For twenty-one days last October, as part of an artist residency, New Brunswick sound artist Charles Harding and two composer friends cycled back and forth across Kökar, a small Finnish island accessible only by boat or helicopter, to capture its character using various field recorders and microphones, including hydrophones. Harding found the first night “aContinue reading “Charles Harding’s Sound Thinking”
Author Archives: Musicworks
Okan’s Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne Celebrate the Here and Now
Canadian Afro-Cuban ensemble Okan takes its name from the word for heart in Lucumí, the liturgical language used in the Afro-Cuban religion of Santeria. The heart of Okan is two songwriter-performers who bring the experiences and potent emotions of their lives to their music, which infuses its Afro-Cuban roots with jazz, folk, and global rhythmsContinue reading “Okan’s Elizabeth Rodriguez and Magdelys Savigne Celebrate the Here and Now”
First-place winner, 2023 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest
At age five, Ningxin Zhang started her classical training on the pipa—a lute-like plucked Chinese instrument in use for more than 2,000 years—and followed the traditional route of practising repertoire (classical and folk songs) and performing in competitions. While studying translation, interpreting, and intercultural studies at Hong Kong Baptist University, Ningxin was inspired to exploreContinue reading “First-place winner, 2023 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest”
Pseudo Laboratories: Prairie Underground Captured on Tape
Parker Thiessen and Ian Rowley have developed their Edmonton-based Pseudo Laboratories imprint—which recently marked its fiftieth cassette release—into the centre of a thriving regional community of experimentalists. “Right now, my main goal with Pseudo Labs is to connect the Prairies better,” Thiessen tells me as we sit on a pub patio on an unseasonably warmContinue reading “Pseudo Laboratories: Prairie Underground Captured on Tape”
Yes No Wave’s Communal Energy is Reaching Global Stages
Ican Harem and Kasimyn of Gabber Modus Operandi were perched onstage at the far end of the concert hall. Kasimyn stood behind a DJ setup; Harem crouched, a microphone in one hand and a handheld laser glove in the other. The sound that the Bali-based club duo has become known for—a high-BPM blend of grindcore,Continue reading “Yes No Wave’s Communal Energy is Reaching Global Stages”
Nicole Rampersaud Takes a Solo
Saudade is an untranslatable Portuguese word that may refer to nostalgia or melancholy, but also touches on the elusive feeling of joy that comes with recall and self-discovery. It’s also the apt title of trumpet player Nicole Rampersaud’s debut solo album, on which the songs never overstay their welcome. Some pieces feel like they areContinue reading “Nicole Rampersaud Takes a Solo”
Saxophonist Andrew MacKelvie is seeking what the music wants
At all times, it seems, Andrew MacKelvie is listening. Not just in the sense of having one’s ears turned on in order to avoid peril, but focused listening—to the wind over Long Lake, where his ambient improvisational ensemble New Hermitage puts on its annual dawn concert; to the resonance of the big church hall inContinue reading “Saxophonist Andrew MacKelvie is seeking what the music wants”
The Joy and Commitment of Solidaridad Tango
By almost any metric, Aparna Halpé seems an unlikely candidate to recast Argentine tango music for the modern age while simultaneously, almost paradoxically, safeguarding its musical heritage. As a woman of colour operating in a fiercely male-dominated genre, Halpé is an outlier. She is a classically trained violinist who was raised in Sri Lanka andContinue reading “The Joy and Commitment of Solidaridad Tango”
Currently Arts Society is Activating the Future
The term “experimental art” often elicits vacant looks and furrowed brows, even among artists and arts communities. For experimental artists Roxanne Nesbitt and Anju Singh, co-artistic directors of the Vancouver-based Currently Arts Society (CAS), the nebulous term poses no significant problem. “We keep the definition really open,” says Nesbitt. “I think that’s the value ofContinue reading “Currently Arts Society is Activating the Future”
Sonny-Ray Day Rider is opening gates to a different world
In his early teenage years, Sonny-Ray Day Rider started playing piano in the home of his paternal grandmother. The thirty-six-year-old Blackfoot composer from the Kainai Blood tribe was raised with the music of powwows and other ceremonial rituals, but it was this hands-on experience that set him on his creative path. While Day Rider isContinue reading “Sonny-Ray Day Rider is opening gates to a different world”