Salt Spring saxophonist and bandleader Monik Nordine (now living in Victoria) is all excited about our Thursday, March 15 evening with the Karl Schwonik Jazz Ensemble and Rémi Bolduc. Rémi was Monik’s saxophone teacher at McGill and she highly recommends him as one of Canada’s best.

Meanwhile, her new band Departure Jazz will be playing at the Raven Street Café on April 29. Here is a picture of the band on the left. Tickets for the Raven Street gig are $10 in advance only from Ron Nordine (537-5043).

We encourage you to take in both events if you love good jazz.

On Sunday afternoon, March 4th, the impeccable harmonies of four stunningly talented singers echoed through the theatre at Art Spring.  Hailing from southern Germany, Voca Me drew audience members into the forgotten past of Byzantium with the music of Kassia,Byzantine abbess, poet and perhaps the Western world’s first known female composer and hymnographer, dating back to the 9th Century.

The show began with impeccable harmonies that swelled and swayed and moved in time and in balance with the fine instrumentation of musical director, Michael Popp.  Positioned close by with zither and lutes, Popp chimed in when the music called on him.  He provided an intriguing historical background to the work and humourous anecdotal details about the composer herself that brought laughter to the crowd.  There were times when his leafing through papers distracted from the vocalists’ musical artistry; however, the singers remained focused and strong.

For the first half of the performance, although their mastery of vocalization was very clear and impressive, the visual comfort and communication between the early music singers felt slightly strained.  As the show went on, the women’s camaraderie became more and more apparent with subtle smiles and eye contact.  Overall, their sound was rich, nurturing and unfaltering.  Masters of tonality, harmony, dynamic colouring and dissonance, one could sense their magnified togetherness combined with a clear individual presence.  Consonants beautifully articulated, these musicians moved beyond the notes and became orators of Byzantine legend, drawing audience members into a dusty ancient past.

What a treat to witness such an ensemble, one that came together to communicate these legends, to tell the stories of Kassia in such a disciplined and finely tuned and dignified manner.  The discipline, professionalism and mastery that Voca Me brought to the stage provided inspiration, intrigue and spirit to Salt Spring.  This was a show for art and music historians, music appreciators and for anyone who can see the sheer beauty in a group coming together with immense dedication.  Bravo.

We were pleased to learn today, March 6^th, that Janina Fialkowska has been named the recipient of the 2012 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in Classical Music.

The Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards are Canada’s most prestigious honour in the performing arts.

Each year the Awards are presented for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in the categories of theatre, dance, classical music, popular music, film, and broadcasting. These awards recognize artists who have made an indelible contribution to Canada’s cultural life. Recipients of these awards are nominated by the general public.

The awards recognize a stellar array of artists for their outstanding lifetime contribution. Former recipients in the category of classical music include such prominent singers as Jon Vickers, Teresa Stratas and Maureen Forrester.

In the history of the awards, Janina is the second classical music instrumentalist (and the first woman in this category) to receive the Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

All of us at ArtSpring congratulate Janina, with fond memories of her past performances here in 2006 and 2010.

It seems almost too good to be true, but that’s what’s coming up at ArtSpring between Sunday March 4 and Thursday March 8.

The programming starts with a Sunday matinee by Voca Me — five singers from Stuttgart who perform Byzantine music by a previously neglected early composer. Kassia lived in the 9th Century and predated Hildegard von Bingen by several hundred years. She may well be the world’s first know female composer. Within the context of her time she was an independent woman who determined her own paths in both music and spirituality.

The next day, on Monday evening, Nathan Rogers, son of the late Stan Rogers, visits ArtSpring to pay musical tribute to his father. Nathan Rogers is an accomplished musician and songwriter in his own right, but on this tour he plays and sings the music that made Stan Rogers an unchallenged icon of Canadian folk music till his untimely death in 1983.

Then on Wednesday ArtSpring welcomes blues harmonica virtuoso Carlos del Junco with his band The Blues Mongrels. Born in Cuba but now living in Toronto, he is the recipient of endless musical awards including numerous Juno nominations. Carlos del Junco is our country`s undisputed master of the ten hole diatonic harmonica. Simultaneously sophisticated and raw, his playing blurs the boundaries between blues and jazz.

To bring the five days back to vocal music, ArtSpring welcomes The Elmer Iseler Singers on Thursday, March 8. This is one of Canada`s longest standing professional choirs, founded in 1979 by the late Elmer Iseler and now conducted by Lydia Adams. For several decades, especially on CBC radio, the choir set the gold standard for choral singing in Canada.

How did all this richness and variety come to be together in five short days in March?

“Call it either chance planning, or inspired planning,” says ArtSpring Executive Director George Sipos. “The huge variety of styles in these four programmes gives us a concentrated dose of just how diverse musical traditions and sensibilities can be. In the wake of Salt Spring`s Literary Festival and Film Festival, think of it as a mini Music Festival.”

Tickets for these four events, ranging in price from a high of $28 to a low of $5, are available from the ArtSpring Ticket Centre at 537-2102 or online. Details about the programmes, including video and audio links are posted on in our events calendar.

Bound. Restrict. Weaken. Disable. Chinese foot binding began with the court dancers of the Song Dynasty who had their feet wrapped painfully tight to keep their “Lotus Gait” and ensure tiny steps and a swaying walk. By the 19th century, the majority of women in all classes had their feet bound. This feminine daintiness was a sign of status and wealth; disallowing women the ability to perform manual labour. With status came sex appeal, and during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), sex manuals included 48 ways to play with these sexualized 7cm (3″) length feet.

Unbound, a contemporary dance performance by Wen Wei, a work that brings the theme of foot binding to the stage, came to Art Spring this past Thursday, 63 years after the end of the disabling tradition. Brought alive in the moving human form, this performance dealt with the juxtaposing forces of strength and weakness, male and female, caucasian and asian, freedom and bondage. The talent and flavour that each dancer embodied enhanced the tragedy and beauty of the work that sparked a deep inquiry into the purpose of foot binding and the human ability to adapt and strengthen in the face of restriction. The universality of male-female power play was clear with scenes of female weakness and frailty and male dominance and brute strength. This tension changed in scenes where female dancers showed mastery in the tiny shoes, having worked within their restricted framework, adapting and finding strength despite the disablement. Release was achieved with the shedding of shoes, feet free to root and empower free movement.

Choreographed to the sophistication of Italian-Canadian composer, Giorgio Magnanensi, the work grew and climaxed in a continuous yet unpredictable fashion. This unpredictability was both stimulating and unnerving and appropriate for the delivery of the artist’s message. Wen Wei took a memory of his grandmother and pushed it to new levels. At a time of re-emergence of the divine feminine, Unbound is timely in its unraveling, and allows us to question the past as well as the present.

By Jaime Murdoch

Wen Wei Dance Company performed UNBOUND at ArtSpring February 23, 2012 to an enthusiastic audience of 218. Here is a post-show e-mail we received from George Ehring:

“The show last night was absolutely brilliant. The audience was mesmerized; I think they were somewhat stunned and more quiet than even during classical music performances. It was great to see so many young people there.

“I thought the choreography was fantastic; the music was great, and the lighting was stunning. It was a brilliant performance.”

What do the 23 people in this picture have in common?

Well, they’re all from Salt Spring for a start. And they’re all ballet lovers who journeyed to Vancouver as a group to catch the National Ballet of Cuba in a full production of Don Quixote. Here they all are in the lobby of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Saturday, February 18 just after the ballet ended.

The excursion was organized by ArtSpring to take advantage of the first ever visit by this legendary ballet company to western Canada. The company was founded in 1948 by Alicia Alonso, who in her 90s amazingly still dances with the company when it performs at home in Cuba.

The consensus from the Salt Springers was that the Vancouver performance was quite extraordinary. The 72 dancers in the company are highly polished and, especially in the person of the principal dancers, hugely gifted performers.

The group left Fulford as foot passengers on an early ferry, travelled from Tsawassen by chartered bus to the QE, and returned the same way in the evening. A long day, but well worth the effort to catch a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Very big thank you to everyone who participated in our recent survey about the performing arts on Salt Spring. Over 250 people shared a bounty of feedback and ideas about the arts on the island and the ArtSpring experience. This has helped provided us with invaluable feedback to guide how we offer programming and engage with the community.

And of course those that took the time to complete the survey were entered into a prize draw to have a chance to win one of 50 bags of Salt Spring Coffee’s Organic Holiday Blend, and also be entered to win our grand prize of a day trip from Salt Spring to see Don Quixote by the National Ballet of Cuba in Vancouver.

Without further adieu, here are the winners!

Kathy Page is our grand prize winner!

And here are the winners of a 1 lbs bag of Salt Spring Coffee’s Organic Holiday Blend!

Jennifer Barrio, Tanis Beaver, Kim Benson, Rasma Bertz, Eric Booth, Hannah Brown, Heather Cameron, Brenda Dixon, Cameron Esaryk, Susan Evans, Nixe Gerbitz, Jeff Goguen, Therin Gower, Rob Grant, Leonard Greig, Janet Halliwell, Anna Haltrecht, Scott Harris, David, Nancy Holcroft, Shannon Joyce, Bly Kaye, Laura Kreissl, Karen Laidlaw, Philip Lake, Letitia Lane, Marguerite Lee, Julia Lerner, Jo Logan, Mary Rose MacLachlan, Robin McLean, Jim Meadows, Jack Medd, Andrea Metzger, Helene Narayana, Judy Nurse, Laura Patrick, Lyn Perry, Florence Roberge, April Russell, Patsy Siemens, Holly Slaney, Julianna Slomka, Janet Smith, Dennice Stambuck, Philippa Tattersall, Ida Marie Threadkell and Gerald Tibbits.

Congratulations to all and thank you again to all those who took the time to share their feedback. All prizes can be claimed at the ArtSpring ticket box office.

See what’s on in September.