Some of my most cherished experiences happened at summer music festivals—from scanning the schedules and planning the road trips to meeting new friends and, of course, identifying new musicians and artists. Here at Musicworks, we’re discovering more must-see festivals and events every day, and are inspired by the organizations dedicated to bringing artists and listenersContinue reading “Musicworks’ 2017 Summer Festival Preview”
Author Archives: Musicworks
The Piano and Erhu Project Expands the Repertoire
“Let’s begin with a short history of this instrument,” says Nicole Ge Li, in a video shot at the Vancouver offices of the Canadian Music Centre. She’s speaking to a roomful of composers, gathered there to learn more about writing for PEP (Piano and Erhu Project), her joint undertaking with the man who’s just introducedContinue reading “The Piano and Erhu Project Expands the Repertoire”
The Astral Excursions of John Mills-Cockell
The imagination of electronic composer John Mills-Cockell exists in a liminal space. His music, with its neon-pastoral glow, feels neither jarringly futuristic nor soothingly nostalgic. Nevertheless, as the very first Canadian owner of a Moog synthesizer (purchased the same day Wendy Carlos bought hers from creator Robert Moog in Trumansburg, New York), Mills-Cockell is rightlyContinue reading “The Astral Excursions of John Mills-Cockell”
Thin Edge New Music Collective Joins the Circus
Last year, pianist Cheryl Duvall and violinist Ilana Waniuk joined the circus. This did not involve playing instruments while hanging from a trapeze, but like many big-top acts, it did require a certain amount of risk. Duvall and Waniuk are the artistic directors of Thin Edge New Music Collective, a Toronto chamber ensemble that hasContinue reading “Thin Edge New Music Collective Joins the Circus”
Bret Parenteau widens the loop
When Bret Parenteau’s name is attached to a release or performance, those familiar with his music find themselves wondering what kind of intensity the Winnipeg artist is unleashing this time. His work ranges through harsh noise, urban field recordings, and looping synth sounds, but the only way to find out which spices are in theContinue reading “Bret Parenteau widens the loop”
Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra
The year 2017 is being widely celebrated as the centenary of jazz, marked by the hundredth anniversary of the music’s first recordings, the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s “Livery Stable Blues” and “Dixie Jass Band One Step.” Jazz began as a spontaneous, improvised music of syncopated rhythms and bent notes so creatively assembled that it defiedContinue reading “Roscoe Mitchell and the Montreal-Toronto Art Orchestra”
Sarah Davachi flies into psychoacoustic space
One could say that Sarah Davachi’s drone-based music is all about meditative states, or texture, or duration. But more than anything else, it’s about balance—between the theoretical and the practical, the material and the cerebral, the antique and the avant-garde, the electronic and the purely acoustic. Barons Court (Students of Decay), Davachi’s first vinyl release,Continue reading “Sarah Davachi flies into psychoacoustic space”
Craig Aalders’ el8dEra 3m
Ice cracking and melting; a forest by the coast; a dream; breath lingering in the cold air—these are some of the images that come to mind when listening to Vancouver composer Craig Aalders’ el8dEra 3m, the first-prize-winning composition in Musicworks’ 2016 annual Electronic Music Composition contest. An absorbing, ethereal work of shimmering organic tones andContinue reading “Craig Aalders’ el8dEra 3m”
Tom Wayman’s “Elemental Musics: Selkirk Mountains”
1. ARIA Alpine wind in the stunted firs half whispers an austere wistfulness with overtones of regret at being compelled by a harsh landscape to be mercilessly forthright: a breathy flute-note surging and fading as the mountain exhales inhales 2. SONATA The susurrous crescendo rises amid the crowns of tall birch, cedar, pine,Continue reading “Tom Wayman’s “Elemental Musics: Selkirk Mountains””
Hang Out With Musicworks This Spring
Musicworks is blooming with big ideas! Explore the personalities and collaborative dynamics behind an array of creative Canadian projects in our Spring 2017 print issue – ON CANADIAN NEWSSTANDS NOW. Single copies also available to order from our store. New music meets new circus in Balancing On The Edge, the latest high-wire project from the ambitiousContinue reading “Hang Out With Musicworks This Spring”