Music and movement come closer
It's hard enough to keep your mind on the job during a musical performance without having your collaborator crawl all over you while you're in the midst of it.
That's exactly what clarinetist and composer Don Ross of the St. Crispin's Chamber Ensemble has been dealing with in rehearsals for tonight's performance at Amber's Brewery with dancer Eryn Tempest.
"It's an odd experience," he admits, "even a little scary at first, but I've learned to trust Eryn's judgment on it -- she's quite co-ordinated."
You could even say that the unabashed physicality has an unintended artistic side-effect.
"When I have Eryn on my shoulders for an extended period of time," Ross notes in a deadpan voice, "my (musical) phrases tend to get a lot shorter as I run out of breath."
Such are the vagaries of a musician's life. Still, Ross is enthusiastic about his continuing collaboration with Tempest, a pairing that has both questioning the boundaries between dance and music, audience and performer, even the idea of what constitutes an acceptable venue. Their selection of Amber's Brewery -- part of the Canadian Music Centre's New Music in New Places series -- is certainly an oddball one, but Ross thinks the
industrial ambience of the building suits the performance well. It was also a plus that he was able to actually incorporate the feel of the place into his music.
Ross spent a morning during the brewery's bottling process with his mini-disk recorder capturing various sounds from the production of ale.
"I recorded lots of great stuff, like the bottling itself; the machine that puts glue on the label was a particular favourite," he says. "These sounds have their own rhythm, so I've put them together and I'm letting them play out as a collage during one piece."
Amb(er)ience is just one of six pieces programmed for the evening. Also included is a reprise of Tempest and Ross's take on John Yau's poem Borrowed Love Poems -- first performed by the duo at last year's Works Festival and Explorations New Music Series -- as well as Andre Cormier's Messe Blanche, which makes use of sounds gathered from the Taksim market in Istanbul.
Improvisation is also a key factor at many points, but what particularly excites Ross is the way Tempest nudges him into taking chances onstage.
"Eryn really pushes me on these things," he admits. "It's worked out quite well, though; I've been doing things I've never done. She's getting me up and teaching me movements.
"Sometimes we're separate, sometimes we're tangled up; it's an unusual relationship and an unusual show heightened by an unusual venue."
St. Crispin's Chamber Ensemble with Eryn Tempest takes place tonight at 8 p.m. at Amber's Brewery, 9926 78th Ave. Admission is free.
Two clarinet players are also featured in Alberta Baroque Ensemble's first performance of the year this Sunday.
Clarinetists David Quinn and Dan Sutherland will be special guests of the ensemble, performing Telemann's Concerto for Two Clarinets in D Minor, while oboists Lidia Khaner and Beth Levia team up for Albinoni's Concerto for Two Oboes in C Major. The four will then join together for Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Oboes and Two Clarinets in C Major.
The concert takes place at 3 p.m. at Robertson-Wesley United Church, 10209 123rd St. Tickets are $23 adult and $18 student/senior, available at the Gramophone, Tix on the Square, 780-420-1757 or at the door. For more information call 780-467-6531 between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
