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According to many reviews, a beautiful voice, dynamic melodies and a high energy seem to capture pianist, lyricist and singer Laila Biali’s music and spirit well. The multi-talented Vancouver native just won this year’s JUNO award for Vocal Jazz Album of the year, marking a new milestone in her music career. As part of the…
The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra’s (VICO) Global Soundscapes Festival will feature the debut of the mini-opera Debris by Rita Ueda, inspired by the debris that traveled across the ocean to Canada in the aftermath of the 2011 tsunami. “The opera is based on a documentary film of the same name by John Bolton,” says Ueda. “In Japan, the…
Come to the north! The Vancouver Cantata Singers ( VCS) present Scandinavian Treasures: Songs of the North at the Scandinavian Cultural Centre on May 25. The singers will perform choral arrangements of songs with roots in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, offering a kind of musical travelogue that shares the experience of journeying through…
Melody McKiver, Anishinaabe composer and violist, will have her Vancouver debut per-formances at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Western Front on May 17 and May 18, respectively. Growing up with musician parents, McKiver has pursued music since childhood, first starting on violin and then picking up drums and percussion, studying all of them to…
Lyrical flow rap, experimental hip hop, electronic soul full, activating queer, and Filipinx shape shifting type movement are all part of the descriptions artist Kim Villagante uses to capture just how multi-dimensional K!MMORTAL is. Mainly self-taught in music, she just released her second album X Marks the Swirl, with the swirl symbolizing her gender fluidity. A…
The Swedish acoustic trio Väsen, celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, has developed their own spin on traditional Swedish Folk music over the last three decades, lending what they feel is a virtuosic level of rhythmic and melodic complexity to their both their studio albums and live performances. The Rogue Folk Club, will present the…
Kobo Town, winner of multiple music awards including the prestigious Juno award, will be performing at the Wise Hall on Apr. 16. The event is organized by Caravan World Rhythms, a non-profit organization that promotes music from diverse cultural backgrounds. Founded and fronted by Toronto-based Trinidad singer Drew Gonsalves, Kobo Town is named after the…
Musician and performer Ayla Nereo will bring her soulful voice and unique sound to the Fox Cabaret on April 5, 2019. Drawing on themes of compassion, life and our relationship with the earth, Nereo’s performance seeks to allow her audience, and herself, to experience life in the present moment, calling to attention our relationship with…
The Sybaritic String Band will bring the sound of contra dance – their blend of Celtic, English Country and French-Canadian music – to the Festival du Bois in Mackin Park, Coquitlam on Mar. 22 with a goal of creating a thoroughly danceable atmosphere for all. “It’s an interesting mixture between the dancers, the musicians and…
The Museum of Anthropology in conjunction with the Centre for Japanese Research at UBC will present an evening of unique music by indigenous singers from both Japan and British Columbia on March 14. The event will showcase traditional music from Hokkaido Ainu singers Mayunkiki and Tomoe Yahata, along with Haida singer Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson and her…
A new production of the life of famed poet and activist Gwendolyn Brooks will be performed in a variety of media. “It’s a live biopic, a music video, a poetry performance, all mixed up into one giant onstage show,” says Sarah Fornace, co-artistic director of No Blue Memories: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. No Blue Memories: The…
New York-based multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily will be performing at the Western Front on Feb. 26. Having recorded and toured with artists such as Laurie Anderson, Ben Frost and Colin Stetson, the acclaimed accompanist and band member sets out to bring a more intuitive, improvisational direction in his solo shows. “I will plan to have around…
Some singers start early in life. Christopher Ho picked up his first guitar at age 15, managed to write a song the day after, and ever since has found his calling. After a two-year long hiatus, and with ten albums and hundreds of songs in his repertoire, Ho is ready to get back into the…
