Four Paintings by Leestemaker

It is with great honor and excitement that we announce that “Four Paintings by Leestemaker” will be performed by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on October 24, 2020. Please register for a complimentary seat at https://calgaryphil.com/virtual-concerts/.

 

Four Paintings by Leestemaker

In 2002, a young composer named Vincent Ho was inspired by paintings he saw in a small gallery in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. That day, Ho took the gallery’s business card and wrote the artist’s name on it. Years later, during his post doctoral studies, Ho found himself in Los Angeles, where the Dutch-American artist, Luc Leestemaker, happened to be living. Ho looked Leestemaker up and reached out to him. At this first meeting, they discovered a mutual love for music and art, and discussed how they could collaborate.

After all, music was in integral part of Leestemaker’s process, and ultimately, his paintings. Whenever Luc worked in his studio, he painted to music loudly playing from the 300 CDs he had in his giant CD player that included everyone from Wagner to Philip Glass, and Bob Dylan to Coldplay. Music moved him, and thus, his paintbrush.

In the fall of 2005, Ho was commissioned to write a work for the ARC Ensemble (Artists of the Royal Conservatory of Music) for their 2006 tour in China, and Ho decided that he wanted to compose a work inspired by Leestemaker’s paintings. After poring over hundreds of Luc’s paintings in the weeks after their first meeting, Ho selected four that he would interpret into music.

Four Paintings by Leestemaker has since been performed worldwide by the ARC Ensemble, the Winnipeg Philharmonic Orchestra, and now, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2007, Lineage Dance Company in Pasadena, CA choreographed a modern dance piece to this music and it remains in their repertoire today.

Ho and Leestemaker collaborated on a few other projects after Four Paintings by Leestemaker and remained friends until Leestemaker passed away in 2012.