Monday Special Blend
Monday February 26th, 2024 with Nathanael Newton, Maria Hawkins & Chris White
Ottawa-based composer Jack Hui Litster
Conversation with Jack Hui Litster
https://soundcloud.com/jack-hui-litster
| Sunwheel dance Bruce Cockburn - Speechless 
|
| Weekly Recap with Maria |
| A Secret, Submerged＂ [Secret of the Deep Sea] Hy Bound - #4584 - OcRemix |
| https://youtu.be/dotYoI2o_4o |
| Conversation with Jack Hui Lister & Chris White
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dayyouwereborn/gates-of-heaven-requiem-for-a-life-of-peace Press Release | OperOttawa OTTAWA OPERA COMPANY PREMIERES NEWLY-COMPOSED REQUIEM HONOURING CANADIAN WOMEN LEADERS OperOttawa’s Gates of Heaven: Requiem For a Life of Peace composed by Jack Hui Litster 2:30pm March 10th, 2024 First Baptist Church, Ottawa For immediate release Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace is composed by Ottawa-based composer Jack Hui Litster and will be performed on March 10th by OperOttawa. Sung by an all-female choir and accompanied by chamber orchestra, this new music is dedicated to the memory of Canadian women leaders throughout history. During the performance of the requiem, commemorations will be read honouring Allie Vibert Douglas, Viola Desmond, Madeleine Parent, Keiko Margaret Lyons, Rosemary Brown, Ethel Stark, Portia White, Kathleen Livingstone, Kenojuak Ashevak, Mary Ann Shadd, Hide Hyodo Shimizu, Lotta Hitschmanova, Violet King Henry, and Shirley Greenberg. Requiems set to music Latin texts which share good wishes for those who have passed on into the next life. Each requiem can be made up of its own special blend of a sequence of texts, which articulate ideas such as: “Let eternal light shine on them, O Lord, with thy saints throughout eternity, for thou art good” (translated from the text of Lux Aeterna). Over the past six centuries, requiems have been written by celebrated and gifted musicians, from Palestrina to Mozart, Verdi to Fauré, Duruflé to Rutter, and many more. OperOttawa’s new requiem uses the following sequence of movements: Introitus, Kyrie, Gloria, Offertorium, Sanctus and Benedictus, Pie Jesu, Agnus Dei, Lux Aeterna, In Paradisum. In addition, we add into a final movement a section sung in English, titled “Golden Valley” - a piece inspired by the activist leaders that composer Jack Hui Litster worked with during a decade spent in human rights and social justice organizations. Composer Jack Hui Litster has written two operas in the past for OperOttawa, The Day You Were Born (2021) and What is Love? (2022). Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace is Hui Litster's largest musical creation yet, and in OperOttawa’s past 11 seasons this will be one of their largest-ever productions. “Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace is 45 minutes of music which honours Canadian women leaders throughout history. This composition brings together the two paths of my life, combining my work as a composer, with the years that I spent in human rights organizations.” - Jack Hui Litster, composer of Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace “Working on Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace has been a total joy. This work is quite beautiful and majestic – very different from the Requiem masses that I have sung in the past. No troubling element of fear in this Requiem! One rather gets a sense of awe at the wonderful lives of all women. And no sadness, but a sense of joy and pride at what all women have accomplished. That we will be performing this piece only two days after International Women’s Day is incredibly meaningful, and I believe our audience will be quite moved by this piece.” - Carole Portelance, mezzo-soprano soloist in OperOttawa’s premiere of Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace Press Release | OperOttawa “In 2020 Jack Hui Litster became the first Composer-in-Residence for OperOttawa. In 2022 I decided to give Jack a composing challenge by writing a Requiem. The concept of using the Requiem to honour the achievements of Canadian women is not only brilliant, but long overdue. What I like about this work is the fact that Jack writes from his heart and from his own life experiences. Jack’s choral writing is quite beautiful, and in this work, Jack has integrated several orchestral interludes that create a bridge between the movements of the Requiem, helping the listener to adjust their emotional response. As the conductor, I am looking forward to giving life to the music on the page, and sharing the words, the music and the meaning of “Gates of Heaven: Requiem for a Life of Peace” to the world, which is especially needed at a time when the world at large is in such turmoil.” - Norman E. Brown, Founding Artistic Director, OperOttawa About OperOttawa Founded in 2012 by Canadian baritone Norman E. Brown, OperOttawa produces operas and oratorios of the Baroque and early periods, as well as staged versions of lesser performed works, and supporting and encouraging young Ottawa-based composers. OperOttawa also endeavours to produce operas in their entirety with no cuts, giving singers an opportunity to fully learn major roles. OperOttawa has successfully produced the world premiere of Jack Hui Litster’s opera “The Day You Were Born” in 2021 and Jack Hui Litster’s opera “What is Love?” in 2022. OperOttawa’s 2023-24 season has also included all-female cast performances of “Suor Angelica” by Puccini in September 2023 and Mozart’s “Magic Flute” in November 2023. OperOttawa was incorporated as a not-for-profit entity in 2022. OperOttawa Founding Artistic Director and Conductor: Norman E. Brown OperOttawa Composer-in-Residence: Jack Hui Litster OperOttawa Singers: Melanie Anderson, Patricia Beckett, Stephanie Brassard, Katie Gratton, Ania Hejnar, Jean-E Hudson, Erinne-Colleen Laurin, Beverly McArthur, Carole Portelance, Sue Postlethwaite, Kathleen Radke, Silke Schwarz, Sherrie Spelchuk, Morgan Strickland, Pauline van der Roest, Colleen Woodhouse, Mary Zborowski. OperOttawa Orchestra: Violins: Anna Klochkova, Lucas Olsen-Willford, Adam Nelson, Maria Nenoiu; Viola: Chantale Gaudet-Rice, Jon Mak; Cello: Steve Smith; Flute: Gertrude Letourneau; Oboe: Celina Hawkins; Bassoon: Max Ostic; Trumpet: Peter Crouch; French Horn: Guy Edrington; Percussion: Jack Hui Litster Performance duration: 70 minutes For more information, please contact: Jack Hui Litster, Composer-in-Residence, OperOttawa Phone: 613-230-2806 Email: j.hui.litster@gmail.com Tickets Kickstarter |
Jack Hui Litster - To Be Wounded (performed by OperOttawa featuring Alexander Cappellazzo)
|
| Fierce Light Jack Hui Litster (featuring Raphael Weinroth - Browne) -
|
| Greenwood Girls Kerry Fitzgerald -
|
Subscribe to Monday Special Blend
Wear your headphones.
8:09 AM, February 26th, 2024