≈ 90 minutes · With intermission
Last updated: April 19, 2024
Program
DOBRINKA TABAKOVA The Smile of Flamboyant Wings for string quartet (8 min)
Jessica Linnebach, violin
Emily Kruspe, violin
Carissa Klopoushak, viola
Rachel Mercer, cello
DINUK WIJERATNE The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini for string quartet (10 min)
Jessica Linnebach, violin
Emily Kruspe, violin
Carissa Klopoushak, viola
Rachel Mercer, cello
INTERMISSION
DAVID BRUCE Gumboots for clarinet and string quartet (22 min)
Sean Rice, clarinet
Jessica Linnebach, violin
Emily Kruspe, violin
Carissa Klopoushak, viola
Rachel Mercer, cello
Sean Rice, host
Credits:
© 2019 Dobrinka Tabakova/Valonious Press. All rights reserved.
Gumboots by David Bruce Copyright © 2008 by Red Balloon Music. All rights reserved. Sole Agent: Bill Holab Music.
Repertoire
The Smile of Flamboyant Wings for string quartet
Dobrinka Tabakova (b. 1980) is a composer of “exciting, deeply moving” music (The Washington Times), with “glowing tonal harmonies and grand, sweeping gestures [which] convey a huge emotional depth” (The Strad). She has been commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society, BBC Radio 3, and the European Broadcasting Union. Her debut profile album String Paths, on ECM Records, was nominated for a Grammy in 2014. In 2017 she was appointed composer-in-residence with the BBC Concert Orchestra. An album of her orchestral works, recorded by the Halle Orchestra, was released in October 2023.
Born in the historic town of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Tabakova has lived in London since 1991, graduating from the Guildhall School of Music, and obtaining a PhD from King’s College London. Her music has featured in films, dance, and has been programmed at festivals across Europe and the U.S. including the BBC Proms and Bang on a Can. Tabakova has been resident composer at the Davos Summer Festival in Switzerland and Truro Cathedral, Cornwall (U.K.), as well as with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Swan (Stratford, U.K.). Among prizes for her work are the prize for an anthem for Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and First Prize and Medallion at the Sorel Choral Composition Contest in New York. In 2022, she was named the Halle Orchestra’s artist in association.
Tabakova’s string quartet The Smile of Flamboyant Wings from 2019 was commissioned by Cité de la Musique, which includes the Philharmonie de Paris, Festspielhaus Baden Baden, and the European Concert Hall Organization in the framework of ECHO Rising Stars. Written especially for the Goldmund Quartet, the work, according to a published description, “takes its name from Joan Miró’s painting of the same name, though it is not meant as a musical representation of the artwork. If there are any similarities with the painting and Miró’s work, they would take broader themes such as the relationship between the linear and horizontal and the interplay between used and free space on the canvas.” An “elaborately rhythmic opening and flowing, unpredictable melody set the scene”; a chorale-like middle section follows, and the piece closes with a transformed reprise of the opening material.
The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini for string quartet
Sri Lankan-born Canadian Dinuk Wijeratne (b. 1978) is a Juno and multi-award-winning composer, conductor, and pianist who has been described by The New York Times as “exuberantly creative,” and by the Toronto Star as “an artist who reflects a positive vision of our cultural future.” His boundary-crossing work sees him equally at home in collaborations with symphony orchestras and string quartets, tabla players and DJs, and takes him to international venues as poles apart as the Berlin Philharmonie and the North Sea Jazz Festival.
The Disappearance of Lisa Gherardini was commissioned as a test piece for the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022. Wijeratne provides the following description about his piece:
This virtuoso musical escapade for string quartet is inspired by the audacious, real-life theft of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum in 1911.
The most famous painting in the world began its life very unassumingly. In 1503, it was created by Leonardo for the Florentine silk merchant Francesco del Giocondo, who commissioned the portrait of his wife, Lisa Gherardini. The occasion marked the birth of their second son—especially significant given the tragically high levels of maternal and infant mortality in those days.
The extraordinary true story of the theft of the Mona Lisa reads like the plot of some sensational Hollywood movie. An inconspicuous Italian handyman named Vincenzo Peruggia hid overnight in one of the Louvre closets and chose exactly the right moment to emerge and lift the painting off the wall. As a former museum employee, he was familiar with the rhythm of the guards. The whole thing was, as they say, an inside job.
The music of this piece is fuelled by the knowledge that it was, in fact, a high-profile theft (and a subsequent two-year disappearance) that skyrocketed the Mona Lisa from a relatively unknown artwork into legend.
Unfolding in three sections, the piece is built upon two main themes representing “Lisa” and “the heist”, respectively. In the first section, as we imagine a young lady with an enigmatic smile posing for her portrait, Lisa’s theme is introduced on the cello as the violins evoke gentle brushstrokes. The second section is announced by a restless and slightly “wonky” cello pizzicato groove—the heist is underway. As the perpetrators reach their mark, Lisa’s theme makes a rushed and unsettled reappearance as her portrait is whisked away. The music reaches a chaotic climax immediately after the violins imitate police sirens, and then collapses. The third section jump-cuts to present-day Paris. Lisa is back in her rightful place at the museum, elevated in stature, status, and celebrity.
We tend to forget that Lisa was a real person. As I worked on this music, I thought less about the masterly technique and artistry of the portrait than I did about Lisa herself. I imagined her as a character who moved through time—from humble obscurity, through a sudden and mysterious disappearance, to the kind of over-hyped fame that attracts 30,000 visitors daily. I can’t help but wonder whether Lisa would have wanted all this attention, not to mention from all the selfie-takers.
In the last few seconds of the piece, the heist theme makes a brief appearance. Could Lisa be taken from us again? And might she actually prefer to disappear altogether?
Gumboots for clarinet and string quartet
Born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1970, David Bruce grew up in England and now enjoys a growing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. Bruce’s music draws on the wild dances and heart-felt laments of Roma music, flamenco, klezmer, and other folk traditions, as well as having a direct connection to composers like Stravinsky, Janaček, Berio, and Bartók who shared similar passions. Often witty and always colourful, pulsing with earthy rhythms, Bruce’s music has a directness rarely heard in contemporary music, but also contains an emotional core of striking intimacy and sensitivity.
Carnegie Hall has been a huge supporter of Bruce’s music, with several commissions including Gumboots for clarinet and string quartet (2008), originally for Todd Palmer and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Bruce describes his piece as follows:
There is a paradox in music, and indeed all art—the fact that life-enriching art has been produced, even inspired by conditions of tragedy, brutality, and oppression, a famous example being Olivier Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time, written while he was in a prisoner-of-war camp. Gumboot dancing bears this trait; it was born out of the brutal labour conditions in South Africa under apartheid, in which black miners were chained together and wore gumboots (wellington boots) while they worked in the flooded gold mines, because it was cheaper for the owners to supply the boots than to drain the floodwater from the mine. Apparently slapping the boots and chains was used by the workers as a form of communication that was otherwise banned in the mine, and this later developed into a form of dance. If the examples of gumboot dancing available online are anything to go by, it is characterized by a huge vitality and zest for life. So, this, for me, is a striking example of how something beautiful and life enhancing can come out of something far more negative. Of course, this paradox has a far simpler explanation—the resilience of the human spirit.
My Gumboots is in two parts of roughly equal length, the first is tender and slow moving, at times yearning, at times seemingly expressing a kind of tranquility and inner peace. The second is a complete contrast, consisting of five, ever-more-lively “gumboot dances”, often joyful and always vital.
However, although there are some African music influences in the music, I don’t see the piece as being specifically “about” the gumboot dancers, if anything it could be seen as an abstract celebration of the rejuvenating power of dance, moving as it does from introspection through to celebration. I would like to think, however, that the emotional journey of the piece, and specifically the complete contrast between the two halves will force the listener to conjecture some kind of external “meaning” to the music—the tenderness of the first half should “haunt” us as we enjoy the bustle of the second; that bustle itself should force us to question or reevaluate the tranquility of the first half. But to impose a meaning beyond that would be stepping on dangerous ground—the fact is you will choose your own meaning, and hear your own story, whether I want you to or not.
Program notes compiled and edited by Hannah Chan-Hartley, PhD
Artists
Since its debut in 1969, the National Arts Centre (NAC) Orchestra has been praised for the passion and clarity of its performances, its visionary educational programs, and its prominent role in nurturing Canadian creativity. Under the leadership of Music Director Alexander Shelley, the NAC Orchestra reflects the fabric and values of Canada, reaching and representing the diverse communities we live in with daring programming, powerful storytelling, inspiring artistry, and innovative partnerships.
Alexander Shelley began his tenure as Music Director in 2015, following Pinchas Zukerman’s 16 seasons at the helm. Principal Associate Conductor of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, and former Chief Conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra (2009–2017), he has been in demand around the world, conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Leipzig Gewandhaus, and Stockholm Philharmonic, among others, and maintains a regular relationship with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie and the German National Youth Orchestra.
Each season, the NAC Orchestra features world-class artists such as the newly appointed Artist-in-Residence James Ehnes, Angela Hewitt, Joshua Bell, Xian Zhang, Gabriela Montero, Stewart Goodyear, Jan Lisiecki, and Principal Guest Conductor John Storgårds. As one of the most accessible, inclusive, and collaborative orchestras in the world, the NAC Orchestra uses music as a universal language to communicate the deepest of human emotions and connect people through shared experiences.
Canadian violinist of German and Lebanese ancestry, Jessica Linnebach, has established herself as an accomplished artist with a thriving multi-faceted career encompassing solo, chamber, and orchestral performances.
Known for her “burnt caramel sound, utterly fearless virtuosity . . . and romantic lyricism” (ARTSFILE), Jessica has performed as a soloist with orchestras around the world. A passionate chamber musician, Jessica is a member of the Ironwood String Quartet along with her NAC Orchestra colleagues Emily Kruspe, Carissa Klopoushak, and Rachel Mercer. They are frequent performers at chamber music series and festivals, including the NAC’s WolfGANG and Music for a Sunday Afternoon series and Ottawa Chamberfest, Pontiac Enchanté, Ritornello, and Classical Unbound festivals. As part of a commitment to reaching broader audiences, Jessica is one of the artistic directors of the Classical Unbound Festival, a chamber music festival in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Accepted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at age ten, Jessica remains one of the youngest-ever Bachelor of Music graduates in the school’s history. While there, Jessica’s primary teachers were Aaron Rosand, Jaime Laredo, and Ida Kavafian. At age 18, she received her Master of Music from the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, where she studied with Pinchas Zukerman and Patinka Kopec.
Jessica resides in Ottawa, where she has been Associate Concertmaster with the NAC Orchestra since 2010. A natural leader, Jessica has performed numerous times as guest concertmaster with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jessica plays a circa 1840 Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume (Guarnerius del Gésu 1737) violin. Her bows are crafted by Ron Forrester and Michael Vann.
Toronto-born violinist Emily Kruspe has a great love for musical collaborations, chamber music, harmony, and rhythmic groove. She has performed extensively throughout North America and Europe, most notably with the Rolston String Quartet from 2018 to 2020. Emily regularly performs with the Toronto-based ARC Ensemble and is featured on its newest CD, Chamber Works by Alberto Hemsi. Her love of chamber music stems from festivals she attended in her youth: Yellow Barn, the Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, the Banff International String Quartet Festival, and the Domaine Forget Chamber Music Festival. As an orchestral musician, Emily has performed with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Ballet Orchestra of Canada, and the Canadian Opera Company Orchestra. She was a winner of the Glenn Gould School’s Concerto Competition and the University of Toronto Concerto Competition, a recipient of the Orford String Quartet Award, and was previously a CBC Young Artist. In 2018, she was named one of CBC Music’s 30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30.
Emily completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto under Erika Raum, received an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School under Paul Kantor and Barry Shiffman, and studied at the Colburn School with Martin Beaver. She was a 2017–2018 fellow of the Rebanks Family Fellowship and International Performance Residency Program at the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and was subsequently awarded a violin from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Emily has been a proud member of the National Arts Centre Orchestra since October 2022 and regularly plays with the Ironwood Quartet, composed of NACO colleagues Jessica Linnebach, Carissa Klopoushak, and Rachel Mercer. When she isn’t playing music, she can be found cycling, teaching, and walking her cats, Figaro and Rosie, around the perimeter of her house repeatedly.
Carissa Klopoushak has made a name for herself as a curious, creative, and versatile musician. She leads a multifaceted musical life as a violinist, violist, chamber musician, orchestral player, and curator. A charismatic and engaging performer, Carissa’s playing has been described as “the complete package of sensitive musicianship and effortless technique” (E-Gré Competition). Based in Ottawa, Canada, she is a proud violinist with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Ironwood Quartet and serves as Artistic Director of Ottawa Chamberfest.
A passionate collaborator, Carissa has been featured at many chamber music festivals across Canada and has toured the country extensively in recitals for Debut Atlantic and as the winner of the 2009 Eckhardt-Grammatté National Music Competition. Carissa joined the Australian Chamber Orchestra for a series of tours, residencies, and recordings in the 2013/2014 season and has shared the stage with acclaimed artists such as Lara St. John, Jon Kimura Parker, Inon Barnatan, Gryphon Trio, Cecilia Quartet, Mark Fewer, Martin Beaver, John Storgårds, Branford Marsalis, Miloš Karadaglić, and Richard Reed Parry. Since 2014, Carissa has been a member of the Ironwood Quartet, made up of friends and NACO colleagues Jessica Linnebach, Emily Kruspe, and Rachel Mercer.
Carissa’s love of chamber music extends into creation and curation, where she continuously strives to bring the concert experience into the 21st century through fresh and innovative programming and presentation. Named Artistic Director of Ottawa Chamberfest in 2020, Carissa programs and oversees a two-week summer festival (amongst the world’s largest), a fall-winter concert series, and a suite of community engagement and education initiatives. She cut her teeth as a curator, co-founder, and co-director of the Ritornello Chamber Music Festival in her hometown, Saskatoon, and as co-director of Classical Unbound in wine-loving Prince Edward County with Ironwood.
As a dynamic and fluid musician never limited by genre, Carissa thrives in the richness of various musical experiences. She is the lead singer, violinist, and arranger for the Ukrainian turbo-folk band Тут і Там (pronounced Toot-ee-tahm). The band has recorded four full-length albums and performed at major Ukrainian festivals across Canada, Sydney, Australia, and Ukraine. In her multidimensional world, she has co-composed and recorded a ballet score for Edmonton’s Ukrainian Shumka Dancers’ production Ancestors & Elders, performed the Canadian premiere of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and toured Canada, China, and Europe with the National Arts Centre Orchestra.
Carissa strongly advocates for more inclusion in classical music, programming and performing new music, female composers, and giving a platform to underrepresented voices. Her artistic evolution is guided by music’s universality—its power to connect people and its ability to build communities. As a musician and presenter, she aims to bring people closer together. The pursuit of meaningful and honest connection, combined with a healthy dose of curiosity, drives her artistic voice. She brings a versatile skill set, a unique voice, warm energy, and vigorous dedication to any musical pursuit.
Carissa holds a doctorate in violin performance from McGill University, where she focused on the little-known classical violin repertoire of Ukrainian composers. A two-time laureate of the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank Competition, Carissa performed on two Vuillaume violins from the collection, most recently a beautiful Maggini model from 1851.
Carissa currently performs on a 2009 instrument by Mark Schnurr of Flesherton, Ontario, and a Denis Cormier viola. Her debut recording, Soundworlds, was released in 2016 with Canadian pianist Philip Chiu. When not making music, you can find Carissa spinning vinyl, spending time with her partner, Emily, and their cats, Fig and Rosie, or expanding her love of coffee in some little café somewhere.
Described as a "pure chamber musician" (The Globe and Mail) creating "moments of pure magic" (Toronto Star), Canadian cellist Rachel Mercer has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician across five continents.
Grand prize winner of the 2001 Vriendenkrans Competition in Amsterdam, Rachel is Principal Cello of the NAC Orchestra in Ottawa and Co-Artistic Director of the "5 at the First" Chamber Music Series in Hamilton and Orleans, Ontario. Rachel plays with the Mercer-Park Duo, the St. John-Mercer-Park Trio and the Ironwood Quartet, and was cellist of the JUNO award-winning piano quartet Ensemble Made In Canada (2008-2020), the AYR Trio (2010-2020), and the Aviv Quartet (2002-2010). She has given masterclasses across North America, South Africa and Israel and talks on performance and careers in music.
An advocate for new Canadian music, Rachel has commissioned and premiered over 30 works, including cello concerti by Stewart Goodyear and Kevin Lau, as well as solo and chamber works by Vivian Fung, Andrew Downing, Alice Ho, David Braid, Kelly Marie-Murphy, John Burge, and Jocelyn Morlock. Recent chamber and solo albums include Kevin Lau: Under A Veil of Stars (Leaf Music), Our Strength, Our Song (Centrediscs), John Burge: One Sail (Naxos), Alice Ho: Mascarada (Centrediscs), and from 2012, the complete Bach Suites (Pipistrelle) with the 1696 Bonjour Stradivarius Cello from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank. Rachel currently plays a 17th-century cello from Northern Italy.
Originally from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Sean Rice has performed extensively throughout North America and around the world. His broadcasts include recitals with CBC Radio, performances for Schweizer Radio DRS, and Lucerne Festival live streams for the 2016 New York Philharmonic Biennial and the 2019 Lucerne Festival Alumni Orchestra.
Recognized as an exciting interpreter of contemporary music, The New York Times has described Sean as a “technically precise, exuberant protagonist” in performance. Sean has performed at festivals such as the Lucerne Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, New York City’s Museum of Modern Art Summergarden concert series, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Banff Music Festival. In addition to numerous New York Times reviews, Sean’s performances have received high praise from the Ottawa Citizen, Musical Toronto, and ARTSFILE. For a recent performance of Golijov’s Ayre at Ottawa Chamberfest, Musical Toronto wrote: “The performers were strong, especially NACO clarinetist Sean Rice, who unloaded a wailing solo that rivalled even the best Klezmer effort by Giora Feidman.”
Sean was invited at an early age to perform a concert with the National Arts Centre Orchestra during its 2002 Atlantic Tour and has subsequently appeared as a soloist with ensembles including the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Axiom, The New Juilliard Ensemble, and Symphony Nova Scotia. The recipient of numerous awards, Sean received first prize at the 2006 Canadian Concerto Competition hosted by the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. Following his 2007 Montréal debut at Jeunesses Musicales, La Presse wrote: ". . . clarinettiste canadien Sean Rice y révéla une technique impeccable, une authentique musicalité, une sonorité tour à tour éclatante et chaleureuse, et un vrai talent de chambriste.” Continuing the 2007–2008 season, Sean performed his first national tour with pianist Jean-Philippe Sylvestre for Jeunesses Musicales’ touring series. Since then, he has toured frequently throughout major cities across the United States, Europe, Malaysia, Brazil, and Japan.
As an educator, Sean has served as a visiting professor at Memorial University (2017–2018) and director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the University of Ottawa (2012–2017). He has been invited to give masterclasses at institutions such as the Royal College of Music, the Beijing Central Conservatory, the University of British Columbia, and the University of West England. Additionally, Sean has adjudicated numerous competitions, including the National Music Festival Competition held by the Canadian Association of Music Festivals. In the fall of 2021, Sean joined the clarinet faculty at the University of Ottawa.
As a conductor, Sean debuted in 2012 as the director of the Contemporary Music Ensemble at the University of Ottawa. In 2017, he led an ensemble of musicians from the National Arts Centre Orchestra and made his international conducting debut at the International Society for Contemporary Music Festival in Vancouver. Recently, Sean conducted the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra for its 2021-2022 season opener—their first performance since the pandemic.
Sean has developed a significant profile outside the concert hall as a classical music podcaster and host. Under his tenure, the National Arts Centre NACOcast has enjoyed great success and international recognition, and Classic FM continues to list his podcasts among the top ten in the world for classical music. Sean also hosts the NAC’s WolfGANG Sessions—a contemporary music series he helped design and curate for the National Arts Centre.
Sean is a graduate of Memorial University of Newfoundland, where he received his Bachelor of Music while studying with Paul Bendzsa.
Continuing his studies under the tutelage of Charles Neidich, Sean graduated with a Master of Music and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from The Juilliard School. Currently living in Ottawa, audiences can hear him perform regularly as a recitalist, chamber musician, and Second Clarinet/Bass Clarinet of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.