A Vexing Time
A 14 hour Marathon Performance of Eric Satie’s Vexations
Sunday, June 20, 2021 from 8am to 10pm
In the Celebration Hall Courtyard at Mountain View Cemetery
5455 Fraser St (enter on 39th off Fraser)
free and fully accessible
“There will be ups, there will be downs, there will be devastation, there will be joy, there will be literal pain. Just this monotonic repetition of just the same thing, of a piece which in a way has no apparent musical content—just this staring at a wall, waiting, waiting.” – Igor Levit, on his pandemic performance of Vexations
Little Chamber Music is proud to present A Vexing Time, a marathon performance of Eric Satie’s Vexations to mark and celebrate the beginning of BC’s reopening after the long months of the Covid pandemic. The performers will be alone in the beautiful Celebration Hall at Mountain View Cemetery, and the public will be welcomed, in controlled numbers, properly spaced and masked, into the courtyard of the Hall to see the performers as they play. The music will be amplified out to the cemetery, offering an opportunity for reflection and connection away from the screens and devices that have dominated our lives. This event will not be live-streamed, recorded or put online in any way; as much as anything we are celebrating a return to the ephemeral nature of live music after an over-documented 16 months.
Our performers cross many genres and communities: Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (8-10am) is one of Canada’s most celebrated practitioners of New Music, Dr. Lisa Cay Miller (10am-12pm) is an internationally renowned improviser, Alejandro Ochoa (12-2pm) is the co-Artistic Director of Blue Ridge Chamber Music, Ida Nilsen (2-4pm) is an acclaimed singer/songwriter, Les Dala (4-6pm) and Tina Chang (6-8pm) come to us from the world of opera and classical music, and Ken Cormier (8-10pm) is known to audiences as the accompanist for Choir Leoni and Music Director at the Arts Club Theatre. Each performer will bring their own approach, personality and sensibility to their performance, offering a unique experience for the audience.
We chose Vexations as it seemed like a great reflection back on the 16 months we will have all come through together; the same theme repeated over and over by an isolated performer seemed incredibly apropos, and the title itself suggests the vexing time we have all endured during Covid. The longest day of the year was the perfect date for this performance, which not only looks back but optimistically shows the road forward as we emerge from our isolations and begin to experience together again.
Little Chamber Music has been a leader through the Covid pandemic with our innovative projects, including the Isolation Commissions, Human Shadow Etched in Stone, WW75: Women of the War and more. Since Covid began we have distributed over $100,000 in fees to artists including composers, musicians, singers, designers and filmmakers, and we are planning to lead again as the arts return to the “real world” and pivot away from digital presentations and isolated experiences.
Little Chamber Music is thankful for the support of Mountain View Cemetery in making this event possible.
