WEBVTT 00:00:30.579 --> 00:00:32.520 Hi there, and welcome to Notes from the Stage, 00:00:32.659 --> 00:00:34.759 a show for the musicians of the Calgary Philharmonic. 00:00:35.179 --> 00:00:36.759 We're the people playing our hearts out every 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:39.759 week of the orchestra season. I'm Adam Zanatelli. 00:00:39.859 --> 00:00:41.880 Usually I play first trumpet in the Calgary Philharmonic, 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.439 but today I'm your host, and I'm here with Chris 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:47.020 Sighs, our brand new principal percussionist 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:50.119 of the CPO. Hi Chris! Hi Adam. So great to be 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:53.420 here. Awesome. Well, I'm glad to have you here. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:55.020 You know, I wanted to make sure I had the whole 00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:59.320 set. of new musicians to the CPO this year. With 00:00:59.320 --> 00:01:01.979 this, the last episode of this season of Notes 00:01:01.979 --> 00:01:05.920 from the Stage, I got the set. It's great. It's 00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:10.000 amazing and I'm honored to be taking part as 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:13.540 a musician of the Calgary Phil and also as a 00:01:13.540 --> 00:01:15.859 colleague and friend. Yeah, well, I wanted to 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:18.959 talk to you about this because Chris, you are 00:01:18.959 --> 00:01:22.430 someone who subbed with the orchestra. You played 00:01:22.430 --> 00:01:24.890 as an extra with us for a little while before 00:01:24.890 --> 00:01:27.829 you won your audition here. I wanted to ask you, 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:30.549 how does the job feel different? In what ways 00:01:30.549 --> 00:01:34.150 is the job different when you're subbing versus 00:01:34.150 --> 00:01:36.290 when you're a contract member of the orchestra? 00:01:36.769 --> 00:01:39.030 And quick sidebar, Chris's audition was fully 00:01:39.030 --> 00:01:41.390 screened. It was all through there. We had two 00:01:41.390 --> 00:01:43.370 people in for trials and Chris won that trial. 00:01:43.590 --> 00:01:47.010 But on the day of the audition, we didn't know 00:01:47.010 --> 00:01:50.030 who we had picked for those trials until that 00:01:50.030 --> 00:01:52.640 was all said and done. Yeah. Great question. 00:01:53.239 --> 00:01:55.519 And I've been thinking about it a lot because 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:58.140 there are differences, of course. I remember 00:01:58.140 --> 00:02:02.540 rolling into the first big concert this season. 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:06.989 I don't think Beat Beethoven counts because Was 00:02:06.989 --> 00:02:09.430 really I was working through some nerves that 00:02:09.430 --> 00:02:12.349 week Beethoven was an outdoor concert at the 00:02:12.349 --> 00:02:14.289 band shell at Prince's Island in a partnership 00:02:14.289 --> 00:02:16.990 with Ron Calgary Yeah, and I mean it was it was 00:02:16.990 --> 00:02:19.770 fun and but it was it was probably like the it 00:02:19.770 --> 00:02:21.689 was actually a really good first concert to do 00:02:21.689 --> 00:02:24.810 because oh my gosh, I mean when you're doing 00:02:24.810 --> 00:02:28.310 a runouts there's so many variables that You 00:02:28.310 --> 00:02:31.050 obviously can't control and just to kind of experience 00:02:31.050 --> 00:02:34.610 that as the first thing was good to get the kind 00:02:34.610 --> 00:02:37.860 of those New job jitters out of the way for sure, 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:41.740 but then rolling into home turf at Jack singer 00:02:41.740 --> 00:02:46.180 with Carmina Burana big section right there's 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:49.979 Tiffany plus I think it's six six percussionists 00:02:49.979 --> 00:02:54.319 so lots of notes lots of people and I remember 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:58.259 the acute awareness I had that was very different 00:02:58.259 --> 00:03:02.639 than subbing and it was an attention and Almost 00:03:02.639 --> 00:03:05.240 a higher level of listening not just within my 00:03:05.240 --> 00:03:08.000 section, but across the orchestra. And I was 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:11.300 just noticing that the focus is just, it's very 00:03:11.300 --> 00:03:14.800 different because there's part of the planning 00:03:14.800 --> 00:03:18.199 that goes into this where it's kind of from the 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:21.439 ground floor up in terms of the instruments chosen 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:23.580 and the assignments and all these things. And 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:26.099 I was just noticing how all of those decisions 00:03:26.099 --> 00:03:28.860 that I'd made were coming into play and watching 00:03:28.860 --> 00:03:31.780 them kind of play out in real time. there were 00:03:31.780 --> 00:03:34.879 things like what kind of instrument we chose 00:03:34.879 --> 00:03:37.060 for certain passages and how that was blending 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:40.419 or not, specifically some of the triangle partials 00:03:40.419 --> 00:03:43.800 clashing with the woodwinds. And then also the 00:03:43.800 --> 00:03:45.759 placement of certain instruments in proximity 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:48.759 to other players of the orchestra, just because 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:51.219 chimes are very loud. Maybe we pull those a little 00:03:51.219 --> 00:03:53.439 further away from Tom so he's not getting blasted 00:03:53.439 --> 00:03:57.960 by these clangorous metallic things. And, you 00:03:57.960 --> 00:04:00.560 know, there's a tremendous moment of like wow, 00:04:00.740 --> 00:04:03.199 you know, this feels, you know, the stakes are 00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:07.280 higher for sure, but also like my intention and 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.500 all of the planning process was just happening 00:04:10.500 --> 00:04:12.539 in real time. And it was, it was very cool to 00:04:12.539 --> 00:04:16.360 see all those things kind of come out. And certainly 00:04:16.360 --> 00:04:19.259 I learned a ton just in the first rehearsal of 00:04:19.259 --> 00:04:22.360 Carmina Burana this season. And then it was a 00:04:22.360 --> 00:04:24.259 tremendous sort of like foundation to build upon 00:04:24.259 --> 00:04:28.139 and it informed me to, you know, make different 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:30.480 decisions. And I think. in my point of view, 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:32.319 somewhat better decisions in terms of all those 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:34.899 things that go into, you know, getting the section 00:04:34.899 --> 00:04:38.339 together. So, I mean, the pressure is certainly 00:04:38.339 --> 00:04:41.819 on for sure, but it's cool because I can see 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:44.459 the much bigger picture of many of these things, 00:04:44.459 --> 00:04:47.439 even from a production standpoint, like understanding, 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:50.019 you know, when the crew needs to be there and 00:04:50.019 --> 00:04:52.800 these sort of things and all the pieces that 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:55.160 go into getting us on stage. I mean, truly, my 00:04:55.160 --> 00:04:58.170 job is entangled with all that. It's been really 00:04:58.170 --> 00:04:59.829 satisfying to get to see the bigger picture. 00:05:00.230 --> 00:05:02.110 I forget who I was talking to, but they were 00:05:02.110 --> 00:05:04.089 kind of like, it was probably David Sussman, 00:05:04.189 --> 00:05:06.389 honestly, because he sometimes comes up and checks 00:05:06.389 --> 00:05:09.949 in on me. And I'm so grateful for that. So pleasant. 00:05:10.550 --> 00:05:12.490 He was kind of like, so how's it going? You know, 00:05:12.550 --> 00:05:14.589 how are you doing? And I'm like, doing good, 00:05:14.589 --> 00:05:16.189 you know, trying to find balance. He's like, 00:05:16.290 --> 00:05:19.569 yeah, it can be relentless sometimes. And truly 00:05:19.569 --> 00:05:21.810 it can. I mean, there's just constant attention 00:05:21.810 --> 00:05:25.230 to the little details that have implications 00:05:25.230 --> 00:05:28.089 on. your people of the section coming in to do 00:05:28.089 --> 00:05:31.910 their job well for sure because not all of us 00:05:31.910 --> 00:05:34.990 have the instruments at our homes. Many of the 00:05:34.990 --> 00:05:37.410 players are depending on the instruments at the 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:40.629 orchestra to show up and make sure they're in 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:44.189 good working condition. Also put in a good spot 00:05:44.189 --> 00:05:45.810 on stage so that they can get from one thing 00:05:45.810 --> 00:05:50.920 to the next. If Shawn is listening to this, she'll 00:05:50.920 --> 00:05:53.220 chuckle because I reference everything to Coco 00:05:53.220 --> 00:05:56.959 now because the performance of Disney's Coco 00:05:56.959 --> 00:06:01.420 back in October was such a huge logistical lift. 00:06:02.259 --> 00:06:04.860 Again, a great thing to have in my first season 00:06:04.860 --> 00:06:06.920 to really see the extent of how far it can go. 00:06:07.060 --> 00:06:08.680 I mean, we had hundreds of instruments on stage. 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:11.899 I remember you were trying to source a certain 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:14.639 type of dry bean pod. Yeah, and I found them. 00:06:15.889 --> 00:06:18.569 I found the bean pods, several bean pods, so 00:06:18.569 --> 00:06:21.529 it all worked out. Now, one time when you came 00:06:21.529 --> 00:06:23.829 into sub with the orchestra, I think it was the 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:25.490 first time that you and I really worked closely 00:06:25.490 --> 00:06:28.790 together, was for Professor Bad Trip by Fausto 00:06:28.790 --> 00:06:30.889 Romitali. Oh my goodness, so great. Do you remember 00:06:30.889 --> 00:06:34.750 this? Oh, it's been a highlight of my career, 00:06:35.189 --> 00:06:38.209 absolutely. I always like, so I did that piece 00:06:38.209 --> 00:06:43.149 a while back and the version... did then was 00:06:43.149 --> 00:06:45.589 very different than the version we did here just 00:06:45.589 --> 00:06:48.550 because like I was much younger and the state 00:06:48.550 --> 00:06:52.689 of the state of mind when kind of Tackling a 00:06:52.689 --> 00:06:55.829 piece like that was just a little different. 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:59.449 You know, I was much less experienced in terms 00:06:59.449 --> 00:07:04.589 of intense spectralist music and This past time 00:07:04.589 --> 00:07:06.769 around was just it was such a joy because I knew 00:07:06.769 --> 00:07:09.689 what was coming and also at the same time like 00:07:09.689 --> 00:07:13.540 I knew that like I can really rest on some of 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:17.019 my more intense kind of new chamber music experience 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:20.100 to really make this an enjoyable experience. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:21.699 For anyone who doesn't know the piece, can you 00:07:21.699 --> 00:07:24.339 just give us a quick rundown of Professor Bad 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:29.180 Trip? Sure. So, Professor Bad Trip is a work 00:07:29.180 --> 00:07:34.100 by this, how do you describe, Italian post -spectralist 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:38.579 composer Fausto Romatelli, who's unfortunately 00:07:38.579 --> 00:07:40.870 passed away at this point. Yeah, he died young 00:07:40.870 --> 00:07:43.870 of cancer. Yeah, I think it was like early 40s. 00:07:43.870 --> 00:07:47.370 Yeah, something like that. But he has a really 00:07:47.370 --> 00:07:49.910 awesome body of work. And one of the standouts 00:07:49.910 --> 00:07:53.250 is this piece, Professor Bad Trip. The best way 00:07:53.250 --> 00:07:58.069 I can describe it is if psychedelic rock, harsh 00:07:58.069 --> 00:08:03.850 noise and spectralist music all got mushed into 00:08:03.850 --> 00:08:06.889 a blender and turned on at puree, then you get 00:08:06.889 --> 00:08:11.889 this. really wild piece for mixed ensemble and 00:08:11.889 --> 00:08:14.810 electronics. It is a tour de force. I mean, it's 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:18.750 an absolute onslaught of texture and like really 00:08:18.750 --> 00:08:23.689 intense sounds, but it's heavily inspired by 00:08:23.689 --> 00:08:27.370 psychedelic experiences of Henri Michaux, who 00:08:27.370 --> 00:08:30.930 is this poet who was one of the early folks in 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:33.269 the 20th century to write on these things in 00:08:33.269 --> 00:08:38.080 a sort of exploratory manner that wasn't so caked 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:43.220 in, I guess, propaganda and misinformation. So 00:08:43.220 --> 00:08:44.960 dealing with altered states of consciousness 00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:48.840 and certain states of mind within psychedelic 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.539 experiences definitely played into the effect 00:08:51.539 --> 00:08:54.860 of this piece, which could be very disorienting. 00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:58.179 And part of that is the point. But I mean, I 00:08:58.179 --> 00:09:00.360 think it's a masterpiece, honestly. It's serious 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.720 experience. Oh, yeah. And I do remember that. 00:09:02.779 --> 00:09:05.919 experience well because i think that was my first 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:09.519 season in town and i saw that on the bill and 00:09:09.519 --> 00:09:11.779 i was like oh my goodness this is great i can't 00:09:11.779 --> 00:09:14.080 believe they programmed this i wonder if i'll 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:17.580 get hired yeah the cpo program that we did a 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:19.419 late night concert at the grand theater carl 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.860 herzer conducted yes That was very memorable. 00:09:22.120 --> 00:09:24.019 Yeah, incredibly memorable. And that was a sold 00:09:24.019 --> 00:09:26.200 out show, too, which was really exciting. And 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:29.200 we did it with cool projections. We did. That 00:09:29.200 --> 00:09:35.120 was with Axis Z Media Arts. They go by Asma and 00:09:35.120 --> 00:09:38.179 they did the live projections with that piece. 00:09:39.360 --> 00:09:41.840 Very memorable, very memorable experience. But 00:09:41.840 --> 00:09:45.019 also just like I felt very lucky to have had 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:47.299 a lot of intense contemporary music experience 00:09:47.299 --> 00:09:48.919 in that moment. And just to be able to bring 00:09:48.919 --> 00:09:51.379 that to the table and I feel like I was doing 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:55.139 the job well. I remember our good friend Mark 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.259 Lamacher. He couldn't whistle. Oh yeah. And you 00:09:57.259 --> 00:09:58.519 had to whistle for him. Oh, you're going to out 00:09:58.519 --> 00:10:00.580 him on the podcast for not being able to whistle? 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:04.679 The virtuoso tour de force, Mark Lamacher. I'm 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:08.000 sorry, Mark. I won't tell the kazoo story. That 00:10:08.000 --> 00:10:11.440 would really embarrass me. I remember, but we 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:13.320 don't need to go into the kazoo part. Yeah, I 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:16.259 had to cover Mark's whistling. Yeah, and it sounded 00:10:16.259 --> 00:10:17.960 great. Oh, thank you. Thank you. It sounded really 00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:20.870 nice. That was that was just such a cool thing 00:10:20.870 --> 00:10:23.210 because like I just kind of shown up I barely 00:10:23.210 --> 00:10:26.710 knew anyone and What better way than to get to 00:10:26.710 --> 00:10:29.409 know someone than playing really intense music? 00:10:29.409 --> 00:10:32.029 You know, I mean there's I've heard this, you 00:10:32.029 --> 00:10:34.149 know spoken about on the podcast up to this point 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:38.110 like we do We do share experience through sound 00:10:38.110 --> 00:10:41.750 and like it can be incredibly profound now, of 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:44.529 course, you know people have their tastes and 00:10:44.529 --> 00:10:47.250 aesthetic dispositions and you know a piece like 00:10:47.250 --> 00:10:49.399 that is not for everyone, but For me, it was 00:10:49.399 --> 00:10:51.639 just like, oh yeah, we're here to do the work. 00:10:51.639 --> 00:10:55.320 Yeah, totally. Yeah. Well, Chris, you said it 00:10:55.320 --> 00:10:57.500 was your first year in town. You came to Calgary 00:10:57.500 --> 00:11:01.940 as a trailing spouse. Yeah, I did. So my wonderful 00:11:01.940 --> 00:11:06.200 partner in life, crime, love and sound, Janie 00:11:06.200 --> 00:11:08.940 Parsons. Shout out to Janie. She and I were living 00:11:08.940 --> 00:11:11.320 in Waco, Texas, where we were both teaching at 00:11:11.320 --> 00:11:15.000 Baylor University. This is heavy pandemic times. 00:11:15.059 --> 00:11:17.519 So of course, you know, your prospects change. 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:19.299 And I was also working on a doctorate at the 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:22.759 same time. The job came up at UFC, University 00:11:22.759 --> 00:11:26.000 of Calgary. The job being? Yeah. Head of piano. 00:11:26.200 --> 00:11:29.919 Okay. And so my wife, Janey Parsons is the professor 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.840 of piano at the University of Calgary. Very proud 00:11:31.840 --> 00:11:33.620 of her. And she recently got her tenure too. 00:11:33.639 --> 00:11:36.080 She did. She did. And which is unbelievable. 00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:39.480 Well, it is very believable, but we rejoice. 00:11:40.440 --> 00:11:45.000 We rejoice in that fact. over and over and it's 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:48.740 unsurprising she works so hard and I really owe 00:11:48.740 --> 00:11:52.159 so much of my my life career and things to her 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:55.480 just because some opportunities that I've had 00:11:55.480 --> 00:11:58.179 you know she's she's met me there and then opportunities 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:01.039 she's had um I've met her and this is one of 00:12:01.039 --> 00:12:03.299 those opportunities where she's also Canadian 00:12:03.299 --> 00:12:07.080 so to deny a Canadian a home turf position is 00:12:07.080 --> 00:12:10.240 just like you can't do that right and of course 00:12:10.240 --> 00:12:13.850 doing a a big move for me as an American moving 00:12:13.850 --> 00:12:16.610 to a different country. We had visited Calgary 00:12:16.610 --> 00:12:19.269 a lot over the course of our life just because 00:12:19.269 --> 00:12:22.470 she grew up not far from here. So in a lot of 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:24.909 ways, it was a lot like a big homecoming for 00:12:24.909 --> 00:12:28.289 her. And the position was, I mean, she's so good 00:12:28.289 --> 00:12:31.389 at her job and it just ended up being an amazing 00:12:31.389 --> 00:12:34.529 move. And I remember, again, this is back in 00:12:34.529 --> 00:12:36.350 pandemic times where we were allowed to actually 00:12:36.350 --> 00:12:38.870 get on a plane and we thought, where's the farthest 00:12:38.870 --> 00:12:42.070 we can go? Without leaving the country and it 00:12:42.070 --> 00:12:44.250 ended up being Alaska and so like the first chance 00:12:44.250 --> 00:12:48.629 we took we got out of town and went out to Fairbanks, 00:12:48.629 --> 00:12:51.230 Alaska and did some hiking and we're staying 00:12:51.230 --> 00:12:53.789 in this valley and it's like the moon is on one 00:12:53.789 --> 00:12:55.769 side the Sun is on the other because you know 00:12:55.769 --> 00:12:58.970 summer midnight Sun kind of deal and it's like 00:12:58.970 --> 00:13:02.570 just this amazing sort of astrological event 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:05.379 that you're just witnessing and it's you know 00:13:05.379 --> 00:13:07.399 one in the morning and still light outside and 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:09.440 we were really contemplating like what does this 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.299 move mean and of course over the course of our 00:13:13.299 --> 00:13:15.759 our life together we've moved in a number of 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:18.299 ways to you know find different opportunities 00:13:18.299 --> 00:13:21.440 and so for us it was kind of like okay well it's 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:24.039 just another one of those but the implications 00:13:24.039 --> 00:13:26.769 were a little bigger just because it's a different 00:13:26.769 --> 00:13:28.990 country and that means paperwork and you know 00:13:28.990 --> 00:13:31.690 status for me and also like what is the scene 00:13:31.690 --> 00:13:35.049 like in Calgary at that point I knew very little 00:13:35.049 --> 00:13:37.870 but my goodness uh we're so grateful to be here 00:13:37.870 --> 00:13:40.590 it ended up being such an amazing life choice 00:13:40.590 --> 00:13:44.429 and um we think about it a lot we think about 00:13:44.429 --> 00:13:47.830 how lucky we are to be here and to to do our 00:13:47.830 --> 00:13:51.789 work here and it's beautiful in a number of different 00:13:51.789 --> 00:13:54.909 ways I mean we love the people we love the the 00:13:54.909 --> 00:13:59.080 scene We love the nature. It's been wonderful. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:01.120 Oh, Calgary's music scene is thrilled to have 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.700 you both. I think there are very few places that 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:07.480 you can just kind of show up and be welcomed 00:14:07.480 --> 00:14:11.360 in such a way that we have been. The real question, 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:14.200 though, being a percussionist and making these 00:14:14.200 --> 00:14:17.220 moves over time, what has that meant in terms 00:14:17.220 --> 00:14:20.460 of Rototoms? Oh, that's a funny question. I'm 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:23.909 sure you're referencing a good story. Yeah, so 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:26.750 Adam is referencing a story when Janie and I 00:14:26.750 --> 00:14:30.509 first got married and we were moving from Ann 00:14:30.509 --> 00:14:34.309 Arbor, Michigan to Chicago, Illinois. Four hour 00:14:34.309 --> 00:14:37.129 drive, just down the road a piece. Very easy, 00:14:37.610 --> 00:14:39.950 but we're packing the truck and, you know, of 00:14:39.950 --> 00:14:41.830 course all my instruments are just like in the 00:14:41.830 --> 00:14:44.269 front yard of this house I was living in and 00:14:44.269 --> 00:14:48.370 she picks up these sets of these peculiar instruments 00:14:48.370 --> 00:14:50.110 called rototoms. They're kind of the butt of 00:14:50.110 --> 00:14:52.730 every joke right now. But they have their moments 00:14:52.730 --> 00:14:54.990 and she picks them up. She's like, do we really 00:14:54.990 --> 00:14:58.789 need these? And I said, Janie, I will never ask 00:14:58.789 --> 00:15:03.509 if you ever need your piano. And it was a great 00:15:03.509 --> 00:15:05.850 moment because, I mean, we had literally gotten 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:08.049 married, like, I think weeks before or something. 00:15:08.289 --> 00:15:10.870 So it was very funny. But the first test. Yeah, 00:15:10.870 --> 00:15:13.049 that's right. And then lo and behold, we did 00:15:13.049 --> 00:15:15.409 a duo concert later that season. And I said, 00:15:15.610 --> 00:15:19.029 guess what we need? So it all worked out. Wonderful. 00:15:19.370 --> 00:15:22.330 Yeah. But I mean, yeah, I mean. Gosh, it's like 00:15:22.330 --> 00:15:24.710 moving across the country with your collection 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:27.350 of instruments. And it's only gotten bigger over 00:15:27.350 --> 00:15:30.690 the years just because that's just seems to happen 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:34.649 when you're a percussionist dedicated to the 00:15:34.649 --> 00:15:37.370 life of sound. And the next time you play Coco, 00:15:37.470 --> 00:15:40.070 you already have that specific bean pod you need. 00:15:40.169 --> 00:15:42.750 Yeah, we're good. We're totally good. Yeah. And 00:15:42.750 --> 00:15:45.769 sometimes you even make instruments for specific 00:15:45.769 --> 00:15:47.830 things. That's right. Like I'm thinking specifically 00:15:47.830 --> 00:15:50.389 of Bluebeard's Castle earlier this season. Yeah, 00:15:50.490 --> 00:15:52.970 this job runs the gamut of many different things 00:15:52.970 --> 00:15:55.710 required for it, whether it's building or sourcing 00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:58.289 or... Yeah, like for Bluebeard's Castle, you 00:15:58.289 --> 00:16:00.610 built this. I don't know what you would call 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:06.570 it. The Bartacophone, or as we've called it, 00:16:06.570 --> 00:16:09.570 the Death Star. It's fully operational. That's 00:16:09.570 --> 00:16:13.370 funny. Yeah, it's like this funny redesigning 00:16:13.370 --> 00:16:16.769 of a xylophone to make the passage work because 00:16:16.769 --> 00:16:19.710 the original part was written for it. Fairly 00:16:19.710 --> 00:16:21.610 different instruments used with fingers like 00:16:21.610 --> 00:16:25.090 a keyboard. Yeah, it just has to be adjusted 00:16:25.090 --> 00:16:29.190 For it to be possible by the percussionist. Yeah, 00:16:29.190 --> 00:16:32.009 you can look at the Calgary film musicians social 00:16:32.009 --> 00:16:36.429 medias and go back to I guess April ish To find 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:39.230 video of this crazy instrument that Chris made 00:16:39.230 --> 00:16:41.190 for for our performance of Bluebeard's castle 00:16:41.190 --> 00:16:44.230 with Calgary Opera One other thing that I was 00:16:44.230 --> 00:16:47.139 just fascinated by I had flagged you before the 00:16:47.139 --> 00:16:49.179 season started. In the past, one time we played 00:16:49.179 --> 00:16:51.159 Symphonie Fantastique and there was an intonation 00:16:51.159 --> 00:16:54.940 problem with the bell plates that we had in that 00:16:54.940 --> 00:16:58.159 they were too flat. Right. And it was a problem. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.120 So I wanted to make sure that you had a heads 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.879 up that that might be a potential pitfall. So 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:05.339 I know you you did the work, you got those bell 00:17:05.339 --> 00:17:07.019 plates out and sorted things out, but you were 00:17:07.019 --> 00:17:10.240 telling me that you can actually. make adjustments 00:17:10.240 --> 00:17:12.400 you can to those and now part of the half of 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:15.359 this seemed intuitive to me right because if 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:18.140 you need the instrument to go higher in pitch 00:17:18.140 --> 00:17:20.599 you can make it smaller you can make it shorter 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:24.240 right right and you know making a piece of metal 00:17:24.240 --> 00:17:27.539 like a bell plate shorter is a challenge but 00:17:27.539 --> 00:17:30.680 possible you know yeah but you can actually you 00:17:30.680 --> 00:17:32.619 you told me that you could actually make it lower 00:17:32.619 --> 00:17:35.740 as well which blew my mind totally um and that's 00:17:35.740 --> 00:17:39.140 how By and large, xylophone and marimba and vibraphone, 00:17:39.180 --> 00:17:40.779 all these keyboard instruments we use quite a 00:17:40.779 --> 00:17:43.980 bit, you cut length off of the bar, pitch goes 00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:47.779 up. But in the middle of the bar, if you take 00:17:47.779 --> 00:17:49.980 material out of the center, that'll actually 00:17:49.980 --> 00:17:54.900 fine tune it downward. And sometimes keys are 00:17:54.900 --> 00:17:57.720 deliberately overcut just slightly so that they 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.940 can be very finely tuned by removing material. 00:18:01.500 --> 00:18:04.180 And of course, there's a limit to that. But that 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:07.079 makes the surface longer. Yeah, it's amazing. 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.819 Isn't that sweet? It's fantastic physics. It's 00:18:09.819 --> 00:18:11.359 funny. Like I've had to build these things over 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:15.119 the years and like I just did a wonderful event 00:18:15.119 --> 00:18:18.160 with some of our patrons a couple weeks ago where 00:18:18.160 --> 00:18:22.400 I was playing a setup of all homemade instruments 00:18:22.400 --> 00:18:26.539 17 specifically tuned slats of wood and I chose 00:18:26.539 --> 00:18:29.480 white pine because has such a warm sound but 00:18:29.480 --> 00:18:31.480 like it's the same thing I had to figure out 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:34.240 how to cut that, tune it. And I spent a lot of 00:18:34.240 --> 00:18:36.339 time. I mean, this is like years ago now when 00:18:36.339 --> 00:18:38.480 I built those instruments, but I spent a lot 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.980 of time researching, you know, what are those 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:43.279 physical properties I need to be aware of, like 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:45.859 to the point where I was like looking into, you 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:49.279 know, some of the mathematical formulas to understand 00:18:49.279 --> 00:18:51.220 this stuff. And there's also a couple of really 00:18:51.220 --> 00:18:53.980 cool like DIY instrument building books and resources 00:18:53.980 --> 00:18:56.660 out there that some of us know of. And it's pretty 00:18:56.660 --> 00:18:59.099 cool because like, I don't know, tune slats of 00:18:59.099 --> 00:19:02.079 wood, tune pipes. These are things that they 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:05.839 come up. It's a pleasure. I have a really amazing 00:19:05.839 --> 00:19:10.160 father who's incredibly handy and growing up 00:19:10.160 --> 00:19:12.559 with that kind of person in my life was really 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:16.240 cool because he could do anything. Something 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:18.680 was broken or needed to be built or fixed. He 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:22.380 just had the ideas and so many tools. I grew 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:25.480 up with that kind of role model and that's certainly 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:28.619 come into my job as a percussionist. I'm always... 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:32.289 seemingly building or finding solutions for these 00:19:32.289 --> 00:19:34.750 things. Yeah, it's fun to make stuff. It is. 00:19:35.250 --> 00:19:37.329 Well, aside from instruments, one other thing 00:19:37.329 --> 00:19:39.869 that you and Janie make is you make things happen 00:19:39.869 --> 00:19:43.769 musically. Yeah. Some of you out there may have 00:19:43.769 --> 00:19:46.190 heard me rave about this before, but here we 00:19:46.190 --> 00:19:48.509 have right in front of us the authority on the 00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:51.289 Sound Atlas Music Festival. Yeah. Which this 00:19:51.289 --> 00:19:53.569 summer will be in its third year here in Calgary. 00:19:54.410 --> 00:19:58.400 Very true. Very exciting. It's kind of mind blowing 00:19:58.400 --> 00:20:00.619 that we're already in year three, like we're 00:20:00.619 --> 00:20:05.720 becoming a toddler. Yeah. So what is Sound Atlas? 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:08.900 What's the sort of the mission of the festival? 00:20:10.299 --> 00:20:13.299 The Sound Atlas New Music Festival is basically 00:20:13.299 --> 00:20:16.559 an offshoot of this mixed chamber ensemble I've 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:19.359 been playing with since 2012 called Latitude 00:20:19.359 --> 00:20:23.220 49. And the mission with that group is to champion 00:20:23.220 --> 00:20:26.880 and hold hands with living composers of today. 00:20:27.679 --> 00:20:29.599 So that's a lot of commissioning. That's a lot 00:20:29.599 --> 00:20:32.660 of collaborations and project building and We 00:20:32.660 --> 00:20:35.259 always had this dream that we wanted to have 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:38.079 a festival of our own We've lived in several 00:20:38.079 --> 00:20:40.000 different places and it never really just felt 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:43.440 right until we moved here and it was cool because 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:45.480 You know Janie and I lived apart for a year I 00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:47.279 was finishing my doctorate and she had moved 00:20:47.279 --> 00:20:49.519 here for the job and in that time She was getting 00:20:49.519 --> 00:20:52.539 a real feel for what's going on and then as soon 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:57.039 as I moved up here This is now 2022 Then we started 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.759 really doing some serious inquiries of what is 00:20:59.759 --> 00:21:03.880 possible to make a festival that celebrates living 00:21:03.880 --> 00:21:07.019 sound. The work of composers here, the work of 00:21:07.019 --> 00:21:10.180 composers from elsewhere, performers in Calgary, 00:21:10.339 --> 00:21:13.039 performers from across the nation and across 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:15.680 the continent and beyond. So that's really an 00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.519 offshoot of Latitude 49's mission to champion 00:21:18.519 --> 00:21:21.920 the work of living composers. And it's really 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:25.630 a celebration of local, national, international 00:21:25.630 --> 00:21:28.690 sort of levels of different artists who we think 00:21:28.690 --> 00:21:33.069 do this exceedingly well. And it's been an amazing 00:21:33.069 --> 00:21:36.170 thing to do. We look forward to it every year. 00:21:36.210 --> 00:21:39.210 It's a lot of work, of course. So Janie and I 00:21:39.210 --> 00:21:41.210 have been partners in making this thing happen. 00:21:41.970 --> 00:21:45.690 The first year it happened, it was, it all happened 00:21:45.690 --> 00:21:48.710 so quickly. We didn't know, like, could it happen? 00:21:48.789 --> 00:21:52.220 Maybe, maybe not. And then it did and... it was 00:21:52.220 --> 00:21:54.920 beautiful it was so much fun and we were like 00:21:54.920 --> 00:21:56.640 okay this works we're going to keep doing this 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:59.359 as best we can so usually what happens is we'll 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:02.019 have a featured composer whose work we'll have 00:22:02.019 --> 00:22:04.019 throughout the festival so the first year it 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:09.319 was a wonderful singer songwriter folk inspired 00:22:09.319 --> 00:22:14.200 fiddle and vocalist Anika Sokolovski she just 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:17.450 wrote these beautiful sets of songs for us called 00:22:17.450 --> 00:22:20.509 Don't Say a Word, and she called them Feminist 00:22:20.509 --> 00:22:23.930 Rager lullabies. And they were re -tooling and 00:22:23.930 --> 00:22:26.990 re -workings of classic sort of lullabies that 00:22:26.990 --> 00:22:31.029 you may have heard as a young child, but pinpointing 00:22:31.029 --> 00:22:36.490 the inherent sort of misogyny and sexist, blatantly, 00:22:36.690 --> 00:22:39.789 you know, sexist content of some of these. And 00:22:39.789 --> 00:22:42.859 this sidebar That specific piece is available. 00:22:43.460 --> 00:22:45.799 Latitude 49 made a recording of that with Sokolovski. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.680 Yes, exactly. So that's Don't Say a Word available 00:22:48.680 --> 00:22:52.359 on New Amsterdam Records. So Annika was our first 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:54.859 featured composer. And then in the second year, 00:22:54.920 --> 00:22:58.119 we had a Canadian -American composer, Jared Miller. 00:22:58.740 --> 00:23:00.900 His body of work is just so cool. And we've known 00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:03.519 Jared for a long time, and we've gotten to see 00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:06.460 his body of work grow in really beautiful ways. 00:23:06.480 --> 00:23:09.019 He's written wonderful works for orchestra. I 00:23:09.019 --> 00:23:11.319 hope we get to play his music sometime. the CPO, 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:13.599 because he just writes really wonderful music. 00:23:13.779 --> 00:23:16.359 And so he was featured in the second year. And 00:23:16.359 --> 00:23:18.660 then in this third year, we're going to be featuring 00:23:18.660 --> 00:23:24.299 the music of Jerry So, who's a really zany, interesting 00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:27.880 composer who just has so many different inspirations 00:23:27.880 --> 00:23:32.400 coming into her sort of sound world. She also 00:23:32.400 --> 00:23:34.380 teaches composition at Princeton University. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:36.839 And we met her a number of years ago when we 00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:39.119 were there for a residency. So it's really cool 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:41.819 to bring her music back and to feature her music 00:23:41.819 --> 00:23:43.839 in a really substantial way this time. So not 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:46.579 only is, of course, Latitude 49 will be performing, 00:23:46.619 --> 00:23:50.799 but we'll have instrumentalists like this wonderful 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:53.039 violinist, world -class violinist, Jinju Cho, 00:23:53.279 --> 00:23:56.259 performing a really large work of hers called 00:23:56.259 --> 00:23:59.660 Toy Store for violin and electronics. And then 00:23:59.660 --> 00:24:02.809 we'll have a performance of a duo for percussion 00:24:02.809 --> 00:24:04.869 called Spoons, in which the percussionists are 00:24:04.869 --> 00:24:07.789 playing actual spoons. And that'll be played 00:24:07.789 --> 00:24:11.430 by two of our wonderful colleagues, Sean Buckley 00:24:11.430 --> 00:24:14.089 and Nia DeVetsis. And then, of course, we have 00:24:14.089 --> 00:24:16.829 all the music that she wrote for us over the 00:24:16.829 --> 00:24:20.089 years. So it's really exciting to feature these 00:24:20.089 --> 00:24:23.089 people and to feature our colleagues in the scene 00:24:23.089 --> 00:24:25.250 at the local level and feature some of our colleagues 00:24:25.250 --> 00:24:27.670 that we've gotten to know over the years who 00:24:27.670 --> 00:24:29.730 are coming in from out of town. It's been really 00:24:29.730 --> 00:24:32.420 wonderful to to build this thing. And, you know, 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:35.019 we already have the next two seasons pretty much 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:37.259 mapped out. Oh, exciting. It's really exciting. 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:39.599 And it's cool to have these visions of what could 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:42.319 be. And then you start thinking you work backwards, 00:24:42.380 --> 00:24:43.920 like, OK, well, what do we need to do to get 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:46.940 there? Most of the time, it's like finding resources 00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:50.059 and money. But it's been a really wonderful sort 00:24:50.059 --> 00:24:53.819 of lab of not just like what are some cool pieces 00:24:53.819 --> 00:24:56.420 to bring to the table, but also like to celebrate 00:24:56.420 --> 00:25:00.279 all this stuff with our colleagues. here and 00:25:00.279 --> 00:25:03.160 beyond. And I think it's really important for 00:25:03.160 --> 00:25:07.299 us to consistently be having representation of 00:25:07.299 --> 00:25:09.880 our local scene. I mean, in the second year, 00:25:09.980 --> 00:25:13.160 we had, of course, the wonderful Adams and Nateli 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:18.220 with Akiko Tomonaga play selections from your 00:25:18.220 --> 00:25:20.819 album. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we played a 00:25:20.819 --> 00:25:22.480 piece by Dorothy Chang called All the Glitters 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:25.309 that was commissioned. for our album, 15 Feet 00:25:25.309 --> 00:25:27.750 Closer to the Sky, and we played a world premiere 00:25:27.750 --> 00:25:29.190 of the piece that was written after the album 00:25:29.190 --> 00:25:32.470 by Arthur Bachman. Our one and only Arthur Bachman. 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:34.589 Yeah, he was on this podcast not too long ago. 00:25:35.009 --> 00:25:37.089 So, you know, it's so interesting because among 00:25:37.089 --> 00:25:39.740 our colleagues, you know, You and I are probably 00:25:39.740 --> 00:25:42.200 two of the most active people in terms of commissioning 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:45.180 music and going out of our way to champion new 00:25:45.180 --> 00:25:48.299 music. And I was so excited to be featured at 00:25:48.299 --> 00:25:50.640 Sound Atlas because I love Sound Atlas. Yeah, 00:25:50.680 --> 00:25:52.779 we do. Right. Like after that first year, I was 00:25:52.779 --> 00:25:54.779 at every concert and I just I just loved it so 00:25:54.779 --> 00:25:56.079 much. And I was so thrilled when you asked me 00:25:56.079 --> 00:25:59.799 to play. But, you know, like I can't tell you 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:02.740 how happy. that makes us feel seriously like 00:26:02.740 --> 00:26:05.339 it's really cool it's the best you know this 00:26:05.339 --> 00:26:07.799 sort of thing is like the biggest thrill of of 00:26:07.799 --> 00:26:10.500 what we do i think that's the beauty of sound 00:26:10.500 --> 00:26:13.079 atlas though like it's that laboratory where 00:26:13.079 --> 00:26:15.759 we can bring all these different artists and 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:18.940 kinds of music together and put them next to 00:26:18.940 --> 00:26:22.359 each other and the cool thing is like each set 00:26:22.359 --> 00:26:24.660 is not going to overstay its welcome. And we've 00:26:24.660 --> 00:26:26.740 designed it that way. So each artist performs 00:26:26.740 --> 00:26:29.140 about 30 minutes. You know, you get a taster 00:26:29.140 --> 00:26:31.160 of all these different kinds of music making. 00:26:31.240 --> 00:26:35.099 And we've had, of course, like, like more installation 00:26:35.099 --> 00:26:39.240 sort of sound design things. And then we've had 00:26:39.240 --> 00:26:42.420 more traditional, like chamber music, sort of 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:45.740 notated music aesthetics. And then we've had 00:26:45.740 --> 00:26:50.420 free improvisation sets from you know, some of 00:26:50.420 --> 00:26:53.880 our wonderful improvisers and free players here 00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:56.700 in town. I'm thinking specifically of Circular 00:26:56.700 --> 00:26:59.480 Sparrow as part of the Bug Incision series, and 00:26:59.480 --> 00:27:02.619 it's really cool to bring these different circles 00:27:02.619 --> 00:27:06.819 of the scene together and form this weird quadruple 00:27:06.819 --> 00:27:10.849 Venn diagram of... sonic aesthetics. New music 00:27:10.849 --> 00:27:14.490 is so big. It really is. It's such a big tent 00:27:14.490 --> 00:27:16.690 of things that people are writing now and Sound 00:27:16.690 --> 00:27:20.210 Atlas really embraces all of that. It is the 00:27:20.210 --> 00:27:24.450 Atlas in which you are navigating that soundscape. 00:27:25.029 --> 00:27:31.109 We're trying to reflect that. Composers have 00:27:31.109 --> 00:27:33.829 so many resources these days in terms of inspiration. 00:27:35.639 --> 00:27:38.259 wiggle our thumbs a little bit on our phone and 00:27:38.259 --> 00:27:40.119 listen to music from the other side of the world 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:43.059 and You know, there's a lot of consumption of 00:27:43.059 --> 00:27:46.559 music. Yeah, and I think that certainly plays 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:50.960 into Music that's being written now and certainly 00:27:50.960 --> 00:27:53.299 plays into some of the things we do in the orchestra 00:27:53.299 --> 00:27:57.539 whether it's a newer piece or Maybe it's a movie 00:27:57.539 --> 00:28:01.200 score. I think composers are really Taking a 00:28:01.200 --> 00:28:03.339 lot of inspiration from a lot of types of music 00:28:03.789 --> 00:28:06.150 And it's really important, I think especially 00:28:06.150 --> 00:28:09.210 for me and my job. I just feel really lucky that 00:28:09.210 --> 00:28:11.750 I've had that experience of working with composers 00:28:11.750 --> 00:28:18.150 who really are looking for a new kind of sound 00:28:18.150 --> 00:28:21.589 world because I can have an idea of what they're 00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:24.890 going for, kind of the movies in a lot of ways. 00:28:25.309 --> 00:28:29.390 There's always like effects or sort of non -conventional 00:28:29.390 --> 00:28:32.240 instruments and I just had a lot of really good 00:28:32.240 --> 00:28:34.200 experience in like figuring out what that could 00:28:34.200 --> 00:28:37.279 be And then of course you try it out And then 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:39.539 if it doesn't work you adjust, right? Yeah. Yeah 00:28:39.539 --> 00:28:43.079 So sound atlas is at contemporary calgary And 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:45.180 what are the dates this year? The dates this 00:28:45.180 --> 00:28:49.319 year are june 27th 28th and 29th. So last weekend 00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:52.059 in june Contemporary calgary has been an amazing 00:28:52.059 --> 00:28:55.579 partner. They welcomed us open arms open ears 00:28:55.579 --> 00:28:58.640 open hearts, um when we had this idea in the 00:28:58.640 --> 00:29:02.430 very first place and It's been a wonderful, wonderful 00:29:02.430 --> 00:29:05.490 partnership with them to make Contemporary Calgary 00:29:05.490 --> 00:29:08.009 the home of Sound Atlas. And the space is very 00:29:08.009 --> 00:29:11.829 much part of the festival. Not only did you christen 00:29:11.829 --> 00:29:16.789 the newly restored concert hall in there, which 00:29:16.789 --> 00:29:19.910 was built a long time ago. It was torn out and 00:29:19.910 --> 00:29:22.930 then made back to its original specifications 00:29:22.930 --> 00:29:25.430 with a few modern upgrades. Sure. And we saw 00:29:25.430 --> 00:29:27.470 pictures of the old version of that from like 00:29:27.470 --> 00:29:31.559 the 60s. It was just so cool to get a sense of 00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:33.779 the history of that building and what they were 00:29:33.779 --> 00:29:37.500 doing to kind of bring engagement of performance 00:29:37.500 --> 00:29:40.680 back into that space. Because as I think a lot 00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:44.539 of us know, it was the old science center. But 00:29:44.539 --> 00:29:47.720 now it's really just a beacon of performance, 00:29:48.200 --> 00:29:51.980 art, and community. It's been a really, really 00:29:51.980 --> 00:29:54.700 special place. And of course, they've had wonderful 00:29:54.700 --> 00:29:57.599 news and developments, receiving some very serious 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:00.970 funding from the Alberta government. to expand 00:30:00.970 --> 00:30:04.529 and not just the physical parts of the building, 00:30:04.990 --> 00:30:09.150 but expand their mission. So we're very fortunate 00:30:09.150 --> 00:30:12.509 to have them as a partner and just so grateful. 00:30:12.930 --> 00:30:15.309 But you're right. You mentioned that the space 00:30:15.309 --> 00:30:17.990 is part of it and we use the different spaces 00:30:17.990 --> 00:30:20.450 in Contemporary Calgary as part of the festival. 00:30:21.029 --> 00:30:24.349 So there's a more traditional concert space that's 00:30:24.349 --> 00:30:27.069 a small kind of recital hall and then there's 00:30:27.069 --> 00:30:31.430 the Atrium, which is a sort of gathering place 00:30:31.430 --> 00:30:35.170 for all the patrons. And we do performances in 00:30:35.170 --> 00:30:37.289 both of those. And then the other space down 00:30:37.289 --> 00:30:39.289 in the lower level is the grotto, which is much 00:30:39.289 --> 00:30:41.430 more open and modular space. And we've been able 00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:42.970 to use these different spaces in interesting 00:30:42.970 --> 00:30:46.730 ways. Yeah, the festival is amazing. Short sets, 00:30:47.369 --> 00:30:50.029 flip -flopping spaces in the building. Come for 00:30:50.029 --> 00:30:52.329 a whole day. Come for the whole festival. It's 00:30:52.329 --> 00:30:55.329 three amazing days of amazing music. I know I'll 00:30:55.329 --> 00:30:58.250 be there. It's not to be missed. It's such a 00:30:58.250 --> 00:31:00.750 treat. It's one of my favorite things in the 00:31:00.750 --> 00:31:02.329 summer in Calgary. It's really cool to hear. 00:31:02.450 --> 00:31:05.450 You can find out more information on soundatlasfest 00:31:05.450 --> 00:31:08.869 .com. Fabulous. Sound Atlas is not your only 00:31:08.869 --> 00:31:11.329 summer activity, though. Like Alex Cohen, you 00:31:11.329 --> 00:31:13.789 are involved with spin. That's right. That's 00:31:13.789 --> 00:31:16.490 right. The Summer Percussion Institute at Mount 00:31:16.490 --> 00:31:21.009 Royal University. That, I believe, is also in 00:31:21.009 --> 00:31:24.430 its third year. So it's kind of a big first summer 00:31:24.430 --> 00:31:27.829 for me showing up here, you know, started a new 00:31:27.829 --> 00:31:30.549 music festival and then started a percussion 00:31:30.549 --> 00:31:33.609 institute with some of our percussion colleagues 00:31:33.609 --> 00:31:37.009 in town. And it was cool. Like, I remember one 00:31:37.009 --> 00:31:39.609 day in rehearsal, I was talking with Malcolm, 00:31:40.029 --> 00:31:42.930 that's Malcolm Lim. And I was like, hey, are 00:31:42.930 --> 00:31:45.150 there any percussion camps here? He was like, 00:31:45.589 --> 00:31:49.069 no, not yet. We should start one. I'm like, yeah. 00:31:49.329 --> 00:31:51.710 And then we had the spirit. That's the spirit. 00:31:52.299 --> 00:31:55.420 And like it's so cool like I love Malcolm because 00:31:55.420 --> 00:31:57.180 like you'll give him an idea and then he just 00:31:57.180 --> 00:31:59.400 immediately just like goes for it you know like 00:31:59.400 --> 00:32:00.960 it's happened a number of times and it's been 00:32:00.960 --> 00:32:05.140 really cool and I just think like rarely do you 00:32:05.140 --> 00:32:08.980 find a person as just like open and willing to 00:32:08.980 --> 00:32:12.500 just try things as Malcolm and just so grateful 00:32:12.500 --> 00:32:15.940 to know him and to learn from him but turns out 00:32:15.940 --> 00:32:18.440 there were other people having the same thoughts 00:32:18.440 --> 00:32:21.460 like what would it be like to have a percussion 00:32:21.460 --> 00:32:24.579 camp of sorts, a day camp for young people to 00:32:24.579 --> 00:32:27.640 come explore and develop their skills as, you 00:32:27.640 --> 00:32:31.599 know, young percussionists. And as it turns out, 00:32:32.180 --> 00:32:34.079 our wonderful colleague, Nia Devetsis, was having 00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:36.339 the same thoughts. So then we all kind of got 00:32:36.339 --> 00:32:39.200 together and thought, this is a great team. Let's 00:32:39.200 --> 00:32:43.019 do it. So the team has been the last couple of 00:32:43.019 --> 00:32:46.920 years, myself, Malcolm Lim, Sean Buckley, Nia 00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:51.059 Devetsis, and of course, Alex Cohen. And it's 00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:53.720 been really fun. We do all sorts of different 00:32:53.720 --> 00:32:57.140 things, including sort of specialist classes 00:32:57.140 --> 00:33:00.740 on specific skill sets like snare drum, two mallet 00:33:00.740 --> 00:33:04.160 playing, four mallet playing, timpani, and then 00:33:04.160 --> 00:33:07.200 accessory playing, all sorts of different things 00:33:07.200 --> 00:33:09.720 that you might come across as a percussionist. 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:12.680 And then we do more exploratory classes dedicated 00:33:12.680 --> 00:33:15.579 to music from other parts of the world. In case 00:33:15.579 --> 00:33:18.059 you don't know, Malcolm's an amazing samba player. 00:33:18.349 --> 00:33:20.809 He spent time in Brazil and his wealth of knowledge 00:33:20.809 --> 00:33:24.089 on that music is really, really fabulous. So 00:33:24.089 --> 00:33:27.890 he leads us through a series of Samba performances. 00:33:28.170 --> 00:33:31.190 And then we've also had guests, indigenous drummers 00:33:31.190 --> 00:33:34.549 come in and teach us traditions of drum making 00:33:34.549 --> 00:33:38.930 and songs that come from their people. And that's 00:33:38.930 --> 00:33:41.990 also a really wonderful way to do a land acknowledgement 00:33:41.990 --> 00:33:45.890 for us. We have someone come in not only to acknowledge 00:33:45.890 --> 00:33:49.779 that this place is a place that has had many 00:33:49.779 --> 00:33:53.099 people over the years, but also there's traditions 00:33:53.099 --> 00:33:56.240 of music that accompany that, right? And it's 00:33:56.240 --> 00:33:58.160 really important for us as percussionists to 00:33:58.160 --> 00:34:01.579 be not only like aware of these things, but like, 00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:05.660 I mean, it's a thing we constantly negotiate 00:34:05.660 --> 00:34:08.880 is where do our instruments come from? And for 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.809 us, they come from all over the world. what the 00:34:12.809 --> 00:34:15.210 process has been for that instrument to travel 00:34:15.210 --> 00:34:18.010 from one part of the world to another and to 00:34:18.010 --> 00:34:21.769 find itself on stage at the Calgary Phil, for 00:34:21.769 --> 00:34:24.929 example. There's a big conversation there and 00:34:24.929 --> 00:34:26.750 it's really important for us to acknowledge what 00:34:26.750 --> 00:34:31.010 that conversation is and to be aware of what 00:34:31.010 --> 00:34:33.849 it means to take up our instruments and what 00:34:33.849 --> 00:34:37.820 it means to be kind of musical linguists. You 00:34:37.820 --> 00:34:40.659 know, we're constantly navigating different languages 00:34:40.659 --> 00:34:42.639 of music as percussionists because our instruments 00:34:42.639 --> 00:34:45.980 are coming from different cultures. And it's 00:34:45.980 --> 00:34:48.480 really important for young people to understand 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:50.800 that. And so that's a really wonderful way for 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:53.300 us to have an incredibly deep and meaningful 00:34:53.300 --> 00:34:55.900 sort of conversation around the whole week. But 00:34:55.900 --> 00:34:58.460 it's fantastic. And we always end the week with 00:34:58.460 --> 00:35:02.460 a concert that features the faculty members, 00:35:02.719 --> 00:35:05.380 the students in a number of different ways, of 00:35:05.380 --> 00:35:08.170 course, smaller chamber works. And then we have 00:35:08.170 --> 00:35:10.369 this thing we call orchestral karaoke, which 00:35:10.369 --> 00:35:13.849 is really fun. We put together sections of the 00:35:13.849 --> 00:35:16.650 students and they play kind of, they play along 00:35:16.650 --> 00:35:19.110 to recordings of bigger repertoire that maybe 00:35:19.110 --> 00:35:22.170 they haven't experienced yet. And it's so cool 00:35:22.170 --> 00:35:25.409 that, you know, you see the, the outcomes of 00:35:25.409 --> 00:35:27.909 this work in really awesome ways. I mean, we 00:35:27.909 --> 00:35:30.389 just have like a bunch of really excited young 00:35:30.389 --> 00:35:33.130 people to make a go at this thing. And I also 00:35:33.130 --> 00:35:35.590 think about the future of what my section is, 00:35:35.670 --> 00:35:38.070 right? I think about 20 years from now, who are 00:35:38.070 --> 00:35:39.869 those players? Who are the people that are going 00:35:39.869 --> 00:35:41.630 to be coming to work with me? Who am I going 00:35:41.630 --> 00:35:45.610 to be hiring? And, you know, as long as we're 00:35:45.610 --> 00:35:47.510 kind of feeding the scene in this way, I mean, 00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:50.449 there's pretty cool potential. And I do see that 00:35:50.449 --> 00:35:54.469 as an offshoot as my work now, because it's true. 00:35:54.650 --> 00:35:57.989 I mean, people come and go and you have to be 00:35:57.989 --> 00:36:01.090 thinking about what's the scene like in years 00:36:01.090 --> 00:36:04.260 from now. Also, it's just incredibly rewarding 00:36:04.260 --> 00:36:06.079 to work with people. I mean, I've been a teacher 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:08.840 in my whole career and this has been a particularly 00:36:08.840 --> 00:36:12.019 fun version of that. Of course, it's a lot of 00:36:12.019 --> 00:36:14.800 work and we all work together really well. It's 00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:18.639 just been super fun to build, to see it grow, 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:21.159 and we get to think about what it's going to 00:36:21.159 --> 00:36:25.360 look like a little while from now. How can we 00:36:25.360 --> 00:36:27.280 expand it and what are the things we want to 00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:30.920 be doing? To offer more opportunities for students, 00:36:31.099 --> 00:36:33.579 but it's tough to balance these things Adam. 00:36:33.599 --> 00:36:35.820 Yeah when you're someone who makes stuff happen 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:39.800 It's easy to put a little put a lot on your plate. 00:36:39.960 --> 00:36:42.519 Yeah, I won't say too much but a lot Yeah, right. 00:36:42.519 --> 00:36:44.719 Yeah, and Chris you are someone who makes stuff 00:36:44.719 --> 00:36:48.360 happen It's incredibly rewarding but I have to 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:53.079 say again Calgary has been so welcoming to our 00:36:53.079 --> 00:36:56.099 ideas and making these things happen. It's never 00:36:56.099 --> 00:37:00.099 easy but Feel like the scene here has made it 00:37:00.099 --> 00:37:02.300 a little bit easier to make these things happen 00:37:02.300 --> 00:37:04.480 and that's that's been incredibly meaningful 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:06.699 So we're again, I have to stress how grateful 00:37:06.699 --> 00:37:10.599 we are to be here Awesome. Yeah Well Chris in 00:37:10.599 --> 00:37:12.860 your first year as principal percussionist of 00:37:12.860 --> 00:37:17.000 the CPO Who are some people on stage who's playing 00:37:17.000 --> 00:37:21.679 inspires you? How do I even like? How do you 00:37:21.679 --> 00:37:24.059 answer this question because like I know there's 00:37:24.059 --> 00:37:27.579 so many like There's just so many people you 00:37:27.579 --> 00:37:32.039 that you're It's I know I know I gotta pick gotta 00:37:32.039 --> 00:37:36.179 pick okay help how many Let's say two. Okay. 00:37:36.179 --> 00:37:40.860 Okay, too I have to give it to Alex Cohen and 00:37:40.860 --> 00:37:43.199 I remember the first concert I played it was 00:37:43.199 --> 00:37:46.519 Beethoven 9 My first experience with the Calgary 00:37:46.519 --> 00:37:48.079 Phil and I was playing triangle in Beethoven 00:37:48.079 --> 00:37:51.460 9 and most of that piece is a timpani masterclass 00:37:51.949 --> 00:37:54.469 and he's just such an incredible musician. And 00:37:54.469 --> 00:37:57.010 you get to see it happen in real time, how much 00:37:57.010 --> 00:38:00.650 he can affect the energy of a group. And I've 00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:04.530 just, I've learned so much about what it means 00:38:04.530 --> 00:38:08.630 to contribute to the orchestra by Alex is playing. 00:38:09.289 --> 00:38:12.829 I just, it's a pleasure. I have to give it to 00:38:12.829 --> 00:38:14.829 him. He's, he's been an incredible inspiration 00:38:14.829 --> 00:38:20.630 for me and a wonderful mentor, of course. I mean, 00:38:20.949 --> 00:38:23.989 dare I, Dare I flatter you at your own podcast? 00:38:24.210 --> 00:38:27.449 No, boy. I think I have to. But, but Adam, I 00:38:27.449 --> 00:38:29.889 mean, of course, you know, you, you were someone 00:38:29.889 --> 00:38:34.250 that immediately were welcoming to me as a new 00:38:34.250 --> 00:38:39.070 player into the scene and you just, just your 00:38:39.070 --> 00:38:41.809 demonstration of what the job is has been a real 00:38:41.809 --> 00:38:44.349 compass point for me. And I'll never forget when 00:38:44.349 --> 00:38:46.690 you said, you know, we play for our colleagues. 00:38:47.179 --> 00:38:49.300 That's the thing you come in to work for. And 00:38:49.300 --> 00:38:53.079 that's been such a strong point for me to always 00:38:53.079 --> 00:38:55.800 revisit in this first year. And it's, I'm going 00:38:55.800 --> 00:38:57.579 to, and that's, that's going to keep happening. 00:38:57.920 --> 00:39:00.199 Like you come in and you play for each other. 00:39:00.300 --> 00:39:02.599 You play for your colleagues who are there day 00:39:02.599 --> 00:39:05.679 in, day out, conductors come and go. Right. And 00:39:05.679 --> 00:39:08.400 there are guest conductors that are going to 00:39:08.400 --> 00:39:10.480 be there and then they're not, and they might 00:39:10.480 --> 00:39:13.980 return. They may not, but the people that are 00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:17.329 there every week, I mean, When you put the stakes 00:39:17.329 --> 00:39:20.170 on who am I playing for? Of course, we're playing 00:39:20.170 --> 00:39:24.090 for ourselves, but the extra Acknowledgement 00:39:24.090 --> 00:39:26.730 of all these people you play for them and you 00:39:26.730 --> 00:39:29.590 want to like share sound with them That's been 00:39:29.590 --> 00:39:32.750 a really strong sticking point for me to just 00:39:32.750 --> 00:39:36.050 Try to always be on my game Week in week out. 00:39:36.210 --> 00:39:39.030 Sometimes it's really hard, you know, I mean 00:39:39.030 --> 00:39:43.190 As David Sussman says, oh it can just be relentless 00:39:43.190 --> 00:39:47.400 and it's true, but you find balance and you find 00:39:47.400 --> 00:39:51.719 ways of managing it and I know this season has 00:39:51.719 --> 00:39:55.179 been a tremendous learning curve for me in terms 00:39:55.179 --> 00:39:59.500 of balance and you've said it I make things happen 00:39:59.500 --> 00:40:01.980 I also have to say I make a lot of things happen 00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:07.539 with my friends and my colleagues I don't just 00:40:07.539 --> 00:40:09.820 make these these things happen by myself these 00:40:09.820 --> 00:40:13.989 are all team effort endeavors and When you have 00:40:13.989 --> 00:40:16.289 a good team, it makes it really easy and really 00:40:16.289 --> 00:40:19.889 enjoyable and then of course I have I have to 00:40:19.889 --> 00:40:22.289 be working with our production team to know what 00:40:22.289 --> 00:40:24.429 what gear is needed and what the footprint is 00:40:24.429 --> 00:40:26.889 So yeah big shout out to our production team 00:40:26.889 --> 00:40:29.429 absolutely unsung heroes of the orchestra. My 00:40:29.429 --> 00:40:32.969 goodness Frank Galant Absolute legend. He takes 00:40:32.969 --> 00:40:35.409 such good care of us. He really does he really 00:40:35.409 --> 00:40:39.469 does and I've been very lucky to have him as 00:40:39.469 --> 00:40:41.869 our production manager in my first year on the 00:40:41.869 --> 00:40:45.989 job But it's always a team effort But this this 00:40:45.989 --> 00:40:48.590 season has been a big learn for me in terms of 00:40:48.590 --> 00:40:50.789 finding balance And I think next season will 00:40:50.789 --> 00:40:53.070 look very different in terms of what are the 00:40:53.070 --> 00:40:56.530 projects I'm doing outside of work Because I 00:40:56.530 --> 00:40:59.010 mean as you can guess I didn't know what the 00:40:59.010 --> 00:41:01.289 outcome of my position would be when I was doing 00:41:01.289 --> 00:41:03.570 the audition process. Oh, you already filled 00:41:03.570 --> 00:41:05.489 up your calendar for this year before you were 00:41:05.489 --> 00:41:08.809 offered the job. Exactly. I had said yes a number 00:41:08.809 --> 00:41:12.210 of times and, you know, I prided myself on having 00:41:12.210 --> 00:41:14.510 enjoyed a pretty awesome freelance career with 00:41:14.510 --> 00:41:17.650 a lot of opportunities and you always say yes 00:41:17.650 --> 00:41:20.489 and then you double down and say yes again. So 00:41:20.489 --> 00:41:23.289 that has been a tremendous shift for me in terms 00:41:23.289 --> 00:41:26.789 of what can I actually dedicate my time and energy 00:41:26.789 --> 00:41:29.900 towards? And I think next season will be a little 00:41:29.900 --> 00:41:32.739 bit different on that front, just because it's 00:41:32.739 --> 00:41:36.480 been tough to balance. I won't lie, but nonetheless, 00:41:36.739 --> 00:41:39.079 amazing. And I feel incredibly grateful to have 00:41:39.079 --> 00:41:43.380 all these opportunities and to be able to come 00:41:43.380 --> 00:41:46.860 into work and just look around and see all these 00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:49.460 people who have worked their butts off to be 00:41:49.460 --> 00:41:53.000 there and to take part in a life of sound. I 00:41:53.000 --> 00:41:55.780 think it's tremendously special. It's profound. 00:41:56.119 --> 00:42:00.320 It is. I'll reiterate that it is profound to 00:42:00.320 --> 00:42:03.960 experience sound together on stage. Week after 00:42:03.960 --> 00:42:08.199 week, sometimes the experience is one way and 00:42:08.199 --> 00:42:10.800 then sometimes it's a very different way. And 00:42:10.800 --> 00:42:13.739 I think back to Professor Bad Trip, that was 00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:17.059 a very peculiar way of experiencing sound. And 00:42:17.059 --> 00:42:18.860 if you had never experienced a piece like that, 00:42:18.900 --> 00:42:21.400 then it's just like, Whoa, what is going on? 00:42:21.780 --> 00:42:25.599 And for me, experiencing Beethoven nine. for 00:42:25.599 --> 00:42:29.079 the first time with the CPO. That was a profound 00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:31.920 experience. It just happened to be my first concert 00:42:31.920 --> 00:42:34.179 to play with the ensemble, which was, you know, 00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:35.679 couldn't have asked for a better experience. 00:42:36.679 --> 00:42:39.199 It's just incredibly powerful to do this thing 00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:42.780 together. And again, I show up to work for my 00:42:42.780 --> 00:42:45.019 colleagues, you know, because those are the people 00:42:45.019 --> 00:42:47.099 I'm going to be I'm going to be sharing the most 00:42:47.099 --> 00:42:50.280 time with musically and sometimes otherwise, 00:42:50.360 --> 00:42:53.519 like we see each other a lot just because we 00:42:53.519 --> 00:42:56.840 are a community. And that's the cool thing, like, 00:42:56.940 --> 00:42:58.739 yeah, the music is just the conduit to bring 00:42:58.739 --> 00:43:01.659 people together, right? Like, if anything else, 00:43:01.679 --> 00:43:04.159 like, we just get a bunch of people in a room 00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:06.639 and then they can all experience this thing together. 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:10.500 And that's a huge, huge part of community building. 00:43:11.239 --> 00:43:15.360 And I think these days, community is just, it 00:43:15.360 --> 00:43:18.159 is important and it will become increasingly 00:43:18.159 --> 00:43:21.260 important. But if you can put your faith in community, 00:43:21.380 --> 00:43:24.460 then it makes things a little bit easier. And 00:43:24.460 --> 00:43:27.280 I think that's what we do especially well as 00:43:27.280 --> 00:43:29.780 colleagues and as orchestra members that are 00:43:29.780 --> 00:43:31.579 offering something for people to come experience. 00:43:32.239 --> 00:43:35.039 Yeah. Yeah. Well said, Chris. Yeah. Well, it's 00:43:35.039 --> 00:43:36.719 been great playing with you this season. Oh, 00:43:36.739 --> 00:43:38.900 it's been a thrill. My goodness. Yeah. And I 00:43:38.900 --> 00:43:41.500 love that. Like you and I get to nerd out like 00:43:41.500 --> 00:43:44.219 we get to nerd out on really funny things. It's 00:43:44.219 --> 00:43:47.019 true. Yeah. True. Yeah. It's been a thrill. Absolutely. 00:43:47.360 --> 00:43:48.900 Awesome. Thanks for coming on the show, Chris. 00:43:49.239 --> 00:43:53.760 Honored to be here. Notes from the Stage is an 00:43:53.760 --> 00:43:55.659 independent production of the Calgary Philharmonic 00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:58.320 Players Association. The opinions expressed here 00:43:58.320 --> 00:44:00.179 are our own, and do not reflect those of the 00:44:00.179 --> 00:44:02.679 Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. Our thanks to 00:44:02.679 --> 00:44:04.440 Nathan Chandler for his technical expertise. 00:44:05.380 --> 00:44:07.960 The music in this episode was from Split Selves 00:44:07.960 --> 00:44:10.699 Like Crystalline Waves, for drum kit and electronics, 00:44:11.159 --> 00:44:13.760 written and performed by Chris Size, and The 00:44:13.760 --> 00:44:16.820 Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by Anika Sokolovsky, 00:44:17.300 --> 00:44:21.099 also performed by Chris Size. And this is a wrap 00:44:21.099 --> 00:44:23.820 on Season 1 of Notes from the Stage. I know I've 00:44:23.820 --> 00:44:25.639 had a great time making the show this year. I've 00:44:25.639 --> 00:44:27.679 had so many great conversations and learned so 00:44:27.679 --> 00:44:30.019 much from my friends and colleagues. I hope you've 00:44:30.019 --> 00:44:33.039 enjoyed and learned too. I'd love to know what 00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:34.960 you've thought about the show. Leave a comment 00:44:34.960 --> 00:44:37.579 on our social media or go to CalgaryFilmmusicians 00:44:37.579 --> 00:44:40.639 .ca and use the contact form there. Questions, 00:44:40.960 --> 00:44:44.039 comments and requests are all welcome. I'll be 00:44:44.039 --> 00:44:46.239 back with more interviews in September. Talk 00:44:46.239 --> 00:44:46.800 to you soon.