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The Spirit of the Rockies: Donation fuels new creative work

by on January 4, 2013 in Arts, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Development, General, Music, Orchestra

(l-r) Joel Landsberg and Uwe Kruger of the Kruger Brothers perform with the Banff Festival Orchestra.

(l-r) Joel Landsberg and Uwe Kruger of the Kruger Brothers perform with the Banff Festival Orchestra.

On August 25, The Banff Centre premiered an innovative new symphonic work for chamber orchestra, guitar, bass, and banjo. Commissioned by the Centre and composed by Jens Kruger of the legendary bluegrass group the Kruger Brothers, The Spirit of the Rockies was made possible by the generous support of David and Christine Anderson.

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Christine and David Anderson. Images: Kim Williams.

During a pre-performance residency, musicians in the Centre’s Banff Festival Orchestra program collaborated on the creation of work under the skilled tutelage of the Kruger Brothers.

“The experience of working on The Spirit of the Rockies was for us an intense journey on many levels,” says guitarist Joel Landsberg. “The opportunity to research a region’s history and mystery is a powerful path for artistic development.”

A musical meditation on the history, culture, and beauty of the Canadian Rockies, the new work delighted the audience in the Eric Harvie Theatre during the premiere performance. “The Spirit of the Rockies was an amazing piece,” said Melissa Callaghan. “I hope we will see parts of it in the future, used to inspire people to come to Banff.”

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Jock Soto’s “full circle” dance career brings his brilliant mentorship to Banff

by on December 3, 2012 in Arts, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Dance, Festivals, General, Indigenous Arts, Indigenous Dance, Podcasts, Theatre, Visiting Artists

Ballet dancer Jock Soto leads a rehearsal during the 2012 Indigenous Dance Residency. Photo: Donald Lee.

A New York Times article about the 2005 retirement of ballet dancer, Jock Soto  sums up just a few of the reasons why he has had such a warm welcome by emerging dancers at  The Banff Centre:  ”At 40, he can look back to a special place as one of ballet’s most creative personalities. While choreographers are essential to the art, dancers like Mr. Soto – and they are few – also define and redefine choreography with bold individuality and implicit collaboration.”

Jock Soto enjoyed an amazing career that includes the distinction of being the most choreographed dancer in the history of the New York City Ballet. A celebrity in his own right, he was named one of People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People in the World”, and Andy Warhol made a graphite drawing of him in 1986. But as he neared the end of his 24-year career with the New York City Ballet, he began to realize he had lost a connection to his Navajo heritage.

In 2007, Soto was chronicled in the award-winning documentary Water Flowing Together, where he began to reflect on his roots and past in Arizona. This project also first brought him to The Banff Centre. At a screening of the film at the ImagiNative film festival in Toronto, Soto met Sandra Laronde, director of the Centre’s Indigenous Arts program. Since 2009, Soto has come to Banff each summer as faculty for the Indigenous Dance Residency. This summer, the group performed Spirit with dancers from all over the world.

In the audio interview below, hear more about Soto’s amazing journey.

Music: Rubies to the music of Igor Stravinsky
City sounds from Freesound.org: acutescream, bulbastre, eric5335, cognate perceptu
The final song, A Tribe Called Red – Electric Powwow, was used in the Indigenous Dance performance of Spirit
Produced by Camara Miller. Mastered by Magdalena Kasperek.

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Gettin’ honest with Matt Andersen

by on November 27, 2012 in Arts, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Events, Festivals, General, Music, Podcasts, Theatre, Visiting Artists

Matt Andersen, during his last visit to The Banff Centre to record the album Push Record with Mike Stevens. Photo: Kim Williams.

The Canadian singer-songwriter and blues guitarist Matt Andersen doesn’t have many self-proclaimed rituals before a show. However, changing his guitar strings just happens to be one of them.

Andersen always has a lot to share on stage, as you’ll hear in the clip from She Comes Down recorded live during his set on the Shaw Amphitheatre stage this summer. Having played over 100 shows throughout Canada this past year, his fans appreciate that each and every show is still filled with his fantastic music and personality.

Have a listen to our quick preshow chat where Andersen discusses his relationship with honesty. That clacking and winding sound you hear in the background is him changing his strings.

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To listen to his full show check out  banffcentre.ca/live, where every week we’re posting another fantastic show performed here at The Banff Centre.

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Minor Empire offers insight on their award-winning sound

by on November 6, 2012 in Arts, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Events, Festivals, General, Music, Podcasts, Theatre, Visiting Artists

Minor Empire played The Club at The Banff Centre. The ensemble is shown here in this photo by Hicham Eid.

One memorable summer evening at The Club, The Banff Centre hosted Toronto-based ensemble Minor Empire. This intimate venue, which has seen a variety of alternative, jazz,  and indie-rock performances this past year, warmed up with Minor Empire’s dreamy, psychedelic Turkish music and members using instruments like the oud, darbuka, and kanun.

Alyssa Moxley, one of our podcasters during the Banff Summer Arts Festival, sat down with two members of Minor Empire for a chat about how they have refined their award-winning sound. The winners of the 2011 Canadian Folk Music Award as World Group of the Year have sought out the best musicians available to join them in creating their celebrated and highly improvised sound.

Guitarist/composer/producer Ozan Boz and vocalist/composer Ozgu Ozman had just arrived in Banff after an inspiring drive through Jasper. Here they share a few thoughts on their brand of Turkish music with a sample of Yüksek Yüksek Tepeler, the first track from their album, Second Nature.

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Check out a recording of the full show at banffcentre.ca/live, where every week we’re posting another fantastic live show performed here at The Banff Centre.

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Said the Whale felt right at home bringing Little Mountain to the mountains of Banff

by on September 20, 2012 in Arts, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Events, Festivals, General, Music, Podcasts, Theatre

Said the Whale at The Club over the summer. Photo: Don Lee.

 No strangers to the Bow Valley, Said the Whale played The Club this summer to a packed crowd. Check out their full concert on banffcentre.ca/live, where every week we’re posting another fantastic live show performed here at The Banff Centre.

 When the band dropped by for their show in July, I talked with them about their connection to the landscape, misconceived song titles (did you ever wonder about their song Emerald Lake, AB… yeah, it’s a mistake), and the definition of a ‘typical’ west-coast band

We also got to talk about their latest record, Little Mountain, released in March 2012. Here’s Ben Worcester discussing the band’s experience of boarding themselves up and missing the rare Vancouver sun, to create their third full-length album.

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Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev: dOCUMENTA (13)

by on September 14, 2012 in Arts, Audio, Banff, Banff Summer Arts Festival, Festivals, General, Podcasts, Videos, Visual Arts

The Retreat: A position of dOCUMENTA (13) at The Banff Centre.

 
dOCUMENTA (13), one of the most important international art exhibitions, draws to a close September 16 in Kassel, Germany, after 100 days of exhibition, seminars, lectures, films, readings, and other events.

The Retreat: A Position of dOCUMENTA (13) brought 6 faculty and 30 participants to The Banff Centre in August for an intensive research-based residency organized by the Visual Arts department in collaboration with the University of Alberta.

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Artistic Director of dOCUMENTA (13), is a curator and writer based in Rome, Kassel, and New York. Recorded at her office in Kassel, Christov-Bakargiev’s inaugural lecture Time, Retreat, Earth and the Cooked Object as a Space for Aesthetics and Politics addresses the central themes of dOCUMENTA (13) as they relate to the four locations in which dOCUMENTA (13) was physically and conceptually sited—Kassel, Kabul, Alexandria/Cairo, and Banff. 

Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev’s public talk is the first of six public talks of The Retreat, delivered by program faculty.

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