Concert showcases renowned Sudbury composer

The 5-Penny New Music Concerts will inaugurate its 10th season with a concert celebrating the music of Sudbury composer Robert Lemay. 

The concert is set for Oct. 4 at St. Peter’s United Church, starting at 8 p.m.

The program consists of Lemay’s three major chamber works and will be performed by Sudbury’s Silver Birch String Quartet and pianist Yoko Hirota. The quartet will perform Lemay’s two works for strings quartet, with Hirota joining the ensemble to perform his piano quintet.

Also included on the program are two shorter pieces by Lemay for solo piano and solo violin.

Since his arrival in Sudbury in 2000, Lemay’s stature as a composer has continued to grow, 5-Penny stated in a news release. He has won prizes for his compositions at international competitions and his works are regularly performed at music festivals worldwide. As co-artistic director (with Hirota) of the 5-Penny series, Lemay has helped establish Sudbury as one of Canada’s outstanding centres for the performance of new music.

The Silver Birch ensemble is Sudbury’s first professional quartet to make its livelihood from the performance of classical music. The acclaimed ensemble tours widely and gives its own yearly Sudbury concert series. It also has championed the works of contemporary composers, including Lemay. It is also the quartet-in-residence at Laurentian University.

Laurentian music professor and pianist Yoko Hirota is recognized as one of Canada’s leading specialists in contemporary music. Her third commercial CD, “Voces Boreales,” released in 2012, was performed in the 5-Penny series and has been hailed by reviewers.

The evening will also be a CD launch concert of Lemay’s chamber music, “L'errance ...,” on the Centrediscs label. The album is the first of its kind to feature Sudbury musicians and a composer.

The CD will be distributed worldwide by Naxos, one of the best-known record companies in classical music.

Co-presented with La Slague du Carrefour francophone, this concert is a co-production of the 5-Penny New Music Concerts and the Silver Birch String Quartet in cooperation with Laurentian University. The event is also made possible with the financial support of the Socan Foundation,  the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Greater Sudbury.

General admission is $20 and $15 for students and seniors. Tickets are available at Black Cat (96 Durham St.), at the TNO (705-525-5606 ext. 4) or at the door.