Next Shows
Music of the Whole World: Weaving the Tapestry of Many Traditions
March 28, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Vancouver Public Library Main Branch
FREE Lecture/Performance
Imagined Worlds: INTERTWINED
Saturday March 31, 2012 at 8:00 pm
See Upcoming Events for details... we hope you'll join us!
VICO Email List
Bandoneon
The bandoneon, originally promoted in the 19th century by a German, Heinrich Band, belongs to the family of 'squeeze boxes', i.e. - instruments which use a bellows mechanism to make reeds vibrate. The bandoneon is held in both hands and has rows of buttons on each end, which allow for the playing of melodies and the building of chords. The bandoneon has come to be associated most intimately with the tradition of Tango, a tradition which permeates the cultures of Argentina and Uruguay.
| About the VICO |
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The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra’s mission is to act as a forum for the creation of a new musical art form, one in which all of Canada’s resident cultures can take part. Through composition, performance and educational outreach to both music professionals and the general public, the VICO serves as a voice for Canadian composers and musicians of diverse backgrounds, and fosters the creation of musical works that fuse and transcend cultural traditions.
Since its formation, the VICO has commissioned and performed over 35 new and existing intercultural pieces by respected, ground-breaking Canadian composers such as Elliot Weisgarber, Jin Zhang, Mark Armanini, Farshid Samandari, Trichy Sankaran, Michael O’Neill, John Oliver, Grace Lee, Neil Weisensel, Joseph “Pepe” Danza, Moshe Denburg and Niel Golden. The ensemble has performed two to four major concerts a year (each featuring 15-25 musicians playing instruments from all over the world), in addition to presenting a free educational series – Music of the Whole World – and a variety of other events. In 2008, Georgia Straight world music columnist Alex Varty described the VICO's programming as “music that sounds like Vancouver looks.”
The VICO launched a composer-in-residence program in 2007 with a week-long visit from Toronto-based composer, percussionist and educator Trichy Sankaran, followed in 2009 by Dutch composer Joël Bons, the leader of an Amsterdam-based inter-cultural group, The Atlas Ensemble. Following Mr. Bons’ residency, Co-Artistic Director Mark Armanini travelled to Amsterdam in August 2009 and 2010 to attend an international gathering of composers and musicians hosted by the Atlas Ensemble. Most recently, the VICO invited world-renowned Tokyo-based musicians Curtis Patterson (koto) and Bruce Huebner (shakuhachi) to Vancouver for a 7-day residency in connection with Asian Heritage Month. The VICO’s composers and musicians are on the cutting edge, writing and performing the Canadian music of the future. VICO’s mission is to be a fresh and relevant voice in the contemporary music of our country...a creative force for innovation, diversity and understanding. ****** Board of Directors (2011)Jeff Pelletier, President
Staff (2011)Moshe Denburg, Co-Artistic Director
Advisory Board (2011)Richard Marcuse, Consultant
VICO Photos by Instrument Photos Courtesy of Various Instrument images from Copy Editing by Logo and Website by |
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra’s inaugural performance took place on November 13, 2000 at the city’s Sacred Music Festival, with the world premiere of founding artistic director Moshe Denburg’s composition Rapprochements (Reconciliations) for Inter-Cultural Orchestra – a work commissioned by the Westcoast Sacred Arts Society, which was written for a mixed choir and an ensemble of 28 instrumentalists from a variety of musical and cultural backgrounds. Subsequently, the VICO was incorporated as a B.C. society in 2001, and received registered charitable status in 2003. (Registration #: 87580 8511 RR0001).
The VICO has collaborated with many other organizations in Vancouver’s world music and new music communities, including the Sacred Music Festival, the Chutzpah! Festival, the Canadian Memorial Church and Centre for Peace, Vancouver Pro Musica, Laudate Singers, Vancouver Community College School of Music, the NOW Orchestra, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts and Capilano University School of Music. In April 2004, VICO appeared with Laudate Singers and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in Celebration for Peace, a tribute to His Holiness the Dalai Lama held at the Orpheum Theatre. In 2010, co-Artistic Directors Moshe Denburg and Mark Armanini were featured speakers at the Canadian New Music Network’s “Partnering Diversities” Conference in Halifax.
