Music

a woman holding a microphone and singing in a darkened room back lit with purple lights.

Music business students host “Music for the Girls” to raise awareness about gender-based violence

December 6, 2024 by Sarah Drysdale

Several local artists made their way to Gus’s Pub in Halifax on December 5th for “Music For the Girls”. The event was timed to coincide with December 6th, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women.

The National Day of Remembrance is held every year on the anniversary of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre where 14 young women lost their lives.

The concert featured women and femme led bands from the Nova Scotia Community College’s Music Business Program, who got together to raise funds for the Adsum House – a women’s and children’s shelter in the city.

This event still holds shocking relevance, with domestic and gender-based violence increasing in Nova Scotia. Three women lost their lives to intimate partner violence within the span of three weeks in between October 18th and November 4th.

Artists who performed at this concert believe there needs to be more conversation about this topic, and there needs to be more light shed on its importance.

An artistic representation of the interior of a cathedral, with a choir gathered below elaborate decor and sunlight streaming in through a rose window.

Recently established Saint John choir tackles its inaugural performance

November 22, 2024 by Iona Coe

The Cathedral Choral Society is having its inaugural performance this weekend. Established in Saint John just this past September, the choir is based at the city’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Local 107.3FM spoke with the choir director, Gibson MacMillan, ahead of the choir’s first performance this weekend, and listened in on the choir’s rehearsal. MacMillan spoke of the importance of music, and choral music in particular, as well as the theme of the inaugural concert and the music, old and new, that is to be performed.

The concert, Rest Eternal, is set to take place at the cathedral on Waterloo Street on Saturday, November 23rd at 7.30pm. More information about the choir can be found at its Facebook page.

A digital drawing of a women's face with a cigarette in her mouth. Text at the top of picture reads "Lacey Hill" and the text at the bottom of the picture reads "Crazy 4 U".

Local musician’s latest single continues to climb Indigenous Music Countdown

November 21, 2024 by Andrew Dow

Six Nations’ Lacey Hill and her latest single Crazy 4 U sits at #19 on this week’s Indigenous Music Countdown (IMC) after making its debut at the end of October.

Hill says the latest song is one that sees her diving into the pop genre, something that’s new to her. She says in the past the majority of her songs were of the indie or folk genre but this new single is one that came to her while collaborating with local Six Nations artists like two-time JUNO award winner Derek Miller, and Gary Joseph.

Hill says she hopes “Crazy 4 U” can end up reaching the number one spot on the IMC.

Meanwhile she also details what else she is working on creatively, including her first ever children’s musical “Y.A.N.A (You are Not Alone)” that will be featured at the 37th edition of Weesageechak Begins to Dance festival in Toronto on Nov. 27.

A line of instruments over a brown background. From left to right, the instruments are an acoustic and electric guitar, a keyboard, an acoustic guitar, a saxophone, a violin, an accordion, and another violin

Musical instrument loan and scholarship program aims to make music more accessible

November 15, 2024 by Danny Nesvaderani

A recent winner of the Creative City Network of Canada’s I.D.E.A. award, the Harmony for All program provides residents of Burnaby free musical instruments for lending, scholarship opportunities for music lessons, and zero cost outreach programs for musical education.

In a recent interview with CJSF, the Fine Arts Coordinator for the program, Tanya Rankin, discussed the community impact of the program, as well as the hope for its future growth.

Additionally, Tanya expressed her enthusiasm for the idea of other local municipalities adopting similar music programs, even stating that she has made a starting template for any one who is interested.

Side view wide shot of a symphony orchestra performing on a stage in a modern, large concert hall

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony returns to “business as usual” after bankruptcy annulment

November 12, 2024 by Cora Kuehl

The Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony has announced their bankruptcy has been annulled.

In September of 2023 the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony abruptly cancelled all the future performances, and just days later announced the organization would be declaring bankruptcy. The symphony’s musicians, and ticket holders were not notified of this beforehand and were blindsided, along with the community.

Bill Poole the New Chair of the board for the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Association says getting the bankruptcy annulled was a lengthy process that consisted of a proposal to creditors receiving support and approval from the Superior court of Ontario. Poole says the Symphony will be working to ensure a financial situation like this won’t happen again.

Chamber-pop trio Pallmer pose for a photo in tall grass.

Pallmer Brings Chamber Pop To The Forefront Of New Brunswick’s Music Scene

November 7, 2024 by Johnny James

Violist Mark Kleyn, Emily Kennedy (cello/vocals) and Charles Harding (synthesizer/percussion), collectively known as Pallmer, took home some hardware at the 2024 Music New Brunswick Awards on October 24th.

The trio won Song of the Year for the title track of their album Swimming, which was also nominated for Recording of the Year, a track Kennedy penned about sombre feelings and emotions amidst the dead of winter.

The nine-track LP was produced by Juno-nominated electro-acoustic artist and producer Joshua Van Tassel, who helped them achieve their ideal recording quality and added additional instrumentation to take their song ideas further, citing their award winning song as his greatest impact.

It is their second such award win, the other being Recording of the Year in 2021 for their debut EP Quiet Clapping, which Kennedy says is a recognition the group feels grateful for.

A man in a black suit sitting in a white chair in front of a white brick wall. The man is wearing a beaded emblem necklace.

Local rapper to headline Toronto Indigenous Music Festival

November 1, 2024 by Andrew Dow

Jordan Jamieson (aka MR. SAUGA), just 3 years into his music career, will be one of the headlining acts at the Tkaronto Music Festival this year.

Jamieson says he’s looking forward to being a part of the celebrations of culture and identity at the music festival, and says he’s busy as currently he is in the midst of recording and completing his third album.

Jamieson says he works at blending his traditional pow wow roots to create more modern sounding music, but it’s something he says is flexible and comes naturally.

He says it’s been inspiring to be able to perform in front of his home community, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and it’s something that he looks forward to do once again.

The festival spotlight on Indigenous artists from turtle island will run from Nov. 7-9 at TD Music Hall.

A head and shoulders picture of a woman in blue/purple light holding a guitar.

FLOURISH Festival expands with new, heavier stream called PERISH

November 1, 2024 by Johnny James

Flourish Festival has been a staple in the Fredericton music and visual arts scene for the last decade. Welcoming a diverse array of artist and art installations every spring to venues in the city’s downtown area.

Now the festival is looking to add to their yearly programming with PERISH Festival, a miniature lineup of music and artists happening November 1st and 2nd featuring a heavier tone of acts and installations, featuring local favourites Hard Charger, Force Fields and Marian and touring acts VICTIME and Yoo Doo Right.

Have a listen for a conversation with FLOURISH founder Jane Blanchard, who will also be performing at PERISH, about the reasons for the expansion and the future of the festival’s operations.

Collage of press photos of rappers Aquakultre, Stephen HERO and Wolf Castle.

Atlantic Canadian rappers tour to make communities “Better Together”

October 25, 2024 by Johnny James

Nova Scotia’s Aquakultre (aka Lance Sampson) is joining forces with New Brunswick’s Stephen HERO (aka Matthew Elliott) and Wolf Castle (aka Tristan Grant) for a tour of some of the east coast’s best hip-hop, but with a much greater purpose than the music itself.

In each tour stop, including a date at Fredericton’s The CAP on October 26th, the artists will be hosting drives to both raise money for local charities supporting the homeless and to gather items for those living on the margins. All with the goal of engaging each community to be, like their tour’s namesake, “Better Together”.

CHSR sat down with Aquakultre, and Stephen HERO, to talk with them about the tours initiatives, their collaborative track “Can’t Stop (Working)” that started the conversation, and their personal motivations to tackle the issue of homelessness.

A picture of a studio space with white and black checkerboard walls (the white is paint, the black is noise de-harshers). LED lighting along the ceiling casts a casual mood over the studio. At the desk a person is sitting at a laptop, beside a mixer and likely making some sort of music.

The Kitchen KW serves up fresh support for local musicians

October 25, 2024 by Dan Kellar

The Kitchen KW has been busy since opening their new studio and creators space in downtown Kitchener on October 1st. While the company has been organizing hip-hop shows since March 2024, the new space will further integrate the organization with local music scenes through a dedicated studio, low-cost artistic development, production assistance, and monthly workshops.

The new studio is located at 44 Gaukel, a city of Kitchener owned space which is operated by ArtsBuild Ontario. For The Kitchen KW, the new space gives more options for local hip-hop artists to emerge in a city which is often dominated by singer-song-writer and rock acts.

This show features an interview with The Kitchen KW CEO Aiden Rusten, who is known in the locally as AJ. AJ speaks about the company he co-founded, the first month in the new studio, and how The Kitchen KW is working to expand the local hip-hop scene.

Kawartha Youth Orchestra now teaches folk music

October 22, 2024 by Edward Sweeney

The Kawartha Youth Orchestra (KYO) is mixing genres with the introduction of the Junior Folk Ensemble to the orchestra.

Saskia Tomkins, a professional musician who specializes in various string instruments, is the lead instructor for the folk band.

Currently, the folk program is primarily teaching Celtic music. The band consists of 3 violins, 1 viola, and 1 bodhrán (a drum, native to Ireland). Tomkins hopes to expand the program to include new instruments, and to teach folk music from cultures all around the world.

Information about all of KYO’s programs can be found on their website. The KYO is a registered, non-profit, charity, and it has been teaching classical music to young people since 2002.

Listen to the full CFFF story to hear audio from the folk ensembles’ rehearsal, an interview with Tomkins, and to learn about the impact of teaching folk music to children.

An orchestra is performing on stage where there is a wooden backdrop. Everyone is wearing all black. In the front centre is the conductor facing the players conducting them. The first two rows has the string players, there is about 20 string players. Behind the strings is about nine wind players sitting beside each other. Behind them a women stands in the percussion section, playing a timpani in the centre of the stage in the back

Vancouver Island Symphony opens pearl anniversary season

October 18, 2024 by Lauryn Mackenzie

The Vancouver Island Symphony is celebrating its pearl anniversary of bringing music across the island.

Being one of the two professional orchestras on Vancouver Island the Vancouver Island Symphony (VIS) highlighting its 30th season by recognizing the history and the future of the symphony.

Cosette Justo Valdés is the artistic director of the VIS and the resident conductor of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. She spoke with CHLY ahead of the start of the season.

This is her second season with VIS and says the symphony is like a family. With VIS only being 30 years old she said the pearl is a great representation of the orchestra.

To celebrate the symphony’s 30th season, there will be a special concert on Saturday, October 19 at 7:30 p.m. at the Port Theatre. The concert will feature a Dvořák Cello Concerto, featuring guest cellist and composer, Sointu Aalto, and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6.