Hope Salmonson
composer, tubist

Ubi caritas et amor by Hope Salmonson Convoco @convocoensemble Kethrellan Peterson Marisa Curcio Kelsey Lewis Jess Kerler Jonathan Hartwell Royce Strider Erik Potteiger Lucas DeJesus This work continues the queered, panentheistic outlook I began in Et tibi miserere, a cantata designed to pray to and for my queer and trans community. If Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est translates to Where charity and love are, there God is, my interpretation views my community as sacred in and of itself. It is through them that I find serenity, from them I feel the strongest love and care, and with them that I push forward through life. My hope is to communicate to queer and trans communities the same love one might have for a god or other figure: a deep, fundamental love that emanates from the core of my heart. #newmusic #choralmusic #choir #sacredmusic

Crosshatch by Hope Salmonson Members of the University of British Columbia Contemporary Players Ramsey Sadaka, cond. Jegan Ganesan, flute Daniel Hayden, clarinet/bass clarinet Phoebe Cheng, violin Leah Bruno, piano premiered at the 2023 West Coast Student Composers Symposium, Roy Barnett Recital Hall, UBC This brief overture for chamber quartet is centered around vertical lines (specifically chords built with sympathetic vibrations in the piano) and horizontal lines (ostinati and grooves). The four players interweave and trade roles, creating a musical shape that moves in multiple directions, at the same time angular and fluid. #newmusic #chambermusic #flute #clarinet #bassclarinet #violin #piano

Glitter Bomb by Hope Salmonson Mount Allison University Symphonic Band Percussion Section Ryu Hiramoto, cond. Owen Chandler, percussion 1 Noah Batten, percussion 2 Manuel Florez, percussion 3 Owen Melanson, percussion 4 Kiran Steele, percussion 5 Morgan Lynch and Alena Grandy, wine glasses premiered in Brunton Auditorium, Mount Allison University My mother encountered a woman who offered her a bag of "Hap, Hap, Happy Confetti." This simple bag of glitter was designed to bring a sparkle of joy in even the worst of times; the instructions simply read, "use often." The beauty of this glitter was that it would get everywhere—hair, clothes, floor, you name it. So, for the next few days, you would find remnants, memories of that joy you had tossed in the air. When my mum told me about this, I couldn't help but think of the relationship to my queerness and transness. I've never been a "sparkles" kind of person, but even I can find beauty in a bit of glitter. With the representation of glitter in queer communities, I drew the connection that in my life, there is an ineffable "glitter" of queerness that I will happily spread everywhere I go. #newmusic #chambermusic #percussion

Grandmother (Nukumij) for five improvisers Composed by the 2022 LAMP Composition Cohort: Daniel Gardner, Andrew Gosse, Emily Green, Gabrielle Martin, Seán Parker, Hope Salmonson, Ashley Seward Inspired by the poetry of Michelle Sylliboy Premiered April 25, 2022 by Tristan Durie, Caitlin Broms-Jacobs, David Boutin-Bourque, Ryan Garbett and Gabe Azzie This work draws inspiration from Michelle Sylliboy’s poem of the same title and from the improvisatory compositions of Pauline Oliveros. In it, we attempt to evoke or simulate communication between the self and the land. We exist in tandem with the world around us, and we call out to the land to receive guidance, just as we offer back to the land to maintain a connection. It is through this relationship that we feel linked to ourselves, to our community, and to Earth. In our improvisation, the caller in the centre and the responders in the four directions engage in dialogue through music, exchanging roles in which they share knowledge, ask and answer questions, and create something more than the sum of their parts. Performance Note: As this work seeks to respond musically to Michelle Sylliboy’s words, the composers strongly suggest that anyone who wishes to perform this work engages directly with the poem, so as to draw their own interpretations and interact with the art respectfully. The poem, “Grandmother (Nukumij)” can be found in Michelle Sylliboy’s collection Kiskajeyi - I AM READY. More information: https://msylliboy.wixsite.com/website/kiskajeyi-i-am-ready-by-michelle-sy This work can be performed with or without instruments and/or found objects. One person stands or sits in the middle of the performance space; they are the caller. Four responders space themselves out to the left, right, front and back of the caller. Optionally, the responders may be hidden from view depending on the performance space. The improvisation happens in four sections, each separated by a brief pause: 1. The caller improvises, and the responders improvise back, imitating the caller’s musical material. These may happen one at a time, or overlapping with each other. 2. The responders improvise, and the caller responds to the sounds that they hear. 3. The caller sends out again. The responders send back, this time offering different material from what they hear 4. Finally, the responders improvise to the caller, who actively listens to the improvisation. Here, the responders may interact musically with each other. Once the sound ends organically, the piece is complete.

Breathe by Hope Salmonson inspired by poetry of Michelle Sylliboy Tyler McDonald, percussion 1 Ethan De Souza, percussion 2 @ethandesouza9132 Madison Keats, percussion 3 Denton Sutherlin, percussion 4 premiered at the Lunenburg Academy of Music Performance Participants in the 2022 LAMP Composition Academy were each assigned (at random) one poem from Michelle Sylliboy's Kiskajeyi - I AM READY, and one ensemble to write for. When I was informed that I received "Breathe" and percussion, it struck me funny—coincidental that an ensemble that doesn't use breath would be paired with this text. I decided to incorporate breath into the piece itself by making group breathing a core part of the tempo and metre. In sections of the work, the percussionists will not follow a set tempo, but they will guide the music as they inhale and exhale. This, to me, was the way to do justice to Sylliboy's words in this context. Michelle Sylliboy's poem "Breathe" can be found in her full collection, Kiskajeyi - I AM READY, at bookstores and online. I heartily encourage any listeners and players to engage with her work; while this poem was my primary inspiration, I developed my compositional ideas in conversation with the full text and Michelle herself; the collaborative spirit is key to my experience of this music. Many thanks to the Nova Scotia Talent Trust and the Bragg Women Music Opportunities Fund for supporting my journey to creating this music. #newmusic #chambermusic #percussion

Considerations on a Moonlit Lake by Hope Salmonson Intrada: In Deep Waters (0:07) Dance: The Rising Moon (2:59) Lullaby: Sleeping Forest (6:22) Promenade: Forest Life (8:12) Reflection: Pond Skaters (11:18) Hope Salmonson, tuba Carl Philippe Gionet, piano This suite stemmed from an experience of quiet reflection on the shore of a forest lake, on a summer night a few years ago. “In Deep Waters” ponders the depths of the lake, and what stories and beings the lake itself may hold. “The Rising Moon” heralds the Moon as she rises, mirrored on the water, and dances with her reflection in the lake. “Sleeping Forest” explores the sounds we may imagine hearing in an undisturbed forest at night, while “Forest Life” hints at the gentle rustling of grass and leaves, and small animals. “Pond Skaters” highlights the small creatures that skit across the surface of the water, returning the focus to the magnificent lake at the centre of this portrait. This video is my first time performing one of my compositions as a soloist, and I was delighted to share in this experience with Carl at the UNB Contemporary Music Festival. Composition is my true love, but I enjoy the chance to play now and then. #tuba #piano #chambermusic #classicalmusic #newmusic #brass #composition

Dancing With My Shadow by Hope Salmonson Mount Allison New Music Ensemble Kristopher Williams, piccolo Charles Gagné, flute Aramis St-Gelais, chromatic harmonica Kara Heckford, clarinet Gabriel Theriault, alto saxophone Jackson Higgins, tenor saxophone Alex Cass, baritone saxophone Hope Salmonson, tuba Caitlin Strong, piano Nicole Strum, conductor Writing this work for the Mount Allison New Music Ensemble was a challenge mentally more than musically. Composing for a group to perform in the midst of a pandemic is almost unheard of; coming together musically will always be a pleasure for me, but I can't not acknowledge the loneliness I feel as I navigate these environments. ​ I decided to draw on those feelings of loneliness and thought about dancing alone. Specifically, the way that one's shadow follows them and mimics their moves is a really comforting image to me—in that way, I never dance alone. The different parts in this piece mimic each other through improvisation, dancing together to the rhythm of the ostinato. This piece was premiered at our concert, "just a little bit," April 2 2022 at 7:30pm in Brunton Auditorium. #ChamberMusic #ClassicalMusic #NewMusic #Composition

"Cat!" by Hope Salmonson Text from John Keats, "To Mrs. Reynolds' Cat" Christina Acton, voice Owen Switzer, clarinet Noah Batten, percussion Caitlin Strong, piano Written for my radiant and perfectly flamboyant friend Christina Acton, this is a silly ode to the grungey, old cat in your neighbourhood with a torn ear or a missing eye. This cat is, by every definition, ugly, but you know that somewhere amid all that ratty fur, there lies stories of joy that this creature has brought to the lives of the local townsfolk. There is beauty in its aged and weathered body, because you know that if he's letting you pet him he doesn't care how you look. This song is lovingly dedicated to Donald, a Sackville cat. While his ears may be intact and he still has two eyes, he embodies the simple joy that an old cat can bring into our lives. To Mrs. Reynolds' Cat John Keats (1795–1821) ​ Cat! who hast passed thy grand climacteric, How many mice and rats hast in thy days Destroyed? How many tit-bits stolen? Gaze With those bright languid segments green, and prick Those velvet ears—but prithee do not stick Thy latent talons in me, and up-raise Thy gentle mew, and tell me all thy frays Of fish and mice, and rats and tender chick. Nay, look not down, nor lick thy dainty wrists— For all thy wheezy asthma, and for all Thy tail's tip is nicked off, and though the fists Of many a maid have given thee many a maul, Still is that fur as soft as when the lists In youth thou enteredst on glass-bottled wall. #Voice #Clarinet #percussion #piano #NewMusic

Terrors Found and Constructed fixed media (with improvisation) Aramis St-Gelais, chromatic harmonica Kara Heckford, clarinet Terrors Found and Constructed is a short electroacoustic work illustrating a child’s fear of the dark, and what may lurk just out of sight. Between the distorted wails of the electronics and the distant improvisation of live musicians, the composition evokes a sense of uncertainty and anxiety, leaving you to wonder what looms in nightmares long forgotten