Performed by Elyse Jacobson, violin; John Kastelic viola; Doug Gorkoff, cello; at Vancouver Pro Musica's Sonic Boom Festival, Friday, March 22 in Pyatt Hall. Composed by John Kastelic. The programme note is:

Rush Hour Technique is my second piece inspired by the writings of William S. Burroughs. I wanted to write a piece that showed off the rhythmic skills of my string trio, using a language that is dissonant but idiomatic for strings. Rather then thematic melodies, “rush hour” relies on short rhythmic motives that are developed through repetition and juxtaposition. Harmonies are freely conceived, but centre around C minor and D minor with a particular hexatonic flavour.

Rush Hour Technique - John Kastelic

Performed by members of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops [http://www.chambermusiciansofkamloops.org] at the inaugural Highway 1 concert as part of the Further Series, May 25, 2014.  Composed by Dubravko Pajalic.

Kamloops Fanfare: A fanfare is normally a relatively short piece of music that is typically played by trumpets, cornet, French horns, or other brass instruments, often accompanied by percussion. It is usually intended for important social purposes, such as ceremonial events involving important people or animals, as exclamations of significant activities during an event (such as with introductions and closings), or to precede announcements with the purpose of gaining the attention of the audience. Similarly, musical works themselves often begin, transition, or end with fanfares or fanfare-­like themes. To celebrate this new Vancouver Pro Musica project, Highway 1, I decided to create this short piece, hoping to open and close the concert.

Kamloops Fanfare - Dubravko Pajalic

Performed by members of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops [http://www.chambermusiciansofkamloops.org] at the inaugural Highway 1 concert as part of the Further Series, May 25, 2014.  Composed by Réjean Marois.

In The Scope Of Time: The piece was composed in the spirit of «Commedia de’ll Arte» with a «modern» flavor. I intend to use simple specific themes and textures, but interjecting modern rhythms, cadences and harmonies. I can see the piece being pantomimed in a short dance setting.

In The Scope Of Time (excerpt) - Réjean Marois

Performed by members of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops [http://www.chambermusiciansofkamloops.org] at the inaugural Highway 1 concert as part of the Further Series, May 25, 2014.  Composed by Stacey Brown [www.staceybrown.ca].

Not Well 2.0, or.... Looking for Christmas in All the Wrong Places: This work was composed for a concert of solo piano works exploring contemporary perspectives on the Christmas season. While it might be difficult, even impossible, to create an instrumental Christmas piece without specifically referencing known melodies (or perhaps adding in some sleigh bells!) this work goes beyond the specific to draw inspiration from an imagined emotional journey. It evokes the vast array of emotions that can be felt by someone who, lost in the contemporary commercialization of this holiday, seeks a moment of peace to escape from the frantic race for gifts. We hear the initial plummeting of the emotional state, the laborious effort to climb back up, an episode of breathless activity and a period of tormented contemplation but also, hope that filters in little by little, accelerating towards a burst of joy and a final moment of well-­‐deserved rest.

Not Well 2.0 or... Looking for Christmas in All the Wrong Places (excerpt) - Stacey Brown

Performed by members of the Chamber Musicians of Kamloops [http://www.chambermusiciansofkamloops.org] at the inaugural Highway 1 concert as part of the Further Series, May 25, 2014.  Composed by Anna Pidgorna [www.annapidgorna.com].

Toss A Flower In The Water: The title of this work refers to an image from a Ukrainian folksong, which tells the story of a lonely young woman driven to utter exhaustion and desperation by hard labour and the constant abuse she experiences from her husband's family. To send a message to her loved ones, she tosses a flower on the water and lets it drift homewards. Despite being in water, the flower arrives wilted and the woman's mother wonders what hardships have caused her daughter to age before her time. Marital abuse is not only a common theme in Ukrainian folksong, but is also a much too common reality for women living in rural Ukraine. This piece is my emotional response to the many horrific stories I heard while travelling through the Ukrainian countryside. The fragmented melody is borrowed from a folksong on the same subject, which I recorded during my travels in Ukraine.

Toss A Flower In The Water (excerpt) - Anna Pidgorna

These selections represent Vancouver Pro Musica's presentation of new Electro-Acoustic works by BC composers. It took place January 18 2014 at The Western Front in Vancouver BC. The Featured Ensemble is the Novo Ensemble. 

03 - Kyrie - Maria Edwards

02 - Six Dreaming- A Design i

This excerpt is from Dorothy Chang's work 'Beyond Shadows.' It was performed as her contribution as 'Composer in Residence' for Vancouver Pro Musica's 2017 Sonic Boom Festival on New Music. It was performed March 17 2017 at the Pyatt Hall by Liam Hockley (Clarinets), Eric Wilson (Cello), Nicole Linaksita (Piano), Julian Chien (Percussion) and Paolo Bortolussi (Conductor).

Program Note by Dorothy Chang:

In writing Beyond Shadows, I was drawn to the combination
of clarinet (doubling bass clarinet), cello, piano and percussion
for its wide range of rich and complex timbres. The dark,
ominous-sounding quality of the ensemble’s lower register in
particular inspired me to base the piece around the idea of
fears and phobias. The work features a range of colours and
gestures for which the ensemble is particularly well-suited:
quiet, fast scuttling and whispering lines, dark low registers,
and percussive scrapes contrasted by high, eerie harmonics
and sighing pitch bends. Much of the one-movement work is
hushed and suppressed, with scattered eruptions into flurries
of activity. Fragments of a theme appear throughout, gradually
expanding into a complete melody in a final coda section. Even
this lyrical element, however, has an unsettled, manic quality,
and though the ending fades to a quiet close, it remains
unresolved and tinged with dark undertones. This piece was
written for the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players.

Dorothy Chang - 'Beyond Shadows' Excerpt

Michael Ducharme's new track 'Local Equinox' which was premiered November 18 2017 during Vancouver Pro Musica's 2017 Electro Acoustic Festival at the Western Front. It's a 4 channel work featuring electronic music in collage form interspersed with historical quotations.

Program Note:

On February 14, 1990, at the request of the famous astronomer, the late Carl Sagan, the Voyager 1 space probe was reoriented to take a photograph of Earth; at such a great distance, it appeared only as a tiny ‘pale blue dot’ in the image. It was his hope that this simple photograph would inspire people to reconsider their place in the universe and on the Earth, in the realization that our differences are vastly outweighed by our common heritage as human beings. Inspired by this, Equinox is a work about balance; it explores two ideas that seem in opposition (sustained pure tones and fragmented noise bursts), and juxtaposes various spoken sound sources (including a Sagan narration), striving to find unity in differences.

Performance Requirements: 4-channel (Quadraphonic) electroacoustic (fixed media)

Ducharme - Local Equinox - Excerpt

Annette Brosin's new work for Flute and Piano performed by the Tiresias Duo at Vancouver Pro Musica's 2017 Further Series Concert in the Pyatt hall on May 27 2017. Performers: Mark McGregor (Bass Flute) and Rachel Iwaasa (Piano)

Program Note:

Drinnen is in-between space and periphery. Hovering between and extending beyond two 90's pop songs (Creep by Radiohead and Jóga by Björk), Drinnen invites to indulge in the concrete as well as in the abstract. Doubly anchored in the memory of these songs, Drinnen is a play of and with intrinsic difference. It aims to loosen up and question various types of musical relationships that are generally taken for granted and don't allow for the perception of subtle nuances - be it in the physical or acoustic relationship between the two performers, between performers and instruments, or in the relationship between physicality and sound itself. Drinnen might make visible and celebrate miniscule distinctions and possibly generate a space for indefinite, intimate musical meaning that is not generated by one musical aspect alone and that is not perceived in just one singular way of listening.

Brosin - Drinnen - Excerpt

Oct 28 17 - Vancouver Pro Musica's Further Series concert Featuring Marina Hasselberg at the Western Front in Vancouver BC.  
This excerpt is of Marina Hasselberg performing Riverrun by Brian Topp featuring the composer doing live processing

Further Series Feat Marina Hasselberg - Riverrun By Brian Topp

Vancouver Pro Musica's 5th annual electroacoustic Festival at the Western Front on Nov 17 2017. This excerpt features percussionist Aaron Graham performing at a desk and drumming on a number of everyday items accompanied by a track of the composer's design. The work was presented in pitch black and Graham used a lamp on the desk to illuminate himself periodically.

Ele Acou 2017 - Manifesto By Aaron Graham

Performed by Ensemble in Residence - Nu:BC - for Vancouver Pro Musica's 2018 edition of Sonic Boom at the Orpheum Annex on March 25 2018. It is an excerpt of Composer in Residence Owen Underhill's, work 10 Miniatures.

Sonic Boom Feat. NuBC - 10 Minutures By Owen Underhill

From Vancouver Pro Musica's Further Series featuring the Ad Mare Wind Quintet performed at the Pyatt Hall on June 3 2018. This excerpt features the final movement of Christopher Nickel's work Toccata.

Further Series Feat. Ad Mare - Toccata By Christopher Nickel

This excerpt is from Rodney Sharman’s work “Everything is Vanishing”. It was performed as his contribution as Composer-in-Residence for Vancouver Pro Musica's 2019 Sonic Boom Festival. The performers are 2019 Sonic Boom Featured Artists Aaron Graham and Julia Chien, percussionists. Performed at Pyatt Hall, Vancouver on Saturday, March 23, 2019

Rodney Sharman  "Everything Is Vanishing"  Excerpt

We are a non-profit volunteer-run society dedicated to the presentation and promotion of new works by B.C. composers. Our concerts, workshops, educational initiatives and multicultural partnerships help create a strong, vibrant musical community in British Columbia.

Since its inception in 1986, Vancouver Pro Musica has proudly presented hundreds of premiers by talented emerging and established local composers. Our concert series include Further East/Further West - now evolved to The Further Series - and our flagship Sonic Boom Festival, a multi-day extravaganza of new music by B.C. composers.

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