Program note

Darkside was composed for two ensembles with whom I have extensive history, Paramirabo and the Thin Edge New Music Collective. Having composed for the groups and their individual musicians in various combinations a number of times before and accompanied the double sextet on a previous cross-Canada tour, I was delighted to compose for their joined forces. Knowing intimately what the groups are capable of, I wanted to create a work that showcased their virtuosity and personality.
Darkside turned out to be one of my more intuitively-composed pieces. With the basic concept of the ‘mirror image’ of the two groups with identical formation, the idea of dualities and shadows drives the work. I especially wanted to evoke the contrasts of night and day, material and immaterial, the physicality of manual labour and the introspective world of the mind. The work moves fluidly through contrasting sections, drawing inspiration freely from different genres of music and theatre.