On October 22, Tempest Flute Ensemble presented “In an Autumn Garden” as part of the Chrysanthemums & Maple Leaves Festival of Japanese music, organized by the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra. Co-presented at the Orpheum Annex (Vancouver) by Tempest, VICO, and Redshift Music Society, this concert featured the music of Brian Harman (Toronto), Hiroki Tsurumoto (Washington D.C.), James Beckwith Maxwell (Vancouver), and Takemitsu, along with a plethora of performing guests, including sho virtuoso Naomi Sato from Amsterdam, flutist Jeffrey Stonehouse from Montreal, Tiresias Duo (Vancouver), and Vancouver percussionists Jonathan Bernard, Martin Fisk, and Brian Nesselroad. Along with Tempest’s premiere of Tsurumoto’s “Cursor 4”, Sato and Stonehouse premiered Harman’s “Orbits” for flute and sho and Tiresias Duo premiered Maxwell’s “ruduo” for flute and piano. The evening culminated with a special performance of Toru Takemitsu’s “In an Autumn Garden” — originally scored for gagaku (traditional Japanese court orchestra), our performance was a special arrangement for the combined forces of Tempest, Tiresias, Sato, and three percussion. Special thanks to our conductor, Edward Top, who learned these complex scores on extremely short notice!
Check out the gallery below (photos courtesy of Jordan Nobles) and some of the soundclips:
Hiroki Tsurumoto’s Cursor 4 for eight flutes:
Excerpt from James Beckwith Maxwell’s ruduo for flute and piano, performed by Tiresias Duo:
TEMPEST FLUTE ENSEMBLE 