NEWS RELEASE
GUELPH YOUTH MUSIC CENTRE
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The Penderecki String Quartet joins internationally-renowned Canadian pianist/composer David Braid and baritone Lee Tsang (head of Classical Music Performance at the University of Liverpool) March 9 for this Guelph Musicfest special concert. This is a unique opportunity to experience something very special in Canada.
In this inspiring collaboration with multi-Juno Award winning Canadian composer Braid,Tsang expresses his dual heritage through legends, folk and contemporary practices, and redefines the role of poet as a vocal and physical performer.
Nine Dragons Fantasy is an intriguing hybrid work – a kind of dramatic electroacoustic concerto re-imagined for poet-baritone, string quartet, and logic pro. The work draws on Kowloon/Jiulong Mountain songs and is an artistic contemplation of hybridity itself, with tuneful and mysterious transformations occurring across time and space.
Join our artists as they learn to ‘sing’ once more, as they discover what Black Fish can tell us, as they experience Elevation, as they respond to the Sounds of Butterfly Wings.
Experience the joy of the Bamboo Dragon in Dark and Light, be entranced by the tales of Orchid Moon and of a Beloved Ten Thousand Times Missed.
Listen to the Drum with its Mountain Song, heed the Guardian of the Dragon Skin, and perhaps you too can discover the Way of the Ninth Dragon.
In addition to Nine Dragons, the concert will include two more works, including the Canadian premiere of Braid’s Five Kazakh Impressions (2022), Five Miniatures inspired by Kazakhstan composed for the Kazakh State string quartet and premiered in December 2022 in Almaty, Astana and Karaganda commemorating 30 years of diplomatic relations with Canada.
There will also be Braid's Three Pieces from Dark Butterflies (2021) — music inspired by recent travel and experiences by the composer in Central Asia, performed by Peter Shackleton (clarinet), Jeremy Bell (violin), David Braid (piano), and Katie Schlaikjer (cello).
Hamilton native David Braid is a superlative jazz pianist with a serious "classical” side and talent for film scoring. He is a nine-time nominee and three-time Juno award winner. His first classical composition was nominated for classical album of the year, and his first film score won two Screen Awards for best original score, best original song.
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