NEWS RELEASE
ELORA FESTIVAL
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The Elora Festival, led by Artistic Director Mark Vuorinen, has made its triumphant return to live performance, bringing world-class artists - and performances spanning genres and centuries - to “Ontario’s most beautiful village."
A highlight of this coming weekend’s diverse array of performances at the Elora Festival will be the world premiere of Peter-Anthony Togni’s voice of the weaver, a powerful five-movement concerto based on the poem by Mi’kmaq poet, artist, and writer Mary Louise Martin. Written for bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and The Elora Singers, conducted by Mark Vuorinen, voice of the weaver explores the spiritual, dynamic relationship between the overwhelming awe we feel for the giant forces of nature on the one hand and the simple actions of the day-to-day on the other. With intense choral clusters and soaring soprano lines invoking what Martin calls “patterns of great beauty in and through the standing ones” to clear, elegant figures reflecting that “events are quite…ordinary,” Peter-Anthony Togni captures the full impact of Mary Louise Martin’s visionary poetry.
It can be said that this collaboration is decades in the making: Togni’s first setting of Martin’s poetry was written more than twenty years ago, and the relationship between the two artists has grown ever since, culminating in an innovative new work featuring his longtime musical partner, Reilly.
Vuorinen describes this voice of the weaver as “a collaboration between soloist and choir, with the choir playing the role of accompanist or orchestra, making it a very unique contribution to the choral cannon.” The Elora Singers workshopped this new composition with Jeff Reilly, Peter-Anthony Togni, and Mary Louise Martin earlier this year and created this video about their journey to this weekend’s world premiere
Voice of the weaver premieres on Sunday, July 17 at 4 p.m., with a pre-concert chat at 3 p.m. at the iconic Gambrel Barn in Elora .
Tickets for the 2022 Elora Festival are on sale now at www.elorafestival.ca or by calling the box office at (519) 846-0331 from Wednesday to Friday (10 a.m. to 3 p.m.) and Sunday (10 a.m. to noon).
Audience members are strongly encouraged to continue wearing masks in Elora Festival concert halls for the safety of our artists and fellow patrons.
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