Mohawk College hosted the World Premiere of Malcom Forsyth’s Trickster Coyote---Lightening Elk, a work commissioned by Mohawk violinist Tara-Louise Montour to honour and explore her First Nations roots. The soloist appeared on-stage, dressed by Dene designer. Forsyth’s work, three movements played without a break, exemplify different aspects of different nations—the pow-wow, the four points and colours of the compass, and the flight and whooshing of arrows. The eagle, soaring to the sun and representing the colour yellow, fixes the eastern point of the compass. The bear, black, broodingly introspective, fixes the west. Forsyth employed contrapuntal lines in this movement, to represent the ‘serious’ nature of the bear’s inner gaze. The seven Arrows of the finale, contrasts the linear sounds with forceful, rhythmic jabs of sound. Aborinigal drum and rattle figure throughout.
The other works on the concert, narrated by former prima ballerina, Veronica Tennant, combined music, movement, and legend. The Prometheus myth, written by Beethoven, opened the concert. Excerpts from Tchaikosky’s Swan Lake and Stravinski’s Firebird completed the concert.
Boris Brott, former conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, has founded the Brott Music festival, a summer experience for young performers on the cusp of their professional careers. The musicians, invited by Brott to work with local musician-teachers, spend the summer rehearsing and performing in the National Academy Orchestra of Canada.
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