Commissioned by the percussion quintet NEXUS, Water Turning into Wine was originally a movement from Four Rituals for Percussion, Choir and Audience. The original work, no longer extant, was given its premiere performance on December 10 2004 at a Nexus Faculty Artists Concert in Walter Hall, University of Toronto.
Drawing its title from Christ's first recorded miracle at the Wedding of Cana, Water Turning into Wine is about transformation, in this case rhythmic transformation through metric modulation.
Born in Greece, educated in the United States and a Canadian citizen since 1985, composer Christos Hatzis (b.1953) is becoming widely known as a leading figure in contemporary classical music. His works are performed and broadcast throughout the world, and their frequent combination of a powerful spiritual foundation with an immediately accessible appeal has made a deep emotional impact upon audiences and performers alike.
