The idea for this tour was born in the summer of 2005, when it was suggested to Reinhard to come to Kassel, Germany and play a concert during the 2007 documenta visual arts festival. It took more concrete form in November, 2006, when he was asked to present two concerts as part of the Nu Art Festival planned for September, 2007. He agreed, with the proviso that he would like to play some additional concerts, plus give some talks, in other German centres. Two additional venues were quickly arranged, in Gottsbühren and in Hannover; a further one was added later, in Bibra.

The concerts in Gottsbühren, Hannover, and Bibra were conceived from the start as organ recitals in a church setting, wherein Reinhard would present some of the liturgical music which, as church organist, he composed over the years. Also included were some accompaniment settings for congregational singing, and such a concert usually finished off with an improvisation on a submitted theme. In Hannover a talk was also given outlining some differences between Canadian and German liturgical practice – this was received with great interest by an audience of parishioners and church musicians.

The two concerts in Kassel were quite a different matter. The documenta arts festival is one of the world’s foremost festivals for the cutting edge of the visual avant-garde; any music concerts adjunct to this would encounter similar expectations.

The first of these concerts, on Sept. 7, was a duo concert shared with German flautist Veronica Kraneis. In this was included an interpretation of a’ROMA, by Canadian composer Piotr Grella-Mozejko, and a musical interpretation of Winter Scene, an abstract photograph by Evelyn von Berg.

The final concert, on Sept. 8, was also the final concert of the Nu Art festival, and Reinhard determined that it should be something special. That day we had experienced: a most uncompromising piece of minimalist performance art; some first-class musical improvisation; a modern dancer; and a most fascinating array of homemade musical instruments, that literally filled the church which was our venue (including an instrument whose strings stretched from one end of the building to the other) – after all that, Reinhard decided that he would finish the festival with some pieces that would actively involve the audience.

The programme began, with the assistance of two speakers, with Reinhard’s organ piece Genesis, which utilizes both the familiar Bible text, and a Kabbalist text from 12th century Spain, telling the same story in very different words. This was a world premiere; an earlier version of this work had been written in 2003 for a commission by Stillman Matheson (but due to practical constraints could not be used by Dr. Matheson at that time).

There followed a rendition, by 8 pre-selected vocalists, of Musicck by Canadian composer Ron Hartwell. This is a sort of sound-poetry, last performed at the University of Alberta in 2005. This was followed by Langsames Laufstück, an adaptation of a piece that had been done several times by Reinhard’s Otherwise ensemble in Edmonton (the last time at Grant MacEwan Centre for the Arts). In this piece, which combined sound and movement, the entire audience was invited to participate.

The final piece, Go, also involved the entire audience. A total of ca. 60 file cards were distributed, each inscribed with a different brief verbal instruction, which could be interpreted, in movement or sound, in a variety of ways.

The pieces with audience involvement came off in a most satisfactory way, and it must be said that this had something to do with the preparatory groundwork done by the local musicians. Rike Kohlhepp (who had organized the whole festival) has for years been teaching weekly improvisation classes in Kassel: her Monday night group formed the core of “audience” performers which galvanized the participation of others, and contributed greatly to the sensitively artistic realization that Reinhard’s concepts received.

For the occasion of this tour, and also in view of the RCCO premiering Reinhard’s organ concerto NOW on 31 July 2007 in Edmonton, he decided to go ahead and have a CD of his organ music produced by upala classics, based in Kassel, Germany. This was available for sale at the Windspiration organ festival in Edmonton, at the Nu Art festival in Kassel, and at the other concerts. In addition, a considerable amount of Reinhard’s organ output was prepared as computer scores; these were also available at the venues, and are featured on the new CD.

Additional fallout from this tour: Nu Art Trio has been tentatively invited to come to Edmonton in October, 2009 for a series of concerts and workshops. A German organist, Bernd Geiersbach, may come to Canada, possibly with his choir or youth orchestra. Other German musicians have a standing invitation to have Canadian appearances facilitated. Finally, thanks to contacts made both in Germany, and at the Windspiration festival in Edmonton, Reinhard is already working on a new concert tour for the summer of 2009, this one to Germany, Austria, Poland, and Estonia.

In summa the response to Reinhard’s and the other Canadian composers’ music presented during the tour was truly enthusiastic and highly encouraging. It can be said that this tour was a definitely worthwhile endeavour; it has put Canada, Alberta, and Edmonton much more firmly on the map for German audiences; its fallout will continue to accrue in coming years, both for Reinhard and for the larger local arts community. The support of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and the Edmonton Arts Council made it possible.

©2007 ECCS