Karappo Okesutura Volume 3

Nicole Lizée is one of Canada's highest regarded composers of contemporary art music, recently receiving the prestigious 2019 Prix Opus for Composer of the Year. The AAO was one of the first international ensembles to pick up on her talents in 2014, and she's also regularly commissioned by the Kronos Quartet and orchestras like the San Francisco Symphony. Following Hymns to Pareidolia in 2014 and 8-Bit Urbex in 2016, Karappo Okesutura Volume III is Nicole Lizée's third AAO commission, and the first full evening work in her oeuvre.

Karappo Okesutura Vol III takes us into a messed up karaoke performance of Australian and Canadian pop hits from the 80s and 90s including: Olivia Newton-John, ACDC, INXS, Loverboy, Alanis Morissette, and Corey Hart. The karaoke machine begins to glitch, the singer holds on for dear life, and the Orchestra manages to hold it all together. This is unique and exciting, and the most fun you’ll have at a ‘serious’ music concert.

Credit - Claire Harvie

The work features an ensemble of eleven of the most outstanding Canadian and Australian musicians, with a special role for Australian vocalist Georgie Darvidis. Other artists featured in the ensemble are Nicole Lizée- turntables, electronics, video, AAO Artistic Director Peter Knight - trumpet, electronics, Leanne Zacharias- cello (CAN), Joe Talia - drums (AUS), Ben Reimer - percussion (CAN), Andrea Keller - piano (AUS), Steve Raegele - guitar (CAN), Sam Pankhurst - bass (AUS), Quinsin Nachoff - saxophone and clarinet (CAN) and Reuben Lewis- trumpet, electronics (AUS).

Karappo Okesutura Volume III was developed as part of a creative residency at the Banff Centre and is premiered at Soundstreams in Toronto. The work is made possible with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Australia Council for the Arts, Creative Victoria and the Ian Potter Foundation.

Credit - Murray Lightburn

COMPOSER NOTES

“My relationship with the AAO has proven to be one of the most rewarding thus far in my career. When we first worked together in 2014 we immediately connected; we shared a vision of what a modern music ensemble could be. We knew that we wanted to collaborate again as soon as possible and have worked together almost every year ever since. Each project has been broader in scope and more rewarding than the last. And now bringing together some of my absolute favourite players from Canada with those from the AAO in this project is very special.”

Lizée’s series of compositions, Karappo Okesutura, volumes 1, 2 and 3 all derive from her manipulation of the elements of karaoke. She says, “I was drawn to the obscured details that are revealed once the primary identifiers for a song (the lead melody and lyrics - often the first thing that the listener’s ear gravitates towards in a pop context) are removed. Hand claps, bass lines, synth textures and particularly the backing vocals, take on a surreal urgency and prominence. Once the less obvious details and colours are exposed these are woven together to create a sonic landscape over which the karaoke singer performs the new version of the song. This skeletal rendition is a perfect opportunity to contort a song without completely losing all identification or traces of the original.”

“In 2005 I created my first volume of Karappo Okesutura. The pieces were written with this scenario in mind: a karaoke singer takes to the stage to perform an 80’s chart-topper only to find that the karaoke machine is behaving erratically. It begins jumping to different sections of the track, rewinding and stopping without warning. The karaoke tape itself is damaged and warped – the pitch and speed are fluctuating, parts of the tape have been chewed by the machine. Yet the singer is still able to keep her composure; she follows and keeps up with the machine, changing tempo and pitch in tandem with the tape, and finishes the song like a professional.”

“With in each subsequent volume I looked to further expand ways of ‘damaging’ the tapes and also expand the live performers’ ways of interacting with them. While the malfunctioning karaoke tape and/or machine is the centre of the project it’s the presence of the live ensemble that transforms it.”

Volume 3 places the focus on Canadian and Australian pop music and culture. Lizée says, “The two countries seem to share similar qualities borne perhaps of their physical realities as large land masses within the Commonwealth. In the 80s, both countries produced pop music that was identifiably not ‘American’ and perhaps the resulting sounds came from the countries being on the ‘outside looking in’ to more dominant global cultures. At any rate, I was completely drawn to Australian music as much as Canadian pop.”

Nicole Lizée (in conversation with David Jaeger)

'Lizée's music fits in the ear newly and very neatly. Its startling personality, broad scope, and pungent mix of iconic elements trick you into familiarity then lead you off on a seductive adventure. Close listening will reveal many worlds, some with shards of familiarity, but she seems to be singing for us in a region of her own devises, leaving the door wide open for our immediate pleasure and for memory. The only real mystery is where she will take us next.' - Music Works

ABOUT NICOLE LIZÉE

Nicole Lizée has been called a 'brilliant musical scientist' and lauded for 'creating a stir with listeners for her breathless imagination and ability to capture Gen-X and beyond generation.' She creates new music from an eclectic mix of influences including the earliest MTV videos, turntablism, rave culture, Hitchcock, Kubrick, 1960's psychedelia and 1960's modernism. She is fascinated by the glitches made by outmoded and well-worn technology and captures these glitches, notates them and integrates them into live performance. 

Lizée has been by an impressive range of ensembles including, the Kronos Quartet, BBC Proms, l'Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, CBC, Radio-Canada, the San Francisco Symphony, NYC's Kaufman Centre, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, and So Percussion. Her music has been performed worldwide in renowned venues including Carnegie Hall (NYC), Royal Albert Hall (London), Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam) and Cité de la Musique (Paris) - and in festivals including BBC Proms (UK), Huddersfield (UK), Bang on a Can (USA), All Tomorrow's Parties (UK), X Avant (Canada), Luminato (Canada), C3 (Berlin), Ecstatic (NYC), Switchboard (San Francisco), Casalmaggiore (Italy), and Dark Music Days (Iceland).

Performance History - KARAPPO OKESUTURA VOL 3

Creative Development
22-28 January 2020, Banff Centre, Banff (AB, Canada)

World Premiere
30 January 2020, Soundstreams at The Great Hall, Toronto (ON, Canada) - info & tickets & program
 

Creative Team

Composer
Nicole Lizée
Turntables, electronics, video
Nicole Lizée
Voice
Georgie Darvidis
Guitar
Steve Raegele
Trumpet/electronics
Peter Knight
Trumpet/electronics
Reuben Lewis

Saxophones
Quinsin Nachoff
Piano/keyboard
Andrea Keller
Cello
Leanne Zacharias
Double Bass
Sam Pankhurst
Percussion
Ben Reimer
Drums
Joe Talia

PRODUCTION
Sound Engineer
Brandon Welsh
Sound Assistant
Steve Luxton
Technical Consultant
Jem Savage
Executive Producer
Jerry Remkes
Tour management
Reuben Lewis

Previous AAO projects with Nicole Lizée

Real Time "In this concert, the challenging melding of music and media reached a deeply satisfying apotheosis."

Sydney Morning Herald "Breathtakingly inventive and extremely witty. …. Here was a genuinely audacious piece of festival programming. Canadian composer Nicole Lizee leaves you wondering whether you have just witnessed pop culture being turned into high art or vice versa. The answer, of course, is that the line has been obliterated."   

Sydney Arts Guide "There is a curious but satisfying symbiosis to experience between image and musical motif."

Limelight "...smudging the lines between digital and organic sounds."
Listen HERE to ABC Music's podcast of Hymns to Pareidolia presented by Stephen Adams.