Vancouver Pro Musica Presents
Sonic Boom 2021
Featured Artists –Jeremy Berkman (trombones) & Angelique Po (pipe organ)
About the Artists
Jeremy Berkman (trombones)
Jeremy Berkman earned a BA in Economics and a BMus from Oberlin College and Conservatory of Music. After receiving his MMus from the Juilliard school, and working at the Aspen Music School for several summers, Mr. Berkman came to Canada to study at the Banff Centre, where he developed projects with dancers, actors, film-makers, as well as wonderful musicians. Now a Canadian citizen and BC resident for over twenty -five years, Jeremy has earned an acclaimed and varied career in musical performance and production. He is a Founding member and Director of Education for Vancouver’s award winning Turning Point Ensemble (TPE) chamber orchestra.
Currently also the Principal Trombonist with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, he makes music with outstanding colleagues in A Touch of Brass Quintet, cellist Peggy Lee’s octet (The Peggy Lee Band), and big bands led by John Korsrud (Hard Rubber Orchestra), Fred Stride, and Jill Townsend. He has contributed to over 30 commercially released recordings with artists ranging from free-improvisors to popular singers and songwriters such as Matthew Good and Michael Bublé, and also including five with the Peggy Lee Band (PLB) led by cellist Peggy Lee. With PLB he has toured nationally and internationally and been nominated for a Juno Award. He commissioned, recorded, and toured fellow TPE Co-Artistic Director Owen Underhill’s Trombone Quintet with Montreal’s Bozzini String Quartet, with the recording (Still Image) and composition nominated for the 2012 Western Canadian Music Awards. His most recent passion is exploring the music of the 1500s and 1600s as a member of Cappella Borealis, a sackbut quartet with fellow UBC faculty member Alex Fisher, and UBC Alumni Ellen Marple and Nathan Wilkes. Jeremy is also now currently co-leading the newly founded Vancouver Brass Orchestra (VBO), a large ensemble comprised of brass and percussion players from Vancouver flourishing brass and percussion communities.
Jeremy was honored with Vancouver’s Mayor’s Arts Award (Music) for his leadership and contributions to Vancouver’s musical communities. With Turning Point Ensemble and double bass player David Brown, Jeremy has greatly enjoyed his participation with the Sonic Boom Festival as artist-in-residence. With David Brown, their Duo “Friends in Low Places” has performed many of the works premiered at the Sonic Boom Festival on numerous occasions, and most recently collaborated with the Canadian Music Centre on a Canada Council supported project comparing the levels of listener engagement when hearing music live vs. live-streamed.
Mr. Berkman is a sessional instructor of trombone and chamber music coach at UBC, and enjoys working with young musicians as they open the wonderful windows to the world that music offers. Jeremy lives in Vancouver with his wife Sheila and son Augwin.
Angelique Po (pipe organ)
Angelique Po is a pianist, organist and harpsichordist living and working in Vancouver, BC. Her versatility and broad range of interests in music style have led her to collaborate with a variety of ensembles and soloists. Her recent projects include an organ and trumpet concert tour to Cumberland, BC with trumpeter Katherine Evans, playing the piano in a rare performance of Galina Ustvolskaya’s Grand Duet with cellist Laine Longton, and the world premiere of Keith Hamel’s piano duo Hocket with Corey Hamm. She is currently the Music Director at Central Presbyterian Church in Vancouver, and President of the RCCO Vancouver Centre. She has also played harpsichord and organ continuo with the Postmodern Camerata, Vancouver Oratorio Singers and Abendmusik, and has taken organ appointments at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and First Baptist Church in Vancouver. As a composer, she has written for various small ensembles, including pianist Michael Park, and the Piano and Erhu Project (PEP) with Corey Hamm and Nicole Li, as well as a number of art songs. She studied piano at the University of British Columbia under Dr. Sara Buechner. In addition, she studied harpsichord with Doreen Oke, and organ with Michael Murray, Edward Norman and Kevin Bowyer.
Supporting Materials
Audio recording of workshop (mp3 format)
Angelique’s Youtube playlist of trombone/organ pieces
Angelique’s Google Drive with some sample scores
Application Guidelines
We welcome submissions from BC composers of all styles and genres. To submit a piece, complete the online form at the bottom of this page. Payment may be made through Paypal, or by cheque mailed separately. Only submission forms completed through this website will be considered.
Instrumentation
Your submission should include a piece no more than 8 minutes in length scored for a duet of:
- trombone (tenor, alto)
- pipe organ (list of stops available here). A guide to writing for organ will be available prior to the workshop.
Pieces requiring electronics will not be considered.
NB: Although pieces written for only one of these instruments may be submitted, preference will be given to scores featuring both instruments.
All submissions must also meet the following requirements:
- Submitting composers must be residents of BC.
- Submissions must be received by 11:59 pm on Friday, January 15th, 2021.
- Accompanied by cash or cheque sent by mail. Fee for each submission is $25.
- Works must have been composed within the past three years.
- Composers will be expected to attend (via on-line means [Zoom or equivalent] or in person [if permitted] the reading session and concert for their work.
- Submitted pieces can be up to 8 minutes in length (suggested 5-8 mins). Please note that time limits will be strictly enforced.
Checklist:
Applications must include:
- The composer’s name, address, and e-mail address.
- Application fee of $25 per submission. Payment can be made via Paypal or cheque by mail. Please make cheques payable to:
- Vancouver Pro Musica Society
PO Box 78077 RPO Grandview
Vancouver, BC V5N 5W1
- Vancouver Pro Musica Society
- Two copies of the score (both parts). One copy of the score should be anonymous, in the event that a jury is required to adjudicate submissions.
Announcement and Presentation of Works Selected
Vancouver Pro Musica will contact all the submitters by Tuesday, January 26, 2021. While Vancouver Pro Musica wishes to be as inclusive as possible, production costs, time constraints, and other practical concerns may require that not all submitters will have a work selected. Vancouver Pro Musica is aiming to have each concert contain 60-65 mins of music in total. In the event that these considerations do not permit the performance of all submissions, Vancouver Pro Musica will employ a panel of professional composers not associated with Vancouver Pro Musica to guide selection. Decisions of the panel will be final.
Composers selected for performance must be ready to provide all required performance materials including parts. Those whose works are presented will receive a recording of their work for non-commercial purposes.
All composers who submit—regardless of whether or not their piece is selected for performance—automatically become members in good standing of Vancouver Pro Musica, exempt from membership dues for one year.
Important Dates
- Sunday, November 15 2020 at 3:00pm: workshop with the Featured Artists (via Zoom).
- Friday, January 15, 2021 at 11:59pm: Score submission deadline.
- Tuesday, January 26, 2021: Submitters notified of selection results.
- Monday, February 22, 2021 at 7:00 pm: Open reading session of selected works (via Zoom).
- Friday, February 26, 2021: Final revisions to scores and parts due.
- Friday, March 26, 2021, 7:30pm: on-line concert #1
- Saturday, March 27, 2021, 7:30pm: on-line concert #2