Recent/Upcoming
John Korsrud - composer living in Vancouver, Canada.
John has been commissioned by New York's American Composers Orchestra, The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, The CBC Radio Orchestra, and has won Leo and Yorkton Awards for his film and documentary scores. He is the director of the highly-active 18-piece jazz/ new-music ensemble The Hard Rubber Orchestra, an ensemble he formed in 1990. John has produced several large multi-media shows such as The Ice Age (2010, 2000), The Drum & Light Festival (2010, 2009, 2008) and The Elvis Cantata (1996, 1994). He is the recipient of The 2001 Canada Council Joseph S. Stauffer Award and is the second Canadian to be awarded a fellowship to The Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Umbria, Italy. John studied composition with Louis Andriessen in The Netherlands from 1995-97.
NEWS:
2010 was a busy year for John.
In February, he produced his popular Drum & Light Festival, part of Code: Live presentation during The Vancouver 2010 Olympics. 14-piece mega-band including 5 drummers, lap-top artists, turntablist, horn section and music by Sekoya’s Alvin Cornista and John Korsrud. Visuals by Brian Johnson and Jason Whyte. Movement by the Tomorrow Collective.
In March, he produced Ice Age 2010, an arts ice show for The Vancouver Paralympics featuring hockey players, curlers, zamboni choreography, Vancouver rock icon Joe Keithley, CBC's Bob Robertson, CBC’s Kevin Sylvester, 12 figure skaters (including Emanuel Sandhu), and a 20-piece orchestra playing brand new music by Bill Runge, Brad Turner, Peter Hannan and others.
On April 9, he performed at Carnegie Hall, NY as soloist on his commissioned work, "Come to the Dark Side" by New York’s
American Composers Orchestra.
Carnegie Hall Reviews:
"The following work was–literally–a breath of fresh air after the hermetic opening. That fresh air came from trumpet-player John Korsrud, playing his own Come to the Dark Side. The captivating title comes from an Andriessen quote to Mr. Korsrud about musical theory, but the trumpet-player/composer transposed it into an eerie–and later blazing–tribute to Oriental mysticism.
The beginning, at least, was ersatz Eastern. Along with a tattoo of gong and bass drum, the strings played a metallic clatter against Mr. Korsrud, playing pentatonic scales, often with bluesy little riffs. The orchestra played without him for awhile, with energetic pulsing rhythms. The trumpeter returned going into the stratosphere, Gillespie style, followed by a strange slow ending. Unlike the other three pieces, Mr. Korsrud composed with an
energy, confidence and honestly inventive effects." - ConcertoNet.com
In “Come to the Dark Side” Mr. Korsrud deftly improvised soaring fanfares and racing, spiraling lines on trumpet over the orchestra’s Morse-code chatter and funky grooves. - NY Times
Globe & Mail Preview Article
Vancouver Sun Preview Article
UPCOMING:
20th ANNIVERSARY CONCERT!!!
November 13, 2010, 8pm
New Woodwards Theatre
"Hard Rubber is, no question, consistently the best Vancouver band event you can see" Discorder Magazine
RECENT STUFF:
FILMSCORE:
cArtographies
A Brian Johnson documentary focussing on 24 BC artists of various disciplines such as
Crystal Pite, Veda Hille, Stan Douglas, Michael Turner...
(Dir: Brian Johnson, Prod: Leah Mallen, Music: John Korsrud)
for The Knowledge Network
Sat. July 3
HARD RUBBER ORCHESTRA:
Vancouver International Jazz Festival
Roundhouse Arts Centre
Chris Gestrin, mini-moog/ piano
Bill Sample, keys/ piano
Daryl Jahnke, guitar
Kerry Galloway, bass
Dave Robbins, drums
Jack Duncan, percussion
Cameron Wilson, violin
Derry Byrne, trumpet
Kent Wallace, trumpet
Tom Shorthouse, trumpet
Rod Murray, trombone
Dennis Esson, trombone
Jeremy Berkman, trombone
Brad Muirhead, bass trombone
Bill Runge, soprano sax
Saul Berson, alto sax
Steve Kaldestad, tenor sax
Chad Makela, bari sax
Special guests:
Hugh Fraser
Tony Wilson
Bill Clark
John Korsrud, director
August 6, 2010
Orpheum Theatre
Orquesta Goma Dura
~20-PIECE SALSA/ LATIN JAZZ ORCHESTRA~
opening for Poncho Sanchez,
Watch other OGD vids:
CBC Television
Miss Landmine
Premiering Fall, 2010
(Prod/ Dir: Stan Feingold, Music: John Korsrud)
Odd Jobs, Assorted Climaxes
An eclectic collection of new music compositions
featuring Joe Keithley, Hard Rubber Orchestra,
Combustion Chamber, Ron Samworth and others...
Read Review
Read another review
More info and reviews
Jazz Times - click here for full article
March, 2010
The Ice Age: 2010, March 20th, at The Harry Jerome Arena in North Vancouver, as part of The Vancouver 2010 Olympics, featuring Emanuel Sandhu, 14 other skaters, hockey players, curling, Zamboni choreography on more...
Ice Age 2010:
A New Music Ice Show
Sat. March 20, 7:30pm, Harry Jerome Arena - 123 East 23 Street (& Lonsdale), North Vancouver
Part of the 2010 Olypmpics
Watch Video Preview
Emanuel Sandhu
February, 2010
Drum & Light Festival III
Feb. 11th, 10PM - Part of the 2010 Olympics
CODE Live 1 at Great Northern Way Campus - 577 Great Northern Way, Vancouver
Watch Video Preview
14-piece Drum & Light Orchestra
featuring:
Ray Garraway (K-OS) drums , Randall Stoll (Soulstream) drums, Nino DiPasquale (Sekoya) drums, Tim Proznick drums, Myles Bigelow percussion, Jack Duncan percussion, Stefan Smulovitz laptop, Timothy Wisdom turntables , Alvin Cornista sax, Kent Wallace trumpet, Chad Makela bari sax , Chris Gestrin keys, Russ Klyne guitar, Andre Lachance bass
John Korsrud, trumpet, director
Visual/ Projections: Brian Johnson, Jason Whyte
Movement: The Tomorrow Collective…
Music by Alvin Cornista and John Korsrud
January, 2010
Vancouver's Turning Point Ensemble releases
Korsrud's commissioned piece, Liquid
a concerto for clarinetist
François Houle
Hard Rubber Orchestra - 2009
Hard Rubber Orchestra on TOUR!!
May 1, 2009
Kitchener Ont.
Open Ears Festival
May 2, 2009
Ottawa Ont.
National Arts Centre
BC Scene
APRIL 28, 2009
HARD RUBBER ORCHESTRA
CBC RADIO BROADCAST
CBC Radio 1 (The Signal), 10pm (Pacific)
premier of
Two Violin Concertos
by
Cameron Wilson
Howard Bashaw
Cameron Wilson, violin
Giorgio Magnanensi, guest conductor
April 5, 2009
Hard Rubber Orchestra
celebrates iconic Dutch composer
Louis Andriessen’s 70th Birthday
HRO celebrates Louis Andriessen's 70th birthday with Mr. Andriessen in attendance.
One of the world's great composers, Holland's Louis Andriessen is in Vancouver as part of the Andriessen @ 70 Festival, part of a world-wide celebration of Louis' 70th birthday. The feature composition will be the screening of Peter Greenaway film "M is for Man, Music and Mozart" with the live performance of the Louis Andriessen score.
With guest soloists:
Cristina Zavalloni, voice (Bologna); Monica Germino, violin (Amsterdam); Cameron Wilson, violin (Vancouver)
Guest conductor: Giorgio Magnanensi
Concert includes:
M is for Man, Music, Mozart (1991) by Louis Andriessen
- with a film by Peter Greenaway
Passeggiata in tram in America e ritorno (1998) by Louis Andriessen
- with a film by Marijke van Warmerdam
Scratch-Scorch, Concerto for Violin and Hard Rubber Orchestra (2009) by Howard Bashaw
- Cameron Wilson, violin
Lowest Tide (2007) by John Korsrud
More info of the Andriessen @ 70 Festival at musiconmain.ca
Roundhouse Arts Centre
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Television
Jan. 31, 2009
Hard Rubber Orchestra
CBC Television
presents
Cantata for the King (2005)
Offbeat homage to the late great King of Rock and Roll with orchestrations by the Hard Rubber Orchestra of Vancouver led by John Korsrud. Freat. Kevin McNulty, Joe Keithley, Dee Daniels, Tim Fuller, Babz Chula... Performed in the style of a baptist church service.
"Cantata for the King is a weird and wonderfully entertaining performance special - a post-modern musical celebrating the music and genius of Elvis - the King of rock'n'roll. It is a film of homage, wit, irreverent fun, and sheer sonic power. The core strength of Cantata for the King is the avant-garde musical invention of John Korsrud's Hard Rubber Orchestra and the performance talents of special guest soloists." - Telefilm Canada
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"If it feels a little easier to pin a label on John Korsrud, he'd probably understand. Just go ahead and try.
The Vancouver composer, trumpeter and bandleader has spent more than a dozen years zapping musical stereotypes, clearing away a spot on the city's arts scene that hadn't really been there before.
He's best known, perhaps, for his Hard Rubber Orchestra, a 17-piece group that's become a kind of calling card nationwide. Yet the question remains: Is it a contemporary music ensemble, or a jazz big band? The Canada Council calls it new music, although the Hard Rubber Orchestra's two CDs are on a Quebec label (Victo) specializing in musique actuelle, a French-Canadian strand of the avant-garde. But then how do you characterize their projects with local singer-songwriter Veda Hille or punk legend Joey Keithley?
On his own, Korsrud's commissions are equally eclectic. He's written for documentaries, dance companies, and groups as diverse as Loos, a Dutch ensemble specializing in 20th-century classical music and rock, and the CBC Radio Orchestra. Yet on Tuesdays, you can still hear him at the Cellar playing trumpet with the local Afro-Latin band Shango Ashe.
Pegging Korsrud is one thing; finding him is another..."
Vancouver Sun 2005 - click here for full article