Wednesday, September 25, 2024 at 7:30 pm
Tickets: $25
“From Sea to Sky”
Smith | King Duo
Smith | King Duo (Gillian Smith, violin and Jennifer King, piano) will perform “From Sea to Sky”, a concert of recent music for violin and piano (both solo and duo) by Nova Scotian composers Amy Brandon, Derek Charke, Adam V. Clarke, John Plant, and Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu in addition to works by Carmen Braden and Alice Ping Yee Ho. This program will feature Toronto premieres of a number of the pieces on the program, including new works written in 2024 by Carmen Braden, John Plant, and Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu.
Smith |King Duo has performed together for 10 years and has previously appeared at the Open Waters Festival, Acadia University’s Concert and Lecture Series, Shattering the Silence Festival, Sunday Music in the Garden Room Series, the Classical Showcase at the 2019 East Coast Music
Awards, and the Lilian Piercey Concert Hall at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts. The duo acknowledges the support of both Arts Nova Scotia and The Canada Council of the Arts as well as the composers featured in these programs.
Violinist Gillian Smith (www.gilliansmithviolin.com) is an enthusiastic advocate for new music. Her album Into the Stone, released on the Leaf Music label (2019), features works for solo violin by five Canadian women composers. The WholeNote’s David Olds called Into the Stone “a stunning debut album by a rising star,” and La Scena Musicale said, “Gillian Smith demonstrates a great skill and mastery…magnificently appropriates Canadian repertoire.” It was nominated for an ECMA award for Classical Recording of the Year in 2020. Gillian also appears on In Sonorous Falling Tones, featuring the music of Derek Charke (nominated for an ECMA for Classical Recording of the Year in 2018), and a recording of chamber music by Carmen Braden, Songs of the Invisible Summer Stars, which was nominated for an ECMA for Classical Recording of the Year in 2020.
Gillian’s second album of music for solo violin, En Route, features five works commissioned from Canadian composers Amy Brandon, Carmen Braden, Derek Charke, Corie Rose Soumah, and Hsiu-Ping Patrick Wu. This album was released on the Leaf Music label in 2023 with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Spirited and sensitive, Jennifer King (www.jenniferkingpiano.com) is a versatile pianist who enjoys exploring the world of classical music in the 21st century. Her music career spans three decades and has inspired the dedication of piano works and a growing number of commissions. Jennifer’s contributions to Nova Scotia’s musical life were recognized with an Award of Appreciation from the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia.
Frequently heard on CBC radio, Jennifer released her first recording, O Mistress Moon, in 2018, followed by O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition (2022). Distributed by Leaf Music, this set of twelve piano works was praised for its “dramatic out of this world sonic listening” (The Whole Note) and won Classical Album of the Year at the 2023 ECMAs. She’s presented hundreds of recitals as a soloist and collaborative pianist throughout Atlantic Canada, and curates, hosts, and performs in Cecilia Concerts’ Sensory-Accessible concerts. Jennifer’s artistry has been encouraged through the support of many scholarships and grants. She’s a member of the Canadian Music Centre Atlantic’s Regional Council and sits on the Garden Room Concert
Committee at Acadia University.
Venue:
Chalmers Performance Space, Canadian Music Centre
20 St. Joseph Street
Toronto, ON M6H 1R4
