Episode 27: Brush Line

Welcome to PRESS PLAY, our recurring web series featuring Continuum performances recorded in high quality in Toronto. Each episode includes intimate and informative conversation on the how and why behind the music with the artists themselves.

Sit back, relax and Press Play!

Available on YouTube and our website.

Episode 27: Brush Line
September 22, 2022   7pm
Brush line (2004)

Linda Catlin Smith (CA), composer

Marion Newman, mezzo soprano
Brian Current, conductor
Carol Fujino, violin
Paul Widner, cello
Leslie Newman, flute
Anthony Thompson, clarinet
Stephanie Chua, piano
Ryan Scott, percussion

Programme Notes:

I’ve always been drawn to texts or writings that are fragmented, incomplete, or unfinished in some way. For some years I’ve been (informally) studying the paintings of J.M.W. Turner. I’m drawn to his seascapes and landscapes, especially to his so-called unfinished paintings – those layered backgrounds with their subtle shadings of ambiguous skies and seas. In my research I found writings by Turner that appeared in his sketchbooks: thoughts to himself about what he was seeing, many of them in the form of questions. I use a selection of these as the text for this work. Brush line was commissioned by Continuum through the Canada Council for the Arts and The Laidlaw Foundation. – Linda Catlin Smith

Click here for a full listing of Press Play episodes in the 22-23 Season.