Volume 23 Issue 1 - September 2017

Beat by Beat | In with the New
The Time for
Resistance
WENDALYN BARTLEY
Welcome back to another season of auditory excavation and resistance.
For isn’t that what diving deep and creating new expressions
using sound is all about? During the upcoming X Avant Festival
produced by the Music Gallery – which takes resistance as its theme
– this is definitely what will be occurring. Using this theme as a lens
for this month’s column, I will be taking an overall survey of what you
can expect both in the upcoming season and also during the month of
September.
The Music Gallery
The big news at this hotbed place of sonic experimentation this fall
is their change of venue. Due to renovations both at their usual home
at St. George the Martyr church and in the neighbouring church lot,
the Music Gallery’s programming will be happening at a variety of
different venues for the foreseeable
future. In my conversation with artistic
director David Dacks about what sort of
impact this change in venue will have,
he noted that the Gallery’s Departure
Series has already been creating
programming in different venues for the
last few years. The goal of this series is
to make sure that the MG isn’t just identified
with one place and to highlight
their role as a presenter.
For the fall of 2017, the Gallery’s
programming will be happening at
918 Bathurst, a not-for-profit arts and
culture centre located in the heart of
Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood. Dacks mentioned that this location
is actually closer to where many of the gallery’s patrons live, and
this new location will provide opportunities for audience outreach
in a more residential area of the city. And so it is fitting that the first
show of the season on October 11 at 918 Bathurst will be a concert in
the Departures Series with a performance by Man Forever aka Kid
Millions touring a new album, Play What They Want. Joining the
LISA CORSON
Meitar Ensemble
bill on that night will be Toronto-based percussionist, performer and
composer Germaine Liu and her ensemble, along with Luyos MC/
Reila. Expect an evening of indie rock, water-based music, electronic
soundscapes, traditional chant and frequency art.
While changing location could pose a potential hazard for audience
attendance, Dacks isn’t too worried. Last year was the MG’s biggest
year to date where attendance was up by 40 percent, with seven soldout
concerts within the year. Each of those seven events was a partnership,
thereby boosting audience numbers and reaching out to new
communities. As I mentioned above, “Resistance” is the theme of this
year’s X Avant Festival running from October 11 to 15. “It’s the thing to
do right now, for obvious reasons, and more artists are exploring ideas
that fit into this theme,” Dacks said.
One of the festival concerts will feature the music of composer
James Tenney, who lived and taught in Toronto from 1976 to 2000 and
had an important influence on many local composers during his time
here. The program will include Pika-Don, which Tenney composed in
1991, a piece that features the voices of
many local artists, including my own,
which was a surprise to me when Dacks
mentioned it. Rusty memory! Preceding
the concert will be a panel discussion
on questions such as what it means to
be a socially conscious composer now
as opposed to 20 to 30 years ago, and
what audiences expect from socially
conscious music in the concert hall. The
festival is also hosting another Deep
Listening workshop led by Anne Bourne,
taking place at the Tranzac Main Hall.
Man Forever aka Kid Millions
In last year’s festival, Deep Listening
pioneer Pauline Oliveros was a featured
guest, and her sold-out concert was the last time she appeared in
Toronto shortly before her passing in November.
And of course the Music Gallery will continue its tradition of
co-presenting with various partners. One such concert to note coming
up on October 22 is the New Music Concerts’ season opener. It will be
an opportunity to hear Tel Aviv’s Meitar Ensemble, whose membership
comprises quite an array of virtuoso performers specializing in
October 22, 2017 Meitar Ensemble new music from Tel Aviv
December 3, 2017 Concertos for clarinet, piano, percussion
January 14, 2018 Berg’s Kammerkonzert and more
February 4, 2018 Land’s End Ensemble from Calgary
February 25, 2018 Trio Arkel from Toronto
March 22, 2018 The Iran Project songbook
May 27, 2018 Zipangu! at the 21C Festival
www.NewMusicConcerts.com subscriptions 416.961.9594
30 | September 2017 thewholenote.com