Mark Takeshi McGregor – SINS and Fantasies

Nominated for Classical Recording of the Year by the 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards.

In 2010 flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor asked seven Canadian composers to write a work for solo flute, each inspired by one of the Seven Deadly Sins. The result is a fascinating exposé of the underbelly of human behaviour, ranging from the introspective to the theatrical to the hilarious. Praised as a “penetrating exploration of those deleterious human foibles” (Vancouver Observer), the programme for Sins & Fantasies is rounded out with a selection of Fantasias by the Baroque composer, Georg Philipp Telemann. Featuring new works by Dorothy Chang (Wrath), Gregory Lee Newsome (Greed), Owen Underhill (Pride), Jocelyn Morlock (Lust), James Beckwith Maxwell (Envy), Benton Roark (Sloth), and Mark Takeshi McGregor (Gluttony).

Performers: Mark McGregor, flute
Producers: Mark McGregor, Don Harder
Digital editing, mastering: Don Harder
Recorded at: Pyatt Hall, VSO School of Music, Vancouver, BC
Cover art: The “Little” Tower of Babel (1563) by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525 – 1569)
Photography: Susan Lin
Graphic Design: Simon Butler
Translation: André Cormier

“McGregor’s remarkable gifts as a player are mesmerizing. Besides his extraordinary technical mastery, his is playing of the most imaginative and creative kind. And to top it off, the disc closes with McGregor’s own Le dernier repas de M. Creosote, inspired by the infamous Monty Python character and an absolute tour de force any way you slice it…. as Chaucer says in The Parson’s Tale, the deadly sins “all run on one Leash, but in diverse manners,” and here their diversity is astonishing, inspiring, and only dangerous in the best possible way.” — Alison Melville, The WholeNote Magazine.

Sins and Fantasies is available from:

TRACKS
1. Wrath – Dorothy Chang
2. Fantasia No. 2 in A minor, TWV 40:3 – Georg Philipp Telemann
3. Avarice – Gregory Lee Newsome
4.-6. Three Reflections on Pride – Owen Underhill
7. Fantasia No. 10 in F# minor, TWV 40:11 – Georg Philipp Telemann
8. L – Jocelyn Morlock
9. invidere – James Beckwith Maxwell
10. Untitled – Benton Roark
11. Fantasia No. 7 in D major, TWV 40:8 – Georg Philipp Telemann
12. Le dernier repas de Monsieur Creosote – Mark Takeshi McGregor

Mark Takeshi McGregor
Described by the press as a musician of “huge physical energy,” Mark Takeshi McGregor is flutist of the Aventa Ensemble and an outspoken advocate of new music. He has given the premiere performances of Anna Höstman’s flute concerto Trace the Gold Sun with the Victoria Symphony, Turmalin for solo flute by the Danish composer Anders Nordentoft, and has commissioned new works by composers as diverse as Michael Finnissy, Nicole Lizée, Paul Steenhuisen, and Michael Oesterle. He has performed across North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Israel, including appearances at Festival Montréal-Nouvelles Musique, Music Gallery (Toronto), Vancouver New Music Festival, New Works Calgary, Athelas New Music Festival (Copenhagen), and the Internationale A•DEvantgarde-Festival (Munich). McGregor’s discography includes Delicate Fires (2007) and Trade Winds (2013) with Tiresias Duo, his decade-long collaboration with pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa; Different Stones: Canadian Music for Multiple Flutes (2009), featuring works for ten flutes by Canadian composers; and Sins & Fantasies (2013), a showcase of new works by Dorothy Chang, Gregory Lee Newsome, Owen Underhill, Jocelyn Morlock, James Beckwith Maxwell, and Benton Roark, each inspired by one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Sins & Fantasies was nominated for Classical Recording of the Year at the 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards.

Visit Mark Takeshi McGregor online: http://www.marktakeshimcgregor.com