Redshift Radio – Details, episodes & analysis

Episode 17 of the Redshift Radio Podcast features an interview with pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa and composer Rodney Sharman. They join Adrian Verdejo to discuss their latest album Known and Unknown Solo piano works by Rodney Sharman 

Available on Redshift Records: https://redshiftrecords.org/new-releases/tk539/

When composer Rodney Sharman was 21, he swore to himself that he’d never do anything other than music to make a living. For over 40 years, he’s kept that promise. Rodney began composing at age 10 while growing up in the small town of Biggar, SK. As a kid he taught himself to play recorder, flute and oboe, and took clarinet lessons. He made a first attempt at writing for orchestra around age 13, but lacking proper score paper he drew his own and copied it at school. At 15, Rodney began composition lessons with Murray Adaskin in Victoria. Since then he’s become an internationally celebrated composer. He’s won the Kranichsteiner Prize in Germany, the CBC Young Composers Competition and the Walter Carsen Prize, among many others. He’s been resident composer for the Vancouver Symphony, the Victoria Symphony and the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. He’s closely collaborated with choreographer James Kudelka and film director Atom Egoyan and has a PhD from the State University of New York. He’s an all-around musical mensch who loves mentoring young composers and supporting the work of his contemporaries. Rodney’s instrumental music often blurs distinctions between harmony and timbre. He writes operas and cabaret songs. He loves to explore historical western music (operas by Wagner and Mozart, works by Schumann and Scarlatti), transforming musical artifacts into something new. Rodney remains totally engaged with the sense of possibility that creating music offers – that transcendental experience when the ego disappears and there’s nothing but the music to let him know what to do. 

http://www.rodneysharman.com/ 

RACHEL KIYO IWAASA “Keyboard virtuoso and avant-garde muse” (Georgia Straight) Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa is among Canada’s foremost contemporary music pianists. Rachel’s reputation for fearless performative risk has inspired many of Canada’s most notable composers to write for her, including Hildegard Westerkamp, Rodney Sharman, Jocelyn Morlock, Cris Derksen, Nicole Lizée, Farshid Samandari, Emily Doolittle, Jeffrey Ryan, Leslie Uyeda and Jordan Nobles. Rachel’s work as a recording artist is available from Redshift Records and earsay music. While grounded in the European classical tradition, Rachel explodes expectations of what is possible at the piano, flowering in liminal collisions between artistic genres. Her www.iwaasa.com interdisciplinary adventures include work with artist SD Holman; film director Nettie Wild; playwright David Bloom; choreographers Jennifer Mascall, Idan Cohen and Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg; and multi-media provocateur Paul Wong. With SD Holman, Rachel co-founded the Queer Arts Festival in Vancouver, acknowledged as one the top three festivals of its kind in the world. Rachel lives and works on the sovereign unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, also known as Vancouver, BC. Rachel and Rodney would like to thank SD Holman, David Kohlruss, Ken Gracie and Philip Waddell, Anthony de Mare, David Bloom, David Pay, DB Boyko, Jerry Pergolesi, Jordan Nobles, Ortwin Stürmer, Lydia Kwa, Mark Takeshi McGregor, Peter Eliot Weiss, Sunny Drake, Thalia Myers, The Banff Centre, and each other. Redshift TK539 www.redshiftrecords.org ©2024 Rachel Iwaasa and Rodney Sharman Dedicated in loving memory to Inger Iwaasa, 1930-2020, without whom this album (and so much more) would not have been possible. We gratefully acknowledge the McGrane-Pearson Endowment Fund, held at Vancouver Foundation, for commissioning Known and Unknown, and the Canada Council for commissioning support of Opera Transcriptions, Book 3.

https://www.iwaasa.com/

Website: https://redshiftradio.org/
Podcast Produced by Adrian Verdejo

Redshift Radio Episode 16- Remembering Jocelyn Morlock with guests Mark Takeshi McGregor, Jennifer Butler, Jordan Nobles and Rachel Iwaasa.

Jocelyn Morlock was a Canadian composer and music educator based in Vancouver, BC.

Jocelyn taught music composition at the UBC School of Music for many years. She was a dedicated music educator and cared deeply for her students and the community. Her composition My Name is Amanda Todd, commissioned and premiered by the National Arts Centre Orchestra, won the 2018 Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year. She was also the Composer-in-Residence for Music on Main (2012-2014) and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2014-2019).

She received her Bachelor of Music in piano performance at Brandon University, and both a Master’s degree and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of British Columbia. “With its shimmering sheets of harmonics” (Georgia Straight) and an approach that is “deftly idiomatic” (Vancouver Sun), Morlock’s music has received numerous national and international accolades, including Top 10 at the 2002 International Rostrum of Composers, the Mayor’s Arts Award for Music in Vancouver (2016) and the JUNO award for Classical Composition of the Year (My Name Is Amanda Todd, 2018).

Jocelyn was also presented with a Barbara Pentland Award of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to Canadian Music by the Canadian Music Centre in BC on December 4, 2018, after winning the Trifecta of a Jan V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, and a JUNO award, all in one year.

She is survived by her longtime partner and love, John Korsrud, family, and the many friends who loved her.

Adrian interviews Vancouver composer Jennifer Butler. They discuss her current projects, her musical background as a flutist transitioning to composition, recent explorations as a music educator, and she details her upcoming album "One More Way to See".
jenniferbutlercomposer.ca

Adrian speaks with Mexican-Canadian composer Alfredo Santa Ana, they discuss Alfredo’s current musical projects, his key influences and the path that lead him to being a composer and guitarist.

http://www.alfredosantaana.ca

On this episode of Redshift Radio, Adrian Verdejo interviews Vancouver-based soprano Sarah Jo Kirsch.

They discuss Sarah Jo’s recent activities and plans since moving to Vancouver, and their musical evolution to becoming a performer of Art Song and contemporary music. They discuss the importance of sharing music which is culturally and socially relevant to the modern world.

sarahjokirsch.com

Adrian Verdejo talks with Toronto-based composer and pianist Frank Horvat about his musical upbringing, his introduction to composition at a young age, and recent recordings published since the start of the pandemic. Frank discusses major themes in his work including mental health, and the importance of human connection through music.

http://www.frankhorvat.com

On this episode, Adrian Verdejo interviews Vancouver-based composer and flutist Rodney Sharman.

Rodney discusses his activities since the start of the pandemic, some of his works-in-progress and recently completed pieces. The composer reflects on his early introduction to music, and his course of studies with Murray Adaskin, Morton Feldman, Brian Ferneyhough and more.

Adrian and Rodney reflect on their past collaborations, and how the composer approaches writing for instruments and performers.

We listen to a premiere recording of a new work “Missing You” for alto flute and guitar, as performed by the Mark Takeshi McGregor and Adrian Verdejo. The piece was commissioned by the McGregor-Verdejo Duo with financial assistance from the Canada Council of the Arts.
http://www.rodneysharman.com

On this episode, Adrian Verdejo interviews double bassist and composer Mark Haney and Juno Award-Winning Harpist Angela Schwarzkopf.

MARK HANEY discusses how he started as a bass player, and he discovered his path as a composer. We talk about his early influences, and the creation of his debut album. He discusses his recent projects with the Little Chamber Music series, and gives his thoughts on the state of the arts approaching one year into the pandemic. Mark discusses his ongoing project Omnis Temporalis, and previews his works in progress.

ANGELA SCHWARZKOPF discusses her early music studies, and how she discovered the harp. She talks about her recent Juno Award-Winning album “Detach”, the composers, collaborators, and her experience at this year’s online Juno Awards Ceremony.

On the first episode of the Redshift Radio podcast, Adrian Verdejo introduces himself and the show. He gives us a brief history of his experience with the Redshift Music Society, and his vision for this podcast.

We hear an interview with composer Jordan Nobles and flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor, founders of Redshift Music Society. They further discuss its origins, as well as milestone concerts, memorable events, and the development of Redshift Records. Jordan and Mark discuss their recent activities, including the Unaccompanied online concert series, and future plans amidst the changing landscape of the cultural scene in Canada.

Adrian sits down with soprano Dorothea Hayley, they discuss the various ways in which she has adapted her artistic practice since the pandemic started. We hear her recent performance of Christopher Reiche’s Postcard Pieces for the Unaccompanied video series co-presented by the Canadian Music Centre.

We discuss her performance of John Cage’s The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs for the Little Chamber Music Series’ Isolation Commissions, and her long fascination with the music of Cage. Dory discusses her upcoming programming, and the recording project that has been occupying her time recently.

Adrian interviews Nicole Ge Li (Erhu) and Corey Hamm (Piano) they discuss their history as a duo, and writing for this unique instrumental grouping. They talk about their new album on Redshift Records (PEP Volume 3), we listen to some of their new recordings of works by composers Gao Ping and Somei Satoh, we discuss their future plans, and more!

John Oliver is a composer, guitarist, and electronic musician based in Vancouver. On this episode he discusses his formative years as a guitar student and how he started composing. John discusses his guitar music, his approach to working with musicians of varied musical backgrounds, and his recent electronic music.
https://www.johnolivermusic.com