Freedman ends tour with pro series performance at BU

BRANDON, Man. – Internationally lauded bass clarinetist and contrabass clarinetist Lori Freedman will perform on the Lorne Watson Recital Hall (LWRH) stage at Brandon University (BU) on Tuesday, March 29.

The concert, part of the BU School of Music’s pro series, will be Freedman’s final stop on her “Virtuosity of Excess” North American tour. She will present not only her inimitable approach to playing her chosen instruments, but also a full programme of new works.

“Lori Freedman’s recital, I’m certain, will be another fascinating and inspiring evening of music in the Lorne Watson Recital Hall,” said Greg Gatien, BU’s Acting Dean of Music.

“Her performance will surely add to the impressive array of incredible concerts that have comprised this year’s pro series, and I’m sure that our wonderful Brandon audience will appreciate and enjoy what she brings to our already rich and sophisticated community.”

After a regenerating stint in Normandy, the Montreal-based Freedman returned to Canada last fall, poised to share new pieces that push boundaries as well as surprise and entertain the listener. This recital’s programme will include Brian Ferneyhough’s Time and Motion Study I, Paul Steenhuisen’s Library on Fire, Richard Barrett’s Interference, Paolo Perezzani’s Thymos, Raphaël Cendo’s Décombres, and Freedman’s own Solor, which she created with this tour’s focus in mind. Along with her unconventional playing, there will be moments underlined by Freedman’s voice, a kick drum or live electronics.

“After years and years of preparations it seems to me that the only realistic introduction to this project of the X-world is, in the composers’ words: delirious, oracular, unrestrained, metallic, out-of-bounds, furious, agitated, flexible, imperceptible, inaudible, spit, unstable … thud,” Freeman said in a statement about her tour. “In my own words, aside from a myriad of unknown or unutterable words that could describe a sound, a gesture, a poem, I would use the following vocabulary: possessed, beasty, hysterical, inside-the-outside, pneumatic, constrained, total calm, ridiculoso, speaking-in-tongues, rock, monolithic … more!”

The recital will begin at 8 p.m., in the LWRH, located in the Queen Elizabeth II Music Building. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors, students and BU alumni, and $10 for Conservatory students, and will be available at the door or in advance at the School of Music main office.

The final recital of the regular pro series season will feature Russian-born pianist Dmitry Rachmanov, with a programme of late Romantic and early 20^th-century Russian masterpieces. It is slated for Saturday, April 23, at 8 p.m., in the LWRH.

This year, the pro series will present an additional, special recital featuring Grammy Award and multiple Juno Award-winning violinist James Ehnes. That event, in which pianist Andrew Armstrong will collaborate, is scheduled for Monday, May 16. Tickets for this recital in the Western Manitoba Centennial Auditorium (WMCA) are specially priced at $25 for adults, $20 for students, seniors and alumni, and $15 for Conservatory students. These tickets are not included in the pro series subscriptions and must be purchased through the WMCA box office.

The School of Music gratefully acknowledges the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of Manitoba, through a Consolidated Arts Programming Grant through Culture, Heritage and Tourism.

Please note that seating in the LWRH is limited and that programmes are subject to change. For up-to-date listing of pro series and student performances, please visit brandonu.ca/music/events/category/performances/.

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