What's On
Thursday, May 29, 2008
BRIGHT LIGHTS: An Evening with R. MURRAY SCHAFER
In conversation Eleanor James
A celebration of his 75th birthday
presented by Market Hall Performing Arts
Canada’s pre-eminent composer – and resident of Indian River - R. Murray Schafer will talk about his art and share stories of his life and career in an informal evening of conversation and music.
An Evening with R. Murray Schafer is presented as part of the Market Hall’s Bright Lights series, an ongoing program of on-stage interviews with great artists from the Peterborough area. The evening will feature Schafer in conversation with Eleanor James, as well as a selection of his work performed by some of his favourite singers and musicians.
In this, his 75th year, Mr. Schafer is being recognized as one of Canada’s greatest living composers with special events around the country. “We’re very proud to bring Murray Schafer to the Bright Lights series,” said Market Hall general manager Bill Kimball. “This is a chance for Peterborough residents to hear first-hand what makes Murray tick. If anyone can be called a renaissance man Murray is the one.”
Hosting the event will be Schafer’s partner in life and art Eleanor James, for whom Schafer has written numerous works. Ms. James is an internationally recognized mezzo-soprano and artistic director of the innovative Peterborough-based opera company Lyric Stage. Interspersed with their conversation will be three performances of Schafer’s music: by James (accompanied by pianist Douglas Schalin); soprano Brooke Dufton; and a unique duet for voice and clarinet by the poet Rae Crossman and clarinetist Tilly Kooyman.
Schafer is perhaps best known for his monumental Patria cycle of 12 related music dramas, many of which are presented in unusual settings or at special times of the day or year. Beginning in 1988, when The Greatest Show was staged in Peterborough’s Del Crary Park, a number of the Patria works have been staged in and around the city. Since 2005 the Haliburton Forest and Wildlife Preserve, 130 km north of Peterborough, has hosted an annual Patria production, most recently Princess of the Stars in 2007.
Schafer is a leading proponent of protection for the natural soundscape of the environment and his work has assisted in worldwide awareness of needs for such things as noise protection laws and sound barriers. In fact, Schafer originated the term ‘soundscape’ while conducting research in acoustic ecology with the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in the early 1970’s. The concept of soundscape embraces all disciplines concerned with sound and the growing interest in soundscape research around the world led to the formation of the World Forum for Acoustic Research in 1994.
Murray Schafer has won national and international acclaim, not only for his achievements as a composer but also as an educator, environmentalist, literary scholar, visual artist and provocateur. His diversity of interests is reflected in the enormous range of his output; scholarly books, theatre works, pieces for amateur and professional choirs, commissions from symphonies around the world, as well as numerous works for solo voice and chamber music combinations.
About Bright Lights
Bright Lights is a series of live
on-stage conversations with great artists who live in, or hail from,
the Peterborough area.
The series is based on Market Hall's Greatest
100 in the Performing Arts, a centennial project for the City
of Peterborough that named the 100 most outstanding performing artists
in its history.
Proceeds from Bright Lights events contribute to Market Hall's artistic
programming as well as to the Bright Lights Award, an educational
bursary given out at each event to a young artist working in the same
field as the featured guest.