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The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra Society

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra fosters cultural exchange through music, performing new intercultural compositions that blend diverse traditions. They support composers and musicians from various backgrounds, enriching the Canadian music landscape.

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) celebrates its first quarter-century with a joyful concert that brings together ensemble members past and present, and showcases the VICO&rsquo;s signature fusion of Canadian contemporary classical and world music. The ensemble that would eventually become the VICO was originally formed in 2000 by composer Moshe Denburg, to perform his piece Rapprochements (Reconciliations) for Intercultural Orchestra. This work, commissioned by the Westcoast Sacred Arts Society, was scored for a mixed choir and an ensemble of 28 instrumentalists from a variety of musical and cultural backgrounds, and it premiered at the inaugural Vancouver Sacred Music Festival in November 2000.&nbsp; It was clear from these earliest days that Moshe&rsquo;s dream of a new kind of orchestra, one designed to perform new intercultural classical music on a grand scale, had found fertile ground in Vancouver&rsquo;s dynamic contemporary classical and world music scenes. Our city boasts a deep talent pool of master musicians from all over the globe, and the VICO project quickly accumulated a growing network of performers and composers who were inspired by the opportunity to learn from each other and work together to create music that transcends borders and breaks down barriers. The VICO was officially founded as a BC non-profit society on September 25, 2001. The VICO&#39;s 25th Anniversary Concert&nbsp;celebrates the ensemble&rsquo;s first quarter-century, and looks towards a bright future, bringing together VICO roster members past and present to perform an exciting and varied programme. On the bill: compositions by all three of the VICO&rsquo;s past and current Artistic Directors (Moshe Denburg, Mark Armanini, and Farshid Samandari), other Canadian works featuring various VICO chamber ensembles, and a big group finale performance of Terry Riley&rsquo;s&nbsp;In C. This piece can be performed by any number of musicians on any instrument(s); &nbsp;the score directs the players to repeat a series of 53 melodic fragments in a guided improvisation. By its nature, no performance of In C is like any other - but the VICO&rsquo;s unique and ground-breaking instrumentation - which includes Western strings and winds (violin, viola, cello, contrabass, flute, clarinet) alongside Chinese erhu, zheng, and sheng/suona; Persian santour and tar; and percussion from many world music traditions - will certainly add extra magic to the experience.&nbsp; We hope you will join us for this joyous moment!

VICO 25th Anniversary Concert

Midsummer Mix Tape weaves together songs from Chinese, Persian, Balkan, Celtic, and M&eacute;tis cultures into a fresh, uniquely Canadian tapestry of sound. Tickets available online OR&nbsp;at the door! The programme explores the concept of freedom&nbsp;and the many ways in which this can be felt, represented, and sung across musical cultures. Vocalists D&#39;arcy Han (ZiZi),&nbsp;Shireen Nabatian, Kathleen Nisbet and Amy Stephen will each perform a colourful selection of folk/pop/contemporary songs arranged specially for this concert, accompanied by a unique instrumental ensemble featuring Molly MacKinnon (violin), Laine Longton (cello), Dai Lin Hsieh (zheng), Mike Brown (bass clarinet), Saina Khaledi&nbsp;(santour), Amy Stephen (accordion/harp), and Jonathan Bernard (percussion).&nbsp; This concert - a collaboration between The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra&nbsp;(VICO) and Little Chamber Music - promises a beautiful evening of intercultural music: the perfect playlist for a summer evening in Surrey. Join us on this beautiful musical adventure! *******The VICO respectfully acknowledges that this concert takes place on the traditional, unceded territories of the Coast Salish people, in particular ncluding the Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo First Nations. We also extend grateful thanks to the following funders and community partners, whose support is crucial to this project: The Canada Council for the Arts, the Province of BC (Community Gaming), and the City of Surrey. ******BACKGROUND - About the Presenters &amp; Featured Artists D&rsquo;arcy Han (ZiZi)Beijing born, Vancouver raised D&rsquo;arcy Han has been singing and performing since she made her vocal debut on Chinese national TV at the age of 7. As a vocalist and artist, she performed at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and toured the USA, Europe, and Asia with her many music projects. In 2017, D&rsquo;arcy appeared on Sing! China (&ldquo;The Voice&rdquo;) with an international audience of over 400 million. The program vaulted this Canadian singer/songwriter to celebrity status. This was followed up by special performances and appearances at national television events including the Chinese Spring Gala show, the Miss World 2017 Final, the Silk Road International Film Festival, the Strawberry Music Festival and China International Fashion Week, and more. In 2018, her debut EP This is Me, reached #4 on the BBC Soul Charts, and is still peaking on Spotify and other online mediums. From stadiums to intimate stages, D&rsquo;arcy captivates with what critics describe as a uniquely charming voice paired with an unmatched classiness in personal style and stage presence. An honorary member of the Canadian Association of Songwriters, D&rsquo;arcy co-writes, produces and collaborates with songwriters/producers, artists, and performers from both North America and Asia. She is a cultural ambassador, committed to bridging people through music, acting and performances. &nbsp; Shireen Nabatian&nbsp;Shireen Nabatian is a Canadian-Iranian vocalist, violinist, and PhD candidate in cross-cultural musicology at University of California, Santa Cruz. Her dissertation research is about traditional music education, the legacies of nationalism, community, and belonging at summer music camps in California, T&uuml;rkiye, and Crete. Her MA thesis was on contemporary practices in Persian dance and is now published in Anthony Shay&#39;s edited volume, Dance in the Persianate World. Shireen has spoken at several international conferences and has taught courses such as Music of the Silk Road and Pedagogy of Music. She has performed with groups in British Columbia, Washington, and California, as well as Albania and T&uuml;rkiye. In Santa Cruz, she leads the Balkan folk dance band EZGIJA, and she is advising the new UCSC Balkan Student Ensemble. Kathleen NisbetKathleen Nisbet is a fiddle player and singer from Vancouver, BC Canada. Classically trained at the Vancouver Academy of Music, she returned to her M&eacute;tis roots, pursuing more traditional fiddle music. Since then she has worked with artists in a variety of genres. A collaborator and regular accompanist with Compaigni v&#39;ni dansi M&eacute;tis traditional dance, she also has composed music for independent modern dance. Recent theatre credits include A Christmas Carol with Pacific Theatre and Salmon Row with Mortal Coil. Kathleen is an active member of Vancouver&#39;s thriving bluegrass and folk scene, &nbsp;performing and touring regularly with her band Viper Central with whom she has recorded three albums. She has toured with Vancouver bands, The Fugitives and CR Avery and has made guest appearances with Hedley, Fred Eaglesmith, The Belle Game, and The Vicious Cycles to name a few. She works regularly as a studio musician and has numerous studio recording credits. She is a teacher at Saint James Music Academy where Downtown Eastside kids are provided free music lessons. Amy StephenBorn in 1967 in Edmonton, Alberta, Amy Stephen grew up in Vancouver, BC and now resides in Coquitlam. Amy was a founding member of internationally-acclaimed celtic funk ensemble &lsquo;Mad Pudding&rsquo; and is currently a member of Vancouver&rsquo;s World Music Collective. She writes and performs cultural fusion music with her husband, Persian vocalist Amir Haghighi, and is a popular studio musician and performer around Vancouver, playing piano, accordion, celtic harp and penny whistle.&nbsp;The founder and director of Vancouver&rsquo;s Aurora Celebration Choir and the Coquitlam Celebration Choir, Amy obtained a B.Mus. and a B.Ed. from UBC, studying conducting with James Fankhauser, and sang with the University Singers and the University Chamber Singers. Since then, she has sung with various groups around Vancouver, including the Vancouver Chamber Choir, the Vancouver Cantata Singers and Musica Intima.&nbsp; The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO),&nbsp;founded in 2001, is a contemporary classical music ensemble - one of the world&#39;s first concert orchestras devoted specifically to performing new intercultural music on a grand scale. It is currently the only professional ensemble of its kind in Canada. The ensemble includes Western strings and winds (violin, viola, cello, contrabass, oboe, flute, clarinet) alongside Chinese erhu, pipa, sanxian, zheng, and sheng/suona; Persian kamanche, tar/setar, oud, and tombak; percussion from many world music traditions; and a variety of other instruments as required. Through composition, performance and educational outreach to both music professionals and the general public, the VICO supports the development of BC composers and musicians of diverse backgrounds (including Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese, Indian, Persian (Iranian), Latin and South American, Vietnamese, North American and European). Since repertoire for the VICO&rsquo;s novel instrumentation does not already exist, creating new works (150+ new Canadian compositions since 2001, and counting!) is an integral component of all our programming - providing a framework for bringing musicians and composers together to learn from each other, in a uniquely collaborative process. The VICO&rsquo;s programming includes standalone concerts and our biannual Global Soundscapes Festival; public educational events; a biannual Summer Academy, professional development workshops for established and emerging musicians and composers; the creation and distribution of educational materials (video, audio, text) via the web; outreach and collaboration with other artists and organisations in the contemporary and world music scenes of Vancouver, Canada, Europe and Asia; and more. <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.vi-co.org" style="text-decoration-color: currentcolor; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">https://www.vi-co.org</a>&nbsp; ******

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra Society

Past events

Past events

VICO 25th Anniversary Concert

Midsummer Mix Tape

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