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 in E minor.
Homages
Professor of Voice J. Patrick Raftery, Assistant Professor of Horn Valerie Whitney, and pianist Richard Epp perform a delightful array of works by Schubert, Barber, Greer, Madsen, and more.
More online concerts
New research and publications: Music, Pantomime, and Freedom in Enlightenment France, Queer Identity and Visibility in the Wind Band, and more
Associate Professor of Musicology Dr. Hedy Law published Music, Pantomime, and Freedom in Enlightenment France (Boydell & Brewer), a new book that explores how “composers and performers use[d] the lost art of pantomime to explore and promote the Enlightenment ideals of free expression.”
Winds, Brass, and Percussion Chair Dr. Robert Taylor contributed the chapter “Out in Front: Queer Identity and Visibility in the Wind Band” to The Horizon Leans Forward: Stories of Courage, Strength, and Triumph of Underrepresented Communities in the Wind Band Field (GIA Publications). You can watch Dr. Taylor discuss his book chapter in a special roundtable discussion convened by the book publishers.
Assistant Professor of Music Theory Dr. Ève Poudrier published a study on listeners’ perceived grouping of simple tone sequences titled “The Influence of Rate and Accentuation on Subjective Rhythmization” in Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal. Among other findings, the study reveals a preference for duple metric grouping of low-level ternary groups (6/8 and 12/8).
More research and publications
Alumni Making Waves: Opera débuts, a virtual piano app, and a project to reclaim languages and cultures erased by colonialism
During the lockdown, Roydon Tse (BMus’13) was hard at work setting Chinese poetry to music. The resulting piece, Yellow Crane Tower for orchestra, chorus, and voices, was the winner of the 2020 iSing! Young Artist’s International Composition Competition. It was premiered in Suzhou’s Grand Theatre by the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, China National Orchestra Chorus, tenor Artem Tarashenko and baritone Zhong Zheng Zhou, led by Maestro Lin Daye. The full concert was recorded and aired on Chinese television and online platforms in February 2021.
This year, pianist Deborah Grimmett (BMus’08) released her debut solo album Lineage: Tracing Influence, featuring premiere recordings of Piano Sonata (Voyage) by Iranian-Canadian composer Iman Habibi (BMus’08, MMus’10) and Gaelic Fantasy by Irish composer Rhoda Coghill, alongside works by Brahms, Debussy, and Respighi. The album is available on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and other major digital streaming platforms.
Last year in October, Grimmett and Habibi were invited by the Berkeley Symphony to play in their Joseph Young & Friends: Made in Berkeley series. In November, they performed for The Heinz Awards, honouring Gabriela Lena Frank as this year’s recipient of the prestigious Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities category.
More alumni news
Beyond the Gates: Sea shanties, Finnish Jazz, a Juno nomination, and a triumphant riff on Mozart’s “Gran Partita”
Conducting and harpsichord lecturer Alexander Weimann and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) received a JUNO nomination in the category of Classical Album of the Year for their album Nuits Blanches: Opera Arias at the Russian Court of the 18th Century with soprano Karin Gauvin.
Prof. Weimann and the PBO also received high praise for their concert New Music for Old Instruments as part of Vancouver Pro Musica’s Sonic Boom Festival.
In January, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performed Zart, a new orchestral work by composer and sessional lecturer Dr. Jocelyn Morlock, alongside Mozart’s “Gran Partita” K. 361, to rave reviews. David Gordon Duke of the Vancouver Sun described the concert as “superlative music rarely heard as part of the programming of a major Canadian orchestra.” Read more about Dr. Morlock’s approach to composition in the fall 2020 issue of High Notes.
Associate Professor of Teaching Dr. Brandon Konoval delivered the 2021 MacLennan Lecture in the History and Philosophy of Science for the University of King’s College (Halifax, NS) on March 24. His talk, “Rameau’s Nemesis: Music, Nature, and Society in the Writings of Rousseau,” addressed Rousseau’s critique of Rameau’s music theory, in relation to Rousseau’s natural philosophy and his account of the relationship between science and music.
More faculty news
Catching up with our students: National Youth Band, Cosi fan tutte, and a collaboration with UBC Neuroscience
Lawrence de Guzman and Erica Binder
UBC Bands students Erica Binder, Lawrence de Guzman and Graeme Lister were selected to The National Youth Band of Canada (NYB), the most comprehensive music education youth project offered by the Canadian Band Association. The NYB provides an enriching musical and cultural experience to outstanding musicians aged 16 to 22 in Canada, with opportunities to perform under the leadership of a renowned Canadian conductor and a Yamaha Canada Music featured soloist.
Saxophone student Henry Cao won first prize in the woodwind division (ages 19-22) of the Bellegrande International Music Competition. Henry studies with Prof. Julia Nolan. Check out his winning video performance of Henri Tomasi’s Ballade here.
Percussion student Jesse Guo and clarinet student Felix Rowe were the winners of the Winds, Brass and Percussion Division Solo Competition this year. Felix performed composer J. Widmann’s Fantasie for solo clarinet, while Jesse performed Casey Cangelosi’s White Knuckle Stroll.
More student news
Playlist: A Musical Time Capsule
Our Playlist column features music curated by School of Music faculty, students, and staff. In this column, Professor of Composition Dr. Stephen Chatman, who is retiring after a 45-year career at UBC, shares a chronological canon of music that inspired and influenced him through the years, and how this is reflected in his own award-winning music.
Launch the playlist
Thank you!
Thank you to all our former students who turned out in record numbers to answer the first-ever UBC School of Music Alumni Survey.
The purpose of the survey was to find out what our graduates are doing now, what kind of work they are interested in, and — looking back on their School of Music experience from their professional perspective — what priorities they see as important for curricular development. The responses showed great engagement, enthusiasm, and commitment to the School!
We look forward to continuing this conversation with all of our students, both past and present, as we move forward in making our School an even more vibrant and exciting place to study and work
