Student Composers Concert

PROGRAM

Pale Blue

by Thomas Carli

Performers: Ana Castro (Soprano), Aimee Harness (Mezzo-Soprano), Thomas Carli (Vibraphone/percussion), Elienna Wang (Piano)

Moonlit Alley

by Houtian Zhong

Performers: Houtian Zhong (piano)

The Evening Tide

by Matthew Woolard

Performers: Matthew Woolard (piano), Anwen Robertson (flute)

Meditation in Ab Aeolian

by Menelaos Peistikos

Performers: Rebecca Moranis (flute), Joey Vaz (piano)

Relentless "Me"

by Elienna Wang

Performers: Yunfei Xie (soprano saxophone), Adrian Tsui (piano), Vincent Poon (violin I), Victoria Gilerovitch (violin II), Mobin Naeini (viola), Chloe Shin (cello)

L'Orage

by Zane Shihadeh

Performers: Kannan Bloor (Soprano Saxophone); Yunfei Xie (Alto Saxophone); Blake Smith (Tenor Saxophone); Min Gu Kang (Baritone Saxophone)

Four Selected Movements from Proletarian China

by Jingren Sun

Vincent Poon (violin), Sophie Reimer-Epp (violin)

BIOGRAPHIES

Thomas Carli is a composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist based in Toronto. Thomas's pieces have been played by the Oriana Women's Chorus, the Continuum Ensemble, the University of Toronto Symphony Orchestra and several other chamber groups. Thomas has received commissions to write and produce music for the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival, The Canadian Film and Television Costume Awards (CAFTCAD), Kurtis Connor's latest comedy special, and several short films by independent filmmakers and animators. As a music editor and composer’s assistant, Thomas has contributed to television series such as Wynonna Earp and Murdoch Mysteries. He aims to continue pursuing a career as a screen composer, combining his passion for music and film. An accomplished drummer and percussionist, Thomas has appeared on stage across North America with acts such as AVIV, Danny Michel, Lia Pappas-Kemps, Mini Pop Kids, Max Parker, The Commune, University of Toronto Percussion Ensemble, the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and most frequently as a member of the contemporary pop group Meteor Heist. Additionally, Thomas produces all the music for Meteor Heist, contributing to the band independently surpassing 40,000 streams on Spotify in under two years. Thomas is currently working on his second studio album as a producer with folk band Jacob's Ladder while collaborating on various projects with independent Toronto artists. A third-year composition major at the University of Toronto, Thomas studies composition with Christos Hatzis and percussion with Aiyun Huang.

Houtian Zhong is a first-year composition direct-entry student from Victoria, BC. In 2021, He attained RCM Associate Diploma in Piano Performance. He has experimented with music composition ranging from solo instrumentation to full orchestra. He has won awards in the Murray Adaskin Composition Competition, the Greater Victoria Performing Arts Festival, the BC Student Composer Competition, and the national CFMTA Student Composer Competition over the years 2018 - 2023. Professional musician groups, such as Victoria Symphony, Westshore Chamber Music, and the Springdale Trio, have performed his composition work. He has studied with composers Christine Donkin in Victoria and Katarina Curcin at the University of Toronto.

Matthew Woolard is currently enjoying his third year in the Bachelor of Music Program with a Major in Composition at the University of Toronto. His current Composition Instructor is Dr. Roger Bergs. His instructor last year was Andrew Clark. Matthew’s long term mentor is Professor Larysa Kuzmenko. In 2024, he was awarded both the Jean A. Chalmers Scholarship as well as the Sotherton Wadhams In-Course Scholarship. In 2023, he was awarded both the Arthur Plettner Scholarship and the Joseph Alfred Whealy In-Course Scholarship. Matthew completed his ARCT Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music in 2021, achieving First Class Honours with Distinction. His primary instrument is the piano, with his university instructor being Dr. Emily Chiang. He also plays the trumpet for his own enjoyment. Matthew’s hometown is Burlington, Ontario.

Menelaos Peistikos (22 August 1995) is a Greek composer, pianist and author. In February 2019, Menelaos won the 3rd Prize and 1st Prize of Public at the 7th Molinari String Quartet Composition Competition in Montreal, Canada, for his string-quartet composition For Sun’s light. In December 2018, he won the 2nd Prize at the 4th Opus Dissonus International Composition Competition for solo piano in Brazil for his composition On the Vision and The Riddle. More recently, he was selected as one of the six winners at the Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra Call for Scores (2022) for his orchestral composition A Mystic Journey. He was also selected as one of the four winners at the 2021 Open Call for Young Greek Composers – Israeli Chamber Project for his composition A Glimpse of Autumn. He holds a MA in Composition in University of Toronto under the supervision of composer Christos Hatzis, and since September 2022 he began there his DMA in Composition where he is admitted with a full tuition scholarship. In December 2024, he made his debut as a novelist, with his book "ΜΑΚΑΡΙΟΙ ΘΕΑΤΕΣ" ("BLESSED VIEWERS"), published in Greece by Mov Skiouros Editions.

Elienna Wang is a third year undergraduate student in the composition specialist program studying with Professor Norbert Palej. She is a Toronto-based composer for live concert music, film, and video games. Her works have been performed at the 2023 and 2024 University of Toronto's New Music Festival, the 2023 and 2024 Canadian Art Song Showcase, the 2024 Imani Winds Festival hosted at the Juilliard School, the 2023 and 2024 concerts of the Spirit Singers Choir, and the 2024 "Song of Hope" concert hosted by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra. Her current collaborations include a mini-opera to be premiered by the University of Toronto's Opera Department at the Fleck Dance Theatre in January 2025, soundtracks for two video games to be presented at the 2024 Level Up Conference, soundtracks for multiple short films with animators from Sheridan College, and two choral pieces to be premiered by the Spirit Singers Choir, the Healing Sound of Music, and the Kupenta Singers this coming spring.

Zane Shihadeh’s compositional repertoire stretches from neoclassical music, to modern jazz, to film composition. His award winning works have helped carry him into studying with several renowned faculty from the University of Toronto including David Occhipinti and Larysa Kuzmenko. Now in his 2nd year of studies, Shihadeh is continuing to pursue and develop his compositional craft by exploring varying genres including impressionism, primitivism, neoclassical, scores for live theater productions, and jazz. After graduating from university, Shihadeh wishes to continue his compositional ambitions, specifically in the realm of storytelling.

Jingren Sun 孙敬仁 is a Toronto based composer and pianist, born and raised in Xuzhou, China. His piece for solo piano, Toccata, has been performed by pianist Heting Xia at the Atlantic Music Festival in 2022. Jingren has also composed different kinds of works including chamber music, choral music and many more. Jingren often composes in the style of neo-classicism and neo-romanticism, and is facsinated by the artistic & musical trends (such as Proletkult and expressionism) that thrived in the first few decades of the previous century. He wishes to incorporate the elements of folk muic and propaganda music in his compositions, and he is also eager to compose music in different styles other than the ones he is used to. Jingren is currently in his third year of composition direct entry program at the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto, and is studying with Prof. Roger Bergs.

PROGRAM NOTES

PALE BLUE (THOMAS CARLI)

In late 2024, I set out to compose an art song—a challenge I hadn’t undertaken since my first year of composition studies two years earlier. I began sketching out musical ideas and tried setting them to several texts. However, I did not feel super connected to anything that was coming out and was especially frustrated by the late-romantic tropes my intuition kept latching on to. I decided to switch gears entirely and asked my very talented friend and bandmate Lila Wright, a songwriter and poet based in Toronto, to write me a poem that I could use for this piece. Within 48 hours, Lila sent me the first draft of "Pale Blue," and I instantly felt inspired to write but this time incorporating vibraphone and a second singer.

Lila says her piece is about "the cyclical nature of seeking enlightenment and information, finding meaning, and allowing an epiphany to slip from your memory." I try to reflect these desolate and evanescent concepts using the ethereal sound of the vibraphone and piano along with the hauntingly beautiful tone of two soprano singers. The music mirrors the themes of impermanence and repetition, drawing the listener into a quiet, reflective space where the boundaries between knowledge and forgetfulness seem to blur. The piece ultimately serves as both a meditation on the nature of understanding and a moment of contemplation of our own grasp on truth.

Moonlit Alley (Houtian Zhong)

This piece describes a night in an alleyway lit by moonlight. The music takes the listener on a journey through the alley, where every step reveals new details hidden in the shadows and light. As the journey unfolds, the music shifts between moments of tranquility and intrigue. Sometimes, the music calms down to reflect the stillness of the night, while in other episodes, the serenity is broken by bursts of energy in the atmosphere. As the listener loses themselves in the night, the music fades away into the moonlight above.

Thursdays at Noon presents Laureates: Michael Bridge, accordion
September 28, 12:10 pm | Walter Hall 

*Artist update: Please note that Brass at Noon, featuring musicians from the Bloor-Annex Brass Ensemble, will be performing at the September 21 Thursdays at Noon concert. The original artist, Nimrod Ron, had to postpone his concert due to unforeseen circumstances.

The Evening Tide (Matthew Woolard)

The inspiration for this piece is the ebb and flow of the tides of the sea during the summer. As the moon rises from the horizon, the waves roll inward across the sandy beach. The high tide erases the footprints of the day’s activities. Everything becomes temporarily calm with the moonlight reflecting across the water and the stars flickering in the night sky. As the new day approaches, the bright sun rises in the sky and the tide rolls out, signalling a new beginning.

Menelaos Peistikos (Meditation in Ab Aeolian)

The composition is inspired by Zen philosophy, traditional music for shakuhachi (Honkyoku) and the music of Somei Satoh. It is influenced by the concept of music as a tool of meditation (like the music for solo shakuhachi), and as such, it attempts to bring the listeners to a state of solitary contemplation.

Relentless “Me" (Elienna Wang)

Relentless "me" depicts a ball constantly rolling forward, relentless in its existence, and unwilling to give in to any external forces. It is a metaphor for the relentless nature of the creative process. Purpose or purposeless, it keeps moving forward. Inspired by the Interstellar soundtrack and countless songs in pop music, I based the entire piece off of looping chords, highly repetitive rhythmic patterns, looping phrases, and textural layering. This piece is a first attempt to my goal of experimenting with loops, patterning, and weaving a piece from one motive.

L’Orage (Zane Shihadeh)

Amongst the halls of paintings throughout the Art Gallery of Ontario, which ventured as far back as 100 AD, Shihadeh came across L’Orage (English translation: The Storm), a 19th century French painting by Narcisse Virgile Diaz de la Peña. Shihadeh instantly became enthralled by the vibrancy of the contrasting colors that truly gave the painting its name. It was as if a beam of light was shining from beneath the canvas and illuminated the maze of clouds that gazed over the everlasting horizon of grass and trees. Shihadeh could practically feel the condensation of leaves on his fingertips and the warmth of a light shower hitting his shoulders. And yet, through all the amazement and marvel, the painting still had an element of mystery: a man and his pet could be seen walking through this storm. Who was this man and his pet? Where would their journey take them? How will the inevitable forces of Mother Nature impact their trek? Shihadeh found himself becoming curious by the minute with a gripping urge to realize the answers to his questions. Soon after, Shihadeh decided to write a piece dedicated both to his passion for L’Orage and the painting’s unanswered questions.

Four Selected Movements from Proletarian China (Jingren Sun)

Proletarian China 普罗中国 is a suite composed for two violins, comprised of 20 short pieces, ranging from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The piece is inspired by both the book Proletarian China: A Century of Chinese Labour, edited by Ivan Franceschini, Kevin Lin, Nicholas Loubere and Christian Sorace, and Béla Bartók’s 44 Duos for 2 Violins. Through music, Proletarian China intends to tell the story of “a century of Chinese labour”, from the Boatmen of the 19th century to the recent crackdown of attempts to unionize in Jiashi, while also exploring the possibilities of the instrumentation of two violins. This selection contains the first four movements of the suite: The Proletariat is Dead, The Men Who Pulled the Boats, A Day Trip to Changxindian, and Set Sail.

We wish to acknowledge this land on which the University of Toronto operates. For thousands of years it has been the traditional land of the Huron-Wendat, the Seneca, and the Mississaugas of the Credit. Today, this meeting place is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work on this land.

As part of the Faculty’s commitment to improving Indigenous inclusion, we call upon all members of our community to start/continue their personal journeys towards understanding and acknowledging Indigenous peoples’ histories, truths and cultures. Visit indigenous.utoronto.ca to learn more.