WATCH: This album was 10 years in the making

• First commercial recording
• Features mostly local talent
• Way to preserve music for future generations

Recorded over the course of a decade, the Okanagan Symphony Orchestra (OSO) finally released its inaugural commercial recording.

Canadian Soundscapes features three concertos by revered Canadian composers, brought to life by exceptional Canadian soloists. The CD is broken down into three different concertos starting with trumpet, then violin, and ending with piano.

Imant Raminsh, an Okanagan local and prolific composer who was recently invested into the Order of Canada, composed the violin concerto. It was performed by Melissa Williams, an alumna of the Okanagan Symphony Youth Orchestra program, whom Raminsh has known since she was a child.

“She’s a very focused and driven young lady, [it’s] been very exciting to watch her career,” Raminsh told Kelowna10. “Sometimes as a teacher or mentor you just have to get out of the way because you don’t want to hold them back if they’re ready to fly.”

His concerto consists of three elements that combine for a runtime of 30 minutes. He originally wrote the pieces for Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Concertmaster Robert Davidovici.

“I can’t tell you what you will experience, but I do hope something in my work resonates with your own life’s experience,” Raminsh said. “You will feel whatever you feel, and I hope it’s something that’s meaningful.”

Rosemary Thomson, with the OSO, was the music director for the CD, which was recorded live at the Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre. She has been part of the project since its inception.

She was the conductor for all of the pieces when they were performed live, and she also chose which pieces to include in the album and the order in which they should be listened to.

“I was flooded with all these memories of each specific concerto, and the guest artist that was involved, different musicians that were playing, the relationship I got to build with the composers,” she explained. “It was a very special, personal journey for me as well to be a part of this.”

She said they had a special agreement with the American Federation of Musicians, the union the orchestra’s musicians play under, to record the pieces live with intricate recording equipment while they were being performed.

“I think there is a role for orchestras in the 20th century to record the music of our time,” she said, “to preserve it for future generations, to offer these pieces that so often might only get one or two performances in the composer’s lifetime.”

Canadian Soundscapes is available in CD format, for digital download, or streaming on a variety of platforms.

“I think there’s something in this CD for everyone in their listening experience,” she said. “I hope people enjoy it and I want to know what they think, I’m really looking forward to the feedback.”