Turning Point Ensemble From Vancouver Among Canada's Musicians Closing Concert of the Homage Series

The Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) will present the Turning Point Ensemble (TPE) to the closing concert of its season. The event, which will be held on Tuesday May 28 at Salle Pierre-Mercure, features the rare appearance in Montreal of this virtuoso ensemble from Vancouver, with a programme celebrating both its 20th anniversary and the Homage Series to Sandeep Bhagwati.

"This beautiful programme full of poetry and wit, will be the moment to celebrate with the music community and the public the end of the homage season to Sandeep Bhagwati with his modular work Rasas, as well as the 20th anniversary of the Turning Point ensemble, while giving a prominent place to women composers with works by Farangis Nurulla-Khoja (premiere) and Jocelyn Morlock. A work by Owen Underhill completes the program of what promises to be a festive and enlightening evening," explains Simon Bertrand, acting artistic director of the SMCQ.

Rasas and other poetic works on the programme

Audiences will be able to (re)discover Sandeep Bhagwati's RASAS, one of the emblematic pieces in his repertoire. In the Indian artistic tradition, the Rasas are a system for classifying the emotions that form the basic components of all artistic expression. In this work, the composer has elaborated 64 sections within a matrix, which can be arranged in various combinations. Before each performance, the performers choose a combination and, through their unique arrangement, offer a different interpretation of the piece each time.

Also on the programme: two works by remarkable female composers, Jocelyn Morlock and Farangis Nurulla-Khoja, and a work by composer Owen Underhill, also Artistic Director of TPE. 

Zart by the late Jocelyn Morlock is a playful, colorful piece inspired by elements from Mozart's Magic Flute. It pays tribute to this artist, who passed away prematurely in 2023.

Betwixt and Between or rivière assoiffée is a creation by Farangis Nurulla-Khoja. This new double concerto for trombonist Jeremy Berkman, double bassist David Brown and the ensemble's musicians highlights the unique sound universe of this composer as well as her strong sense of drama and timbre. The work is inspired by Gulzar's Indian poems, which he wrote during the pandemic and dedicated to the refugees of our time.

Poetry also inspired Owen Underhill, TPE's artistic director and head chef. The Widening Gyre is based on the eponymous poem by W. B. Yeats, written immediately after the First World War. In contrast to the apocalyptic future imagined by the poet, the composer's musical universe is generally more delicate and expressive, and more open-ended.

This event, featuring a guest renowned for the quality and audacity of the musicians' interpretations, concludes in style a Homage Series that has enabled the works of Sandeep Bhagwati to shine across the country and around the world throughout the season. The SMCQ would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants and partners who have contributed to the discovery of this composer's music by the largest possible audiences.

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