Lake of Stars

7:30pm May 14th, 2022 at Pacific Spirit United Church

Elektra is pleased to welcome you to “Lake of Stars”, a program weaving together themes of water, stars, and night.  Opening and closing the program are folk-inspired works from the Nordic countries.
New times mean new collaborations, and we are thrilled to welcome guests the Sitka String Quartet and Squamish Nation educator and reader Candice Halls-Howcroft.
Today’s performance is the result of several projects that have been undertaken during the pandemic and now, finally, can be brought to you live in concert. The theme of water is present in our opening work, Vesi Väsyy Lumen Alle, based on a haunting Finnish melody introduced to us by the flute, and again in the world premiere of a five-movement suite called Snewíyalh tl’a Staḵw (Teachings of the Water) by T. Patrick Carrabré with Squamish language text by Rebecca Duncan. We also introduce you early on to another recurring theme with Ramona Luengen’s lyrical Night.  Its opening lines, “The sparkling stars pin an inky black canvas across the endless expanse of sky” sets the scene for our time together.  To close the first half, the brilliant and playful Two Shakespeare Songs by Stephen Smith, also enjoying their world premiere in these concerts.
The Sitka String Quartet takes centre stage to open the second half, bringing repertoire from the Danish String Quartet (Shore by Fredrik Sjölin and The Dromer arranged by the Danish String Quartet). And then I invite you to sit back and absorb a three-part landscape of works by Marie-Claire Saindon, Alexsandra Vrebalov (Starry Night), and Santiago Veros, whose brand new work, Lake of Stars is the fruit of a collaboration between five choirs across North America. We leave you with the very playful Kisti du Kom, another nod to the Nordic traditions, this time a Danish arrangement of two traditional Swedish melodies.
Lake of Stars Program
Lake of Stars Listener’s Guide

Performance Pieces:

  1. Vesi Väsyy Lumen Alle Traditional Finnish Harri Wessman (arr) 
  2. Night Canadian Work Ramona Luengen
  3. Snewíyalh tl’a Staḵw (Teachings of the Water) Canadian Work T. Patrick Carrabré
  4. Two Shakespeare Songs Canadian Work Stephen Smith
  5. Blinded by a Leafy Crown Canadian Work Marie-Claire Saindon
  6. Lake of Stars Santiago Veros
  7. Kisti du Kom Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (arr) 

Canadian Work Legend Canadian Work