Program Notes

Metamorphosis

The Artists

Judith Yan

conductor
Equally adept at conducting symphony, opera, and ballet, Judith Yan has held Staff Conductor positions at San Francisco Opera, Canadian … Full Bio

Sanjana Brijlall

Vocalist
Sanjana Brijlall is a 21-year-old mezzo-soprano from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. She is entering her fourth … Full Bio

Monique Martin

Visual Artist
Monique is an eco-conscious, internationally recognized, multi-disciplinary artist from Saskatoon, Canada with a 25-year exhibition … Full Bio

Sonia Reid

vocalist
Sonia Reid is a dynamic vocalist, seasoned performer, and dedicated vocal coach with over 25 … Full Bio

Sofia Mycyk

piano
A passionate performer and dedicated teacher, Dr. Sofia Mycyk embraces a multi-faceted career in music. … Full Bio
Click To See Your Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra

This concert includes

Violin 1
Drusilla Waltz, acting concertmaster
Lillian Jen-Payzant
Simon Fanner
Samara Caldwell
Katia Pletneva

Violin 2
Oxana Ossiptchouk
Karen Bindle
Kevin MacMillan
Wagner Barbosa

Viola
Jim Legge
Jeremy Janzen
Sarah ter Velde

Cello
Joel MacDonald
John Payzant
Scott McKnight

Bass
Troy Morris

Flute
Allison Miller

Oboe
Erin Brophey

Clarinet
Gilles Turcotte

Bassoon
Stephanie Unverricht

Horn
Carol-Marie Cottin

Keyboard
Sofia Mycyk

Metamorphosis

Judith Yan, conductor
Monique Martin, artist
Sofia Mycyk, piano
Sanjana Brijlall, vocalist
Sonia Reid, spoken word and vocalist
Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra

PART I – EARTH

On the Nature of Daylight

Max Richter

Sinfonia for String Orchestra from String Quartet No. 8, Op. 110

III. Allegretto

Dmitri Shostakovich
Arr. Lucas Drew

Der Bote – 1996 (“The Messenger”)

Valentin Silvestrov

PART II – CREATURES

Holberg Suite, Op. 40

III. Gavotte

Edvard Grieg

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major, Op. 102

II. Andante

Dmitri Shostakovich

A T9 Date from “Sisyphus and the Search for Home”

Yash Kathrotia

PART III – US

A Family of One from “Sisyphus and the Search for Home”

Yash Kathrotia

Sankrant from “Sisyphus and the Search for Home”

Yash Kathrotia

A Farm Amidst Rajkot from “Sisyphus and the Search for Home”

Yash Kathrotia

Soay from “The Lost Songs of St. Kilda”

Traditional
Arr. Rebecca Dale

POSTLUDE

This Bitter Earth

Max Richter

Breathturn – Artist Statement

Floorcloth – Ink on Canvas – 35 x 37’, 120 sq meters – Silkscreened, hand-drawn positives – 2024
Butterflies – Silkscreen – Ink on paper – 25 x 35 colours per side, hand-drawn positives – Lifesize – 20 different species

An installation of approximately 25,000 silkscreened paper butterflies on a 130 square metre floor cloth depicting a prairie meadow created using silkscreen techniques.

Transformation is part of deep time, when life hangs like a question mark, fragile and always changing. Sometimes a single moment, a single breath, in a single day can determine a life but it can also take years and decades to form a life. The process of transformation allows us to live in the continuous present as we know we will not be the same person tomorrow that we were today. In the symphony of breath, confidence takes center stage, each inhalation a declaration of self-assurance, and each exhalation a release of doubt. The arithmetic of life can be looked at as continuous subtraction or as continuous transformation. In the cadence of each breath, there is an unwavering pulse that harmonizes with the ever-shifting melody of life. When parts of our life run thin like the transparent chrysalis of a butterfly there is room for transformation, change, growth, movement – a breathturn.

Sisyphus and the Search for Home

After cheating death and committing other mischievous acts, Sisyphus was condemned with the task of pushing a boulder up a mountain for eternity, to see it roll down as it neared the top. Albert Camus, a hoity-toity French philosopher, writes in his book The Myth of Sisyphus “The workman of today works every day in his life at the same tasks, and this fate is no less absurd. But it is tragic only at the rare moments when it becomes conscious.” (What a downer my guy…)

Sisyphus and the Search for Home is a collection of pieces about people and/or places I once thought could be my forever home. This open-ended series deals with the overused and clichéd, yet necessary, subject matter of belongingness. And the fact that I have a handful of pieces in this series already should give you an idea of what a philosophical and physical nomadic life I have had. I often think of adding pieces to this series when I become conscious of the boulder I am pushing up the mountain. As Albert suggests, to answer the absurd by revolting against death and living out life, I revolt against the complex depths of nihilism with simplicity, accessibility, the beautifully mundane, and the impossible task of making my parents proud.

“The struggle itself towards the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” – My friend Albie.

Text From Sisyphus and the Search for Home

Text by Sarah Ens & Sheri Benning

Follow each sharp line’s slant
to scraps of colour flying,
flung free from bandaged hands.

Slice the sky open wide,
spill spectacle, shout the world
awake and starry-eyed.

Can you see me?
Believing in this flight
Watch how I’m reaching
My silhouette against the sky

And at night from the roof,
welcome sunset’s slow, soft wane,
dusk spooling gold and blue.

Fill sky with lantern light,
illuminate each high hope,
and dream in soaring kites.

Special Thanks To The Following

Marilyn Whitehead for the use of her Digital Grand.

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