En pièces détachées. Yoshiko Kline, piano.
This is the premiere of the first four pieces to be composed in this cycle, commissioned by Peter Kovner:
1. My hands listen to the sun
2. Unbridled
3. Lockdown
4. Little Richard Dances with Bartok. The complete set was performed by the same artist at Tanglewood in July 2023 - watch this space for a recording of all six pieces by the same artist!
I will fly like a bird, opera in one act, libretto by J. A. Wainwright. In memory of Robert Dziekanski. This is the dress rehearsal for the 2012 Scotia Festival concert performance. Robert: Clayton Kennedy, bass; Mother: Marcia Swanston, mezzo-soprano. Blue Engine String Quartet (Jennifer Jones, Anne Simons, violins; Susan Sayle, viola; Hilary Brown, cello), Micah Heilbrunn, clarinet, John Plant piano.
I will fly like a bird,
Thompson Street Opera production, dress rehearsal, cast 1
Robert: Jonathan Wilson
Mother: Marissa Simons.
Conductor: Alexandra Enyart.
Stage director Ross Kyo Matsuda.
Orchestra: Robert Alvarado Switala, Angelica D'Costa, violins; Kelsey Hanson, viola; John Rogler, cello; Lilia Olsen, clarinet; Cody Michael Bradley, piano.
I will fly like a bird, Thompson Street Opera, cast 2
Robert: Nathaniel Hill
Mother: Jennifer Barrett
Conductor, orchestra, director as above.
Three Echoes of the Odyssey, for piano and percussion. Canada Council commission. Premiere performance at Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, 16 February 2020.
Louise Bessette, piano; Marie Josée Simard, percussion.
Echo I: The hero, the nymph, and the wrath of Poseidon
The Heart of Things is a spoken-word opera, libretto by Wanda R. Graham and music by John Plant, for six actors and soundtrack. The actors' parts are notated rhythmically in score, and must be synchronized with the soundtrack, which employs a large virtual orchestra, electronics and musique concrète. The opera was workshopped by Heat Theatre in the spring of 2022 and the opening is planned for the 2023-2024 season. In this trailer, all parts are spoken by the composer. The drawings and photographs are by Curtis Botham. For more information, please go to
https://heattheatre.com/productions/upcoming-productions/the-heart-of-things
INSOMNIA is a setting of poems by Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva (1892-1941), written in Moscow just before the 1917 Revolution. They can be said to describe a nocturnal quest in which physical and spiritual experience are interwoven; particularly striking is the vividness with which the physical world is experienced just as it is revealed to be an illusion or a dream. The work was jointly commissioned by saxophonists Michael Couper and Jennifer bill.
This is the world premiere performance at Carnegie Hall (Weill), with Yungee Rhee, soprano, Michael Couper, saxophone, and ChoEun Lee, piano.
FAUSTUS: A SAXOPERA. I. Faustus and Mephisto
Canadian premiere. Tristan de Borba, saxophone; Dr. Mark Hopkins conducting the Acadia University Wind Ensemble.
This work is inspired by Gertrude Stein's magnificent libretto on the Faust myth, 'Doctor Faustus Lights the Lights". The saxophone personifies and brings life to the principal characters, delineating the individuality of each by stylistic means, while the wind ensemble establishes the atmosphere -both emotional and physical- and participates in the action of the 'plot' - even sometimes taking on the function of chorus. At certain passages, the music articulates the precise rhythm of Stein’s prose.