The CBC Virtual Orchestra Performs the World Premiere of Vivian Fung's PRAYER

On Canada Day, Wednesday, July 1, 2020, The CBC Virtual Orchestra gives its first performance, the world premiere of JUNO Award-winning Canadian composer Vivian Fung's Prayer, commissioned by CBC Music and led by conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin, music director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Philadelphia Orchestra and Orchestre Metropolitain in Montreal. CBC Music, in creative collaboration with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, has brought together 36 of Canada's finest classical musicians from 28 different orchestras from every province in Canada to create The CBC Virtual Orchestra and present this unique online performance recorded in isolation. Fung's Prayer premieres globally on July 1 on cbc.ca/music, and Canada-wide on radio and via the CBC Listen app during CBC Music's Tempo with host Julie Nesrallah, and on CBC Radio One at 7:45am local time with host Stephen Quinn as part of the Canada Day radio special Extraordinary Times: Canada Day 2020.

Of the new piece, written during the COVID-19 pandemic, Fung says, "Prayer is, in essence, an aberration, for under no other circumstance in the past (or probably in the future) have I worn my heart on my sleeve as transparently as I have with this piece. In times of crisis and peril, we have but the reliance of faith - from the profound faith in humanity, faith in love, and faith that we will persevere and get through this with dignity, to the mundane faith that I would complete the piece within the extraordinary conditions that faced me, with a young child at home 24/7, a bronchial infection, and a very tight timeline (ultimately, a matter of days) to complete the piece in a manner feasible for COVID remote performance requirements. In the end, I chose a chant from my composer heroine Hildegard von Bingen as inspiration for my prayer. It goes:

O Shepherd of our souls, O primal voice,
whose call created all of us;
Now hear our plea to thee, to thee, and deign
to free us from our miseries
and feebleness.

I wish to thank my family - my husband, parents, and son - as well as my neighbors, the Lees, who have all made composing this piece possible."

Performance Information
The CBC Virtual Orchestra Premieres Vivian Fung's Prayer
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
How to Watch and Listen:
- Watch globally on CBC.ca/music starting at 7am ET on July 1, 2020
- Listen on CBC Radio One and via the CBC Listen app at 7:45 a.m. local time on the Canada Day radio special Extraordinary Times: Canada Day 2020
- Listen on CBC Music and via the CBC Listen app during the national weekday classical music show Tempo with host Julie Nesrallah July 1 at 12:50pm local time

Program:
Vivian Fung - Prayer (2020) [World Premiere]

Performers:
Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Conductor

Violin
Jonathan Crow (Concertmaster, Toronto Symphony Orchestra), Terence Tam (Victoria Symphony), Karl Stobbe (Manitoba Chamber Orchestra), Yolanda Bruno (Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Kingston Symphony), Diana Cohen (Calgary Philharmonic), Heather Kao (Newfoundland Symphony), Marcelle Mallette (Orchestre Metropolitain), Gwen Hoebig (Winnipeg Symphony), Jacqueline Nutting (Saskatoon Symphony)

Viola
Natasha Sharko (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony), Marlena Pellegrino (Thunder Bay Symphony), Keith Hamm (Edmonton Symphony)

Cello
Rachel Mercer (National Arts Centre Orchestra), Rachel Desoer (Symphony Nova Scotia)

Bass
Max Kasper (Symphony Nova Scotia)

Flute
Leslie Newman (Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra), Jan Kocman (Winnipeg Symphony)

Oboe
Marjorie Tremblay (Orchestre Metropolitain), Graham Mackenzie (Niagara, Windsor, London Symphonies)

Clarinet
Marie-Julie Chagnon (Quebec Symphony Orchestra), Hyon Suk Kim (Regina Symphony)

Bassoon
Julia Lockhart (Vancouver Symphony), Ian Hopkin (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony)

Horn
Ronald George (London Sinfonia), Ulises Aragon (Symphony New Brunswick), Catherine Turner (Montreal Symphony), Allene Hackleman (Edmonton Symphony)

Trumpet
Karen Donnelly (National Arts Centre Orchestra), Adam Zinatelli (Calgary Philharmonic)

Trombone
Madeleine Doyon Robitaille (Laval Symphony), Angelo Muñoz (Trois Rivieres Symphony)

Tuba
Jennifer Stephen (Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony)

Timpani
Bill Linwood (Victoria Symphony)

Percussion
Vern Griffiths (Vancouver Symphony)

To post a comment, you must register and login.