Lead by Conductor Victor Cheng, we’ll begin with Jared Miller’s 2010 Traffic Jam, written for the Vancouver Olympics and the inevitable chaos that surrounded them. Next, we will be joined by actor J. Adam Brown, who will narrate Prokofiev’s famous tale, Peter and the Wolf. This classic story also features some fantastic orchestral soloists portraying the bird, the cat, the duck, the grandfather, Peter, and the wolf!

Our audience is also sure to enjoy Kevin Lau’s Gooby Suite, a piece based on his score for the 2009 Canadian children’s film, “Gooby,” (co-composed with Ronald Royer), about a lovable teddy bear that comes to life. Finally, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade is a symphonic suite based on the celebrated story One Thousand and One Nights, and features our concertmaster Tanya Charles as the title legendary Persian Queen weaving her tale.

The concert will take place at St. Gabriel’s Passionist Parish (670 Sheppard Ave. East, near Bessarion Subway Station). Tickets are $20 general admission, $15 students. Click here to purchase tickets!

Clockwise from top left: Emily Klassen, Blythwood Winds, Andrew Ascenzo, Ton Beau String Quartet. (Yes, we look as good as we sound.)

With a big orchestral concert behind us, we are quickly getting ready for our joint fundraiser at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church. We are thrilled to have our friends at Ton Beau String Quartet, Blythwood Wind Quintet, cellist Andrew Ascenzo and colouratura Soprano Emily Klassen joining us in a program that will have the classics, the popular, the well loved, and the surprises.

If you missed SPO conductor Victor Cheng perform on the organ with the orchestra this last Friday, you will have a chance to see his jazz performance chops with his trio.

Ticket prices are $25/$20 for adults and students. Online tickets are now available!

Most talk surrounding Victor’s organ playing is hush-hush in order to make the greatest impact on the audience at the concert, so I had to tread carefully in writing this. What I can tell you is that SPO will be playing Stokowski’s arrangement of Bach’s famous Toccata and Fugue. I can also tell you that this is not an easy task. If you’re a lay person to music like me, you’ll be awed at the complexity of this stereotypically gothic instrument and the crazy concentration required to play it well.

A fact I didn’t know until this interview: The organ can simulate a variety of different individual instruments. This means that if you want to, say, create a flute sound, you simply “pull” on the bourdon (flute) “stop” on the organ–or in lay-man’s terms, you flick the appropriate switch. Want to play a flute, trumpet, and violin sound together? Again, you pull on the appropriate stops. That full, rich sound we associate with the organ is actually a combination of instruments played together. Along with pulling stops Victor must also play on multiple “manuals” (keyboards—the one Victor will be playing has 4 keyboards for the hands, and a pedal-board for the feet!), and gauging volume with foot pedals directly above the pedal-board. All this requires an extraordinary presence of mind and physical coordination.

Which is why when I asked Victor if he’s likely to “get lost” in the music, turning his mind off and playing with abandon, he answered with a laugh, “no… In fact, it’s difficult to be expressive on the organ. As much as it resembles a piano, you cannot control the touch, tone or volume of a note just with your fingers!” Instead, when playing, Victor has to remain focused on the technicalities: things like making sure sound clears before he plays another passage–he doesn’t want it to be muddled or cloudy, a risk in a big church like St. Gabriel’s. He must also be aware of what “stops”, or instruments, are being used at all times. All while he controls the volume of the sound with his foot on the pedals. “We trust the sound to emerge from the attention paid to the details,” Kevin, also with us at the interview, explains. “If you trust the composer and your skill, the audience will hear the true glory of the music.”

Between pulling stops, playing on the manuals and controlling for volume, organ playing is not only cerebrally challenging, it is also physically demanding. But Victor, who regularly enjoys sports, especially basketball, is ready for the physical challenge.

As for the Toccata and Fugue itself, Victor commented, “At times it will be majestic and grand, at timeshaunting and spooky.” One thing’s for certain: it will fill the church with its haunting sound, making for an unforgettable experience. Just as I was about to hit “stop” on the recorder, Victor had something to add: “You know, I was just playing through the Toccata and Fugue at St. Gabriel’s, and this feeling came over me—I want to get this show on the road!”

He loves the music they have prepared and that he will be able to play with a host of talented orchestra members, one third of who are new to SPO. And, from the little bits he let slip, I think we can look forward to a surprise or two tomorrow. I hope to see you there!

The piece was born when the SPO team came up with the idea of calling audiences back into the concert hall after intermission by playing a specific theme. With repeat renditions at different concerts people could eventually begin to associate the theme with SPO–kind of like the musical equivalent of a logo. Victor and Kevin both believed the theme would serve its purpose best if it was composed as a Fanfare, one grand enough (and loud enough!) to attract the attention of a bustling audience at intermission. The Fanfare would then be incorporated into a longer, overture-style piece that would form the full version of the SPO theme.

The task of creating this theme naturally fell to Kevin, SPO’s composer in residence. He wanted the theme to sound celebratory and uplifting, to acknowledge the accomplishments and further aspirations of the SPO. With these feelings in mind, he came up with the theme one day while reclining on a bench in Banff. I asked a little more about that: did he compose by writing down arrays of notes that should theoretically inspire “uplifting” feelings? No. Though many composers work from a strict, theoretical model, for Kevin, creating music is an almost entirely intuitive process. It’s hard to program a piece to make it evoke specific feelings, he explained, because that reduces the composition to only the aspects being consciously aimed for. And that prevents any musical insight he might gain from trusting his feelings. The technical details, the orchestration, the structure, come after, and help develop the theme into an organic whole.

The Fanfare is played by the full orchestra and encompasses the last 15 seconds of the entire 2-minute piece. Kevin initially wanted have the orchestra open “with a bang” but then decided the piece should start off quietly, then gradually build in intensity, as if about to embark on a long journey. This was an interesting analogy which led me to discover that Kevin has an avid interest in storytelling and that much of his music is influenced by mythological ideas. The SPO theme is then like a musical Hero’s journey–starting from a quiet town, experiencing wonders and perils on the road, then finally coming home a little wiser to a grand celebration… And, for the SPO at least, preparing to embark on ever more adventures.

The theme evokes a feeling of pride for Victor, who was visibly enthused about the launch of SPO’s sixth year. Both he and Kevin want the theme to convey that pride and to encourage the orchestra to further accomplishments. “We want a theme that celebrates the fact that we’re making music and having a good time of it,” Victor emphasized.

With their dedication and infectious enthusiasm I think we can look forward to a great show next Friday. I for one can’t wait.

Ricker Choir performing at the Berlin International Amateur Piano Competition in the 2,500 seat Berlin Philharmonie

In preparation for Sneak Peak’s upcoming concert, I’ve been lucky to share a few words with talented pianist Ricker Choi who will be playing Liszt’s Totentanz, The Dance of Death.

Ricker began playing piano at the age of 13 and has studied with long-time teacher Boris Zarankin as well as taken master classes with other celebrated pianists. He has played all over the world including award-winning performances in amateur competitions in Boston, Massachusetts and Berlin, Germany. He even organizes and performs in concerts for charity as part of the Music Heals initiative.

But Ricker, who also holds an MBA from York University, wasn’t always playing to his heart’s content. In 1993 he took a 12-year break from performing music in order to focus on a business career. The dry world of business studies, however, couldn’t entirely keep him from his love of the arts and he spent whatever leisure time he had immersed in books. His prolific reading included theoretical writings on the piano as well as a myriad of literature. Ricker believes that his creative exploration along with careful study of theory has allowed him to better understand the composers and has infused his playing with richer personality.

Totentanz is an interesting piece for Ricker on both emotional and technical levels. The spooky melody evokes images of the macabre straight from its opening chords which he says bring to mind an image of the Grim Reaper and his mighty axe. Meanwhile, the score features an array of contrasting variations derived from this melody. Each repetition of the theme demands a different approach, and it is up to the performer to structure these variations in a manner that is both cohesive and unpredictable. For Ricker, the latter is the fun part of playing, as the score allows him enough freedom to put a larger part of himself into his performance.

This freedom however exacerbates some challenges in performing alongside an orchestra. Among the most difficult is timing. Pauses are tricky because both the conductor and Ricker have their own sense of exactly how long each should be held. The only way to match is to practice, practice, and practice some more. Rehearsals are integral to the group. During these Ricker has learned to adjust his style of playing in order to match the orchestra. In Totentanz, he has to strike a balance between expressing his emotions in playing and holding back enough to work with the group. This magic combination is the key to creating a monumental performance.

And the Liszt piece demands no less than monumental. When asked about his overall impression of Totentanz, Ricker replied that it is a glorification of death, an ode to the end of the world. For an introspective and soft-spoken performer like himself, it is a joy to have a venue to express his more extroverted side.

Come out to see Ricker Choi perform with Sneak Peek Orchestra in Isle of the Dead on October 26, 2012, 7:30pm at St. Gabriel’s Passionist Church (TTC Bessarian Station). Lots of spooky music is on the program and also lots of parking space. $20 adult and $10 student.