Preview: New Creations Festival

Preview: New Creations Festival

In the realm of something completely different, I'm rather interested in three nights of "new music" (code for "classical music by people who aren't dead yet") from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra at the New Creations Festival. The superstar content here comes from American composer John Adams, getting a lot of local press lately with the Canadian Opera Company's production of Nixon in China on right now.

There will be pieces from Adams at each of the three concerts (March 2, 5 and 10) but for me, the most exciting is the local première of his recent "City Noir", a cinematic suite inspired by LA itself and featuring some of the menacing gumshoe grit implied by the title — all framed in touches of bop-inspired sax lines and sweeping strings. Best served with a slug of bourbon and one eye kept open for that femme fatale out to drag you into a world of trouble.

There's a whole bunch more than that on offer at each of these shows, though most of it will be new discoveries for me. Making it an even richer experience, it looks like these shows are being promoted as a little less staid than the usual night at the symphony, with talks during the intermissions and pre- and post-show lobby concerts. Tickets are a bit steep, starting at $32 (or more, if you're posh), but I note that for those 35 and under, there are currently $10 tickets on sale for Wednesday's show through the TSoundcheck program. That won't get you into "City Noir", but the Adams stuff on offer at that one, including the driving "Short Ride in a Fast Machine" makes it a worthy investment, and a good chance to hear some music in the acoustically agreeable confines of Roy Thompson Hall.

All the information about the New Creations Festival can be found here.