Vocalypse - Babel is a blessing

Janice Isabel Jackson, soprano
Barbara Pritchard, piano

A view inside Canadian new music.
Presented by the Halifax Central Library

Award winning musicians, Barbara Pritchard (piano) and Janice Isabel Jackson (voice) join forces with the Halifax Central Library in taking their patrons on a journey of discovery though the newfangled compositions of some of Canada’s best known composers. During this fun and informative hour both Barbara and Janice will perform a short solo work, after which they will talk about the composer’s intentions and give the audience an inside peak of their creative process, a view of the score (projections), and describe how they take a new work from page to stage. Then they will play the pieces all over again and open up the floor for a Q and A between the audience and performer. Did hearing the piece 2 times help your perception of the work?  Did more information allow for more understanding and enjoyment of the music. These and many more questions will be considered during this informative hour of musical sharing by two well-known and experienced new music specialists. Presented by the Halifax Central Library, in association with Vocalypse Productions.

January: James Rolfe
              Lilacs Piano, new piano solo written for Pritchard
              Pirate Song, a mini opera written for Jackson

February: Marie Pelletier
En dieu, en L'ange (solo piano)
Han no. 3 (solo voice)

March: Barbara Monk Feldman, composer
Soft Horizons (solo piano)
The Gentlest C (solo voice)

April: Janice I Jackson -
Not the end, 4 miniatures (solo piano)
Voice Dance (solo voice)

May: Andre Cormier
Persévérance (solo piano)
Piling Sand – Piling Stone (solo voice)

JANICE ISABEL JACKSON has sung over 220 world premieres, many works written specifically for her, and performed with contemporary music ensembles and in concert halls around the world – Beijing, Paris, Vienna, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Torino, Toronto, Montreal, New York, Berlin, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Avignon and more. She has appeared in countless contemporary music festivals including the November Festival (Ghent), Wien Modern (Vienna), Ludwigs Lust (Hamburg), The Proms (Amsterdam), IRCAM (Paris), Big Torino 2000 (Turin), the Diem Festival of Electro-acoustic music (Denmark), and the Scotia Festival of Music (Nova Scotia). She is also the Artistic Director of the Halifax based contemporary vocal music society Vocalypse Productions, through which she has produced many new works Tim Brady’s new opera Ghost Tango (2015) for 2 singers and electric guitar. In 2015 she premiered Jerome Blais’ Songs for Milena with the Symphony Nova Scotia. She can be heard on many CD’s, including Live Wired (2015), on which she premiered (Un)Forgotten Voices (first prize in the Concours Collegien de musique contemporaine) by Jerome Blais. During her career she has been the recipient of many grants including professional development grants through Arts Nova Scotia and a long term project grant through The Canada Council. She recently spent 5 weeks at the Banff Arts Centre as a musician in residence. She has received recognition for her contribution Nova Scotian culture from The Honorable Myra A. Freeman, Lieutenant Governor, as well as an Established Artist Award through Arts Nova Scotia. She was recently awarded the Canadian League of Composers and Canadian Music Centre’s “Friends of Canadian Music Award” for her exceptional commitment to Canadian new music. www.janicejackson.ca

BARBARA PRITCHARD specializes in performing piano music from the 20th and 21st centuries. While living in Toronto, she played with the Arraymusic and Continuum ensembles, and for several years she was a faculty member in the Banff Centre’s summer program. Since moving to Halifax in 1998, Ms Pritchard has established herself as a soloist and chamber musician, giving many recitals with the help of grants from the Canada Council and Arts Nova Scotia. She has returned to Toronto several times for performances, including a solo recital at the St. Lawrence Centre in January 2015 (presented by New Music Concerts and Music Toronto). In 2009 the Canadian Music Centre awarded Ms Pritchard the title of CMC Ambassador for her commitment to the performance of Canadian music. In 2011 she became a founding member of Musikon, a recital series of new Canadian music, based at Saint Mary’s University. In November 2015 in recognition of her contributions to cultural life in Nova Scotia, Ms Pritchard received an Established Artist Recognition Award from the Creative Nova Scotia Leadership Council. Ms Pritchard’s first solo CD, The View From Here was released to critical acclaim in 1998. The final track from her second CD, Piano Atlantica, (Clark Ross’ Last Dance) was nominated for a 2011 Juno Award: Classical Composition of the Year. Her third CD, Toccata (2012), was nominated for a 2014 ECMA Award: Classical Recording of the Year; Toccata was also chosen as one of Musical Toronto’s Top Ten Albums of 2012. Barbara Pritchard has been a jury member for the Juno Awards, the Chalmers Awards, and Arts Nova Scotia. Many of Ms Pritchard’s performances have been broadcast by CBC Radio. www.barbarapritchard.weebly.com