Kevin Park
Artistic Director
DATE
Tue. February 11, 2025 - 1:00 PM
North Delta Centre for the Arts, Delta
SUBSCRIPTION
PROGRAM
Close for Couloir, Op. 48 for harp and cello
Caroline Lizotte
I. Cromlech (Ring O’Brodgar)
II. Clans (Battle O’Harlaw)
III. The Sodger An’ The Queen (Edinburgh Castle)
IV. Gargoyle Sang (Melrose Abbey)
V. Man to Man (The World O’er Shall Brithers Be For A’…
Dvandva
Jeffrey Ryan
Inspiration and Expiration
Thought and Desire
Gods and Demons
Moon and Stars
Past and Future
Moon and Sun
Gods and Humans
Knowledge and Action
Hymns and Praises
Sonata for Arpeggione in A minor, D. 821
Franz Schubert
VIDEO
COULOIR
Known for being ”…deeply connected to the moment of creation both with their own instruments and each other” Ariel Barnes, 1st Solo Cellist of the Nürnberg Symphony, and Heidi Krutzen, Principal Harp of the Philharmonia Orchestra, London, form the duo COULOIR. Dedicated to 21st Century Art Music, COULOIR’s passion lies in creating fresh music with today’s leading composers through the magical, kaleidoscopic sound world of cello and harp. Both Barnes and Krutzen have developed international presence as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral leaders, concertizing regularly in Europe, North America and Asia to critical acclaim. Described as “Music’s new rare pair…” and “de facto Ambassadors of Canadian Music” (The Georgia Straight) COULOIR’s work in the realm of contemporary music is a distillation of their artistic personalities, providing a “corridor” for what they love most about music making; story telling.
With a focus on developing original repertoire through collaboration and commissioning, COULOIR has thus far had ten duo works and two double concerti written for them by composers Kelly-Marie Murphy, James Maxwell, Baljinder Sekhon II, Jocelyn Morlock, Jeffrey Ryan, Ana Sokolovic, Andrew Staniland, Glenn Buhr, Caroline Lizotte, Brad Turner and Richard Birchall. Passionate about sharing this music, the Duo has programmed many of these works while touring extensively throughout North America, including appearances at the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Music on Main’s “Modulus Festival” and world premiers featured in live broadcasts for CBC Radio. COULOIR have appeared as concerto soloists with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia (Warsaw), Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Prague), and most recently given the world premiere of James Maxwell’s new double concerto “The Razor Hiss of a Whisper “ with Canada’s Turning Point Ensemble. Having released two studio recordings on PARMA/Ravello Records; "Wine Dark Sea" (2013) and prize winning "MAXWELL, MUHLY & COULOIR" (2016), COULOIR’s newest recording of Kelly-Marie Murphy’s double concerto with Orchestre Classiques de Montrèal was released in the fall of 2019 on Analekta.
HEIDI KRUTZEN
Heidi Krutzen’s ‘captivating’, ‘ravishingly colored’, ‘emotionally touching’ harp playing has moved audiences from New York to Tokyo. She is celebrated for her versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and orchestral performer. And as Principal Harp of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, she has enjoyed performing in the world’s great concert halls, from Shanghai to Berlin, under the direction of exceptional maestros. Noted as “deeply connected to the moment of creation”, Heidi’s performances are informed by her desire to connect with the audience through the transformative power of music.
A passionate advocate of collaboration and new music. She is a member of several acclaimed chamber groups: COULOIR with cellist, Ari Barnes; Trio Verlaine with flutist, Lorna McGhee and violist, David Harding; Krutzen/McGhee Duo; and the Turning Point Ensemble. With these groups, she has toured extensively throughout North America, concertized in the UK, and created several recordings including Maxwell, Muhly, Couloir which garnered "Artist of the Year" at the 2016 Western Canadian Music Awards, and Trio Verlaine’s Six Departures which was selected for the first-round ballot of the 57th Annual Grammy Awards. And many of her performances have been broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, NPR, and CBC Radio.
Heidi has also appeared as guest principal harpist with numerous orchestras such as the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center (USA), Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (UK), the London Symphony Orchestra (UK), the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Other career highlights include touring to Taiwan with the Formosa Quartet, performing with Trio Verlaine at the Edinburgh International Festival, recording Mark Armanini’s double concerto with the Latvian National Symphony, performances of Debussy’s Danse sacrée et profane and Kelly-Marie Murphy’s double concerto with COULOIR and the Vancouver Symphony, and subsequent performances of the double concerto with Sinfonia Varsovia (Warsaw) and Czech National Symphony Orchestra (Prague). A return guest at major festivals such as the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Heidi was also Principal Harp of Vancouver Opera for 20 years.
Dedicated to bringing her instrument into the forefront of 21st century music, she has commissioned 21 works thus far, championing Canada’s preeminent composers, and premiered nearly 100 more. She is also a committed educator, sharing her love for her instrument with students from the Trinity Laban Conservatoire, Royal Conservatory of Music, Royal Academy of Music, National Youth Orchestra Canada, the University of British Columbia, and in masterclasses throughout the US, Taiwan and the UK.
Amidst her full schedule, Heidi also prioritizes stewardship of her musical organizations, co-running the Philharmonia Chamber Players Series, and as a member of the Philharmonia Artistic Committee. A dedicated humanitarian, her charity Malambo Grassroots tun by small group of women, focuses on community development in southern Zambia, and also runs a scholarship and musical instrument donation program at the Ngoma Dolce Music Academy in Lusaka.
ARIEL BARNES
Described as creating a “mesmerizing musical experience” by combining his “deep personal connection” (Toronto Live Music Report), “luscious tone and technical prowess”(The Vancouver Sun), Ariel Barnes has been hailed as “truly an inspiring artist…the outstanding Canadian Cellist of his generation” (Maestro Bramwell Tovey). Equally comfortable with Baroque to Modern musical languages, his international concert engagements in Europe, North America and Asia include concerto appearances, chamber music collaborations and solo recitals, featuring performances in such venues as Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, Canada’s Orpheum Theatre, Germany’s Meistersingerhalle, Smetana Hall in Prague and the Tisch Auditorium in New York City. As a celebrated performer and recording artist, he is broadcast on platforms including CBC Radio 2 (CAD), BBC Radio 3 (UK), Hessischer Radio (GER) and BR KLASSIK (GER), has toured as a featured Jeunesses Musicales Canada Solo Artist and was featured in CBC Radio’s Canadian Bach Cello Suite project to launch their highly successful cbc.ca on-line music portal. His critically acclaimed recordings have been released on the Paladino (AUS), Orlando (AUS), Analekta (CAD), Centrediscs (CAD), Redshift (CAD) and PARMA/Ravello (USA) record labels, and his solo appearances include collaborations with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, INSO Lviv Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Kingston Symphony, Okanagan Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Island Symphony, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Chamber Choir, Festival de Febrero Chamber Orchestra, Cantus Ensemble and Turning Point Ensemble with conductors Bramwell Tovey, Jonathan Darlington, Yoav Talmi, Anne Manson, Peter Sommerer, Mateusz Moleda, Arthur Arnold, Earl Stafford, Steven Mercurio, Evan Mitchell, Pierre Simard, Tania Miller, Rosemary Thompson, Lutz Köhler, Owen Underhill, Julia Davids, and Alexander Zemtsov. With a passion for creating 21st Century Art Music he is consistently involved in working with composers and ensembles to develop new literature for the cello as a solo and chamber music instrument, currently having 8 Concerti and 11 Solo and Chamber works written especially for him. Ariel was awarded 1st Prize at the 24th International Johannes Brahms Competition, is a recipient of two Western Canadian Music Awards, a Juno nomination, the Felix Galimir Chamber Music Award @ the University of Toronto and has received generous project support from the British Columbia Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts, most notably as a winner of the 2012 Canada Council Musical Instrument Bank Competition.
At the core of his nourishment as an artist are his chamber music projects and collaborations. Dedicated to this genre for nearly 20 years now, his partners have included the Zodiac Trio, Dover String Quartet, St. Lawrence String Quartet, Musica Intima, members of the Attacca String Quartet, Manhattan Chamber Players, Australian String Quartet, Apollon Musagète String Quartet, Ensemble Made in Canada and the Formosa String Quartet, and many individual artists including Lars Vogt, Jane Coop, Kiveli Doerken, Sarah Davis Beuchner, Corey Hamm, Francine Kay, Arthur Rowe, Pawel Kolesnikov, Mahan Esfahani, Lara St. John, Soyoung Yoon, Bogdan Božović, Mark Fewer, Martin Chalifour, Benjamin Bowman, Jonathan Crowe, Andrew Wan, Steven Dann, Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Teng Li, Carrie Dennis, David Harding, Rosalind Ventris, Julian Arp, Lorna McGee, Susan Hoeppner, Sergio Pallottelli, Daniel Bolshoy and new music luminaries such as Steven Schick and Caroline Shaw. He has enjoyed repeat appearances at the Saronic Chamber Music Festival (Greece) Ottawa Chamberfest (Canada), Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada), Victoria Summer Music Festival (Canada), The Zodiac Music Festival and Academy (France), and is proud to be a founding member and regular guest of the Northern Lights Festival de Febrero (Mexico). Ariel currently plays in ensemble Kontraste, the Giocoso String Quartet and is one vital half of COULOIR, a cello/harp duo dedicated to developing a body of 21st Century Art Music for this colourful and evocative combination of instruments. COULOIR was awarded the honour of "2016 Artist of the Year" at the Western Canadian Music Awards for the release of their second recording, MAXWELL, MUHLY & COULOIR (www.couloirduo.com).
As a dedicated teacher, Mr. Barnes has fostered the talents of many cellists, aiding them in garnering prizes and recognition at the Busan Maru (Korea), Johansen (USA), Stulberg (USA) and Sheen (CAN) competitions and helping them continue their studies at some of the World’s finest music schools including the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, the Hans Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, the Schulich School of Music at McGill University in Montreal and the Harvard University Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Mr. Barnes is the former co-head of the cello department at the Vancouver Academy of Music and as a visiting artist has taught masterclasses at the University of Toronto, University of Manitoba, Brandon University and Penn State University. Mr. Barnes currently teaches a private class of students in Nuremberg, Germany.
Nourished by his experience in all major genres of performance and pedagogy, Ariel Barnes’ natural musicianship is recognised in his collaboration with musicians throughout the world.
"...played passionately by Ariel Barnes..."
BBC Music Magazine
