Esprit Orchestra's 2017 Season Opener to Feature Canadian Music, World Premieres

October 15th, 2017 marks the launch of Esprit Orchestra's 35th Anniversary Season.

Featuring Canadian music, World Premieres, outstanding guest artists, and Canadian premieres of works by leading International composers, the 2017/18 season reflects the dynamic artistic vision that has always been at the core of Esprit's programming.

All concerts take place at 8:00 pm at Koerner Hall, and are preceded by engaging pre-concert talks with the composers and musicians. Concert dates are: October 15, November 19, February 11, April 15.

Esprit's 35th Anniversary Season Opening Concert, an all Canadian program titled Eternal Light, takes place on October 15, 2017 with Alex Pauk, Esprit's Founding Music Director and Conductor, leading the orchestra.

Drawing listeners into an enchanted realm of expressive intensity and exotic beauty, the concert features Colin McPhee's Tabuh-Tabuhan, always a favourite with Esprit audiences. In this work for large orchestra, inspired by Balinese gamelan music, McPhee magically adapts gamelan motifs and rhythms to create musical forms ranging from symphonic surges with powerful rhythmic drive to atmospheric, dream-like meditations.

Eternal Light opens with Christopher Goddard's Spacious Euphony. From its beginning, this vast musical arch builds in energy and exuberance to transform itself into a fanfare for the start of the concert as well as the celebration of Esprit's season.

Claude Vivier's Siddhartha, the composer's largest and most profound orchestral work, will receive its Toronto premiere on the concert. Based on Herman Hesse's novel Siddhartha, this other-worldly work of awe-inspiring monumentality "inhabits a twilight realm between reality and the imagination" and encompasses every musical aspect of the mystical and spiritual explorations that consumed the now world-renowned Vivier's life.

In addition to the subscription concert series, Esprit will be expanding education and outreach programming in major ways for the 2017/18 season. The cornerstone project this season will be Ontario Resonance, a free student mentorship program to mark the 150th Anniversary of Ontario. Running from September to November, the program focuses on the creation of new music with the theme of Ontario places, sounds, and cultural ties.

Professional composers will mentor students in six schools in the GTA and Hamilton regions, providing them with hands-on performance and composition opportunities. The program incorporates multiple artistic disciplines, and includes students from diverse backgrounds. Each participating school will host a concert in November, during which the students' compositions will be performed by a combination of student musicians and members of Esprit Orchestra.

Ontario Resonance Mentor Composers have been commissioned by Esprit to compose short pieces under the same Ontario theme as their students. These pieces will all be premiered at the Ontario Resonance finale concert on November 23, 2017 at Trinity St. Paul's Church. This concert will be free of charge and open to the general public.

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ESPRIT ORCHESTRA 2017/18 CONCERT SEASON:

Esprit Orchestra Presents: Eternal Light | Sunday October 15, 2017

Alex Pauk - conductor
Pre-Concert Chat with guest composer Christopher Goddard, moderated by composer Alexina Louie.

Programme:

Christopher Goddard (Canada) | Spacious Euphony (2016)
Colin McPhee (Canada) | Tabuh-Tabuhan (1936)
Claude Vivier (Canada) | Siddhartha (1976)

Performances take place at the Royal Conservatory of Music TELUS Centre for Performance and Learning, 273 Bloor Street West, Toronto.

Individual concert tickets start at: Adult $40; Senior 65+ $40; Under 30 $22; Student $20. Please call (416) 408 0208 or visit espritorchestra.com.

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Esprit Orchestra is Canada's only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to performing and promoting new orchestral music. Esprit Orchestra gratefully acknowledges Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Foundation, SOCAN Foundation, The Koerner Foundation, The Hal Jackman Foundation, The Mary-Margaret Webb Foundation, Timothy & Frances Price, Judy & Wilmot Matthews, and The Max Clarkson Family Foundation for the their generous support.

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