USask-composed musical piece premieres in honour of retiring USask president
In a special tribute to its retiring president, Peter Stoicheff, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has commissioned a musical composition for seven musicians to be premiered at farewell events this month.
By Kathryn Warden, Special Advisor to the Vice-President University Relations and Vice-President Research“The piece is a thank you to President Stoicheff,” said its composer Paul Suchan, a USask alumnus and sessional lecturer in music, conducted the piece at a presidential farewell event at Remai Modern on Dec. 4th and will do so again at an event for the campus community on Dec. 9th.
“It is an unusual commission for an unusual president in that he is a musician himself and he’s passionate about artistic and scholarly work,” said Suchan.
The piece is orchestrated for string quartet, acoustic bass, drums, and, in honour of Stoicheff’s chosen instrument, a classical guitar.
“It is a fitting way to honour him. In fact, the bass line in one section of the piece was based on one of Peter’s own melodies from his composition Canto for Two Guitars.”
Suchan said the piece is mostly upbeat and energetic, using various themes from Stoicheff’s presidency, including Reconciliation.
The title of the piece—"From the East to the West”—references on a literal level the fact Stoicheff came from eastern Canada to Saskatchewan almost 40 years ago to join USask.
The title is drawn from a line in a poem by Ezra Pound, an American writer whose work Stoicheff studied for his 1995 book The Hall of Mirrors: “Without character, you will be unable to play on that instrument or to execute the music fit for the Odes...The blossoms of the apricot blow from the east to the west, and I have tried to keep them from falling.” (Canto XIII)
“To me, this means that leadership is hard, a juggling act, and you have to have character to balance things and keep them from falling or falling apart. And sometimes a leaf will fall and that’s OK because things change and something else may blossom,” Suchan said.
Noting that Stoicheff’s presidency prioritized Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Suchan said he has tried to convey in the music a sense of large movements of people coming from the east to settle in the west of Canada “and how we’re now facing what that meant for people here before us and looking back on it,” he said.
The seven musicians—five of whom are USask music graduates—are: Dru Waltz and Wagner Barbosa on violin, Sarah ter Velde on viola, Joel MacDonald on cello, Emmett Fortosky on bass, Graham Pritchard on classical guitar, and Brett Graham on drums.
In composing the piece, Suchan interviewed Stoicheff about his musical influences and interests, which include The Beatles, Blue Rodeo, and various classical guitarists.
“I tried to write something that used Peter’s musical influences. For instance, the fiddle melody reflecting the west of Canada has a Beatles-esque feel to it—sort of fiddling meets the Beatles.”
The idea to honour Stoicheff with a commissioned piece of music came from USask music professor Dean McNeill who helped organize the musical tribute project.
“There is something quite special about a musical tribute like this, written by such an outstanding USask alumnus in a pay-it-forward kind of way, as a thank you to President Stoicheff who has given so much of his professional career to the advancement of our university,” said McNeill.
“All the fine arts help us to tell special stories in important ways. We are so fortunate to have Paul Suchan as a composer in our fine arts community, helping us to experience these sorts of human stories and journeys. To have these wonderful USask music alumni involved in the premiere of this new music is fantastic.”
Suchan hopes his composition will be picked up by chamber music groups or established string quartets in other parts of the country. His work includes more than 85 commissions that have been performed across Canada, the United States and Europe by leading university ensembles, symphony orchestras, community groups, and choirs.
Suchan has received many awards for teaching and composing, including a 2017 USask Alumni Achievement Award for his work in music composition and community building.
An original award-winning composition by Paul Suchan was played at last spring’s Be What the World needs campaign wrap-up.