Features

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Jóhann Jóhannsson (PROVIDED PHOTO)

NMF 1: Opening gala: Kancheli and Saariaho
Jan. 28, 8 p.m., Centennial Concert Hall
   
Vincent Ho: "Every year we always have this A-list, internationally recognized composer as part of our festival, and it’s one of the things that people always look forward to. This year we have Kaija Saariaho. She’ll be here for the opening two nights, and we’ll be featuring two of her large-scale works on the opening night and two chamber works on the Sunday evening concert."


NMF 2: Ravedeath for Organ
Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m., Westminster United Church
   
Alexander Mickelthwate: "Tim Hecker is a weird-sounding artist. He’s not really classical, not really rock — he’s a sound artist and it’s somewhere in between. It’s the first time we’ve featured the organ, and it’s going to be loud as hell. We have to buy 400 or 500 sets of earplugs."
   
Ho: "I think this is the first time that our audience has been asked to wear earplugs for a concert. This is going to be interesting."


NMF 3: Shauna Rolston: City Suites (world premiere)
Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m., Centennial Concert Hall
   
Ho: (laughs) "Of course I’m excited for the world premiere of my piece. And Shauna Rolston — well, she’s a Canadian cello superstar."


NMF 4: Double feature: GroundSwell and the Bedroom Community
Jan. 31, 7:30 p.m., Winnipeg Art Gallery
   
Mickelthwate: "There’s a group of four or five people out of Valgeir Sigurdsson’s studio who all compose and record, and they do tours in Europe. They’re known as the Bedroom Community. Three of them will be here, and it’s very cool."
   
Ho: "We are still supporting the local scene, as well, by presenting GroundSwell, the chamber organisation at the WAG. We’re still supporting the presentation of artists who are here in the city."


NMF 5: Icelandia
Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m., Centennial Concert Hall
   
Mickelthwate: "It features the Sigur Rós piece, a simple, beautiful, creative choral-and-orchestra piece. It’s the first of two internationally composed world premieres. That evening is also Valgier Sigurdsson’s piece and that’s also a really cool piece. There’s an Icelandic folk song in the first movement, and it goes back and forth between contemporary classical, folkloristic Icelandic, pop-ish — whatever."


NMF 6: La La La Human Steps
Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., Centennial Concert Hall
   
Ho: "I’m very excited about this modern dance troupe, which is considered to be one of Canada’s national treasures. We’re very excited to host them and have them back to the city."


NMF 7: Icelandic Finale
Feb. 3, 8 p.m., Centennial Concert Hall
   
Ho: "Not only is it a world premiere by Jóhann Jóhannsson, everybody’s miked. All their sounds are going to be fed to his computer, manipulated and redistributed through the speakers. So I’m interested to see how one would do that in the context of an orchestra. We have never done that before, so that’s fascinating."