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.…

Adrian Verdejo: a digital solo guitar recital

Vancouver New Music (VNM) presents an online concert of works for solo guitar performed by Adrian Verdejo, Vancouver-based contemporary guitarist, streaming Feb. 20 to 28, 2021. A recorded sequence concert adapted and reimagined from a live performance scheduled last May but postponed because of the pandemic, the concert will showcase the works for solo classical…

Soul and Dreamers: digital jazz performance

Jazz singer Magos Herrera will reunite her smooth and soulful voice with Brooklyn Rider string quartet for an online performance on Feb.12, presented by the Chan Centre. The show sees Herrera and Brooklyn Rider revisit their 2018 collaboration, Dreamers, an album which brings a jazzy and cámara (chamber music) twist to Ibero-American classics. “I think one of my…

Krystle Dos Santos: shows for Black History Month

Krystle Dos Santos, a two-time Western Canadian Music Award (WCMA)-winning musician based in Vancouver, has a busy schedule ahead with three virtual shows in the coming weeks in honour of Black History Month in February. Dos Santos will showcase songs from her latest album Bloom|Burn and other original songs online at the Surrey Civic Theatre from Jan.…

VICO – Sounds of two homes

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO) has released their debut full-length album, In the Key of the World. The album, which consists of a multicultural and broadly-influenced array of chamber, folk and orchestral music, features the works of four Canadian or Canada-based composers, including UBC’s own Dorothy Chang. Chang’s suite, Lost & Found, takes the listener through an…

New takes on classic carols

The Nadeau Ensemble is set to (tentatively) bring their brand of Christmas cheer to the Evergreen Cultural Centre on Dec. 12. The Vancouver-based trio, which gets together once a year, consists of harpist Janelle Nadeau, violinist Serena Eades, and multi-instrumentalist Joaquin Ayala, takes a free-spirited approach to Christmas classics. “Some of the Christmas music we…

Matt Stern: be gentle, be understanding

Montreal-based Kanen and Victoria-based Matt Stern will blend their respective brands of singer-songwriter music for Coup de Coeur Francophone, a concert which is (tentatively) scheduled Nov. 28 both online and at Studio 16. Stern, who is also originally from Montreal, speaks of his experience as a bilingual anglophone solo artist making music across different lands…

Raven Chacon: Inside the music

Three musical performances of the works of New Mexico-based composer, sound artist, and visual artist Raven Chacon, including a performance of his composition American Ledger, will be presented virtually on Nov. 20, at the University of British Columbia’s Chan Centre, by the UBC Symphonic Wind Ensemble. “With American Ledger, I’m using the score as an opportunity to…

Persian sounds on Canadian shores

In September, Iranian-Canadian musician and composer Saeid Kooshki joined Tsleil-Waututh filmmaker and poet Rachelle George for an evening of music and poetry at Maplewood Flats in North Vancouver. While George recited the works of her great grandfather Chief Dan George, Kooshki brought to the performance 36 years of experience with the santoor, a traditional Persian…