A Brief History of ASCP
An Experiment in 2016
It all started with the idea of performing music by living composers. I called composer friends from across Canada and the United States and asked for one piece for Soprano and 1 or 2 other instruments.
Putting on my first cap as Curator and Performer, I combined the 11 pieces into an abstract story and "Glimpses" became our first Music Drama through Art Song.
Performed at the CMC in Toronto, on June 14th, 2016.
A Bold endeavour in 2017
In Wonderland
A Music Drama Through Art Song
Follow Alice as she follows a white rabbit down a rabbit hole
and finds a place of Wonder.
A place where friendly faces smile.
A place with singing Caterpillars
and Pious Cats
A place with Vain Queens
and Mad Hatters
Follow us
to
Wonderland…
Performers:
Alondra Vega-Zaldivar (Soprano)
Edgar Suski (Piano)
Madison Deppe (Flute)
Joel Tangjerd (Cello)
In the following year I expanded the project into a Call for Scores, looking for whimsical pieces that reflected the characters of Alice in Wonderland. Receiving over 60 compositions, our program selected 14 different composers from North America and Europe, and together we created In Wonderland, a Music Drama based on songs inspired Lewis Carroll.
Organized by Alondra, the Project was funded with the help of our Indiegogo Campaign and our great sponsor Yana Fishman from the 88Keys Music and Learning Center.
To listen to our Live Performance click here: In Wonderland
And then it all changed... 2018
For the first time I gave the composers a question to ponder:
"What is Home?"
As an immigrant myself, I often questioned the meaning of "Home" - is it the place you grew up in? is it where you currently live in the present? is it in the memories of those you met? or in the hearts of the loved ones?
Do you carry it with you?
Based on the given theme, each composer created a song that best reflected their musical style and text, then all 13 pieces were compiled into a story.
"Coming Home - An International Opera through Art Song" was our first original opera based on a social theme that is present i. our current world.
It opened the doors to working with composers from the Canada, USA, Portugal and Iran, and it was the first time we not only did 2 performances, but also in 2 different cities.
We premiered in Toronto, Canada on July 14th, 2018 and had a second performance at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada on July 15th.
It was the beginning of the project as it stands today:
Not only creating new art songs for the voice repertoire, but also coming together to safely discuss the issues that affects us today.
