PRESS PLAY Episode 38: Show Room

Episode 38: Show Room
September 14, 2023 7pm
Excerpts from Show Room* (2023)

Rodney Sharman (CA), composer
Atom Egoyan (CA), librettist

Carla Huhtanen, soprano
Andrea Ludwig, mezzo-soprano
Nicholas Higgs, baritone

Chelsea Dab Hilke, director
Jennifer Tung, conductor
Emilie Trimbee, Lighting Designer

Carol Fujino, violin
Paul Widner, cello
Ben Heard, bass
Geoffrey Conquer, piano
Ryan Scott, percussion
Alison Melville, recorders
Colin Savage, recorders
David Pell, sackbut
Cathy Stone, sackbut

Louis Pino, stage manager
HIllary Jean Young, surtitles operator

* world premiere

Programme Notes:
“The beauty and mystery of Atom Egoyan’s text; The beauty and expressivity of the voices of Carla Huhtanen, Andrea Ludwig, and Nicholas Higgs; The beauty and blend of instruments from the Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic and more Modern times, together creating a soundworld which blurs distinctions between harmony and tonecolour; The familiar sounds of recorders, violin, cello, doublebass, piano, toy piano, and vibraphone are joined by the less-familiar timbres of sackbuts (ancestors to the trombone) and bowed marimba, whose tender, halting, sound creates a timbre-mirage with the recorders and bowed strings. All in service of a narrative in which the secrets and passions of three characters are gradually revealed in what I consider Atom’s most poetic text. My thanks to The Canada Council for the Arts, Deux Mille Foundation, The Djerassi Resident Arts Program, and The McGrane-Pearson Endowment Fund for their support. Special thanks to Ryan Scott and Continuum for making tonight’s performance possible.” – Rodney Sharman

Rodney’s commission is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, Deux-Mille Foundation, and The McGrane-Pearson Endowment Fund.

This production was generously supported by Kris Vikmanis and Denny Creighton.

Rodney Sharman Photo Credit: Andrew Shopland
Atom Egoyan Photo Credit: Ulysse del Drago