Virtual (socially distanced) recording of an SSAA choir piece created in collaboration with poet Jessica Hiemstra for the Amadeus Choir's 2020/2021 Choral Creation Lab. 

Jane Fingler - soprano I
Meredith Wanstall - soprano II
Alison Roy - alto I
Emily Lynch - alto II

Composed by Tristan Zaba. Written by Jessica Hiemstra and Tristan Zaba.

But all that's left... (virtual recording)

Prologue to "Inanna"
Text by Margaret Atwood

City Of Dust

Experimenting on the 5 manual Bekarath Organ at St Joseph Oratory in Montreal, Canada. A sonic landscape marred with terraced fields of ideas...

Experiments

You Call Everybody Darlin' (Take 1)

Breathe redefines many musical periods through its blending of ancient and modern texts, and through the performance of new music with historical instruments and techniques. Each part of the piece focuses on one of the four classical elements—air, fire, water, and earth—all of which are strongly present in the poems Rolfe has chosen for his text. Water runs through the lyrical, flowing opening (“Love overflows into all things. . .”); air follows, quick and restless (breathing, sighing, rising, falling); then come fire and earth, in warm, close intervals (“O most noble greenness, rooted in the sun, you shine bright and serene. . .”). These threads weave the piece together and serve as metaphors for human closeness, desire, love, and spirit—invisible threads that sustain us, that connect us to each other and to the divine. 

Words by Hildegard von Bingen (Germany, 1098-1179), Anna Chatterton (Canada, b. 1975), Antonio Scandello (Italy-Germany, 1517-1580)  

For 2 soprano, mezzo-soprano, mediaeval ensemble (recorder, violin, lute, organ, percussion)  

This work was premiered on March 23, 2011 at the 'Trio Mediaeval & The Toronto Consort' concert on March 23, 2011 at St. Anne's Church in Toronto (Canada).

To learn more about James Rolfe and his work, please visit our SoundMakers website: http://www.SoundMakers.ca/composers/james-rolfe

Breathe by James Rolfe

Volver A Casa

And/Or (2019) - 14 musicians and electronics - Turning Point Ensemble - live-recording

This work explores the micro-synchronicity within a pulsation to create timbral and musical situations that are:
organic and/or synthetic,
mechanical and/or lyrical,
symmetrical and/or asymmetrical,
integrated and/or separated,
on-the-beat and/or off-the-beat,



Performers: Turning Point Ensemble
Conductor: Owen Underhill
Electronics: Anthony Tan

And/Or (2019) - 14 musicians and electronics - Turning Point Ensemble

Composed by Katharine Petkovski, for a cappella SATB choir. Text by John V. Taylor. Recorded February 6th, 2020, by the St. James Cathedral Choir (under the direction of Robert Busiakiewicz.)

The Angels

link to visualizer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2UQ6B6wJrQ

performed by:

Caroline Bucher
Logan Cashin
Wyatt King
Aaron Witzke

forme - percussion quartet for bowed vibraphone

Guitar étude for natural harmonics and slurs.

scintillate

Inspired by communities across Canada as well as literature and film, Toronto-based composer and multi-disciplinary artist Tristan Zaba seeks to break musical boundaries through the radical exploration of artistic sincerity. His work has been featured at festivals including Source Song Festival, the Winnipeg New Music Festival, and Orford Musique, and has been noted for allowing audiences and musicians alike to "journey through the depths of the human mind" (Community News Commons). Recent projects include the founding of new vocal music series Slow Rise Music alongside soprano McKenzie Warriner and collaboration with ensembles ranging from the Toronto Amadeus Choir to Vienna’s Trio Immersio. He has been the recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and SOCAN Foundation; held residencies with multiple ensembles including the University of Toronto Guitar Orchestra; and won numerous honours including the SOCAN Foundation’s Choral Award for Young Composers. Zaba holds a University of Toronto Master’s degree in music composition, and a Bachelor’s in the same subject with a vocal minor from the Desautels Faculty of Music at the University of Manitoba. As of 2021 Tristan Zaba is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and member of the Canadian League of Composers.

But all that's left... (virtual recording)

Tristan Zaba

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