Aventa is a Victoria-based ensemble with a mission to perform and foster new music in British Columbia and Canada. Under the artistic direction of Bill Linwood, the ensemble is comprised of approximately 15 musicians drawn from the ranks of the B.C.’s professional orchestras, University of Victoria, University of British Columbia, and leading freelance players from around the province.
“The jury was very impressed with the quality of applications from the BC Arts community, and felt that Aventa’s project best represented the balance of ambition and vision that would truly benefit from the support provided by this exciting new program,” says Sarah Iley, vice-president programming at The Banff Centre, in announcing that Aventa has received the first Banff Production Residency.
Over the last five seasons, Aventa has frequently premiered British Columbia, national, and international works. Highlights from the international repertoire include the Canadian premieres of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies’s De Assumtione Beatae Mariae Virginis, Rolf Wallin’s The Age of Wire and String, Brian Ferneyhough’s Flurries, and Thomas Adès’s Concerto Conciso with acclaimed Canadian pianist Louis Lortie as soloist. In 2007, Aventa presented the Canadian premiere of Pierre Boulez’s Dérive II (1988-2006), which will also be presented by the CBC.
Marilyn is a chamber opera commissioned by Aventa New Music Society from British composer and part-time B.C. resident Gavin Bryars. The opera is based on aspects of the life of Marilyn Monroe, with a libretto by the award-winning B.C. writer Marilyn Bowering, whose poems and radio play about Monroe are the basis for the opera. Marilyn is scored for four singers and a trio of jazz musicians. The score features references to the music of the fifties and sixties and includes songs sung and recorded by the actress.
www.marilynbowering.com
www.gavinbryars.com
www.aventa.ca
—30—
