The VSO's 6th Annual New Music Festival begins on January 16th, opening with a collaboration with Early Music Vancouver presenting Grammy-nominated New York Polyphony, a cappella vocal quartet in Missa Charles Darwin by Gregory Brown (brother of famed “Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown).

Vancouver’s own Standing Wave is the featured ensemble on January 17th in a program of largely Canadian works for chamber ensemble at Christ Church Cathedral.

The VSO is featured January 18th and 19th in a pair of programs that present masterpieces by the late Claude Vivier (perhaps Canada’s most appreciated composer on the international stage), as well as (American) John Luther Adams'  Grammy and Pulitzer Prize-winning Become Ocean.

The VSO also presents premieres by two Canadian women who are audience favourites: Award-winning composer Nicole Lizée and composer and zoomusicologist, Emily Doolittle.

Nicole Lizée’s new Percussion Concerto pushes VSO Principal Percussionist Vern Griffiths to his max, keeping perfectly in sync with a mind-blowing video mashup that reaches it’s climax with a sample from Scanners.

As a zoomusicologist and composer, Emily Doolittle’s new work is inspired by the song of the Bobolink, which, when slowed down and transcribed for orchestra, is quite unlike any music that would be familiar to humans.

Concertgoers will also look forward to pre-concert talks on January 18 & 19, which explore the ideas behind the music with musicians, philosophers, and an ornithologist, in addition to pre-concert performances from the VSO School of Music and after-parties in the Orpheum lobby on January 18 & 19 featuring Vancouver DJ Michael Red.

Website