Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa: Cosmophony

Pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa presents a recital of new works for solo piano by nine contemporary Canadian composers including Denis Gougeon, Jordan Nobles, Jocelyn Morlock, Alexander Pechenyuk, Jennifer Butler, Rodney Sharman, Marci Rabe, Jeffrey Ryan, and Cornish faculty member Emily Doolittle.

Cosmophony is a solo piano performance inspired by our solar system. The concert includes nine solo piano pieces by Canada's most prominent composers and brightest rising stars plus George Crumb’s remarkable work Makrokosmos II: 12 Fantasy Pieces After the Zodiac.

Piano-Soleil (1992) – Denis Gougeon
Mercurio dal ciel in terra (2008) – Rodney Sharman
Venus (2008) – Marci Rabe
Earth, Clouds from North (2008) – Alexander Pechenyuk
Phobos and Deimos, Circling (2008) – Jocelyn Morlock
Fragments (2000-2004) – Jordan Nobles
     Zappafrank
     Italocalvino
     Asimov
     Mandelbrot
     Agamemnon
Jupiter (2008) – Christopher Kovarik
Saturn: study in white (2008) – Jeffrey Ryan
Uranus (2008) – Stefan Udell
Neptune (2008) – Jennifer Butler
Gliese 581c (2008) – Emily Doolittle

Intermission

Makrokosmos II: 12 Fantasy Pieces After the Zodiac – George Crumb
     Morning Music (Genesis II) – Cancer
     The Mystic Chord – Sagittarius
     Rain-Death Variations – Pisces
     Twin Suns (Doppelgänger aus der Ewigkeit) – Gemini
     Ghost-Nocturne: for the Druids of Stonehenge (Night-Spell II) – Virgo
     Gargoyles – Taurus
     Tora! Tora! Tora! (Cadenza Apocalittica) – Scorpio
     A Prophecy of Nostradamus – Aries
     Cosmic Wind – Libra
     Voices from “Corona Borealis” – Aquarius
     Litany of the Galactic Bells – Leo
     Agnus Dei – Capricorn

Denis Gougeon’s brilliant and powerful Piano soleil (1990), from his series Six thèmes solaires, along with Holst’s classic The Planets, sparked the inspiration for this concert. Jordan Nobles’ Fragments (2001-2004), a group of sparkling miniatures depicting the Asteroid Belt, will take its place between Mars and Jupiter. Jocelyn Morlock’s music has been performed across Canada, in the United States and Europe by ArrayMusic, CBC Radio Orchestra, Continuum Contemporary Music, Musica Intima and Steven Isserlis, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra among others. Her Lacrimosa represented Canada at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (Paris, 2002), and has been broadcast in twenty-one countries.

Alexander Pechenyuk’s symphonic and chamber compositions have been performed at concerts and festivals throughout Russia, the European Union, and Canada. His composition Parallax, recorded by the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra in 2001, was performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2007. Jennifer Butler’s music has been performed by many Canadian ensembles such as: Arraymusic, Four Gallon Drum, Standing Wave, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Her experimental ensemble CURV, with composer-performers Kristy Farkas and Marci Rabe, created a large collaborative work with Continuum Contemporary Music in Toronto.

Rodney Sharman’s music has been performed by ensembles and soloists in more than thirty countries and by orchestras in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. He was the Vancouver Symphony's Composer-in-Residence from 1997 to 2000 and the VSO's Composer/Music Advisor from 2000 to 2001. Marci Rabe is an active composer and completed an M.Mus. at the University of Victoria after having received a B.Mus., Honours Composition from Wilfrid Laurier University. Vancouver New Music, Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal Music, Continuum Contemporary Music, Aventa and NUMUS are some of the ensembles and organizations that have commissioned and presented her music. In 2005, a full concert of her work was presented by CONTACT Contemporary Music at the Music Gallery in Toronto.

Jeffrey Ryan’s compositions have been performed and broadcast across Canada and internationally. His commissions include works for the Vancouver Symphony, the Toronto Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra, Esprit Orchestra, Tapestry New Opera Works, the Arditti Quartet, and the Penderecki Quartet. He is currently composer-in-residence with the Vancouver Symphony, and composer advisor for Music Toronto. Emily Doolittle has written for such ensembles and performers as Ensemble Contemporain de Montreal, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, soprano Janice Jackson, pianist Eve Egoyan, and the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal.

Hailed in the press as a “keyboard virtuoso,” pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa has performed as soloist and chamber musician in Canada, the United States and Germany. Known for her bold and innovative work, she has appeared for Vancouver New Music, CONTACT contemporary music (Toronto), New Works Calgary, Groundswell New Music (Winnipeg), the Victoria Symphony, the Aventa Ensemble (Victoria), Music on Main, Redshift, the Western Front, the Little Chamber Music Series That Could, Vancouver Pro Musica and has been broadcast on CBC Radio. Iwaasa performs regularly with Mark McGregor as the flute and piano duo Tiresias. Their debut CD, Delicate Fires, was recently nominated for a 2008 Western Canadian Music Award in the category of Outstanding Classical Recording. Iwaasa's major teachers include Jane Coop, Menahem Pressler and Robin Wood. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of British Columbia, a Master of Music from Indiana University, and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Victoria, where she earned the Victoria Medal as the top graduating-student in Fine Arts. She was also a two-time recpient of the prestigious Annual Grant from the Deutscher AkademisAustauschdienst (DAAD) for graduate studies at the Hochschule für “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin.