Jeffrey Pollock Music Director
Join Sinfonia Ancaster on a journey into a wild and wonderful soundscape with
"FORCES OF NATURE"
March 10th 2023 @ 7:00pm
Songs from the Deep by Juhi Bansal will draw you into a briny world of ocean currents and underwater weightlessness. Inspired by an experience she had of hearing humpback whale songs while diving, Bansal's piece pays homage to the ocean in an immersive soundscape of water, movement, current and flow; of changing colours and shifting light. The Washington Post recently placed Bansal #2 on their list of 23 Composers to Watch in 2023, writing, “[She] is changing the sound of classical music.” Of her piece, Bansal writes, “The music includes spatial and immersive sound elements that surround the audience with the feeling of rapidly moving water melodies using Indian ornamentation and timbres to evoke the organic, fluid nature of whale song.” Sinfonia Ancaster is very excited to be performing the Canadian premiere of this work!
Sinfonia travels from the sea to the air for the next work on the program -- Einojuhani Rautavaara's Cantus Arcticus, subtitled a Concerto for Birds and Orchestra. In 1972, Rautavaara traveled to the Arctic and made a number of field recordings of arctic birds. He was so inspired by their songs, he composed an orchestral work that integrated those recordings with the sounds of a live orchestra. Each of the work's three movements features Rautavaara's recordings of different types of birds -- shore larks, bog birds, and trumpeter swans -- while woodwind instruments swirl and swoop above expansive and achingly beautiful string melodies. The result is transcendent. This piece must be experienced live for listeners to enjoy its full effect.
In the second half of the concert, there are two C major symphonies -- one for strings only by CPE Bach and the other, the celebrated first symphony of a young Ludwig van Beethoven. After the experience of hearing the pieces in the first half of the program, these two old works will feel like a breath of fresh air. Beethoven's 1st Symphony, though, did raise eyebrows in its day with its unconventional introduction, with his liberating use of the timpani as an independent instrument, and with his playful and surprising outbursts of energy. His later symphonies would further break ground, but his First already reveals the Force of Nature Beethoven would become.
Admission to the concert is $25 for adults, $20 seniors, and $15 for children under 14. Tickets can be purchased online, through the Centre’s Box Office (905-304-3232) or in person at the door (credit & debit only). In anticipation of another sell-out concert, Sinfonia Ancaster recommends that patrons plan to purchase tickets ahead of time.
The new 470-seat state-of-the-art Peller Hall in the Memorial Arts Center is fully accessible. The street address is 357 Wilson St. East, Ancaster but you will want to use the free parking at the rear of the building off Queen Street. Overflow free parking is located at Ryerson United Church, Ancaster Public Library, and Ancaster "Old Firehall" (see below).
Enjoy 10-15% off your pre-concert meals at India Village, the Coach and Lantern, Brewers Blackbird, and Symposium Ancaster restaurants! Just show your tickets or email confirmation. Pre-order your intermission refreshments in the Memorial Arts Centre lobby just before the show and pick up at the bar.
Follow us on social media (below) as we build the excitement for this breathtaking concert! Feel free to forward this message to your friends and family. See you on March 10th at 7:00 pm!