A lovely irony that More Rivers was premiered beside an ocean! But that did not diminish the specialness of the occasion, considering that it was Christina Petrowska Quilico doing the premiering and it was hosted by Sound Symposium in one of my favourite places on the planet, St. John’s, Newfoundland!
Along with Christina’s performance, it was great to meet up with new and old friends, attend workshops and other concerts, including Sound Symposium’s final evening concert on the stunning grounds of Cape Spear.
Following our time in St. John’s, we capped off our week in NL by visiting Bonavista and were awestruck by the beauty of the landscape and scenery overlooking the Atlantic.
Christina and I share a passion for the environment. More Rivers is constructed with overlapping looping textures evoking the flow of water. Water is intrinsic to life. As living beings on this planet, it is one of our most important resources that requires our full respect and protection.
For me, the flow of water also conveys a spiritual sentiment. Being immersed within it or just in its presence provides a healing meditative calm.
More Rivers is inspired by these two sentiments. My hope is that listeners of this collection will share these two visions, in varying states of consciousness, as they immerse themselves in the wall of sound emanating from the piano.
This work is dedicated to the spirit of Ann Southam and her seminal work, Rivers. Ms. Southam’s work in the area of minimalist composition has been a significant influence on my life. In the past, I have had the chance to perform some of her Rivers pieces, surrounded by my own compositions in the programme, at my solo piano concerts. I feel like there is a sort of musical and spiritual lineage there. All this being said, More Rivers is not intended to be a sequel or continuation of Rivers, but my hope is that my own unique musical minimalist voice will be a tribute to this body of work that has impacted me so profoundly.
I started composing More Rivers in December 2022. The month before that, Lisa and I spent a wonderful week outside of Chilliwack, the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Stó:lō Coast Salish peoples. It’s a 90-minute bus ride east of Vancouver. We gave ourselves this secluded work retreat following an amazing eventful week in Vancouver. We rented an Airbnb overlooking the mighty Fraser River and a beautiful mountain range.
It was important to observe the Fraser in preparation to compose More Rivers. The Fraser is the longest river within Canada’s province of British Columbia. It is the 11th longest river in Canada. There was this hypnotic, constant flow of water surrounded by cathedral-like trees. We saw so many majestic bald eagles—too many to count.
I feel grateful to have enjoyed the pristine nature, both on that trip to BC and recently to NL. It reminded me how important it is to protect our planet’s fragile ecosystem. I didn’t want our plane trips west and east to be part of the problem, so I purchased Gold Standard Carbon Offsets courtesy of Less.
I delivered the composition to Christina last year and it was delightful to get-together to workshop the music. Abby, Christina’s dog, supervised our productive sessions and kept me nicely in line.
Last month, I attended Christina’s recording session for the More Rivers album, being produced by David Jaeger and engineered by Dennis Patterson. What a special day it was for me to be in the presence of three people I admire and appreciate very much!
Christina is a highly acclaimed pianist and Order of Canada recipient. I have been a big fan of hers for quite a few years so to hear her play my music is an absolute thrill! It was a tremendous honour to be commissioned by her to compose More Rivers. To work with such a stellar performer and the person who worked with Ann directly, to bring to life the original Rivers, means the world to me. Many thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for funding her commission.
Christina’s album recording of More Rivers will be released early next year. Stay tuned to my social media channels, blog posts and e-newsletter for updates.
