BROKEN to be Presented by The Happenstancers This September

The Happenstancers will present BROKEN, featuring the world premiere performances of works by Saman Shahi and Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, and music by Kaija Saariaho, Du Yun, and others.

In BROKEN, The Happenstancers construct a binary, placing the perceived stateliness of the Baroque into conflict with the raw ferocity of 21st century chamber music. Playful and disorienting curatorial choices — jarring stylistic turns, anachronistic reimaginings of ornate historical music, and the sublimation of the acoustic within the electronic — coalesce within this performance to manipulate societal preconceptions of genre and period. 

Can the stability of Baroque musical architecture be understood as an image of a balanced psyche? Within this performance The Happenstancers utilize stylistic contrast to create a sonic metaphor for a mind disrupted, and depict the dissolution of the 18th century musical paradigm.

Kaija Saariaho's Folia and Antonio Vivaldi's La Folia (madness) create the framework for BROKEN, a space within which The Happenstancers play with form and expectation.

”We like to eat our cake and have it too,” says cellist Peter Eom. “As in many of our recent projects, we want to experiment with masterful artworks from the past, while indulging in the freedom of the 21st century. Baroque music was contemporary and experimental when it was written, so I think there are compelling opportunities for us to take chances, especially as a so-called ‘contemporary music ensemble.' ”

BROKEN features two world premieres by Torontonian composers; Saman Shahi's Misshapen — for mixed winds and strings, a “broken” consort — in which Baroque forms are forced into dialogue with 21st century sounds and gestures; and Kalaisan Kalaichelvan's La Notte, a multilayered work for solo cello and electronics in which a repeating ground bass — a Baroque compositional device — is smothered under layers of slowly disintegrating sound.

Featuring vocal soloist Danika Lorèn and a roster of Canada's most adventurous musical personalities, The Happenstancers present BROKEN, in Toronto on September 26th at 7:30 pm at Redeemer Lutheran Church (1691 Bloor Street West).

REPERTOIRE

Kaija Saariaho - Folia, for double bass and electronics

**Johann Rosenmuller - 3 Sonatas (arr. Trevor Wilson)

Du Yun - I Am My Own Achilles Heel (A Shape That Cannot Form), for string quartet

**Saman Shahi - Misshapen, for broken consort

Georges Aperghis - Recitations (selections), for solo voice

**Kalaisan Kalaichelvan - La Notte, for solo cello and electronics

Antonio Vivaldi - Trio Sonata 'la folia', for 2 violins and continuo

** denotes world premiere performance

ARTISTS

Danika Lorèn, voice

Christopher Whitley, violin

Julia Mirzoev, violin

Lauren Spaulding, viola

Peter Eom, cello

Travis Harrison, bass

Matti Pulkki, accordion

Joonghun Cho, harpsichord

Aleh Remezau, oboes

Brad Cherwin, clarinets and artistic direction

Billy Wong, lighting

Fish Yu, electronics/sound