Art of Improv presents Christine Duncan & The Element Choir
Sunday April 13th 7:30pm
Annette Studios
566 Annette St, Toronto, ON M6S 2C2, Toronto
$20 / PWYC
Christine Duncan vocalist, improviser, U of T voice professor, and director of the improvising vocal ensemble "The Element Choir” will create improvised musical collaborations with pianist Bill Gilliam and Eugene Martynec (electroacoustics) and conduct the “Element Choir” in their first official performance since covid.
Set 1
- Christine Duncan & Eugene Martynec duet
- Christine (voice & Theremin) with Bill Gilliam & Eugene Martynec
Tranzac, Southern Cross
292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto
Mon May 26th, 9:30 – 11:30pm
Bill Gilliam (keyboard) performing new jazz / electronic music arrangements with Kayla Milmine (soprano sax), Rob Clutton (bass) and Joe Sorbara (drums) at the Tranzac, 292 Brunswick Ave, Toronto, Mon May 26th from 9:30pm to 11:30pm.
Set 1
future proof - Bea Labikova (woodwinds + electronics) and Raphael Roter (percussion + electronics).
Set 2
Part 1) Germaine Liu (sound artist, percussionist, improvisor, and explorer of found objects) and Mark Zurawinski (percussion) will play a few percussion pieces and also work with prompts / scenarios to inspire music-making.
Part 2) Germaine and Mark will improvise music with Bill Gilliam (piano), Eugene Martynec (electroacoustics) and Bill McBirnie (flute).
Germaine Liu (germaine.she.her.hers) and Mark Zurawinski (he/him) are long-term loving partners, life and art collaborators and makers. Together, and with the support of their friends and arts organizers, they have been fortunate to dream and create many joyous projects like And With (supported by The Bentway) - a sound walk inviting participants to experience sounds and textures of The Bentway and We Made This With Love (supported by Music Gallery), a candy-inspired two-part sharing (1. sonic and visual exploratory film 2. sound/movement performance, with Fahmid Nibesh and Raphael Roter, where performers become “NERDS/Nerds” a symbiosis of candy+state-of-being.)
Germaine and Mark, along with their friend Joe Sorbara, are co-founders of Imaginary Percussion Ensemble where they play works like Water Music (sonic/physical/touch exploration with water + objects), CeramiX (sonic/physical/touch exploration with ceramic objects made by Chiho Tokita) and most recently Suite May Sixteen (a collection of pieces for idiophones, drums, cymbals, objects and images). Germaine and Mark also love to garden and cook food. They are grateful to share art, life, food, nourishment, joys and grief with communities that they are fortunate to be in relationship with.
future proof is the improv-avant-groove amalgam of Bea Labikova (woodwinds + electronics) and Raphael Roter (percussion + electronics). In the age of fast fashion, faster obsolescence and fastest disembodiment, all that remains for ‘future proof’ is human creation and connection in the present tense. Bea and Raphael exist here, grazing on feelings, circumstances, happenstances and humanstances to make immersively large and driving music of the moment.
COUNTERSTASIS with KATHRYN LADANO at Something Else! Festival
Hamilton Public Library, 55 York Boulevard, Hamilton
Note
Something Else! Festival
Hamilton Public Library – Central Library
55 York Boulevard
Hamilton,
ON, L8R 3K7 Canada
2pm
Free
Counterstasis is a collaborative improvising trio formed by Toronto pianist Bill Gilliam in 2016 featuring Glen Hall (woodwinds, electroacoustics) and Joe Sorbara (drums, percussion). The group works to counter stasis, to foster change, to create a music in which individual voices can be bent by and refracted through the sounds of co-conspirators.
Their album "Refracted Voices" produced with the support of the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council was released in 2019 and is available on Bandcamp.
https://gilliamhallsorbara.bandcamp.com/album/counterstasis-refracted-voices
Dr. Kathryn Ladano is a Canadian bass clarinetist and music educator recognized for her contributions to contemporary and experimental music. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Waterloo, a Master’s in bass clarinet performance from the University of Calgary, and a PhD in Musicology from York University. With mentorship from musicians like Lori Freedman and Casey Sokol, Kathryn has developed a unique approach that blends traditional techniques with experimental soundscapes, expanding the bass clarinet's role in modern music.
A dynamic performer, Kathryn has captivated audiences globally, collaborating with composers and artists, and has released three solo albums: Open (2010), Masked (2019), and Anatomy of the Recovering Brain (2024), along with the duo album …listen (2015) with percussionist Richard Burrows.
Kathryn is also dedicated to music education. She served as Artistic Director for NUMUS concerts for ten years and taught at Wilfrid Laurier University for fourteen years
Counterstasis has performed in Montréal with guest Lori Freedman and locally as a trio as well as with guests such as Doug Van Nort and Christine Duncan. Along with bass clarinetist Kathryn Ladano, Gilliam, Hall, and Sorbara offered an exceptional performance at Kitchener 's Registry Theatre for Open Ears 23 festival. This performance for the 2025 Something Else! Festival will be the second appearance by this special edition of Counterstasis.
Art of Improv is very excited to present the well known composer / guitarist John Gzowski and his partner and dancer, Julia Alpin performing improvised music and dance at Annette Studios on Sunday Sept 28th at 8pm.
The opening set will feature cellist Kye Marshall improvising with Eugene Martnec (electroacoustic) and Bill Gilliam (piano).
Art Of Improv
Set 1:Kye Marshall (cello), Eugene Martynec (electroacoustics), Bill Gilliam (piano)
Set 2: John Gzowski (guitar) and Julia Aplin (dance)
Composer, sound designer, musician and instrument maker John Gzowski worked on over 300 theatre, dance and film productions for which he has done composition, sound design, live foley, live music and as musical director. He has played banjo for opera in Banff, studied Carnatic classical music in India and played oud and guitar in jazz and folk festivals across Canada and Europe. His theatre work has won him 6 Dora’s, from 18 nominations for companies like Stratford, Shaw Festival, Luminato, National Arts Centre, the Mirvishes, MTC, the Arts Club, Canstage, Soulpepper, Dancemakers, Red Sky, Tarragon, Factory Theatre and YPT. Gzowski has played on numerous CD’s, with recent releases with Patricia O'Callghan, Tasa, and Autorickshaw as well as a Juno nomination with Maza Meze. He has run Canada’s first microtonal group, touring Canada playing the works of Harry Partch, composed and performed with several new music groups and worked as co-artistic director of the Music Gallery.
Julia Aplin has created dances with theatres, rivers, boxing rings, wading pools, cyberspace, neuroscience labs and forests. Julia works with a wide range of people from elite performers to beginners and has created work with organizations such as Canadian Opera Company, Urbanvessel, Moonhorse Dance Theatre, Dancemakers, Wild Soma, Double Pendulum and The Grove Collective.
Kye Marshall is a professional composer, cellist and nature photographer. She has written for full orchestra and numerous chamber ensembles. Her Dora nominated full length opera Pomegranate was presented by the Canadian Opera Company in June 2023. An eclectic musician, Kye performs jazz, classical and free music with six CD’s to her credit.