Record Attendance Set for Winnipeg New Music Festival Opening Weekend

The Winnipeg New Music Festival resounded with an exceptional opening weekend, infused by the thrilling presence of living legend Philip Glass and attracting audiences numbering over 4,000 in total. Opening night on Saturday, January 27 featured the Canadian premieres of Glass' Symphony No. 11 and Björk's Family, as well as new works by Canadian icon Michael Snow, and WSO composer-in-residence Harry Stafylakis. Sunday evening saw an equally enthusiastic crowd for a transporting performance of Glass' complete Piano Études featuring pianists Jenny Lin, Vicky Chow, Jónas Sen, local favourite Madeline Hildebrand, and Philip Glass himself.

And the enthusiasm continued for Monday night's concert, Through the Looking Glass, at Westminster United Church, which had been sold out weeks in advance. Winnipeg choirs Polycoro and Camerata Nova presented excerpts from Philip Glass' ioperas, along with the world premiere of Orphic Hymn by Iceland's Jóhann Jóhannsson and several other stunning works in a powerfully-eclectic concert exploring identity, politics, and spirituality.

There are many more Festival highlights to come, including the world premiere of Philip Glass' String Quartet No. 8 with the JACK Quartet, deemed "superheroes of the new music world" by The Boston Globe. The concert on Thursday, February 1 also features works for string quartet by Sabrina Schroeder (Canada/UK) and Brian Ferneyhough (UK/USA), and the Canadian premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas' (Austria/USA) stunningly hypnotic String Quartet No. 9, performed in total darkness.

The JACK Quartet joins the WSO the next evening, Friday, February 2, for The Next World, performing the Canadian premiere of Pascal Dusapin's (France) virtuosic Hinterland for string quartet and orchestra. Also featured is rising star Samy Moussa's Symphony No. 1, Concordia, which recently premiered to huge acclaim with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and Kent Nagano, The WSO also performs WNMF alumna Cassandra Miller's (Canada/UK) new work Round.

Tuesday night's concert, January 30, is devoted to Orchestral Voices of the Future - the performance of the winning work of the 2018 Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region Emerging Composer Competition, and new works from the six participants of the WNMF Composers Institute (wnmf.ca/ci). Audience members are invited to participate in a Q&A session after the performance.

The concert on Wednesday night, January 31 is Dark Matter, featuring a highly-anticipated premiere for orchestra and choir by Iceland's Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, who will be in attendance. The evening includes two other orchestral works: the Canadian premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Symphony No. 3; and the premiere of the WSO-commissioned #DryColdConversations by Winnipeg's Karen Sunabacka.

Directly following the official festival, on Saturday, February 3, is the premiere of a new, live film score to Dawson City: Frozen Time. Film director Bill Morrison pieces together the bizarre history of a long-lost collection of 533 nitrate film prints from the early 1990s. The Dawson City Collection was uncovered in 1978 when a bulldozer dug up a horde of film cans. These permafrost-protected, rare silent films and newsreels, paired with archival footage, interviews, and historical photographs, get a new live score by Sigur Rós producer/collaborator Alex Somers (of Jonsi and Alex, and Riceboy Sleeps). In collaboration with Jazz Winnipeg.

Continuing throughout the week, the WNMF is stepping out into the daylight for bite-sized, free performances during the lunch hour around Winnipeg: wnmf.ca/in-the-community. Festival goers also have numerous opportunities to discover Portal Zero, a new 16-foot installation residing in the lobby of Centennial Concert Hall throughout WNMF. Part maze, part listening booth, part architectural marvel, Portal Zero is created in collaboration with StorefrontMB.

For the 27th year, at the peak of its frigid winter, Winnipeg transforms into an oasis of the most inspiring, adventurous, and riveting music of our time. For full concert and artist details please see: WWW.WNMF.CA.