Trust. Vulnerability. Flexibility. Holistic listening. Non-hierarchical cooperation. Embrace of the unknown. Sense of adventure. These are some of the themes that arise when considering improvised music. If you have ever attended a concert of free-improvised music, you might have experienced that terrifying and exhilarating feeling of unpredictability and risk that stems from listening to musicContinue reading “Suddenly Listen Expands its Chamber Space”
Author Archives: Musicworks
What’s Inside Musicworks 139?
ON THE COVER: Evensong (2018) by Lou Sheppard, who recently made the 2021 long list for the prestigious Sobey Art Award. Congratulations Lou! This issue contains a special 30-page section that explores climate emergency through the stories of nine sound and music artists, whose creative work expands our understanding of ecological loss and its environmental and emotional impact.Continue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 139?”
Araz Salek, Inquisitive Traditionalist
The adage about needing to learn the rules before breaking them is a finger-wag directed at young, ambitious artists, cautioning them not to stray from convention until they’ve reached their coveted but elusive destination: mastery. But could the inverse of that be just as true—that one needs to abandon everything they’ve learned in order toContinue reading “Araz Salek, Inquisitive Traditionalist”
Matthew Cardinal’s Asterisms
Asterisms, Matthew Cardinal’s debut solo album, creates audial desire paths, not necessarily conjuring anything concrete in my mind’s eye but moving like a current—or a river—that I’m compelled to be swept up in. Asterisms is a pleasure to listen to, and I’ve found it to be a welcome companion in ever-shifting contexts. Cardinal is basedContinue reading “Matthew Cardinal’s Asterisms”
Arkora’s Cloud Chamber
Arkora, a Toronto-based electric, vocal, chamber consort, includes an eight-voice choir and an accompanying ensemble, with irresistible composer bait—the Lumiphone. A giant, three-octave, thirty-one-tone, equal-tempered (31-TET) glass marimba, the Lumiphone was designed and constructed by Benton Roark, who cofounded Arkora with Kathleen Allan in Vancouver in 2012. The choir sings in 31-TET harmonies; the electricContinue reading “Arkora’s Cloud Chamber”
Saw-whet Records: Prairie Experimentalists Unite
For Saw-whet Records’ Ethan Bokma, putting an album together means exactly that: a new release requires not only great music and a cover design, but also blank, unassembled album jackets, glue, spray paint, and several types of adhesive tape. A prominent bass clarinetist on the Edmonton scene and a reliably frequent audience member at otherContinue reading “Saw-whet Records: Prairie Experimentalists Unite”
The Glittery World of Olivia Shortt
Olivia Shortt may not be a household name, but anyone who’s caught one of their eccentric stage performances—either solo or in avant-garde ensembles—has probably not forgotten them. Over the past few years, Shortt has built an enviable résumé. They made their Lincoln Center debut at the 2018 Mostly Mozart festival’s concert of Michael Pisaro’s monumentalContinue reading “The Glittery World of Olivia Shortt”
DEBBY FRIDAY’S ENERGY POTENTIAL
Across the first few minutes of Bare Bones, the short-film debut by Vancouver artist Debby Friday, a growing, skittering sound unsettles an otherwise pastoral scene. In the film, Friday, a splash of presence in a white tulle dress, kneels riverside amid a verdant landscape. This moment might feel serene were it not for its soundtrack:Continue reading “DEBBY FRIDAY’S ENERGY POTENTIAL”
Trase Pa: Choreographing the Soundworld of David Bontemps’s Traces
In most cultures there has always been a synergetic interplay between music and dance—one informing and amplifying the other. Music exemplifies the physicality and rhythmicity that exists in a dancing body. The synergy of dance and music is a repertoire of invitations to the spaces in between—where syncopation meets breath and elicits feeling, and whereContinue reading “Trase Pa: Choreographing the Soundworld of David Bontemps’s Traces”
The Genre of Morgan-Paige
Morgan-Paige Melbourne was a child prodigy who started playing piano at three and singing and composing shortly afterwards. Soon she was winning piano competitions, and at sixteen she had her first composition published with SOCAN. It looked like she was heading for a glittering career as a concert pianist. But, like so many young BlackContinue reading “The Genre of Morgan-Paige”