Large Ensemble Michael Park Large Ensemble Michael Park

Trip of the Tongue (2024)

for orchestra 2222 /4211/full strings, tenor sax, and percussion
Duration: 8’
Written for A Little Night Music Orchestra, Vancouver; Alana Chan, conductor

Premiered by A Little Night Music Orchestra, Mostly Modern: Movies and More, March 11, 2024
conducted by Alana Chan

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Michael Park Michael Park

Fred Rogers Songs (2023)

for 2 sopranos, baritone, string trio
Duration: 14’, children’s song arrangements
Commissioned by 4th Wall Music

Premiered by 4th Wall Music at It’s You I Like, April 16, 2023

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Chamber, Solo/Duo, Vocal Michael Park Chamber, Solo/Duo, Vocal Michael Park

Los Elefantes también Rezan (2019)

10 minutes
short operatic scene for soprano, tenor, and piano
libretto by Sergio Augusto

10 minutes
short operatic scene for soprano, tenor, and piano
libretto by Sergio Augusto

Written for Bad Penny Opera’s 48-Hour Opera Project, this piece was composed in 30 hours, then performed the next day. The world premiere was performed by Bahareh Pouresalmi, Sergio Augusto, and Nina Horvath at Club Hollywood North, Vancouver, BC, on June 21, 2019.

Synopsis: Lifelong friends and fellow orphans Conchita and Miguel meet unexpectedly when the only toilet in the monastery “mysteriously” stops working.  

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Chamber, Vocal Michael Park Chamber, Vocal Michael Park

I've Had Enough (2018)

a reimagining of J.S. Bach's Ich habe genug
for Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, Bass, piano, clarinet, violin, cello

a reimagining of J.S. Bach's Ich habe genug
for Soprano, Mezzo, Tenor, Bass, piano, clarinet, violin, cello

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Large Ensemble, Chamber Michael Park Large Ensemble, Chamber Michael Park

The Orpheum Lobby (2017)

6 minutes
Open Instrumentation (3 parts)
Text from Vancouver Civic Theatre's website

6 minutes
Open Instrumentation (3 parts)
Text from Vancouver Civic Theatre's website

A site-specific piece for written for Redshift Music Society and Ecstatic Waves's "Still Life With Echo" concert in the lobby of Vancouver's Orpheum Theatre. The piece integrates the Orpheum's 15-minute intermission recording, which plays chimes and reminders 5, 3, and 1 minute before the performance recommences. The piece creates the ambience of intermission chatter and the the sonic environment leading up to a performance.

 

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Vocal, Chamber Michael Park Vocal, Chamber Michael Park

The Knitting Club (2017)

duration: 10 minutes
written for Vancouver's Erato Ensemble:
4 singers (Soprano,  Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone) and chamber ensemble (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Violin, Cello, Guitar, Piano)

The Knitting Club (2017)
a short scene
with text by Michael Park and Sue Hughson
duration: 10 minutes
written for Vancouver's Erato Ensemble:
4 singers (Soprano,  Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Baritone) and chamber ensemble (Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Tenor Saxophone, Violin, Cello, Guitar, Piano)

As a long-standing member of Vancouver's Erato Ensemble, I wrote this piece specifically for their 10-year anniversary. Essentially a short scene from a not-yet-written opera, the piece puts every singer and instrumentalist in the role of knitting club member. Musicians use knitting needles and speech to set the scene, in which the piece explores many quotations and themes around the darker (and lighter) sides of knitting groups. 

Program Note:
It's rare to have an Erato Ensemble rehearsal where someone isn't knitting something during their downtime. Composer Michael Park (avid knitter and ensemble pianist) took it as a personal challenge to create a work that explores the tradition of knitting groups that is equal parts: fun, evocative, and ridiculous.
The audience is invited to knit along with the piece, or just click their needles along with the ensemble. At this knitting club, everyone's invited!

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