“There isn’t another orchestra with a concert-by-concert record approaching that of Toronto’s
Esprit Orchestra in the propagation of Canadian Music”. -Toronto Star

Toronto, Ont ... Esprit Orchestra honours four 1st place Canadian composers in À l'aventure!,
the third concert of its 27th season, on Wednesday March 31, 2010 in the Jane Mallett Theatre at
the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.

To compliment the success of Canadian athletes and prolong the excitement from the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Music Director and Conductor Alex Pauk has programmed an all-Canadian concert that will carry listeners away in a whirlwind of musical adventures.

The concert opens with DENIS GOUGEON’s exhilarating piece À l'aventure!. This concert was similarly titled to reflect a comment made by the composer regarding his work: "Adventures are voyages of discovery. Naturally, the tone, and even the goals of the adventure are modified along the way. À l'aventure! is about departure, departure without the shackles of precon¬ceived ideas.” Born in Granby, Quebec and currently residing in Montreal, Gougeon was the first Québec composer ever to win a JUNO Award for Classical Composition of the Year (2007 - for the track Clere Vénus from the album titled À L’AVENTURE!)

Continuing its celebration of Sarnia born composer R. MURRAY SCHAFER’s music this season, Esprit will perform Schafer’s Flute Concerto featuring the incomparable Robert Aitken (born in Kentville, Nova Scotia; currently residing in Toronto) for whom the piece was written. Previously honoured with the Order of Canada and also as a Chevalier de l'Order des Arts et des Lettres in France, Aitken is in demand as a soloist around the world.

Born in Valencia (Spain), JOSÉ EVANGELISTA has been settled in Montreal since 1970 where he has been a professor at the University of Montreal. His music draws from a wide range of cultures including his Spanish background as well as the influences of Javanese gamelan, Western avant-garde and medieval traditions. Concerto con brio, featuring a quartet of Esprit’s principal string players plus the entire string section, is a work inspired by the music of Vivaldi. It captures the spirit of Vivaldi’s music with its vigor and immediate accessibility.

Born in Toronto, OMAR DANIEL has had his music performed throughout North America, Europe and his ancestral Estonia. In this World Premiere of his Violin Concerto, Daniel explores the ancient folk song tradition of Estonian ‘Regilaul’ (Runo-song). The Regilaul songs on which he based this concerto are characterized by rhythmic simplicity, compact melodic motives, simple harmonic changes, and unwavering hypnotic repetition. Regilaul are often about village life (harvest, courting, marriage, death), or they fulfill a function (lullabies, game songs). The Violin Concerto was written for and will be performed by Daniel’s wife, distinguished Canadian violinist Erika Raum (born in Halifax and raised in Regina).

Concert and Ticket Details
À l'aventure! is being recorded for future broadcast on CBC Radio 2. Enjoy the concert again on The Signal, heard Monday through Saturday evenings from 10 pm - Midnight, with host Laurie Brown. CBC Radio 2 is at 94.1 FM in Toronto. Visit CBC Radio's Concert on Demand web page where you can hear previously recorded Esprit concerts.

À l'aventure! begins at 8:00 p.m. and is preceded by a pre-concert talk at 7:15 p.m. hosted by Alexina Louie with special guests Denis Gougeon and Omar Daniel. Tickets range from $15 - $43 and can be purchased in advance by phone at 416-366-7723, online at https://boxoffice.stlc.com or in person at St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front Street East.


(Founded in 1983 by Music Director and Conductor Alex Pauk, the award-winning Esprit Orchestra is Canada’s only full-sized orchestra devoted exclusively to commissioning, performing and promoting new orchestral music. This 80-member orchestra is focused on performing a repertoire of contemporary orchestral music and developing a Canadian musical literature. It commissions and premieres new works each season and ensures continued public access to these works through repeat performances, radio broadcasts, compact discs, film recordings, as well as national and international tours. For more information log on to www.espritorchestra.com. )

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