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Joe Macerollo.Starting off in June, we are immediately plunged into a series ofperformances that are full of cross-pollinating and genre-crashingpower. The big news is that Toronto’s multi-arts Luminato Festival isheadlining Marina Abramović, a New York-based performance artistoriginally from Serbia who is considered to be the “grandmother” ofthe performance art genre. Her work explores the limits of the bodyand states of consciousness, while often putting herself throughextreme physical pain or tests of endurance. In 2010 during a retrospectiveat the MoMA in New York, Abramović performed The Artistis Present during which she sat immobile and in silence all day foralmost three months while spectators took turns sitting opposite her.People experienced religious-like transformations as they stared backinto her penetrating presence.You may ask — what does thishave to do with music? Theanswer is, of course, that thestory of her life, along withscenes from her performanceworks, has been made into anopera entitled The Life andDeath of Marina Abramović.Premiered in 2011 at theManchester InternationalFestival and toured to soldoutaudiences in severalEuropean cities, the operawill receive its NorthAmerican premiere atLuminato, running June 14 to 17.Conceived and directed by the legendary Robert Wilsonin collaboration with Abramović, she also performs as herself andher mother alongside Willem Dafoe as narrator and male counterpart.The music was co-composed by cult pop star Antony Hegartyand ambient minimalist William Basinski, and performed by Antonyin his mesmerizing and hypnotic voice. It was his cathartic musicalperformances and emotional vulnerability that inspired Abramović toinvite him to collaborate on this opera that she describes as “a series ofbirths and funerals of the soul.”Running in conjunction with the opera from June 14 to 23 willbe her latest performance work/installation, MAI – Prototype. Inseven interconnected pavilions in Trinity Bellwoods Park, four prebookedparticipants will wear white lab coats and receive instructionson headphones as they walk through the installation for a periodof two hours. Every 30 minutes a new group will begin the journeyin which they will undergo the rigours of her performance practice.These encounters will be live-streamed to other locations throughoutToronto, including one at Pearson airport.Also performing at Luminato will be the inimitable LaurieAnderson appearing as part of The Hub series of free outdoor concertsat David Pecaut Square on June 16. Anderson was one of the firstperformance artists to bring experimental and art-rock music to alarge popular audience. Writing songs full of political edginess andperforming with her invented instruments (a tape-bow violin anda computer controlled “talking stick”), she made the UK pop chartsback in the early 80s.The pop/experimental music crossover theme continues over atthe Music Gallery, in the last concert of their season’s signature PopAvant series. Curated by Tad Michalak, known for his programming ofunder-the-radar pop, noise, jazz and harsh electronic music, his “BurnDown the Capital Showcase” June 8 will feature three different artists.Guaranteed to set your soul on fire, the music will mix up instrumental,vocal and a wide range of electronic and ambient soundsusing tape loops and synthesizers to create both an “unacceptable”and sensual evening.Another major summer music festival happening in Toronto isthe NXNE Festival that takes over the downtown streets and clubs.This year, it’s exciting to see their programmers venturing into theworld of sound art and co-producing three events with NAISA (NewAdventures In Sound Art). These include a sound sculpture performanceat the AGO on June 6, an audiovisual machine installation thatruns from June 11 to 22 at the Wychwood Barns with a live performanceon June 10 and a sound walk through Trinity Square on June 13,where sounds of underwater life will be projected into the outdoorurban space.For July, it’s off to Stratford Summer Music. It just so happens thatJuly 18 is R. Murray Schafer’s 80th birthday, and he is being honouredthat night with a tribute concert featuring pieces from his Patria cycleof musical dramas. As part of the celebration, Schafer’s visually-basedscores will be on display at the Stratford Public Library from July 17 toAugust 25.Schafer’s vision has opened up our ears to the soundscape (aterm he coined), and so it’s only natural that he would create piecesandré leducCOMPOSITION COMPETITIONCHURCH OFSAINTMARYMAGDALENEATORONTOA, CANMass setting: prize $5,000The Church of St. Mary Magdalene, TorontoMore information at www.smm125.comDthewholenote.com June 7 – September 7, 2013 | 13