NYO Canada, dir. Jonathan Darlington
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland
August 14th 2018

Terre-Neuve NYOC; Usher Hall, Edinburgh (Scotland)

"Flying":
Based on a poem by Linda Studley
Recording from the online premiere performance during COVID (March 2021) by CanSing (dir. Gerda Blok-Wilson), a wonderful group of friends and neighbours who just want to get together and make music.

Score available at www.marieclairesaindon.com

Flying (SSAB)

Premiere of "Marées" by Marie-Claire Saindon, text by Rina Lasnier
Under the musical direction of François A. Ouimet
Performed by le Choeur des jeunes de Vincent-d'Indy & le jeune choeur du Conservatoire de Rouen on October 28, 2022, in Montréal, QC.

Score available in SAB and SSA on www.marieclairesaindon.com

Marées

"Décharge" by Marie-Claire Saindon & Anaïs Maranda
Performed by Choeur Adleisia on May 14th 2023 in Montréal, QC under the direction of Megan Batty.

Décharge

"Le dep" is an original composition in the style of the French-Canadian mouth reels. Traditionally, instrumental folk tunes are often named according to who wrote it, for whom it was written, or, in this case, to where the musician was travelling while composing it. I wrote this tune walking to the cornerstore and back during the pandemic, so, here we are! 

Recording by the Winnipeg Upper Voices ensemble during their April 2024 concert under the direction of Katy Harmer.

Commissioned by Dr. Melissa Morgan for the 2023 University of Regina Tenor Bass Workshop.

Scores available in SA and TB with optional piano at www.marieclairesaindon.com

Le Dep (The Corner Store - Mouth Reel)

"Yeux d'enfants" is a collaboration between poet Alexis Vollant (Pessamit, QC) and composer Marie-Claire Saindon (Montréal, QC). The piece celebrates a beloved mentor that has the ability to give us the sense of wonder and awe of children's eyes, which in turn gives us the strength and will to build our community for the better.

Commissioned by the University of Toronto Chamber Choir in honour of Dr. Lori-Anne Dolloff for her 37 years of distinguished service to the University of Toronto as professor, conductor, mentor, friend.

Yeux d'enfants (studio demo)

An SSA arrangement of the Finnish folk song "Kiiriminna", following the adventures of five lasses roaming the countryside with not a care in the world regarding boyfriends ...

This recording is an excerpt of the version that I arranged in 2014, which featured a similar instrumental arrangement to Värttinä's version of Kiiriminna. The score I now sell has a different instrumental and harmonic structure, but this final verse and chorus will give you an idea of the mood and style of the song regardless until I can have access to a concert recording of my current version!

This May 2014 version: performed by Concerto Della Donna under the direction of Iwan Edwards.

Kiirimina (excerpt)

Commissioned and premiered by Oriana Women's Choir on May 25 2024

A simple lyrical piece at its surface, Fingernail Moon reveals a deep feeling of gratitude. While composers are often celebrated for their musical craft and inspiration, we sometimes forget that artists are in fact quite interdependant with their surrounding community. For this composer in particular, she would like to give a heartfelt thanks to the poets like Paul Grindlay that give her carte blanche to use their poetry, and to her "piano editor" Chad Linsley, without whom any of her piano accompaniments would be not as colourful, and perhaps not always idiomatic to the instrument. It goes without saying that this composer also offers professional services to others in exchange, thus being part of an interdependant artistic community.

When listening to and performing this piece, the composer would like to encourage you to reflect towards whom you feel gratitude for their contributions, no matter how small, that allow you to shine even brighter, no matter how small.

Fingernail Moon (SSA & piano)

Commissioned and premiered by Aella Choir (Ottawa, ON) on May 3 2024

This piece's dedication is the following: "Commissioned by friends, family, and members of Aella Choir in memory of Marie Paquette-Rivard: maman to Aella member, Josée Rivard, and much-loved choir mom to us all."

Marie Paquette-Rivard was a staunch supporter of the arts, especially in her Franco-Ontarian community. She taught community dance classes, played the harp, and her favourite thing among others was when her friends and family gathered together to celebrate anything and everything. This piece, La valse de Marie, has a secondary title of "Ensemble" ("Together"), as it shows Marie's soul rejoicing in the togetherness found in daily stolen moments.

Final lyrics were written by Marie-Claire Saindon, but were brainstormed with Josée Rivard (Marie's daughter) and her siblings, and guided by Robert Paquette (Marie's brother and Franco-Ontarian singer-songwriter). Included were two lines written by Robert. The lyrics would have not existed without the involvement of the family!

La valse de Marie (mock-up) - SSA

Choral, instrumental, traditional and multimedia music - musiques chorales, instrumentales, traditionnelles et multimédias

Terre-Neuve NYOC; Usher Hall, Edinburgh (Scotland)

Marie-Claire Saindon (II)

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