8:00 pm concert
7:15PM PRE-CONCERT MUSICAL INSIGHTS WITH ALEXINA LOUIE & GUESTS

Paired with the exuberance of Chris Goddard’s specially commissioned work showcasing “the fearless ethos of Esprit,” Adès’ powerful overture to The Tempest heralds our Edge of Your Seat International Festival. Gabriella Smith’s piece evokes ravens rolling, swooping, diving, soaring—an imagined ecstasy of wind, surf, sand, and sea beneath endless jet trails. Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s transfixing music alternates between loud orbits of sound with intensity and urgency, and calm, ethereal stillness. Back by popular demand is Ben Nobuto’s Serenity 2.0 for string quartet, percussion and electronics—a guided meditation that continually derails. Our festival bookends with another Nobuto work, the large-scale, humorous Hallelujah Sim., a playful game-like take on the Hallelujah Chorus, performed in April with 72 voices, orchestra and electronics.

FEATURING

Alex Pauk Conductor

PROGRAMME

Thomas Adès
Overture to the Tempest (2004)

Anna Thorvaldsdottir
ax (constellation from METAXIS)* (2024)

Christopher Goddard
a brace, a round, a bracing sound** (2025)

Ben Nobuto
Serenity 2.0 (2021)

Gabriella Smith
Tumblebird Contrails*** (2014)

* North American Premiere 
** World Premiere, commissioned by Esprit Orchestra with support from the Epstein Family Trust
*** Canadian Premiere