The mosaic and music muses combined forces the other night when Sophie, along with her fellow members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, presented a commissioned mosaic which she did for the symphony's retiring conductor, Simon Streatfeild. He was absolutely thrilled.
Sophie's statement of presentation:
How an artist conceives new ideas is a very personal process. Mine often come in the middle of the night between two layers of sleep. It really feels as if an idea has decided to nudge me and make its presence felt.On night last February, I was struck with such nighttime inspiration, in the form of a question: what kind of mosaic would be a fitting thank-you gift for Simon Streatfeild?
The answer came right away: a life-size portrait of the beautiful viola he used to own. I was aware that this instrument now belonged to a friend of mine, McGill University Professor Douglas McNabney. I contacted him and he generously sent me pictures of the instrument, along with his gracious permission to use them for a mosaic. The KWS Board, musicians and staff then agreed to team up in a joint commission for this mosaic.
Having decided upon the main subject, I started to think of other ways of symbolizing some of the history of Simon’s monumental Canadian career. Therefore, in the marble background, I put the initials of 13 different Canadian music and orchestra organizations for which Simon has been an artistic leader. There is also a row of gold bars on either side of the viola: each of these represents one of the 70 Canadian orchestral works that Simon has premiered so far in his career.
I am grateful to the KWS musicians, staff and board for trusting me with this great responsibility. And most importantly, I wish to thank Simon Streatfeild. My very first professional orchestra experience was with him on the podium, and I now have had the immense privilege to share music with him in four different orchestras in Canada.
Many thanks, Simon!
No comments:
Post a Comment