Spotlight on Elizabeth Turnbull, Twilla MacLeod and Guillaume Tardif
With just three weeks until Prism takes to the Winspear Centre stage, I asked three artists showcased on our program three questions to tell us more about their background, why the are musicians and what inspires them to perform music.
Meet Elizabeth Turnbull
Elizabeth Turnbull.
Elizabeth has been associated with the University of Alberta’s Department of Music for six years as a vocal instructor. She is the Director of Opera Workshop.
For Prism, Elizabeth will be performing a duet by Bach, Wir eilen mit schwachen doch emsigen Schritten
Q: Why are you a musician?
To share the genius of the combination of music and word, and to connect with people; composers and poets, colleagues and audience members. And also because I can’t dance!
Q: Who (or what) is your musical inspiration?
Whatever I am working on at the moment inspires and excites me.
Q: What is your earliest memory related to music?
My mom singing me lullabies at bedtime, and my dad playing records of Scottish folk songs.
Meet Twilla MacLeod
Twilla MacLeod performing as Booming Tree.
Twilla began working in the UAlberta Department of Music in September, 2012. She is the Graduate Advisor.
For Prism, Twilla will be performing Taiko drumming with her duo Booming Tree
Q: Why are you a musician?
I’ve been a performing artist for a long time. I’ve moved between mediums. I started in classical music, moved into theatre, then playwriting and then to taiko drumming. I still work a bit in all of these. My interest lies in storytelling and capturing the human experience, in both the presence and absence of narrative.
Q: Who (or what) is your musical inspiration?
I was drawn to taiko because the first time I saw it performed I was moved to tears, and the women were so strong! Now that I have been playing for a long time, and spoken with many audience members, I have learned that big emotions are a common reaction. It is one of the most powerful mediums I have worked in. It’s primal. It’s visceral. In Booming Tree we always say that we play to celebrate the strength and power of the human form. Sound is energy and we believe that we pull energy out of the drums and then give it back. It multiplies exponentially.
Q: What is your earliest memory related to music?
I grew up in Saskatchewan. When I was in elementary school there was an old man who would visit once a year. We’d have a special assembly and he would play piano for us. Chopin, Liszt, Beethoven… I remember sitting on the gymnasium floor. I’d pull my knees up to my chest, close my eyes and just listen… It was wonderful. Now as an adult, I wonder who that man was and why we were so lucky to get to hear him play.
Meet Guillaume Tardif
Guillaume was first introduced to the U of A’s Department of Music in the winter of 2003 when he was invited to teach a violin class. He is now Associate Professor (Violin) and Associate Chair (Graduate Studies).
For Prism, Guillaume will play music for string quartet as part of the Enterprise Quartet
Q: Why are you a musician?
The way I see it: I humbly pursue music; sometimes I think she smiles at me.
Q: Who (or what) is your musical inspiration?
Good music as it crosses our brains instantly and powerfully adds to our existence, a bit in a religious sense, like a revelation. It helps us connect with history in a surprisingly tangible way – appreciate our predecessors’ or contemporaries’ ingenuity, their reality, their emotional world…then we can also make it our own…
Music that inspires me as a teacher and a performer comes to life through good methods and imagination, like a good meal. It is a celebration.
Q: What is your earliest memory related to music?
Obviously, as most people, I don’t recall, but I know that my mother softly sang to comfort me as an infant, like most mothers do. And I know that she has a nice voice, with a good musical sense.
Presenter: University of Alberta Department of Music
Event Title: Prism
Date: Thursday, October 23, 2014
Time: 8 p.m.
Venue: Winspear Centre
Tickets: $10 student, $20 adult, $15 senior at www.yeglive.ca/ualbertamusic
Show time details: doors open 30 minutes before performance
For more information about Prism see http://uofa.ualberta.ca/events/prism
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