Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 concerts to catch at Powell River’s PRISMA Festival

Intriguing programming ranges from majestic Holst and Berlioz to a contemporary work dedicated to craft brews, plus a beachfront finale

By Janet Smith

The PRISMA Festival Orchestra

IT’S WELL WORTH heading up—way up—the Sunshine Coast to the PRISMA Festival, which is set to bring polished classical sounds to Powell River again, from June 15 to 27.

The academy, under artistic director Arthur Arnold, hosts master classes with top students and guest artists from around the world—and fortunately, that means a steady stream of concerts in the process.

Most striking about the choices this year are the contemporary composers rubbing shoulders with old masters like Schubert, Beethoven, and Holst. Among the offerings, works by Jocelyn Morlock, Jean Coulthard, and Elizabeth Raum bring a distinctly Canadian, female strength to the programming.

Below, just five of the big offerings—all of them ticketed except for the grand beachfront concert that wraps the fest on the postcard-picturesque shores.

The Garneau String Quartet. Photo by Erik Visser

#1

GARNEAU STRING QUARTET

June 16, 7:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Theatre

The Garneau String Quartet is made up of violinists Robert Uchida and Laura Veeze, violist Keith Hamm, and cellist Julie Hereish—all soloists, chamber musicians, and members of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. Here, the foursome, who are regulars at festivals across the country, present a program that encompasses centuries of music and illustrates the group’s amazing versatility.

Things get off to an edgy start with American composer Missy Mazzoli’s Enthusiasm Strategies, a 2019 contemporary classical piece originally commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. The composer has explained the work as an exercise in conjuring joy and courage that builds and breaks up into a sprawling, ecstatic chorale. From there, the Garneaus jump back a few centuries to Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 18, No. 5 in A major, itself a bright homage to Mozart. And the quartet rounds out the program with Schubert’s sublime String Quintet in C major; the composer scored it with a second cello, so special-guest cellist Desmond Hoebig is on hand as the necessary fifth player.

The PRISMA Festival Orchestra

#2

WEEK 1 SYMPHONY CONCERT

June 19, 7:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Theatre

The PRISMA Festival Orchestra tackles two majestic works that promise to fill the 250-seat venue with symphonic swells. Johannes Brahms’s 1887 “Double Concerto” for violin and cello is a rare pairing of the two instruments with a full orchestra, and the composer makes the most of contrasting their highs and lows. After intermission, lose yourself in Hector Berlioz’s heady Symphonie Fantastique, inspired by the composer’s own obsessive crush on a Shakespearean actress. It’s a work that, according to his memoirs, portrays the dreams of a young man who’s overdosed on opium in the aftermath of a failed love affair. Leonard Bernstein famously called this music “trippy”, and it’s considered a masterpiece of lush orchestration.

PRISMA Academy

#3

CANADIAN VOICES AND BOHEMIAN FIRE

June 25, 7:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Theatre

This chamber concert features international PRISMA guest-artist faculty alongside select academy students, in a program anchored by Dvořák but notable for its intriguing and utterly unique contemporary works.

First the Dvořák: Piano Quintet No.2, a masterpiece of chamber repertoire, mixes rich, warm lyricism and masterful interplay between the piano and strings, with generous doses of vibrant Czech folk influences.

The program also offers a great chance to catch a live performance of Blue Sun for violin and viola, a 1998 work written by the late, beloved Vancouver composer Jocelyn Morlock to encourage intimate, interpretative freedom between its two players. The composer instructed that the piece, constructed as seven short sections, should “be played without pause”.

Elsewhere on the bill, Elizabeth Raum, who was a long-time oboist with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and the Regina Symphony Orchestra, is the composer behind the brisk 1982 chamber work Suite for Woodwind Quintet, featuring horn, flute, clarinet, bassoon—and, of course, oboe. Another work by Raum on the program—Bushwakker 6 pack—promises to be the evening’s fun showstopper, with each movement of the suite named after one of the beers brewed and served at Regina’s beloved Bushwakker Brewpub. (Sample songs: “Screamin’ Mosquito Chili Beer” and “MacGregor’s Wee Heavy”.) It’s composed for clarinet, trumpet, and piano. Here’s betting it will have you craving a cold one at the nearby Townsite Brewing Inc.

The PRISMA Festival Orchestra

#4

WEEK 2 SYMPHONY CONCERT

June 26, 7:30 p.m. at the Evergreen Theatre

Here’s a chance to hear the PRISMA Festival Orchestra bring to life not only late Western Canadian composer Jean Coulthard’s Introduction and Three Folk Songs, but also two winners of the PRISMA concerto competition—work that’s as new as it gets. After intermission, the orchestra tackles Gustav Holst’s famed The Planets, a powerful seven-movement orchestral suite inspired by astrology and Roman mythology. Each section conjures a distinct landscape, from the relentless, pounding march rhythm of “Mars, the Bringer of War” to the majestic themes and vivid, folk-like melodies of the well-known “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.

A PRISMA concert at Willingdon Beach Park.

#5

PRISMA ON THE BEACH

June 27, 6 p.m. at Willingdon Beach Park

Settings don’t get much more picturesque than the one for this free, family-friendly final celebration concert at the beach, with the PRISMA Festival Orchestra interpreting highlights of the repertoire of the entire event, as well as music from Star Wars. Look also for singers collaborating with drummers from the Tla’amin Nation. Food and craft vendors are open for business, starting at 5 p.m. 

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