FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vancouver New Music announces 2018-19 season Vancouver, BC – Vancouver New Music’s 2018-19 season is set to cover some eclectic territories. Australia’s Robin Fox brings Single Origin, his synaesthesia-invoking laser and sound project to Scotiabank Dance Centre on November 17. A brand-new collaboration for flute, clarinet and electronics from Mark Takeshi McGregor and Liam Hockley (Vancouver) premieres at on February 16, and the colourful acoustic sounds of the Bay Area’s first reed quartet Splinter Reeds (US) will fill The Annex on March 16. VNM closes the season with the “Lo-fi gong pop punk” from Toronto-based kulintang ensemble Pantayo on April 27. VNM’s annual festival returns in October, and this year will showcase seven exceptional string quartets from Canada, the US, and Italy. Quartetti – a festival of string quartets will run October 18–20, 2018 at The Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor), and features performances by JACK Quartet (US), Bozzini Quartet (Montreal), Quartetti Mivos (Italy), Quartetto Noûs and more. Vancouver’s Black Dog String Quartet will take the stage all three nights, performing works by Navajo/US composer Raven Chacon, and participants from Chacon’s Native American Composer Apprentice Project. Chacon will bring his unique workshop to Vancouver in advance of the festival, working with local Indigenous youths to create pieces for string quartet that will be premiered at the festival.

2018-19 Concert Series Subscriptions and Festival Passes are now available through brownpapertickets.com / 1.800.838.3006. Single tickets will be available starting September 4, 2018 through brownpapertickets.com or 1.800.838.3006.

Full program information follows next page. http://newmusic.org/2018-19/ SUBSCRIPTION + TICKET INFORMATION 2018-19 Concert Series Subscription: Four concerts (Robin Fox, Mark Takeshi McGregor/Liam Hockley, Splinter Reeds, Pantayo) – $112 2018 Festival Quartetti – a festival of string quartets: three-night pass – Early-bird price $72 (until June 30); Regular price $80 Single ticket prices range from $15 to $35 and are on sale September 4, 2018. Student and senior discounts on single tickets are available. BOX OFFICE: www.brownpapertickets.com or 1.800.838.3006

VANCOUVER NEW MUSIC – 2018-19 CONCERT SERIES + FESTIVAL PAGE 2 OF 3

CONCERT SERIES Robin Fox (Australia) Saturday, November 17, 2018; 8PM Free pre-show chat at 7:15PM Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie Street) * PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS EVENT WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE SCOTIABANK DANCE CENTRE *

Robin Fox (Australia) returns to Vancouver with Single Origin, his new work for laser and sound that explores the possibilities of mechanically induced synaesthesia. Renowned for creating unique, expansive and intense sound worlds, Fox blends his split A/V personality with this one-of-a-kind concerto for a laser beam.

Mark Takeshi McGregor + Liam Hockley (Vancouver) Saturday, February 16, 2019; 8PM Free pre-show chat at 7:15PM The Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)

Flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor has been praised for his "mind blowing" performances of "huge physical energy" (Times Colonist). Clarinetist Liam Hockley is emerging as a musical talent to watch – an artist for whom “alternative or avant-garde approaches to his instrument are only part of the everyday tool kit” (Georgia Straight). For this concert, the two will collaborate to perform a selection of new and recent works for flute, clarinet and electronics.

Splinter Reeds (US) Saturday, March 16, 2019; 8PM Free pre-show chat at 7:15PM The Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)

Splinter Reeds takes an evolutionary detour from the traditional woodwind quintet, taking advantage of the unique sounds of a closely related instrument family. The sum of their wide ranges of experience – in settings including free jazz, improvisation, electronic music, pop, punk and metal as well as classical – has enabled them to rapidly zero in on a distinct aesthetic identity.

Pantayo (Toronto) Saturday, April 27, 2019; 8PM Free pre-show chat at 7:15PM The Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)

Pantayo is an all-women lo-fi R&B gong punk collective based in Toronto. The group combines percussive metallophones and drums from kulintang traditions of Southern Philippines and synth-based electro grooves, to create a sound shaped by their experiences as Diasporic Filipinas.

FESTIVAL Quartetti – a festival of string quartets October 18 – 20, 2018; 8PM each night Free pre-show chats each night at 7:15PM The Annex (823 Seymour Street, 2nd Floor)

Quartetti features a line-up of seven exceptional Canadian and international string quartets: Black Dog String Quartet (Vancouver), Quatuor Bozzini (Montreal), JACK Quartet (US), Quartetto Maurice (Italy), Mivos Quartet (US), Quartetto Noûs (Italy) and Penderecki String Quartet (Kitchener-Waterloo).

VANCOUVER NEW MUSIC – 2018-19 CONCERT SERIES + FESTIVAL PAGE 3 OF 3

SOUNDWALKS September 23 + 30, 2018; 2PM April 28 + May 5, 2019; 2PM Various locations FREE – EVERYONE WELCOME

Join members of the Vancouver Soundwalk Collective for these free, guided listening tours. A Soundwalk invites you to actively listen, opening ears and consciousness to the complex orchestration that the environment is composing at all times. It is a musical-sonic adventure that reveals the banal to be extraordinary!

ABOUT VANCOUVER NEW MUSIC Founded in 1973, Vancouver New Music engages communities in the exploration, creation, and experience of progressive and outstanding new music. VNM is dedicated to exploring and contextualizing new music and sonic art, through concert presentations, festival, community, and workshop events. VNM regularly commissions and premieres new works by Canadian composers, presents leading and emerging electroacoustic and electronic music artists, international composers and performers, sound installations and music theatre. VNM presents an annual festival that focuses each year on a theme within the new music landscape, and explores the interaction of contemporary music with other disciplines such as theatre, installation and media arts. Other activities include lectures and workshops with visiting artists, ensemble workshops and presentations open to the community, and other sound art and new music related community events. www.newmusic.org Vancouver New Music gratefully acknowledges the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage through Arts Presentation Canada, The Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, The City of Vancouver, Tom Lee Music, Holiday Inn Downtown and The Georgia Straight.

Media contact

Heather McDermid heather@newmusic.org 604.633.0861

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