Sought for five centuries by European explorers as a sea route to China, the Northwest Passage was finally achieved by Roland Amundsen in 1906 and represented both a triumph of navigation and a shrinking of the globe. Today’s situation is more ominous, with melting ice gouging unprecedented new “passages” through the Arctic, threatening ancient ways of life and signalling a global crisis.
Violist and School of Music professor Joanna Hood decided to address this crisis creatively by commissioning a new piece from composer David A. Jaffe: the result was Northwest Passages: Thirteen Alarms from the Arctic — a musical soundscape that invokes the Arctic panorama and its contemporary disruption. Specifically written for 13 violas, Northwest Passages will be performed this month at the prestigious International Viola Congress in Paris as part of a special day focused on environmental issues.
“I’m not going to say this is a dream come true, because that sounds kind of hokey — but, in a way, it is, because climate change and environmental issues have always been passions of mine and to be able to bring them together with music is a perfect match,” says Hood.
The original commission had its world premiere at the 2024 SALT Festival in UVic’s Phillip T. Young Recital Hall, but now Hood and 12 other violists — including a large group of Music alumni — will be performing Jaffe’s Northwest Passages on January 21, led by conductor and fellow Music professor Ajtony Csaba.
“It’s pretty thrilling to be selected to be part of this,” says Hood, a longtime member who has never before been able to attend the Congress. “This is our 50th anniversary year, so it’s a very big festival with over 100 events happening across Paris.”
Participating alumni violists include Julien Haynes (Vancouver Symphony), Clayton Leung (Edmonton Symphony), Calvin Yang (Prince George, Vancouver Island and Okanagan symphonies), Isabelle Rolland (Vancouver Academy, Vancouver Opera) and professional musicians Joshua Gomberoff and Andrew Loe, plus members of the Victoria Symphony.
The original SALT 2024 performance
Composed in 13 diverse sections but presented as one continuous movement, the 13 distinct viola parts of Northwest Passages represents Jaffe’s latest exploration of same-instrument orchestration: the unique timbre allows for musical texturing suggesting glacial layering, sliding, splitting, melting and deformation, while also offering a lone personal voice through solo passages.
“Music is unique in that anyone can identify with it, no matter where they’re from or what their background or language is,” says Hood. “So music can really play a part in bringing awareness to the climate-change issues we’re dealing with on the planet, and this is a really wonderful way to support that.”