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A poem without words might seem like something of an oxymoron, but to the artists of the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra, it makes all the sense in the world when it comes to their music.
The orchestra’s first concert of the year is entitled Poèmes sans paroles (Poems Without Words), and it features two students of the Desautels Faculty of Music speaking prominently into the concept in their own unique ways.
The first of these students is Amir Bissen. The master's student in violin performance won the school’s concerto competition in 2024 and will be the featured soloist in Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor. This concert will mark the fourth time that Bissen has performed it in his career, the first coming when he was a ten-year-old student in his native Kazakhstan.
The unconventional nature of the concerto’s structure is what Bissen believes ties it to the concert’s unconventional theme. “It’s one of those concertos that doesn’t have this kind of classical introduction of the orchestra,” he elaborates. “You immediately begin with this kind of haunting-sounding melody. It poses quite a lot of challenges.”
The second student to play a prominent role in Poèmes sans paroles is Tamir Moore-Freedman. The undergraduate composer will be contributing a new piece to the concert called Materia for Orchestra which he says fits nicely into the theme.
“A big part of writing music is being able to express myself in a way that words don’t always do justice,” says Moore-Freedman, who began his post-secondary music education in jazz. “I’m always very particular about the way that I talk and speak to people. Sometimes I try to take a little too long to find the words, but I feel like with music, there isn’t always that disconnect.”
“I’m trying to beam that directly in the ear, into your soul.”
Monica Chen, the U of M Symphony Orchestra’s conductor, is the person responsible for creating the program that will be beamed to audiences. A former violinist, Chen and Bissen have worked closely on the preparations for the violin concerto in what Bissen describes as something of a shared language between them.
For Chen, both the Mendelssohn and the Materia have value for the students in the orchestra to develop necessary musician skills. She praises Moore-Freedman for creating a piece that students can engage with and for being available for students to engage with him about the piece. “In the sphere of performing new music that hasn’t been performed before or has been rarely performed, or things that haven’t been on the radar... I think it draws a more critical eye for them that I think is quite important as performers.”
Audiences can enjoy the University of Manitoba Symphony Orchestra’s concert Poèmes sans paroles on February 6 at 7:30 p.m. at the Desautels Concert Hall. Tickets and more information can be found at the concert hall’s website.