Music for the Winter Solstice: A musical tradition that is anything but traditional

A musical tradition that is anything but traditional.

The winter solstice is a time of contrast: light and dark, cold and warmth, endings and beginnings. As the current decade comes to a close, take a moment away from the hustle and bustle to enjoy the coming of winter, and the fresh start it offers us all. Bask in the candlelit glow of Heritage Hall as we come together with gorgeous music for the solstice.

Highlights include performances by Caroline Shaw (Roomful of Teeth, Kanye West), Gabriel Kahane (Book of Travelers, The Ambassador), and Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (Queer Arts Festival). Featuring music by Arvo Pärt, Alfredo Santa Ana, Music on Main’s Composer in Residence Sabrina Schroeder, Caroline Shaw, Rodney Sharman, Gabriel Kahane, and the Wyrd Sisters.

THE ARTISTS

Caroline Shaw – Caroline Shaw is a standout among modern composers. A New York-based vocalist, violinist, composer, and producer she collaborates with today’s leading musicians from hip and pop (Kanye West, The National, Sara Bareilles) to opera (Renée Fleming, Anne Sofie von Otter, Dawn Upshaw). In 2013, she was the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music for Partita for 8 Voices, written for the Grammy-winning Roomful of Teeth, of which she is a member. Caroline’s film scores include Erica Fae’s To Keep the Light and Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline as well as the upcoming short 8th Year of the Emergency by Maureen Towey. Caroline was Music on Main’s 2015-16 Composer in Residence.

Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa – Hailed in the press as “keyboard virtuoso and avant-garde muse” (Georgia Straight), Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa is recognized among Canada’s foremost contemporary music pianists. Selected to close the ISCM World New Music Days 2017, Rachel has performed in the Netherlands, Germany, the US, and across Canada. Rachel has commissioned or premiered works by many of Canada’s most eminent composers such as Hildegard Westerkamp, Rodney Sharman, Jocelyn Morlock, Nicole Lizée, Jordan Nobles, Farshid Samandarie and Emily Doolittle, with interdisciplinary adventures incorporating theatre, new media, visual art, and robotics.

Gabriel Kahane – Over the last decade, singer-songwriter, pianist, and composer Gabriel Kahane has established himself as a distinct and penetrating voice. His latest album, Book of Travelers (Nonesuch), is an intimate musical travelogue, hailed by Rolling Stone as “a stunning portrait of a singular moment in America.” This season, Kahane begins a three-year term as the inaugural Creative Chair of the Oregon Symphony, which commissioned his 2018 oratorio, emergency shelter intake form. In 2018, he made his Broadway debut with a score for Kenneth Lonergan’s The Waverly Gallery.

Music on Main presents:
Music for the Winter Solstice
Wednesday, December 11 & Thursday, December 12, 2019, 8:00pm
Heritage Hall (3102 Main Street, Vancouver)
General admission seating. All ages welcome.

TICKETS & BOX OFFICE: $42/$15 single tickets (regular/student)

Available as part of a Pick-3 or Pick-6 Ticket Pack.Available at musiconmain.ca or 604.879.9888

ABOUT MUSIC ON MAIN
Since 2006, under artistic director David Pay, Music on Main has presented more than 350 concerts and events, featuring over 1,000 musicians, and 100 world premieres, with daring programming for the musically adventurous. Expanding out from its roots at the Heritage Hall on Vancouver’s Main Street, the organization has created a multitude of musical experiences at such venues as the Fox Cabaret, CBC’s Studio 700, and The Roundhouse. In addition, the organization is the presenter of Modulus Festival—a fall celebration of local, national and international artists, composers and musicians. Music on Main was also the presenting partner of the ISCM World New Music Days 2017, in November 2017.

Website: musiconmain.ca | Facebook: facebook/musiconmainsociety | Twitter/Instagram: @musiconmain

This concert has been generously sponsored by Eileen Mate.

Media release provided by Marnie Wilson, Artsbiz Public Relations.

[wdi_feed id=”2″]