WNMF 4: Dialogues

Centennial Concert Hall: 

Returning to our familiar concert hall, music director Daniel Raiskin leads the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra in a series of works featuring a stunning array of acclaimed guest soloists from around the world. This unique program places a spotlight on the relationship between soloist, conductor, orchestra, and composer – and the dialogue, synergy, and conflict that arise from their interactions.

Distinguished guest composer Missy Mazzoli returns with her sonorous concerto for double bass Dark with Excessive Bright that features WSO principal bassist Meredith Johnson, placing a spotlight on a ubiquitous instrument of the orchestra and its rich expressive possibilities.

Chinese-American composer and guzheng master Wu Fei is joined by NYC oud specialist Shanir Blumenkranz in the orchestral adaptation of her monumental Hello Gold Mountain, a powerful work inspired by the real stories of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from Europe in World War II and built new lives in China.

In Mirror of Eternity, Lebanese composer Houtaf Khoury explores the socio-philosophical complexities of life in the Arab world through the soulful sonorities of the flute and symphony orchestra – a performance that doubly serves as a celebration of WSO principal flutist Jan Kocman’s stunning 50 years of service to the orchestra.

Finally, Kamancello returns to the stage, this time with the WSO, to weave together a rich sonic tapestry with their semi-improvisatory Convergence Suite, an expansive outgrowth of their repertoire heard three nights earlier at The Leaf.

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Program Notes

Wu Fei – Hello Gold Mountain (2022) for guzheng, oud, and orchestra [Canadian premiere]
I. Overture
II. For Ho Feng Shan, the Chinese Schindler
III. Lily and Meimei
IV. Stateless Dance
V. July 17, 1945 – The Raid
VI. Shanghai Dark Sea
VII. Hello, Gold Mountain
Wu Fei, guzheng
Shanir Blumenkranz, oud

Missy Mazzoli – Dark with Excessive Bright (2018) for double bass & string orchestra
Meredith Johnson, double bass

INTERMISSION

Houtaf Khoury – Mirror of Eternity (2002) concerto for flute & orchestra
I. Molto lento
II. Allegro con ritmico
III. Largo
Jan Kocman, flute

Kamancello – Convergence Suite in 3 Movements (2019) double concerto for kamancheh & cello
Kamancello: Raphael Weinroth-Browne, cello; Shahriyar Jamshidi, kamancheh