Composition by Sudbury composer Robert Lemay to be performed at a International Major Festival

 3/11/2010
 The 5-Penny New Music Concerts is pleased to announce that a composition by Robert Lemay has been selected for performance at the World New Music Days of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) in Sydney, Australia. The piece, entitled Calligramme, will be performed by the Sydney Conservatorium Saxophone Ensemble. The festival will take place from April 30 to May 9, 2010. The majority of the concerts will also be recorded for broadcast on ABC Classic FM, Australia’s national classical music station.

The World New Music Days is a prestigious international festival devoted to contemporary music. Organized annually in different cities around the world, this year’s event in Sydney is presented by the Aurora Festival and features the music of composers from 52 countries, including three from Canada.

Scored for six saxophones (soprano, two altos, two tenors and baritone), Calligramme was premiered in Paris in 2005 by the Ensemble de saxophones du CNR de Boulogne-Billancourt, under the direction of Jean-Michel Goury, at the Maison du Canada. The piece has since been performed by ensembles in France, the US, and at the 15th World Saxophone Congress in Bangkok, Thailand. The piece was inspired by French poet Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918), who was a noted exponent of the calligram, a form of visual or concrete poetry where the verses are arranged on the page in the shape of an object. Lemay’s Calligramme is intended as a “sound object,” with the six musicians placed onstage, backstage and in the concert hall.

The ISCM was founded in 1922 in Salzburg, Austria, by a group of eminent composers that included Bela Bartok and Anton Webern.  The society’s principal activity is the World New Music Days festival, where major works such as Alban Berg's Violin Concerto (Barcelona, 1936) and Pierre Boulez's Le marteau sans maître (Baden-Baden, 1955) have been premiered.

About Robert Lemay
Robert Lemay's music is noted for its virtuoso performance techniques and imaginative use of the concert hall space. He has written in a variety of genres, and is known especially for his works for saxophone. His compositions have been performed and broadcast in many countries in Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific Rim.

Robert Lemay is the recipient of grants and awards from numerous foundations and arts councils. His most recent honours include the second prize from the International Competition Prize Luxembourg 2007 and the second prize from the Kazimierz Serocki 10th International Composers' Competition 2006 in Poland.

Dr. Lemay is a part-time member of the Laurentian music faculty. He also is  the Composer-in-Residence of the Sudbury Symphony Orchestra, and the President and Artistic Co-Director of the 5-Penny New Music Concerts in Sudbury.

'Living Music'

Announcing the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days festival in Sydney

Sydney’s hosting of the ISCM World New Music Days festival from 30 April to 9 May heralds the first time in the 88-year history of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) that the prestigious event will be held in the southern hemisphere. It will also be the largest festival of contemporary music ever held in Australia.
 
Since the ISCM’s founding in 1922, ISCM festivals have included the world premieres of works by a diverse range of important composers, many of which have become standard repertoire, for example Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, and Ravel’s Piano Concerto for Left Hand. Australian works have regularly featured in the festival since 1938 in London, when Peggy Glanville Hicks’ Choral Suite was performed on a program which included Britten’s Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge, and Bartók’s Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussions.
 
In putting together the programme for this festival, more than 700 works from 52 countries were assessed, with over 82 works being selected. These reflect a broad spectrum of innovative musical practice, covering traditional chamber groups and choirs to cutting edge multimedia and sound installations. Music has been sourced from Australia and Asia; Western and Eastern Europe; North, South and Central America, and South Africa.
 
There will be performances by some of Australia’s top music ensembles, from established professionals such as the Goldner String Quartet, The Song Company and Topology through to emerging artists including the Sydney Conservatorium of Music Big Band, Sydney Symphony Fellowship and the Sydney Children’s Choir. Fresh from their recent success at the Sydney Festival, outstanding Sydney-based Ensemble Offspring will hold pride of place within the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days. They will present three performances, including a breakthrough concert of music by young composers from Australia, Greece, Sweden, South Africa and Russia.
 
In addition to the influx of international composers and delegates, we also welcome a strong international performing presence to the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days. The Spectra Ensemble from Belgium will perform at the Campbelltown Arts Centre; and the NZTrio will perform at the Eugene Goossens Hall (ABC Ultimo Centre) in Sydney. Groundbreaking composer Annea Lockwood (US/NZ) of Piano Burning fame will be in residence at the Campbelltown Arts Centre to install some of her piano works and to showcase a recent video work, Bow Falls.
 
Notable in the 2010 ISCM World New Music Days is the inclusion of a special category of radiophonic works – 14 works that have been specifically written for radio broadcast.  Composers in this category are from Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, Hong Kong, Turkey and Portugal.  Our media partner, ABC Classic FM, will be presenting these and other works recorded during the festival throughout Australia, as well as streamed via the web.

To view a complete list of selected works in the program please go to: http://www.worldnewmusicdays.com.au/?p=156 

2010 ISCM World New Music Days festival
When: 30 April – 9 May 2010
Artistic Director - Dr Matthew Hindson

Presenting partners: Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Aurora New Music, ABC Classic FM, Australian Music Centre, New Music Network and Campbelltown Arts Centre
Supporting Partners: Australia Council for the Arts, Arts NSW, Ars Musica Australis. Through the Australia Council for the Arts, funding has been made available for international ISCM delegates and for composers whose works will be performed to receive accommodation and entry to concerts for the duration of the festival.  

Venues: Sydney Conservatorium of Music, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (Penrith), Eugene Goossens Hall (ABC Ultimo Centre), Parramatta Riverside Theatre, Blacktown Arts Centre and St. Finbar’s Church, Glenbrook.

For ticket information and more information, including a complete list of composers and performers, please go to <http://www.worldnewmusicdays.com.au>