Camerata Nova is Hiring
Camerata Nova is hiring a new Executive Director to start in June 2018. For information or to apply, click here.
Première of Mishaabooz’ Realm
At the end of the summer, our Artistic Director Andrew Balfour led the creation of an original Indigenous-based dramatic opera entitled Mishaabooz’s Realm. The première will be performed on December 15 and 16 in Montréal and on December 21 and 22 in Haliburton. This exciting new opera was jointly commissioned and produced by the Highlands Opera Studio and the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. Andrew spent the month of August as Composer-in-Residence where he worked with the performers and the creative team. It incorporates classical styles, unique choral and vocal perspectives, as well as Indigenous musical and oral traditions. The libretto is in a First Nations language, as well as French and English. It explores contemporary issues concerning Canada’s relationship with First Peoples and the land of Turtle Island. Click here for further information.
Balfour Receives Senate Award
Camerata Nova artistic director Andrew Balfour was awarded the a Senate 150th Anniversary Medal from Senator Pat Bovey during a ceremony in November in Ottawa. The medal is awarded to “Canadians whose generosity, dedication, volunteerism and hard work make their communities a better place to live.” Congratulations, Andrew!
Andrew Balfour receives award from Senator Pat Bovey.
Balfour to Compose Indigenous Opera
Camerata Nova is excited to announce that Artistic Director Andrew Balfour will be part of the creation of a completely new and original Indigenous based Dramatic Opera; Mishaabooz’s Realm, jointly commissioned and produced by the Highlands Opera Studio/Theatre and L’Atelier Lyrique de L’Opéra de Montréal.
This exciting new work promises to be multi-media and multi-directional, incorporating classical styles, unique choral and vocal perspectives, Indigenous musical and oral traditions. The libretto will be created in First Nations dialect, French and English, exploring contemporary issues concerning Canada’s relationship with our First People and the land of Turtle Island, past, present and future.
Regarding this new creative opportunity, Andrew commented, “In the spirit of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s call to action, I am honoured to take part in this wonderful collaborative approach in creating this important cultural and exciting new work.”
Andrew will be traveling to Highlands Opera Studio/Theatre in Haliburton, Ontario this August where he will be Composer-in-Residence. He will work with performers as well as their creative team on the new creation.
There will be a presentation of the First Public Workshop Performance of Mishaabooz’s Realm (La Domaine de Michabous) in Haliburton at the NLPAP on August 19th, at 8 pm.
Camerata Nova excites with Taken
Two small ensemble classical concerts at Canada Scene this weekend presented a striking contrast between the experimental and the traditional. One was innovative, inclusive and thoroughly engaging, despite some flaws in the execution. The other was technically impeccable, but stuffy and unoriginal.
On Saturday afternoon, the Winnipeg chamber choir Camerata Nova brought its Taken project to the University of Ottawa’s Tabaret Hall. The show, which premiered in Winnipeg earlier this year, explores the issue of First People’s dispossession through collaborations with Indigenous composers and performers from across Canada.
Jeremy Dutcher, a young musician from the Maliseet Nation in New Brunswick, performed an impassioned, solo Honour Song, accompanying himself on drum and piano, before joining Camerata Nova and cellist Leanne Zacharias for his Maceptasu (It is taken away).
The work — Dutcher’s compositional debut — was inspired by heartbreaking stories of young Indigenous children taken from their families and sent to suffer in the residential school system. Although it exhibits some typical novice weaknesses — it’s somewhat fragmented, and relies on repetition rather than development — this is a powerful, appealing first effort from Dutcher. What it lacks in structural complexity, it makes up for in raw honesty, emotional impact, and a sense of melodic flow that can’t be taught.
Lindsay Knight, aka Eekwol, is a hip-hop artist from Muskoday First Nation in Saskatchewan. While her flow is cool and mellow, her raps are tough, thought-provoking and fearlessly political: “I wish I had a gun, seek revenge for my little ones, or maybe turn it on myself, end the pain, but then I’d just lose again.” As Zacharias improvised cello lines, Camerata Nova supplied the backing track, including some pretty slick beatboxing and overtone singing. But not everyone in the choir seemed comfortable in the genre; I felt the sopranos especially weren’t in the pocket.
Andrew Balfour’s Qaumaniq (Bright Aura) is an accomplished, multi-movement cantata by a serious — and seriously creative — composer. Balfour, Camerata Nova’s artistic director, is of Cree descent but was adopted as a child by an Anglican priest. Not surprisingly, many of his works deal with identity lost and found, and with the consequences of exchanges between cultures.
In Qaumaniq, Balfour imagines the first encounter between explorer Martin Frobisher and the inhabitants of Baffin Island, and the kidnapping of a woman to take back to England. The work deftly incorporates Inuit musical idioms, English sailor songs, pounding, Coplandesque percussion, snippets of Tudor polyphony by Tallis and Byrd, and Balfour’s own sophisticated choral writing: dissonances that grind like sea ice, mixed in with creepy, sibilant whispering and sounds of nature.
The star of this piece is the wonderfully charismatic performer and journalist Madeleine Allakariallak; her throat singing duet with Michael Thompson on electric didgeridoo was captivating and wholly new. Fred Ford’s sensitive, uncontrived narration added poetic depth.
After Louis Riel, it was refreshing and inspiring to sit through a concert where living Indigenous artists told their own stories and experiences. In comparison, The Circle of Creation, Tafelmusik’s Bach multimedia show at Southam Hall Sunday night, was a throwback to music as museum set piece.
The concept seems promising: present the artisans, craftspeople and tradespeople who made Bach’s output in Leipzig possible: from the makers of string and wind instruments, to the experts who made his paper and ink, to the cloth merchants who supplied the taxe revenue that paid his salary.
Unfortunately, the whole thing felt like one of those old-fashioned “monuments of Western Civilization” continuing ed courses: the almost comically high-toned narration, obsessed with the dullest minutiae; the static, literal video and photography projections (the selection for Sheep may safely graze was, surprise, pastoral images of sheep grazing); and a frustrating greatest hits, WQXR approach to the music, all single movements and excerpts instead of complete works.
Toronto’s beloved Baroque orchestra plays so beautifully, with such grace and buoyancy, with so much collegial virtuosity, it either requires nothing, or else it demands supporting creative elements that are every bit as thrilling and fresh.
Still, the evening wasn’t entirely without excitement. About 10 minutes into the first half, a man started loudly heckling from the audience, complaining in French that the narration was only in English. After his third eruption, other Francophones in the audience started yelling at him to be quiet. It was easily the most dramatic outburst I’ve seen at a concert in years. How typical of Ottawa that it was over language politics, not artistic merit.
– Natasha Gauthier, artsfile.ca
Taken at Canada Scene in Ottawa
Winnipeg’s internationally acclaimed Camerata Nova choir continues to evolve in its own imaginative, risk-taking and quirky way, with early, contemporary and Indigenous-infused music remaining its pillars. The choir enjoys straying from the path too, though, and uses theatrical and visual design to engage its audience in profound and surprising ways.
For these and many other reasons, Camerata Nova has been chosen to participate in the huge Canada Scene festival organized by the National Arts Centre (NAC) as part of the Canada 150 celebrations. The NAC has asked Camerata Nova to do a repeat performance of its March 2017 show Taken on June 17 in Ottawa.
If you are in Ottawa or have friends and family interested in seeing the show, please see additional details on time, location and ticket purchases on the NAC website. To see a video excerpt from the Manitoba performance, visit our website.
2017-2018 Season
You won’t want to miss Camerata Nova’s exciting 2017-2018 season! Vic Pankratz, John Wiens and Mel Braun will all be returning to conduct new shows. All the details are now on our website, and both subscriptions and single tickets can be purchased on our online store. We look forward to seeing everyone there!
Voicing Your Support
Thank you for another successful season – we could not have done it without you!
As a supporter, you know that Camerata Nova has fearlessly advanced its unique art form and delivered a rich tapestry of sounds and surprisingly profound musical experiences for over two decades. If you haven’t already given in 2017, we ask that you consider making a tax-receiptable gift towards our end-of season campaign, or towards our upcoming 2017-2018 season.
You can support our work by contacting us directly at info@cameratanova.com or 204.918.4547. Or take up the Great Canadian Giving Challenge (until June 30) and securely donate to Camerata Nova via the CanadaHelps button on our website. From now until the end of June, each dollar will earn Camerata Nova one chance to win a grand prize draw of $10,000!
Thank you again for your support!
Upcoming Concert: Isolation
On Saturday, April 8 and Sunday April 9, Camerata Nova’s singers will weave the glowing and intricate lines of Renaissance composers like Cardoso, Gombert, Créquillon and White as well as by a new composition by Artistic Director Andrew Balfour. Read more in the latest blog.
Impressions of Taken
Local professor, writer and poet Sue Sorensen has written a response to our world premiere of Taken. Read it here: Impressions of Taken
WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF:
