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The Guelph Lecture—On Being 2020

Friday, January 24, 2020; 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Speaker

Literary reading by Taqralik Partridge, spoken word poet and writer

Keynote Lecture by Eric Fischl, neo-expressionist painter and educator

Concert by Marianne Trudel and the Guelph Symphony Orchestra

Concert: Marianne Trudel

In performance with the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the Gryphon Singers, and others

Co-presented by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI)

Premiering a new work for the Guelph Symphony Orchestra: Au coeur du silence: la lumière (orchestra, choir, piano trio)

From Marianne Trudel:

With this piece, I was aiming for something luminous, something that fills the soul, brimming over and radiant, like the Laurentides Park in the middle of winter, under the sun, with the evergreens draped in snow.

In the middle of this forest, suddenly: silence. The silence that takes hold and fills the soul with profound joy. Suddenly, completely: we let down our guard.

Body, heart, and spirit are reunited. With both feet planted in the silence, we can breathe again. At long last.

Experiencing silence has become a rarity. Yet, as much as oxygen and water, human beings need silence. Why so much noise? What is hiding behind this wall of sound?

A musician in love with silence: contradiction? A seeker of silence in love with music: contradiction? How is it possible to still want to compose in a world where the sonic landscape is so saturated?

At the heart of silence: light. Manifesto for a quieter soundtrack.

Last Season

What’s a Pop-Up Orchestra Festival? In February, 2019, members of the Guelph Symphony mounted a series of free concerts, in imaginative, unexpected and less formal settings, designed to engage, entertain and to be interactive.

The Festival  launched on Family Day weekend and culminated in a main series highlight concert, for our patrons, at Harcourt United Church, on March 3rd at 3pm.

*Two costumed performances of , “Carmen and the Bubblegum Factory”,  at the Civic Museum 
free admission to the Museum that afternoon, Sunday February 17, 3pm and 4pm. Narrated by Joe Ringhofer.

*Orchestra Karaoke at the Sleeman Centre, Monday February 18, Family Day-Come Sing with Us! 1:15 pm. Is it your dream to sing live with an ensemble from the GSO?  Click here to win a chance to sing with us at this event!

*Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll performed on the staircase (as originally intended), with people at the top of the stairs- Cosima’s perspective and people at the bottom of the stairs- husband and composer Richard’s perspective). Saturday March 3, MacDonald Building, University of Guelph, 11am.

* An Orchestra sing-along and opportunity to try percussion), at  St Joseph’s Health Centre, featuring our Second Violinists and Music Therapist, Amy Behrends. Monday February 25, 6:30pm.

On Sunday February 17th, an ensemble from the Guelph Symphonyperformed at a fundraiser for Family and Children’s Services.

War Memorial Hall was the setting for this wonderful afternoon of Harry Potter inspired activities and music! All proceeds went the Children First Fund, Family and Children’s Services of Guelph and Wellington County.

GSO has been operating youth outreach programs for eight years and in that time we have observed the strong desire in parents of young children give them opportunities to experience live classical music. We see such overwhelming joy in reaction to our KinderConcerts and Museum concerts. (Parents call to ask how they can prepare for the next show, and children regularly dress up as the characters in the shows we are presenting, and leave singing the beautiful melodies). We think that in presenting a series of engaging and participatory concerts as a Pop Up Orchestra Festival, we can reach out to an even broader demographic.

What’s in the works for the GSO’s Pop Up Orchestra Festival 2020?

Guelph Symphony is thrilled to have violinist  and multi-genre artist, Edwin Huizinga, to co-curate our second festival!

More details to follow!