After releasing an album designed around the theme of the night in 2018 entitled O Mistress Moon, pianist Jennifer King returns with a variation, O Mistress Moon – Canadian Version, focusing on contemporary and Canadian composers. The opportunity to hear, among other things, a little-known piece by Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, the nocturne E.93 from the pieces "From my childhood", with a nostalgic and languorous allure. Composer and guitarist Amy Brandon sees performed here "Frost Moon", an astonishing work, which behind its nocturnal atmosphere hides a form of disturbing agitation and which was specially commissioned by pianist Jennifer King in 2021. It follows "Gliese 581 c », a short piece by Emily Doolittle painting an impression of the spatial environment, giving a feeling of weightlessness. A past master in the art of music composed around the theme of the night and the moon, Jennifer King knows how to pay homage to these contemporary works and delivers a very beautiful program. Raphaël Godefroid
News
Article: Pianist on the Moon | La Scena
https://myscena.org/jacqueline-vanasse/jennifer-king-pianist-on-the-moon/
June 3, 2022
Canadian pianist Jennifer King’s new album, O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition, uses the pastel colours and images of the moon to set a gentle, mysterious, and poetic mood.
The images of the moon and decorative elements on King’s website are courtesy of her friend Andrea Ledwell.
“Sometimes having an image, or a colour or a relatable aspect can bring a listener to gravitate towards music that they might not normally listen to,” King says. “I think it is an important aspect to look at when introducing people to new music, especially if it is contemporary.”
King has always been drawn to the moon: her 2018 first album, O Mistress Moon, was a collection of hidden nocturnal-themed gems for the piano.
“There is something about [the moon]that can be created on the piano, like combining a rolling bass line with a beautiful melody that has now been elaborated on by so many composers,” King says.
Portrait of Jennifer King
King feels contemporary Canadian piano music could be more present on the digital music scene. With O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition, she wanted to “highlight the wealth” of Nova Scotian and Maritime music, since there are a lot of unknown talented composers in those regions.
She then discovered a Facebook page called Mi’kmaw Moons, made by Dave Chapman and Cathy LeBlanc. The page explains how to say the names of the moon in Mi’kmawi’simk, and it describes the history and background of the names for every month’s full moon.
Each of the 12 full moons in 2021-2022 were assigned to a composer on the album. “I took the pieces and thought about how they felt when I was listening to them—what they were trying to communicate. The more romantic ones I linked maybe towards the summer months and then the ones that were feeling a bit more spacious with a cold feeling, I linked to the winter months,” King says. “It really helped enhance the project and I think the composers really like the fact that they had their own moon.”
Two pieces were written specifically by Canadian composers for the project. King commissioned Amy Brandon to write Frost Moon, and Richard Gibson to write the River Freezing Over Moon.
“It was a great honour really to have those two pieces written, and they are certainly beautiful works [that]I hope… will get played by other people,” she says.
King hopes this project’s focus on Indigenous culture and history, as well as the presence of two commissioned works by Canadian composers, will add to the world of Canadian music.
“I thought the traditional (Mi’kmaq) knowledge of the moons was a very important aspect of the project, and it is something I wish I had learned about as a child going to school, as this knowledge was something I was never made aware of. This album is another way to view music [and]what we do as musicians, and to think about how people might listen, where it is coming from,” she says. “That is what I was looking for and [I] hope this viewpoint will continue to guide me.”
Music video of Nocturne No. 3 from Jennifer King’s album O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition
www.jenniferkingpiano.com
Review: O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition | Ludwig Montreal
Ludwig Montreal This week, our column ventures on the side of instrumental music of classical inspiration or "modern classical" as we say in the language of Shakespeare, with pianist Jennifer King, we rediscover Lionel Daunais, unknown singer and composer from Quebec, and we find the excellent David Jalbert, this time in Prokofiev. Good listening!
Jennifer King/ O Mistress Moon/ Leaf Music
Is it music in the strict sense of the term, good question? In the wake of what the pianist Lea Streliski, Jean-Michel Blais (except for his last which is orchestral) and of course the ineffable Ludovico Enaudi accomplish, we could consider that this novelty is sailing in these waters. From the first notes of the libretto, the table is set. "This collection of solo piano pieces inspired by Canada, the moon and the cosmos is designed to invite introspection."
In other words, we are in a therapeutic environment, without however yielding to the sirens of any guru. It is true this alloy has a certain charisma, provided that we do not abuse it. In the intimate register, we prefer the unforgettable Samson François or the jazz pianist Bill Evans a thousand times over. With her Nocturnes 1, 2 and 3, Atlantic composer Sandy Moore unveils a triple that evokes Erik Satie, while: Nocturnes, Op 97, Rivers Freezing Over Moon as well as Espace by the composer from Prince Edward Island Richard Gibson, wants to be even more meditative. With Astral Image, melodist Jean Coulthard recalls the immensity of the territory, in a very rhythmic way. If we don't cultivate the genre, kudos to pianist Jennifer King who divulged the work of composers we hear little about. Christophe Rodriguez
Review: O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition | The WholeNote
The WholeNote O Mistress Moon – Canadian Edition Jennifer King Leaf Music LM245 (leaf-music.ca) ! The moon is an ever-popular musical inspiration. Canadian pianist Jennifer King chose 12 solo piano works by six Canadian composers for their environmental relationship to the moon, night and outer space in this “Canadian version” sequel to her earlier recording. Each was released as a single to a monthly full-moon cycle related to folk and Mi’kmaq symbolism. Together, King’s self-described “musical meditative journey” takes off! Opening track, In the Falling Dark 1 by Derek Charke, sets the musical twilight moon stage with chorale opening, repeated notes, calming sparse parts and improvisations. Kevin Lau’s The Dreamer is an accessible mystical dreamworld soundscape held together by repeated E flat “heartbeat” notes. Sophie Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté’s Nocturne shows off King’s expertise in playing an expressive Chopin/Schumann influenced work. Sandy Moore’s three Nocturnes combine classical and modern music. Nocturne 3’s lyrical opening makes for relaxing moon watching until lower pitches and fast lines build dramatic tension before returning to a hopeful reflective closing. Three Richard Gibson works include Espaces in which I love the outer space tranquility created silences interspersed by few notes, ringing strings and atonal moments. Emily Doolittle’s Gliese 581c looks at a planet from outer space with faster high and contrasting dark sounds. Short, crisp, sudden flash-freeze chords and slower frost forming overlapping patterns in Amy Brandon’s brilliant Frost Moon. Jean Coulthard’s Image Astrale is dramatic out of this world sonic listening featuring contrasting harmonic textures. King’s sensitive performances make for moving moonlight listening.
Tiina Kiik
Review: O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition | La Scena
Jennifer King loves to introduce us to Canadian gems. For her latest project, she has chosen solo piano works by eight Canadian composers including Kevin Lau, Sandy Moore, Richard Gibson, Amy Brandon and Jean Coulthard. These names may not mean much to you yet, but here the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
As its name suggests, Mistress Moon takes as its theme the moon, the starry night and the space beyond. It invites us to rethink our relationship with nature, to rediscover a form of ancestral wisdom. The pandemic has forced us to change our lifestyles. It has also made us face the fragility of the world. Through the album, Jennifer King says she wants to help us, in her own way, to turn the page. One can only be charmed by the calm and meditative sweetness that emanates from her piano interpretations. Modern musical language often takes us out of our comfort zone and brings with it its share of anxieties, but it can also be intoxicating when the pace quickens. There are many moments when the music reaches heights of vitality. One can say that the album breathes renewal. Justin Bernard
Review: O Mistress Moon: Canadian Edition | Pan M 360
The stars are once again at the heart of pianist Jennifer King's latest album. In this pendant to her previous opus O Mistress Moon (2018), acclaimed by critics, the musician takes up the theme of the night to decline it around the figures of the moon, the cosmos and nature, this time with an assembly of pieces composed exclusively of Canadian composers. To further coat the soundscape of the album, Jennifer King associated each piece with a monthly cycle of the moon linked to folk and Mi’kmaq symbolism. The listener is thus taken on the path of a vast snowy plain where we hear the cracking of icy waters in Rivers Freezing Over Moon by Richard Gibson, with these alternations of open and dissonant harmonies. It is also accompanied by sensitive and evocative nocturnes reminiscent of the aesthetics of Chopin, Satie and Schumann (Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Grammaté, Sandy Moore). As the night drops its dreamlike veil in In the Failing Dark 1 by Derek Charke, the starry vault reveals itself, mysterious with its evocations of infinite and imaginary spaces, as well as its clusters of stars evoked so much by crystalline flights ( Gliese 581c by Emily Doolittle) than by contrasting sound clusters (Astral Image by Jean Coulthard).
The result gives an almost mystical color to this opus which plunges us into an introspective and meditative universe, both serene and lively. Contrasted both emotionally and aesthetically, this beautifully rendered new album by Jennifer King soothes and brings warmth to the cold winter. Alexandre Villemaire
Upstream Presents Herd of Pianos, part 2!
Herd of Pianos, part 2
The second instalment of Upstream’s collaboration with the Dalhousie Art Gallery, featuring Canadian-NZ composer Juliet Palmer’s piece for 6 grand pianos, “Circus Dog” as performed by 6 of Halifax’s premiere pianists
Simon Docking
Tara Scott
Jennifer King
Megan Thibeault
Mark Morton
Ian Bent
WHEN: June 27th at 8 pm
https://www.tickethalifax.com/events/112389493/riptide-mini-festival-a-rush-of-new-music
Chronicle Herald: Musical fairy tale comes to life with Nova Scotian musician, filmmaker's animated Twilight Hour
It all began with a dancing fox.
Halifax pianist Jennifer King was spending a summer living in Prince Edward Island with her husband, veterinarian Dr. Michael West, who was working there and teaching at U.P.E.I.
Halifax Presents: Cozying up with Jennifer King’s The Twilight Hour
The 12 track album features music inspired by fairy tales and features an accompanying Edward Gorey inspired video from multimedia filmmaker Katrina Westin.
https://www.halifaxpresents.com/music/cozying-up-with-jennifer-kings-the-twilight-hour/
Twilight Hour Collected Stories for Piano
Release Date: October 30, 2020
Title: Twilight Hour: Collected Stories for Piano
Format: CD/Digital
Artists: Jennifer King (piano) in works by Kabalevsky, Ravel, Schumann, Copland, Turina, Prokofiev, Weiner and Grieg
Produced by: Anne Simons and Rod Sneddon
(Halifax, NS) Twilight Hour: Collected Stories for Piano is the latest recording from Halifax pianist Jennifer King, a collection of twelve short piano works inspired by fairy tales. The album has an accompanying video by multimedia filmmaker Katrina Westin, which can be viewed on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram via @jenniferkingpiano. The recording features illustrations and design by Andrea Ledwell and was recorded at First Baptist Church in Halifax by sound engineer Rod Sneddon.
The twelve tracks on Twilight Hour range from dreamy magical-sounding works like two Preludes by Dmitry Kabalevsky to the energetic Fox Dance by Hungarian composer
Léo Weiner. Fox Dance was the inspiration for one of the video components brought to life by stop motion animator Katrina Westin, who collaborated with Jennifer to bring this project to life during the current pandemic. “When everything got disappointingly cancelled with COVID in the spring, this was a great project to work long distance on with Katrina in Toronto,” explained Jennifer. “She’s created a whole storyline and charming characters to go with the piano pieces, and since she’s a singer, she really understands the timing and flow of the music. We were going for Tim Burton meets Edward Gorey meets The Snowman, and I love the results she’s come up with.” The finished video is about eight minutes, with short excerpts being released over the month of October, and with support from the Canada Council for the Arts through their Digital Originals program.
New Music: Jennifer King Performs Emily Doolittle’s ‘Minute Etudes’
“Nova Scotia pianist Jennifer King presents a selection of etudes by award-winning composer Emily Doolittle. An interesting work to analyse, Minute Etudes collects six of Doolittle’s one-minute pieces, captured live from King’s performance. Each piece intends to exercise a facet of composition while also invoking a target emotion. The entire work is under ten minutes long.”