Issue 1: September – October - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

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PROGRAM NOTES by James Manishen Wa Wa Tey Wak (Northern Lights) Andrew Balfour b. Fisher Branch Reserve, MB / 1967 Composed: 2006 First performance: March 11, 2006 by Camerata Nova First WSO performance Wa Wa Tey Wak is based on a modern legend about a young girl that lived 300 years ago in what we now call Canada. She is transported to modern times by a sorcerer and wanders the streets of Winnipeg. No one can see her except the street people, the “lost tribe.” Of Cree descent, composer Andrew Balfour describes the work as “about transformation - a journey…sad things...social issues…all redeemed by the Northern Lights. It’s one of the worst tragedies of our country: so much wealth, so much prosperity and so much poverty at the same time. That’s why I wrote this piece, because I felt I had something to say since I have also lived in poverty but redeemed by music, I guess you could say.” Concerto for Pipa with String Orchestra Lou Harrison b. Portland, OR / May 14, 1917 d. Lafayette, IN / February 2, 2003 Composed: 1997 First performance: April 26, 1997, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies conducting with Wu Man as soloist First WSO performance By his own admission, the music of West Coast-born Lou Harrison is “a song and a dance,” an influence from 14 OVERTURE I September – October 2011 Harrison’s mentor, American pioneer composer Henry Cowell, who taught Harrison that music around the world is mainly melody with a rhythmic accompaniment. Long interested in music from cultures bordering the Pacific, Cowell inspired Harrison to dig into world music in general, yet within an individual compositional style of no less importance. “Don’t put hybrids down,” Harrison once told a BBC interviewer. “There isn’t anything else.” Harrison built instruments out of everyday items, began working with John Cage and eventually studied briefly with Arnold Schoenberg in Los Angeles. In 1961, Harrison went to Tokyo where, for two years, he immersed himself in the study of Korean and Chinese classical music. In the early 1970s, his fusion of Eastern and Western style began to crystallize. The pipa concerto is Harrison’s last large-scale work. The motoric theme of the first movement suggests a classical concerto coming, though with Chinese tang as the pipa is joined by solo violin. The second movement is a suite that treats the pipa in various guises: a pseudo balalaika in the Troika, a percussion instrument in Three Sharing, and a mandolin in Neapolitan. The elegiac third movement’s long lines pave the way for the finale entitled Estampie, a dancelike form from 14th century France and Italy. We are honoured to be joined tonight by Wu Man, the dedicatee of Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto. La Noche de los Mayas Silvestre Revueltas b. Santiago, Papasquiaro, Durango / December 31, 1899 d. Mexico City / October 5, 1940 Composed: 1939 Last WSO performance: 2008, Alexander Mickelthwate, conductor “I prefer the music of the people of the ranchos and villages of my country,” Silvestre Revueltas once said when asked about his tastes in music. Central to his music are the tang of Mexico, the spirit of its people and his own experiences during the volatile period following his appointment as assistant to Carlos Chávez and the newly formed Orquesta Sinfónica de México in 1929 following a three-year period in the United States where he worked as a theatre violinist and conductor. During this time, Revueltas also became active in the cause of artists' and workers' rights. In 1937, Revueltas was sent to Spain to direct concerts in support of Mexican Loyalist causes but returned poor and in broken health. He died of alcoholism, heartbroken over the death of his two daughters. La Noche de los Mayas (“The Night of the Mayas”) was composed as a score to the film of the same name directed by Chano Urueta with script by Antonio Médiz Bolio. A four-movement suite was created in 1960 by Mexican conductor José Limantour. The opening movement’s huge cry from the orchestra suggests Revueltas’s political angst, tempered by the central section, which is warm and reflective. Noche de Jaranas is a fiery dance movement punctuated with cross rhythms. The solo flute and drum in Noche de Yucatan quote a traditional native folk melody (“Come on boys, the sun is about to set”). The closing movement is a riot of percussion, culminating with the orchestral outburst that opened the work. Vous adresser au service des abonnés ou consulter le site www.wso.ca pour la traduction en français.
PRESIDENTS OF THE WINNIPEG SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1948-51 Hon. Mr. Justice J. T. Beaubien 1951-53 Mr. J. M. Sinclair 1953-55 Mr. Digby Wheeler 1955-57 Mr. W. D. Hurst 1957-58 Dr. Hugh H. Saunderson 1958-61 Mr. E. W. H. Brown 1961-62 Mr. David Slater 1962-64 The Hon. Mr. Justice Monnin 1964-65 Mr. Norman J. Alexander 1965-67 Mr. R. W. Richards 1967-69 Mr. W. R. Palmer 1969-71 Mr. E. J. Smith 1971-73 Dr. M. M. Pierce 1973-74 Mr. H. S. Brock-Smith 1974-76 Mr. Allan G. Moffatt 1976-78 Mr. Julian D. T. Benson 1978-79 Mr. John L. Buckworth 1979-80 Mr. N. Roger McFallon 1980-81 Mr. John F. Fraser 1981-82 Mr. William W. Draper 1982-83 Mr. John O. Baatz 1983-84 Mr. Andrew D. M. Ogaranko, Q.C. 1984-86 Mr. Harold Buchwald, Q.C. 1986-88 Mr. Michel Lagacé 1988-90 Mr. William H. Loewen 1990-92 Mrs. Julia DeFehr 1992-94 Mr. Gordon Fogg 1994-96 Mrs. Helen Hayles 1996-97 Mr. Anthony Brookes 1997-98 Mrs. Helen Hayles 1998-99 Mr. William Norrie Feb 1999 – May 1999 Mr. William Loewen Jun 1999 – 2000 Mr. Bruce MacCormack 2000- Feb 03 Mr. Roger King Mar 2003 – Dec 2003 Ms. Patti Sullivan Dec 2003 – Jan 2005 Mr. Wally Fox-Decent Jan 2005 – Jul 2006 Ms. Carol Bellringer Jul 2006 – Nov 2006 Mr. Harvey Pollock (Interim President) Dec 2006 – Jun 2007 Mr. Brendan MacDougall 2007 – present Ms. Dorothy Dobbie September – October 2011 I OVERTURE 15
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Issue 1: September – October - Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra

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