Constantine Katsiris by Evan Buggle for Discorder Magazine (Letting Go)
VANCOUVER, BC – As spring is just around the corner, and change is in the air, Vancouver New Music looks forward to returning to in-person gatherings and events with a line-up full of musical creativity and imagination.
Coming up in short order is Letting Go (Mar. 12), a special concert curated by Constantine Katsiris (Quiet City, Panospria/NoType), a pillar of Vancouver’s music community. With this event we bid him a fond farewell as he moves on to new adventures and a new home-base. We follow with the long-awaited return of Talea Ensemble (Apr. 23). Having indefinitely postponed the group’s visit due to the pandemic, we are thrilled to finally be able to welcome this excellent ensemble back to Vancouver with an exciting program that includes two world premieres. In May, Sarah Davachi, Stefan Maier and George Rahi (May 28) will deliver a program of solo performances for acoustic and augmented pipe organ. Expect to be immersed in sounds that are truly out of this world. Another long awaited program, Moon Bells/Symbiotic (Jun. 12) invites audience members to experience the sounds of Roxanne Nesbitt’s unique handmade ceramic instruments. Performing alongside Nesbitt are Ben Brown and Parmela Attariwala.
Rounding out our spring concert series are community collaborations with the Vancouver Art Gallery (Auditory Borderlands – sounding The Dusk Meridian, Apr. 28) and Emily Carr University of Art and Design (EPIC_Tom ++, May 7), as well as our popular Spring Soundwalks (May 29 + Jun. 5).
Tickets for Letting Go (Mar. 12) available now at https://letting-go-katsiris.eventbrite.ca
All other tickets will be available on Tuesday, March 15, 2019 at 9am (PT) at https://vannewmusic.eventbrite.ca
FULL SCHEDULE AND DETAILS FOLLOW.
Letting Go – Saturday, March 12, 2022; 8pm
Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)
Tickets $10-$35, no one turned away.
Advance tickets available at Eventbrite.
Join us for Letting Go, a special farewell celebration for Constantine Katsiris (Scant Intone, Quiet City, Panospria) – a prolific sound artist, curator, organizer and tireless community builder. The evening will feature a long-form, ambient performance in two parts – Post-Hypnotic Suggestions is a new collaborative game piece created and led by Constantine Katsiris (aka Scant Intone) with Joda Clément, Sara Gold, Alanna Ho and François Houle.
https://newmusic.org/letting-go/
Talea Ensemble (US) – Saturday, April 23, 2022; 8pm
Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)
Tickets will be available from March 15 through Eventbrite.
Vancouver New Music presented Talea Ensemble’s first Vancouver performance in 2017 and we’re thrilled to invite them back with a new program that includes world premieres by two young Canadian composers, William Kuo and Brandon Chow, as well as pieces by Amadeus Regucera, Raven Chacon and Olga Neuwirth.
https://newmusic.org/talea-ensemble/
Sarah Davachi, Stefan Maier + George Rahi – Saturday, May 28, 2022; 8pm
Pacific Spirit United Church (2195 W 45th Avenue)
Tickets will be available from March 15 through Eventbrite.
This promises to be a fantastic concert of solo performances for acoustic and augmented pipe organ. Sarah Davachi will incorporate works from her recent albums Cantus, Descant (2020) and Antiphonals (2021), as well as some new compositions. Stefan Maier will present a new work that incorporates a loudspeaker array with the sounds of the organ. George Rahi presents Music for the Augmented Pipe Organ, a series of compositions which merge the vibrant acoustics of the pipe organ with the techniques of electronic and post-digital music.
https://newmusic.org/davachi-maier-rahi/
Moon Bells/Symbiotic – Sunday, June 12, 2022; time TBA
Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)
Tickets will be available from March 15 through Eventbrite.
Roxanne Nesbitt (ceramics, piano), Ben Brown (ceramics, percussion) and Parmela Attariwala (viola) will explore sonic timbre and texture through handmade ceramic percussion and altered instruments. Part installation, part performance, audience members will enter into a space that is shaped by the suspended ceramic sculptural pieces. The visual suggestion of weightlessness and levity blends with sound layers coaxed from the sculptural instruments creating a subtly shifting sonic and material translucency.
https://newmusic.org/moon-bells/
COMMUNITY EVENTS
Auditory Borderlands - sounding The Dusk Meridian – Thursday, April 28, 2022; time TBA
Co-presented by Vancouver New Music and Vancouver Art Gallery
Vancouver Art Gallery Offsite (1100 W Georgia Street)
Free
Taking the sculptural and lighting elements of Keith Langergraber’s installation, The Dusk Meridian, as a polydimensional score, an ensemble of Vancouver-based musicians will create an ambient musical reading of the piece. Performed by Adrian Avandaño, Matthew Ariaratnam, Ross Birdwise, Soressa Gardner and prOphecy sun.
Further details TBA. Rain date: Thursday, May 5, 2022.
EPIC_Tom ++ – Saturday, May 7, 2022; time TBA
Co-presented by Vancouver New Music and Emily Carr University of Art and Design
Emily Carr University Integrated Motion Studio (520 E 1st Avenue, enter from Carolina Street
Free
EPIC_Tom ++ features three works of live musical improvisation and generative media from Julie Andreyev and Simon Overstall’s multispecies projects with dogs, crows, and forest communities. Performed by Andreyev and Overstall with Adrian Avendaño, Marina Hasselberg, Giorgio Magnanensi, Anju Singh, and Stefan Smulovitz.
https://newmusic.org/epic_tom/
Spring Soundwalks – Sunday, May 29 + Sunday, June 5, 2022; time TBA
Co-presented with the Vancouver Soundwalk Collective
Various locations TBA
Free
Make the ordinary, extraordinary with a guided listening tour. A Soundwalk is a silent walk along a planned route to experience a location’s ambiance and underlying rhythms. Vancouver New Music has been offering Soundwalks as part of our regular community programming
Vancouver New Music is committed to keeping everyone safe and comfortable as we return to in-person gatherings. As per current Public Health regulations proof of full vaccination will be required for entrance to the venue and event. Properly fitting masks will be required in all indoor spaces, including the lobby and theatre. Capacity will be limited to ensure that it is possible to maintain physical distance between groups. Find our full health and safety policy here.
ABOUT VANCOUVER NEW MUSIC
Vancouver New Music engages communities in the exploration, creation, and experience of progressive and outstanding new music. VNM regularly commissions and premieres new works by Canadian composers, presents leading and emerging electroacoustic and electronic music artists, international composers and performers, sound installations and music theatre. VNM presents an annual festival that focuses each year on a theme within the new music landscape, and explores the interaction of contemporary music with other disciplines such as theatre, installation and media arts. Other activities include lectures and workshops with visiting artists, ensemble workshops and presentations open to the community, and other sound art and new music related community events. newmusic.org
Vancouver New Music gratefully acknowledges the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage through Arts Presentation Canada, The Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, and The City of Vancouver.