Mix snow, ice, enchanted mirrors, and reindeer, add a string quartet and narrator, and the stage is set for a magical retelling of a classic Hans Christian Andersen tale. This winter Canadian composer Patrick Cardy’s adapted score of The Snow Queen for string quartet and narrator will finally achieve the grand vision of the late composer in a spectacular new production created at The Banff Centre. The Snow Queen tells a story of friendship through adversity and of a brave journey guided by courage and love. Working with the Centre’s Music & Sound, Theatre Arts, and Creative Electronic Environment departments, Canadian actor Alon Nashman and the Toronto-based Tokai String Quartet participated in a two-week residency at the Centre, enabling The Snow Queen to be realized for the first time as a full theatrical production incorporating image projection, lighting design, and audio support. The end result was a string of sold-out performances that enchanted hundreds of Alberta children. “The Centre acted as a catalyst for bringing this project to life,” says Barry Shiffman, director of music programs for The Banff Centre. “I knew of the work, having performed it with the St. Lawrence Quartet and Alon. Wanting to ‘take it to the next level’ and have it benefit from proper staging, lighting, etc., I introduced Alon to the Tokai Quartet and they have taken the project and run with it. This was the first professional staging of this important work by composer Patrick Cardy and I'm so thrilled to make this production a reality through Music & Sound’s community engagement program funds.” |
Presented in five magical performances at the Centre in early December to an enthralled audience of over 1,100 children from Banff, Canmore, and Exshaw schools, the production then traveled to Calgary for a performance at the Alberta Children’s Hospital. “[Nashman and the Tokai] will leave Banff with a production that is ready to be presented and staged anywhere. It is already planned for a run of sold out performances in Toronto … so the future looks bright,” says Shiffman. “Banff is the only place I can imagine where this kind of collaboration could take place,” says Nashman. “The Snow Queen is an unusual hybrid, a concert/theatre /storytelling event. The Centre gave us the opportunity to work closely with music coaches, theatre technicians, video artists, and audio engineers.” Amanda Goodburn, who with Csaba Koczo, Yosef Tamir, and Rafael Hoekman make up the Tokai String Quartet, has been looking for opportunities to go beyond the traditional quartet recital and to reach audiences – especially young audiences – in a different way. “We hope to excite the audience with how the art of storytelling can bring together so many wonderful fields of artistic endeavour to create something magical,” she says. “I don’t know of any other arts centre which offers such a supportive and dynamic environment, both for the growth and development of artists’ visions, and for collaboration between the creative fields of theatre and music.” |
Published: January 2007.