Path of Miracles – THE Digital Installation

Voces Boreales is proud to present a state-of-the-art immersive installation—sound, image and light—an initiation to an ‘urban pilgrimage’ in the magnificent St. James United Church, supported solely through technology. The ‘pilgrim’ discovers Joby Talbot’s choral masterpiece, Path of Miracles (2005), while walking along a colourful camino de Compostela. The multisensory journey—walking, listening, seeing and thinking—invites you to reflect, and to get a sense of the work, the context of the pilgrimage, and the legend of Saint James.

Inspired by Compostela’s camino francés—the ancient pilgrim route to Santiago in Northern Spain—Joby Talbot’s emotionally-charged four movements offer their own musical pilgrimage, starting at ‘Roncesvalles’ in the Pyrenees, moving through austere ‘Burgos’ and sunny ‘León,’ and finishing at lush ‘Santiago’ itself. Each movement is characterized in vivid musical brush-strokes, drawing on plainchant, Taiwanese Pasiputput (whose unearthly vocalizations are used to startling effect in the opening section) and minimalism’s obsessive repetitions and slow-phase shifts. Beyond the manifest complexity of its 17 independent vocal lines, this score is musical mysticism at its richest and most greedy—grasping from all traditions and sources, and treasuring each element in this musical collage without ever losing its sense of transparency. An array of speakers carefully positioned throughout the church gives birth to the epic soundtrack of this musical journey, supported by a breathtaking visual presentation.

You are invited to come and live the experience at your convenience during the opening times listed. Should you wish, your tickets allow you to attend as often as you want over the five (5) days of the presentation; tickets are personal and non-transferable.

Schedule:

Tuesday, June 20, 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, June 21, 12:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, June 22, 12:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Friday, June 23, 12:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Saturday, June 24, 12:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.