Category: World Music

Browsing: World Music

Oktoecho: Transcestral (2021)

By Justin Bernard on 16 January 2022 CD and Book Reviews, Contemporary, Indigenous, Vocal, World Music

Katia Makdissi-Warren, musical and electronic arrangements; Joséphine Bacon, Innu poet; Nina Segalowitz, Inuit throat singer; Hélène Martel, vocals. The blending of styles and cultures is a topic that comes up a lot when we talk about world music. The approach of Katia Makdissi-Warren and the Oktoecho team, followed by a host of musicians, is somewhat different. Their Transcestral project is, rather, the meeting of two world cultures, Sufism, on the one hand, and that of the First Nations, on the other hand, which is put forward with the notable contribution of Western styles. Needless to say,…

Amanda Keesmaat, violoncelle; Pierre-Alexandre Saint-Yves, flûtes, chalumeaux, cornemuse, voix; Patrick Graham, percussions; Seán Dagher, direction musicale, cistre, voix; Alex Kehler, violon, nyckelharpa.

La Nef: Styles and fields come together

By Justin Bernard on 12 January 2022 Baroque and Early, Contemporary, Folk, Interviews, Multimedia, World Music

La Nef is continuing its 30th anniversary celebrations under the general and artistic leadership of Claire Gignac. Though La Nef will present many concerts featuring various musical styles this season, it is currently being noted for its disc production at the start of a new year. On February 5, a concert will take the form of an album presentation, featuring Long Way Home by Andrew Wells-Oberegger, composer and multi-instrumentalist. Six musicians will join him at Montreal’s Maison de la culture Ahuntsic in the Concerts au bout du monde series. On March 10, another production will be led by Artistic Codirector…

Oktoécho presents the concert Transcestral: A gathering of sufi and indigenous peoples’ musical traditions

By Hassan Laghcha on 21 November 2021 Indigenous, World Music

Author : (NEWSWIRE)

Ensemble Oktoécho presents the concert Transcestral, on November 27, at 8 pm, at the Outremont Theatre. An original creation of the Oktoécho ensemble, the event brings together 15 artists, singers, dancers, and poets from different backgrounds: six indigenous and Sufi communities are represented as well as musicians from jazz, classical and contemporary music. Transcestral weaves together the sacred ancestral traditions of Sufi trance music and indigenous music from Canada. It is a true hymn to life, highlighting our perpetual quest for harmony and communion with nature. Active communities Known for their unique musical contributions, rich in poetic lyricism and inspired…

Fall Highlights: World Music

By Hassan Laghcha on 13 September 2021 World Music

Place des Arts intercultural crossroads Soirée Cumbia As part of its L’Art en soi program, Place des Arts invites us to a Cumbia soirée. The Ballet Raíces de Colombia and the Bumaranga group will take us on a musical journey through the Colombian Caribbean and its unique folklore enriched by pre-Columbian, Spanish and African cultures. Traditional percussion and flute are combined with a modern, electric touch. Sept. 17, 8 p.m. Esplanade of Place des Arts. Pavlo celebrates Mediterranean music Guitarist Pavlo Simtikidis (Pavlo) offers a recial with delightful Mediterranean sounds that combine folk styles from different cultures. This internationally renowned…

The Naghash Ensemble.

Bourgie Hall: World Music

By Hassan Laghcha on 10 September 2021 World Music

First is the Cameroonian vocalist and ethnomusicologist Gino Sitson. His performance, which opens the hall’s “Odyssées” series, will draw on various musical genres, from African song to jazz and Western chamber music. (Oct. 28, 8 p.m.)   In the New Year, the Naghash Ensemble is invited to perform a program of music inspired by the Armenian folk tradition. The concert is called Chants d’Exil. (Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m.) The season also marks the return of one of Ireland’s most prominent groups, Lúnas, with the show The Wild Coast of Ireland (Feb. 17, 8 p.m.). Music of the Orient will be in the…

Photo: André Leduc

alcides lanza, a Pioneer, Turns 90

By Andréanne Venne on 2 July 2020 Contemporary, Quebec Music, World Music

You may have noticed the absence of capitals in his name. This orthographic licence was inspired, he says, by his discovery as a young man of the poetry of e. e. cummings, who was known to eschew writing conventions like punctuation and standard syntax. Certain Bauhaus prints also gave him encouragement. Then, a more pragmatic motivation added to these influences: “At a time when everyone wrote on typewriters, I told myself one day that if capital letters were no longer necessary, typewriters would be smaller and lighter, saving much of the metal used in manufacturing.” And, to conclude this mindful…

Festival Nuits d'Afrique

Worldbeat Previews

By Hassan Laghcha on 5 September 2019 World Music

Worldbeat is now an integral part of the musical landscape. Those involved in the cross-pollination of music traditions have to be more imaginative than ever to satisfy audience demands. Montreal is a prime market in North America for cross-cultural music encounters. Here are but a few events to take note of in the weeks and months to come. Middle East to Far East at Place des Arts On Sept. 28, the Algerian soprano Fairouz Oudjida, celebrated as the “Diva of the Desert,” performs Du Sahara à l’opéra at the Cinquième Salle of Place des Arts. There will be plenty of…

AUSTIN, TX - MAY 2, 2019 - Puccini's La Bohème.

Austin Opera Breathes New Life into La Bohème

By Paul E. Robinson on 6 May 2019 Classical, Classical Music, Opera, Vocal, World Music

PUCCINI: La Bohème Elizabeth Caballero, sop. (Mimì) Kang Wang, ten. (Rofolfo) Noel Bouley, bar. (Marcello) Ashraf Sewailam, bass (Colline) Andrew Lovato, bar. (Schaunard) Susannah Biller, sop. (Musetta) Alison Moritz, stage director Michael Yeargan, scenic designer Walter Mahoney, costume designer Austin Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Peter Bay, conductor Long Center for the Performing Arts Austin, Texas May 2, 2019 Whenever lists are compiled of the most popular operas, La Bohème is invariably in the top two or three, with good reason. After more than a century, the beauty of its music and the appeal of its characters continue to win audiences. In…

Austin Opera's Otello "in concert". Photo: Erich Schlegel

Otello “in concert” a Major Victory for Austin Opera

By Paul E. Robinson on 21 November 2018 Classical, Opera, Vocal, World Music

Verdi: Otello. A Festive Staged Concert Event. Issachah Savage (Otello); Marina Costa-Jackson (Desdemona); Michael Chioldi (Iago); Derek Taylor (Cassio). Concert Stage Director: Rebecca A. Herman Lighting Design: Thomas Hase Austin Opera Orchestra and Chorus/Steven White Long Center for the Performing Arts Austin, Texas November 15, 2018 Austin Opera has been presenting fully staged professional opera to audiences in Central Texas for the past 31 years, averaging three productions per season and maintaining a remarkably high standard; it came as a bit of a shock, then, when the company chose to open its 2018-2019 season with Verdi’s Otello in a concert…

Soprano Hyunah Yu in the middle, flanked by players from Piffaro and Prism, at the premiere of “The Anchoress” at the Kimmel Center (Philadelphia); photo by Pete Checchia/Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

“The Anchoress” – Songs of a Soul in Solitude

By Charles Geyer on 4 November 2018 Art Song, Baroque and Early, Chamber Music, Classical, Classical Music, Concert Reviews, Contemporary, Experimental Jazz, Interviews, La Scena Online, Music Competition, Musical Theatre, Opera, Theatre, Vocal, World Music

REVIEW: of The Anchoress, a world premiere of a new musical monodrama/song cycle composed by David Serkin Ludwig with text by Katie Ford, performed by soprano Hyunah Yu, accompanied by saxophone quartet PRISM and ancient-instrument ensemble Piffaro; on Wednesday, October 17, at the Perelman Theatre of Philadelphia’s Kimmel Center, and on Thursday, October 18, at New York City’s DiMenna Center for Classical Music (the latter performance reviewed here); and INTERVIEWS: with composer David Ludwig and poet Katie Ford. The impulse to retreat from the world in search of spiritual insight or purity has manifested throughout human history. Twenty-one centuries of Christianity…