21C Ian Cusson and Stewart Goodyear: New Works

A spectacular night of new Canadian works! Three pieces by Métis composer Ian Cusson based on paintings of Hieronymus Bosch played by Trio Arkel, Duo Concertante, and Charles Hamann alongside the world premiere of an RCM commission by Stewart Goodyear for piano and jazz musicians Michael Occhipinti (guitar), Joy Lapps-Lewis (steel pan), Roberto Occhipinti (bass), and Larnell Lewis (drums).

Ian Cusson is a composer of art song, opera, and orchestral works. Of Métis (Georgian Bay Métis Community) and French-Canadian descent, his work explores Canadian Indigenous experience, including the history of the Métis people, the hybridity of mixed-racial identity, and the intersection of western and Indigenous cultures.

Proclaimed “a phenomenon” by the Los Angeles Times and “one of the best pianists of his generation” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, Stewart Goodyear is an accomplished concert pianist, improviser, and composer, whose recent commissions include a piano quintet for the Penderecki String Quartet and a piano work for the Honens Piano Competition.   His suite for piano and orchestra, Callaloo, and his Piano Sonata, were released by Orchid Classics. In 2021, The Royal Conservatory of Music appointed the RCM alumnus to a three-year term as its inaugural Artist-in-Residence.

Stewart Goodyear, piano
Michael Occhipinti, guitar
Joy Lapps-Lewis, steel pan
Roberto Occhipinti, bass
Larnell Lewis, drums

Duo Concertante
Nancy Dahn, violin
Timothy Steeves, piano

Charles Hamann, oboe
Frédéric Lacroix, piano

Trio Arkel
Marie Bérard, violin
Rémi Pelletier, viola
Winona Zelenka, cello

Program:
Ian Cusson: The Garden of Earthly Delights
Ian Cusson: Sonata for Oboe and Piano – The Haywain
Ian Cusson: The Cure of Madness (world premiere)
Stewart Goodyear: Specially Mixed (world premiere)*
1. Introduction (solo piano) –
2. Dee Baba (solo electric) –
3. Dogged by Hell Hounds (ensemble) –
4. Cadenza (solo piano) –
5. Oizys (ensemble) –
6. Cadenza –
7. Finale (ensemble)
Specially Mixed is commissioned by The Royal Conservatory’s 21C Music Festival from Stewart Goodyear with the generous support of the Esther Gelber Fund administered by the Canadian Music Centre.

Estimated Concert Length: 1st half: 50 minutes – 20 minutes intermission – 2nd half: 50 minutes

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