Join us in the parlour of Roedde House Museum as we take chamber music back to its originally intended intimate setting. We hope that through this concert series you will be introduced to a diversity of musical instruments and styles reflective of the diversity of the Canadian experience as well as a new appreciation of different types of classical music! Refreshments will be served in the dining room at the end of the concert.

Our June VICO: Music of the World concert series will see the return of Water Dragon Music: Classic Chinese Poetry & Music which premiered at Roedde House in 2023. This enchanting fusion of modern classical music, traditional Chinese instruments, and ancient poetry transforms the Roedde Parlour into another world entirely, so don’t sleep on it if you missed its debut last year!

Program Description: 

Water Dragon Tune is from an ongoing collection of Chinese poems set to music by L. Mark Armanini. The power of these ancient poems is in the common and daily experiences being shared between the time they were written (347-1200 AD), and the present. The music, for the most part is contemplative, the Mandarin text is reflected and framed by the erhu in a dialogue of text image being shadowed by the erhu melodies and emotions. The celestial harp adds a sense of the suspension of time and space, drawing the listener closer to the rich sounds of the spoken Mandarin with its natural tonal inflections. The effect is to bring the poems into the here and now, as if the poet is speaking directly to us from ancient times. 

About Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO):

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), founded in 2001, was one of the first concert orchestras devoted to performing new intercultural music on a grand scale. It is currently one of only a handful of such professional ensembles that exist in the world. The VICO brings together musicians and composers from many cultural and artistic communities in the Greater Vancouver area, including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, Persian (Iranian), Latin and South American, Vietnamese, African, North American and European to create what has been described as “the United Nations of Music” (CBC Radio), and “music that sounds like Vancouver looks” (The Georgia Straight). The Vancouver Sun has called VICO “a world music super-group.”

VICO strives to be a fresh and relevant voice in the contemporary music of our city, our province and our country. The ensemble builds bridges of imagination, approaching diversity as a fascinating challenge and a creative call to action. Its work is to make connections, between performers and audiences of all ages and backgrounds, across the Lower Mainland, throughout Canada and the world; to create and perform orchestral music that transcends boundaries: cultural, social, political, geographical. Since its inaugural performance in 2001, VICO has developed and performed over 50 new intercultural pieces by ground-breaking Canadian composers. www.vi-co.org

Reminders:
Ticket holders should arrive no later than 10 minutes before showtime to secure seats.
Seating is limited.

Parking:

Limited street parking is available on Robson and in the West End. Parking spots are scarce in the neighbourhood, so give yourself some extra time or use public transportation. (Closest Skytrain station: Burrard. We are on the #5 Robson bus route).