Kaija Saariaho's landmark work for flute and electronics, NoaNoa (1992), performed live on 13 February 2018 by Mark Takeshi McGregor (flute) and Emilie LeBel (electronics) at the University of Montana.

The title refers to a woodcut by Paul Gauguin called NoaNoa (“Fragrant”). It also refers to a travel diary of the same name, written by Gauguin during his visit to Tahiti in 1891 - 93. The fragments of phrases selected for the voice part come from this book. - KS

Kaija Saariaho: NoaNoa for flute and electronics

Described as a “mind-blowing” musician of “huge physical energy” (Times Colonist), flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor is one of Canada’s leading interpreters of classical, contemporary, and experimental music. As a soloist, chamber musician, and interdisciplinary artist, Mark has performed extensively across five continents, including appearances at Vancouver New Music Society, Little Chamber Music Series That Could, Innovations en Concert (Montreal), GroundSwell (Winnipeg), Honolulu Festival, Internationale ADEvantgarde-Festival (Munich), the Melos-Ethos Festival (Bratislava), Núcleo Música Nova’s International Symposium of New Music (Curitiba, Brazil), and the 2017 ISCM World New Music Days (Vancouver). An outspoken advocate of new music, Mark is the principal flute of the Aventa Ensemble in Victoria, flutist of the Vancouver-based Tiresias Duo with pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, and flutist of the McGregor-Verdejo Duo with guitarist Adrian Verdejo. McGregor has given many local and world premieres, and considers the commissioning of new works by contemporary composers to be a cornerstone of his work as a musician.