Musical worlds converge in LunarFest Vancouver's Together, Stronger concert
Featuring local string ensemble Harmonia, the performance speaks to spring, celebration, and song
Nicholas Urquhart (centre) and Harmonia.
Asian-Canadian Special Events Association presents Together, Stronger, a concert at the Orpheum Theatre on February 1 at 7:30 pm and via livestream as part of LunarFest 2022.
AN ORCHESTRA, by its very nature, succeeds when members focus on doing the best possible job they can so that the group as a whole can soar. For Nicholas Urquhart, conductor of Vancouver string ensemble Harmonia, an orchestra is a perfect analogy of society. “It works better when it’s working together,” Urquhart says in a phone interview with Stir. “There’s no one player that’s more important than the other players. What makes a good orchestra great is when they all understand that, when you’re contributing and collaborating in real time and giving all you can, and responding to what you’re receiving—that’s when you really get these special musical performances. That really ties in with our society; when we work together do things in an authentic effort to give and receive, that’s when really magical and special things happen.”
The comparison is apt for this year’s LunarFest Vancouver, which has a theme of “Together, Stronger”. The Asian-Canadian Special Events Association’s annual Lunar New Year celebrations include its signature live concert at the Orpheum Theatre, where this year, for the first time, Harmonia will perform. (The February 1 performance will also be livestreamed for free for audiences who wish to view it from home.) Also appearing in a festival first is Vancouver Zion Mission Choir, which originated from within the local Korean community in 1982 and is known for its African and Korean repertoire.
The concert reflects LunarFest’s overarching theme, a celebration of Lunar New Year as represented by different cultures. Harmonia will be performing several pieces, including three by celebrated Taiwanese composer Lee Che-Yi, as well as compositions by the likes of Bach and Vivaldi, with Urquhart at the baton. (When he’s not leading Harmonia, he’s conducting West Vancouver Youth Strings, directing the Killarney Strings, acting as programming director for West Coast Symphony, among other roles, and performing as a double bassist in chamber ensembles, orchestras, operas, and musicals.) Harmonia will also team up with VZMC for a joint performance of a special arrangement of “Arirang” by local composer Dan Jeremy Reyes, the choir members clad in traditional hanboks.
“It is really a lovely program that is unique in that the repertoire is focused on celebration, spring, and song,” says Urquhart. “Those three things tie the entire program together.”
Nicholas Urquhart.
Harmonia, which is made up of diverse musicians, grew out of people joining forces for a bigger purpose; formerly I Musici Sushi, it started as a casual group of amateur musicians who would gather on Friday evenings to play music and put on informal concerts then enjoy a Japanese meal together afterward. The players’ skill level was so high that about five years ago Harmonia was born. It typically presents about four concerts each year, donating funds to different local charities, and first became associated with ACSEA for its inaugural TaiwanFest performance two years ago.
“I liked how ACSEA events are not solely focused on highlighting a particular culture but rather are focused on bringing people together and using that platform to talk about moving forward with our shared cultures, making progress,” Urquhart says. “It’s not a museum of a festival but rather brings to light lots of different and difficult ideas. That idea of cultures coming together fits us really well.”
Charlie Wu, ACSEA managing director, explains that, as the pandemic continues, it’s more crucial than ever to be reminded of and appreciate the value of cooperation. “We want to celebrate the tradition with a purpose, and the purpose is really to bring community together,” Wu tells Stir by phone. “Once we’re together, we’re stronger.”
This being the Year of the Tiger ties into the festival’s Together, Stronger theme. While humans view the magnificent creatures as majestic, they are on the verge of extinction. “What are we doing to nature?” Wu says. “Maybe we can start now thinking about coming together with nature; nature is part of us. We need to have celebrations that actually speak to what’s important ahead of us, not just about the past. If you look at tigers, every one is an individual, solitary animal, but they look after each other. They try to bring food and share food. They all have their own stripes and everybody is different, but they do look after each other.
“We are just hoping that by learning more about each other, maybe our society can be stronger in the sense that a lot of problems with racism, with hate, are all because we don’t know each other well enough,” he adds. “By bringing communities together, we’re building something together, building forward.”
Wu is proud of LunarFest’s commitment to diversity and inclusion; its roster includes Punjabi, Philippine, Indigenous artists, among others, and, for the first time this year, queer and nonbinary artists.
The diversity in Vancouver in general and in the local arts and culture community in particular has helped Wu grow on a personal level, he notes. “I always feel that Vancouver helped me to find my own identity,” he says. “In an environment like today, with people globally moving all over the place, having a sense of who you are is even more important. You have to respect other people’s identity and other people’s self-expression. That’s how celebrating tradition and cultures through the arts takes on meaning and purpose. That’s something I’m really committed to.
“Part of humanity is people caring for each other and appreciating each other,” Wu says. “It’s not just about us or one person; it’s about all of us together, and that starts from this dialogue within oneself. You need to be comfortable in yourself, then you can have a dialogue with anybody.”
Harmonia concertmaster Dominic Woo (left), founder Tony Lee, and conductor Nicholas Urquhart.
For more information, see LunarFest Vancouver.
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