A return to in-theatre, live-audience performances, will see the Okanagan Symphoney Orchestra feature multi-talented First Nations artist Csetkwe Fortier.
含羞草研究社淚 have no words to describe how much I am looking forward to welcoming Csetkwe as our guest artist and to getting back on stage with our OSO musicians,含羞草研究社� music director Rosemary Thomson said. 含羞草研究社淭here is much that has transpired in the world and I hope that this concert will offer meaningful reflection and a sense of hope in a new dawn.含羞草研究社�
Csetkwe含羞草研究社檚 name is pronounced chuh-set-quah; it means Lights Reflection on Water. Her new dawn performance with OSO takes place in Kelowna Saturday, Oct. 23 and in Vernon Sunday, Oct. 24. For patrons who are not yet ready to return to the theatre, livestream access to the Oct, 23 performance, through , is available by donation.
Holding the respect of being a sqwuy (mother to a son), stamiya (Two Spirit) and a Traditional Knowledge Keeper, Fortier (of the Syilx Nation and Secwepmec peoples of the Kamloops territory) works mainly in performance art, song/ poetry writing, painting and illustration. She is a graduate of the En含羞草研究社檕wkin Centre of Indigenous Art, receiving a National Aboriginal Professional Artists含羞草研究社� Training certificate and Nsyilxcn Language Program certificate.
Whispers of the Mountain, which was premiered by the Kamloops Symphony Orchestra, is a creative collaboration between Csetkwe and Quebec-born composer Katia Makdissi-Warren.
含羞草研究社淐setkwe sent me her song 含羞草研究社楽unrise on the Water,..含羞草研究社� and I was immediately inspired to write something in response含羞草研究社ertain aspects of Aboriginal music imitate sounds of the natural world, and I wanted to explore this idea too while still maintaining respect for the artistic elements of Csetkwe含羞草研究社檚 song and culture含羞草研究社he result is an orchestral work that aims to re-create the larger natural environment in music,含羞草研究社� Thomson said.
A work by Fortier receives its world premiere on this program. Cuwix, which means 含羞草研究社淐ome here,含羞草研究社� memorializes the 215 children whose remains were found at the site of the Kamloops Residential School earlier this year.
The OSO also celebrates home-grown talent with three works by Okanagan composers: Anita Perry from Summerland, Nicholas Kelly from Penticton and Dryden Bennett from Kelowna.
Perry is a good friend of the OSO with a long association. Her Fantasy for Chamber Orchestra was written in 1986 but complements this month含羞草研究社檚 program wonderfully.
含羞草研究社淚含羞草研究社檓 absolutely delighted [that the OSO is performing it]. I know my music is safe in the hands of the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra. That is a wonderful feeling,含羞草研究社� Perry said.
Bennett is a youth orchestra player and Grade 12 student who only began composing at the start of the pandemic in 2020. His whimsical and lighthearted Tangerine Trees was inspired by a children含羞草研究社檚 book he created, about a boy who sets off to sail the world, and discovers an island with a tangerine tree on it.
含羞草研究社淒ryden is very accomplished for someone who has only been composing for 18 months,含羞草研究社� said Thomson.
Dryden describes the feeling of having a professional orchestra perform his piece as, 含羞草研究社満卟菅芯可绂awesome. It already feels like I含羞草研究社檝e accomplished one of my life goals.含羞草研究社�
Kelly含羞草研究社檚 evocatively titled piece The Sunken City paints an image of an underwater world that despite some initial darkness is still full of optimism.
Other highlights on the program include The Light of Three Mornings by American composer Gwyneth Walker, a three-movement work for chamber orchestra inspired by the purity and beauty of mornings spent in the composer含羞草研究社檚 studio in Braintree, Vermont. Hailing from Newfoundland, Peter Gardner含羞草研究社檚 work 2 Metres for Socially Distanced Chamber Orchestra is just that 含羞草研究社� written in response to the restrictions imposed on orchestras by the pandemic.
Tickets and livestream access (Saturday含羞草研究社檚 performance only) are available at .
While the pandemic is not over, as evidenced by audience capacity restrictions and mask mandates, the OSO continues to be committed to following all public health directives. Ticket holders are required to show their BC Vaccination card, as proof of vaccination to access the theatres.
