Ovation

Ovation: Celebrating Everyday Heroes is a large-scale multimedia project whose various components include a newly commissioned work by emerging Canadian composer Jaelem Bhate eponymously titled Ovation. Along with excerpts from Manuel de Falla’s Three-Cornered Hat, Ovation is performed on this recording by Tutta Musica Orchestra (TMO), an initiative of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra (NBYO), conducted by Antonio Delgado.

The project celebrates the courage, resilience and sense of community shown during the COVID–19 pandemic. Its aim is to bring live music back to New Brunswickers after the lifting of public gathering restrictions. Ovation’s three appropriately titled movements, “Courage,” “Resilience” and “Community” are mirrored in a video montage in three identically titled parts, viewed simultaneously with the music during live performances across the province. An additional montage as well as a live filming of NB artist Nate Guimond creating a work of art were also featured. The final product includes video inserts of TMO playing live at the Imperial Theatre in Saint John, New Brunswick, with audio recorded by Leaf Music at Convocation Hall, Mount Allison University, in January 2023.

In total, there were 6 live performances of Ovation across New Brunswick. Integral to the performances are the pandemic stories of “everyday heroes” curated by Moncton poet laureates Jean-Philippe Raiche and Kayla Geitzler and presented live by francophone and anglophone local artists and prominent New Brunswickers. The readings captured francophone, anglophone, First Nations and new Canadians’ experiences. Additional writings were composed by dramatist Marshall Button.