Note: Ticket sales for this banquet close on Sunday March 26th. Calvin Dyck & Betty Suderman are providing music at this event.
GARDENS (Abbotsford Performance)
Gardens: a sacred oratorio, a new work for soprano soloist, choir, and orchestra by Dr. David Squires is premiering Saturday April 15th, 2023 (7:30pm) at Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church in Surrey, with a second performance Sunday April 16th (3:00 pm) at Central Heights Church in Abbotsford. Composed by Squires and with biblical texts compiled by David and Colette Squires, Gardens was initially set to premiere in April 2020, but this was interrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Conductor Dr Joel Tranquilla, who first commissioned the piece in 2019 for the Trinity Western University Chamber Choir, says, “Although it’s taken us longer than we could have anticipated, I know that this is the right time to share Gardens. There is a profoundness to the Gospel message [...] Dave and Colette Squires have curated these Biblical and liturgical texts in such a beautifully poetic way. It’s an expertly crafted sermon AND it’s a wonderful work of art.”
This nine-movement piece follows the biblical arc from that first garden in the opening of the book of Genesis to the ultimate and longed-for garden described at the end of the Revelation by St. John. Except for the central setting of Psalm 23, each movement brings together varied and sometimes divergent biblical passages, illustrating and amplifying the journey from the life, glory and peace of the created order, through the lament of the exiled wanderers, to the Good Shepherd who is our peace, and his suffering to accomplish that peace, and to our final promised dwelling place in the Garden of Joy yet to come.
Gardens will feature soloist Alison Nystrom, the TWU Choirs (under the direction of Dr Joel Tranquilla), Gloria Dei Chorale (under the direction of TWU alum Rob Workman), Vancouver Oratorio Society (under the direction of Kemuel Wong), and orchestra led by concertmaster Calvin Dyck. This will be conductor Tranquilla’s last concert with TWU before he moves to Nova Scotia to become Artistic Director of Halifax Camerata Singers. “I have had the privilege of working on many of Dave’s compositions over the last 9 years. I love his music, and I think this is the finest thing he’s written for choirs…it will be very special to have such a large group of singers for the premiere performance. I am so grateful to get to work on this project with Dave, Alison, and Calvin as my final concert at TWU.”
“How wonderful it is to be finally sharing this work,” says Alison Nystrom, soloist for Gardens. Having first prepared to perform this in early 2020, she shared that the music and texts were fresh in her mind and a comfort to her during the difficult months of Covid-19 lockdowns and isolation. “Singing this work of praise, of pain, of comfort [...] and ultimately of hope is a true expression of worship. The text and the music work together to evoke beautiful sound pictures that point us toward the Living God.”
Composer, university professor, mentor, and worship curator, Dr. David Squires is Professor of Music in the School of the Arts, Media + Culture at Trinity Western University in Langley BC. He has a special affinity for sacred music, with an extensive catalogue of chamber, choral, and orchestral works, and is equally at home writing for amateurs and students as for professional musicians. “I am most grateful to Dr. Joel Tranquilla and Trinity Western University for commissioning this work. My wife Colette has been my constant companion as we collaborated on texts and the overall vision. And the work is lovingly dedicated to my parents, Sid and Grace Squires, who first introduced me to music and faith.”
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite for the world premiere of Gardens: a sacred oratorio.
Saturday April 15th, 7:30 pm in Surrey
or
Sunday April 16th, 3pm in Abbotsford.
Conductor Dr Joel Tranquilla, who first commissioned the piece in 2019 for the Trinity Western University Chamber Choir, says, “Although it’s taken us longer than we could have anticipated, I know that this is the right time to share Gardens. There is a profoundness to the Gospel message [...] Dave and Colette Squires have curated these Biblical and liturgical texts in such a beautifully poetic way. It’s an expertly crafted sermon AND it’s a wonderful work of art.”
This nine-movement piece follows the biblical arc from that first garden in the opening of the book of Genesis to the ultimate and longed-for garden described at the end of the Revelation by St. John. Except for the central setting of Psalm 23, each movement brings together varied and sometimes divergent biblical passages, illustrating and amplifying the journey from the life, glory and peace of the created order, through the lament of the exiled wanderers, to the Good Shepherd who is our peace, and his suffering to accomplish that peace, and to our final promised dwelling place in the Garden of Joy yet to come.
Gardens will feature soloist Alison Nystrom, the TWU Choirs (under the direction of Dr Joel Tranquilla), Gloria Dei Chorale (under the direction of TWU alum Rob Workman), Vancouver Oratorio Society (under the direction of Kemuel Wong), and orchestra led by concertmaster Calvin Dyck. This will be conductor Tranquilla’s last concert with TWU before he moves to Nova Scotia to become Artistic Director of Halifax Camerata Singers. “I have had the privilege of working on many of Dave’s compositions over the last 9 years. I love his music, and I think this is the finest thing he’s written for choirs…it will be very special to have such a large group of singers for the premiere performance. I am so grateful to get to work on this project with Dave, Alison, and Calvin as my final concert at TWU.”
“How wonderful it is to be finally sharing this work,” says Alison Nystrom, soloist for Gardens. Having first prepared to perform this in early 2020, she shared that the music and texts were fresh in her mind and a comfort to her during the difficult months of Covid-19 lockdowns and isolation. “Singing this work of praise, of pain, of comfort [...] and ultimately of hope is a true expression of worship. The text and the music work together to evoke beautiful sound pictures that point us toward the Living God.”
Composer, university professor, mentor, and worship curator, Dr. David Squires is Professor of Music in the School of the Arts, Media + Culture at Trinity Western University in Langley BC. He has a special affinity for sacred music, with an extensive catalogue of chamber, choral, and orchestral works, and is equally at home writing for amateurs and students as for professional musicians. “I am most grateful to Dr. Joel Tranquilla and Trinity Western University for commissioning this work. My wife Colette has been my constant companion as we collaborated on texts and the overall vision. And the work is lovingly dedicated to my parents, Sid and Grace Squires, who first introduced me to music and faith.”
Purchase tickets on Eventbrite for the world premiere of Gardens: a sacred oratorio.
Saturday April 15th, 7:30 pm in Surrey
or
Sunday April 16th, 3pm in Abbotsford.
SAVE THE DATE - Symphony in the Park 2023
