When classical rigour meets improvisation

Cellist and composer Peggy Lee will be featured in two upcoming performances this month. On Nov. 1, Coastal Jazz will be re-airing a performance by the Peggy Lee Band from this year’s TD International Jazz Festival, and on Nov. 19, Handmade Blade, featuring Peggy Lee, trumpeter JP Carter and guitarist Aram Bajakian, will be performing…

A mix of history and intercultural compositions

Released on September 10 by Moshe Denburg’s band, Tzimmes, The Road Never Travelled is their first album to come about in more than 25 years. Comprised of music recorded by the band over the past three decades, The Road Never Travelled is not just a mix of what Jewish music has to offer, but Denburg’s own experience with Jewish…

The Pat Chessell Band – An eclectic mix of Celtic Maritime tunes

The Pat Chessell Band brings its blend of Celtic and Maritime music to the Glades Gardens in South Surrey on July 10, 2021. Employing a mix of upbeat jigs and pensive balladry, the band’s performances are comprised of mostly original material, both inspired by and supplemented with classics and Celtic favourites. “Sometimes people tell me…

Vox.Infold – music as a 4D experience of space and dimension

Co-presented by the Coastal Jazz Festival, the Indian Summer Festival and Lobe Studio, Vox.Infold is a special music project that transforms enchanting vocals into an immersive sound experience with the latest sound technology. “It is called 4D spatial sound. The studio [at Lobe] is equipped with speakers in the ceiling and under the floor. The…

DJ O Show: pushing boundaries and subverting expectations, DJ style

Orene Askew, known professionally as DJ O Show, is an Afro-Indigenous two-spirit DJ from North Vancouver’s Squamish Nation Reserves. As she wraps up her four-year term on said Nation’s band council as well, Askew says that she’s excited to get back to DJing full-time, performing a diverse array of live music, as social gathering restrictions…

The Myrtle Sisters: singing, dancing and a good porch

The Myrtle Sisters, East Vancouver-based performing artists Candice Roberts, Nayana Fielkov and Kat Single-Dain, are performing their online comical interdisciplinary show Out of Time from May 14–29. Out of Time reveals their yearning. The sisters are travelling through time and their time machine, a framework for their songs and dances, breaks. They travel from 1921 to 2021, collecting…

Opera Transcriptions : a spiritual adventure

“Life and death. Those are the ultimate mysteries. We think about death not as an end in itself, but we imagine how that transforms us as energy,” says Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, Vancouver-based contemporary pianist. Music on Main celebrates its 15th season with music and conversation through its Listening. Together. free online festival from May 14…

Wheel Voice: Tune in !

Looking beyond a disability and experiencing the joy of music, Wheel Voices: Tune In! weaves personal stories rooted in the disability experience with passionate anthemic scenes, and a hilarious comedic take on revenge fantasy. “I wouldn’t call it a musical,” says Caitriona Murphy, Wheel Voices: Tune In!’s musical director. “It’s about music: How music affects…

Festival du Bois – Sirène et Matelot’s Acadian roots run deep

Lennie Gallant and Patricia Richard tap deep into their Acadian roots, as their music balances a sincere concern for global and environmental issues with the spirit of modern upbeat Acadian music. Maillardville’s annual Festival du Bois (Apr. 16–30) goes virtual this year holding host to a wide range of Canadian and Francophone musical performances. One…

Jocelyn Pettit: spreading joy through Celtic music

After spending two years in Glasgow to complete her Master of Music Degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Jocelyn Pettit is back home in Squamish again. She will be sharing her joyful Celtic music with the Canadian audience at Coquitlam’s Festival Du Bois this year. For over 30 years, Festival du Bois has been…

Home Within: an audio-visual tribute to Syria

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC will present an emotional audio-visual performance Home Within by Syrian composer and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh and Syrian-Armenian visual artist Kevork Mourad as a tribute to the Syrian tragedy as part of the Spring 2021 Dot Com Series. Home Within is a reflection of the duo’s feelings during different moments…

From violin to viola and beyond

Marina Thibeault, a UBC School of Music professor and Juno Award-nominated violist, will be performing a selection of pieces from Canadian-based women and non-binary composers Ana Sokolović, Dorothy Chang and Melody McKiver. Presented by the Chan Centre, Thibeault’s solo performance will take place on April 9. “This program very much emerged from my second album…

Angst, but the show must go on: a digital production

Shane Koyczan will share his passionate and empathetic observations of humankind in an online performance via the Chan Centre on March 12. Backed by his band during the show, the Penticton-based author and spoken word poet will lead a heartfelt and earnest performance around topics of social isolation, depression, social media and other challenging themes.…