PROGRAM

Join us for an exhilarating journey into the world of contemporary music at the Sonic Discoveries New Music Marathon! This event showcases two dynamic duos pushing the boundaries of sound and expression. The Prairie Saxophone Initiative, featuring saxophonists Chinley Hinacay and Matthew Robinson, will present an array of fresh and innovative works, while percussionist Chris Sies and guitarist Darren Young will create captivating textures and rhythms in their own set. This will be a marathon of new music that celebrates the artistry and boldness of today’s musical pioneers. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an evening with the modern music scene!

Founded in 2022 by Canadian Saxophonists Chinley Hinacay (MMUS) and Matthew Robinson (MMUS), the Prairie Saxophone Initiative (PSI) was created for the purpose of building awareness, expanding repertoire, and creating opportunities for developing saxophonists in the Prairies. PSI has undertaken several initiatives to serve these goals including the commissioning of under-represented Canadian composers, hosting free workshops for student and adult amateur saxophonist, and promoting accessible concert programming. 

Almost Noise is the newly minted partnership between percussionist Chris Sies and guitarist Darren Young. Equally at home in rock bands, orchestras, and composers in their own rights, this program celebrates the duo's love of their instruments through the borrowing of popular music idioms that, in the past, have been deemed so-called "simple" or "low art". Helping shed this cultural baggage in chamber music circles, Almost Noise presents Simple Songs with works by composers whose sonic dispositions are openly influenced by the popular music of their times (read: jazz, rock, pop). Inherently eclectic, Simple Songs will take audiences through a series of soundscapes teetering between post-rock and ambient textures in works like Christopher Cerrone's "Double Happiness" and Molly Joyce's "One and Only", while singer-songwriters Tanner Porter and Andrea Hoyos bring a gentle chamber-pop influence to the set with works "Salt Heals, Salt Takes Away" and "What you consider truth depends on how you look at it". Drawing from post-minimalist aesthetics, Samuel Adams beautifully marries polyrhythmic precision with harmonic warmth and ambient electronics in his "Hades and Persephone" from his multimedia work LYRA, composed for the renowned guitar and percussion duo, The Living Earth Show.

PART ONE: PRAIRIE SAXOPHONE INITIATIVE

Flower Duet from Lakme, Leo Delibes

3 M’s of a Union, Joseph Lai

Mesh
Mash
Muck

The Sky Between Us, Jenni Brandon

Lachrymae, Tigran Mansurian

Solitude of Stars, Stacy Garrop

Lovers on the Celestial Sphere, Jun Nagao

PART TWO: ALMOST NOISE

Salt Heals, Salt Takes Away, Tanner Porter

Double Happiness, Christopher Cerrone

Self Portrait, Part I
Interlude I
Self Portrait, Part II
Interlude II
New Year's Song

Hades and Persephone from LYRA, Samuel Adams

Isis and Osiris, Alice Coltrane, arr. C Sies and D. Young

Naima, John Coltrane, arr. C Sies and D. Young (5 mins)

One and Only, Molly Joyce

What you consider truth depends on how you look at it, Andrea Hoyos

Selections from Red, Marc Mellits, arr. C Sies and D. Young

Mechanically Separated Chicken Parts from Tight Sweater, Marc Mellits, arr. C Sies and D. Young