Steven Isserlis, Cello

SCHUMANN/FAURÉ/ADÈS/MENDELSSOHN/BRAHMS

Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a unique and distinguished career as a soloist and chamber musician. How wonderful to celebrate such a rich musical collaboration between Steven Isserlis and pianist Connie Shih who both bring character, intensity, and beauty in all that they play. The recipient of many awards, Steven Isserlis’s honours include a CBE in recognition of his services to music, the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau, and the Piatigorsky Prize in the USA.

Sō Percussion is your guide for intriguing journeys to new worlds of sound. The adventurous percussion group is joined by groundbreaking beatboxer Dominic “Shodekeh” Talifero. The contemporary music program will include a diverse range of repertoire from contemporary “classics” to new works in an “exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam” (The New Yorker).

With innovative multi-genre original productions and sensational interpretations of modern classics, Sō Percussion has redefined the scope and role of the modern percussion ensemble, placing it at the leading edge of 21st-century music. "Through a mix of consummate skill and quirky charm, this mercurial quartet has helped ignite an explosive new enthusiasm for percussion music old and new” (The New York Times)

Shodekeh has made tremendous musical strides as a highly adept beatboxer, vocal percussionist, and breath artist who pushes the boundaries of the human voice within and outside the context of Hip Hop music and culture. In 2021, he was the first professional breath artist and beatboxer to present a compositional work at the legendary Carnegie Hall.

Journey into new worlds of sound with this intriguing collaboration!

ECHO: Memories of the World

This is an international multi-media project exploring the question: HOW DO WE SPEAK TO THE FUTURE? Join us for the second workshop of ECHO: MEMORIES OF THE WORLD, a work using music, narration, images, and film to explore models of knowledge sharing in four areas of the world: Canada, Norway, Austria, and Mali. The Isabel hosts the Phase Two residency of this project culminating in a free workshop performance. During Phase Two, the artists hone the reworked presentation flow and framework which is now based on the exploration of memory in four sections: the birth of memory, memory stored, memory suppressed, and memory as hope.

Artists in phase 1 and 2 have included: Gryphon Trio (Project Co-creator, performers), Reneltta Arluk (Project Co-creator, Director of Indigenous Arts at the Banff Centre), Alison Mackay (Project Co-creator, concert designer), Marion Newman (mezzo soprano), Diely Mori Tounkara (Malian kora), Rawdna Carita Eira (Sàmi poet and playwright), Nordic Voices, Ry Moran (Co-creator, Founding Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation and currently Associate University Librarian—Reconciliation at UVic Libraries), Andrew Balfour (composer), Eliot Britton (composer), Anne Beate Hovind (curator of Norway’s Future Library), and Caroline Hollway (producer).