In late 1977, somewhere in Toronto, the poet and noted arts programmer Victor Coleman, Music Gallery cofounders Peter Anson and Al Mattes, and music artists John Oswald and Andrew Timar convened to discuss establishing an artist-run print forum to serve the Canadian creative-music community. In early 1978, Musicworks made its debut as a section insideContinue reading “The Journey: Editor’s Note, Musicworks 130”
Author Archives: Musicworks
What’s Inside Musicworks 130?
Musicworks turns 40 this year. It’s been quite a journey from the DIY newsprint tabloid published in 1978 to Musicworks 130—our first-ever full-colour issue! Buy the print issue (or print+CD combo) from our shop, or start your subscription today. On the Cover Montreal guitarist, oud player, and composer Sam Shalabi has been active across a diversityContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 130?”
MUSICWORKS UNVEILS 2017 CONTEST WINNERS
Musicworks is thrilled to announce the winners of its 2017 contests. Erik Ingalls’ The Gravity of Plim has won first place in Musicworks’ 2017 Electronic Music Composition contest. Ingalls’ winning piece began as an accompaniment to a science-fiction short story written by his partner. “Being a classic science-fiction fan, I had in mind an impression ofContinue reading “MUSICWORKS UNVEILS 2017 CONTEST WINNERS”
Hans-Joachim Roedelius floats against the current
On an unseasonably warm night in October, Toronto’s Monarch Tavern was packed to the rafters for a living legend. German electronic and ambient music pioneer Hans-Joachim Roedelius—best known as a cofounder of 1970s experimental groups Cluster and Harmonia, renowned for their celebrated collaborations with Brian Eno—sat behind the bar’s piano with a pair of glowingContinue reading “Hans-Joachim Roedelius floats against the current”
The Sonic Transmissions of Geronimo Inutiq
Winter was ending. You could tell, because the sun had returned. Geronimo Inutiq borrowed his sister’s Ski-Doo and rode it past the Iqaluit city limit. The horizon stretched out in all directions: no trees, no buildings, just sky and ice, illuminated by light. “You feel quite small,” says Inutiq. “It’s a humbling thing.” Then, heContinue reading “The Sonic Transmissions of Geronimo Inutiq”
Saxophonist Karen Ng Sets The Scene
THINK OF ANY STYLE OF MODERN saxophone playing, and chances are Toronto’s Karen Ng has done it, and done it beautifully. Her tone can be eerily high and pure, rich and fluid, deep and mellow, alluringly tender or startlingly abrasive. Her fingers fly in a dazzling, exuberant run, then slow down to effect a gentleContinue reading “Saxophonist Karen Ng Sets The Scene”
Kamancello explores a new duo dimension
“Kamanche means little bow in Kurdish and Farsi,” says Shahriyar Jamshidi, the kamanche player in Kamancello, his Toronto-based duo with cellist Raphael Weinroth-Browne. The pair marry rich lyricism and microtonal ornamentation, influenced by Iranian, classical, and metal musics, in fully improvised performances that feel their way forward from quiet drones to chugging, propulsive rhythms, andContinue reading “Kamancello explores a new duo dimension”
Victoria Composers Cultivate a Place to Listen
Why has a vibrant community of emerging composers chosen British Columbia’s cozy, scenic capital over more bustling contemporary-music hubs? THERE’S A DEEP HUSH in the church where I am sitting and nervously listening to an especially slow and fragile performance of my piece Ruins. It’s not that familiar, polite, sneeze-stifling, concert-quiet; it’s something else altogether: anContinue reading “Victoria Composers Cultivate a Place to Listen”
Spool: Music in the Margins
CERTAIN LABELS are very much the product of a particular vision and exude cohesion of an almost iconic order—one that even seems to magically weather shifts in taste and approach. ECM’s elegant black and white photography, sans serif typeset, and crisp, reverberant sonic profile is a universe unto itself, carefully sculpted by its founder ManfredContinue reading “Spool: Music in the Margins”
What’s Inside Musicworks 129?
BUY THE WINTER 2017 PRINT ISSUE OR THE PRINT+CD ISSUE FROM OUR NEW SHOP! Take a peek at what’s between the covers and the tracklist on the CD: ON THE COVER: Geronimo Inutiq The music and media art of Geronimo Inutiq recently attracted attention from the New York Times, which described his piece in the 2017 Musée d’ArtContinue reading “What’s Inside Musicworks 129?”