Cheat Sheet: Canadian Music Fest
Posted in Festivals, Music | Written by Natasha Emery | 0 comments
Popular music fans rejoice! Canadian Music Fest (formerly CMW) kicks off tomorrow night with more than 700 bands at 45 different venues over five days (thru Sunday). How does a music lover even begin to choose what to see? From hip-hop to folk/roots, blues to alternative rock, the variety is practically endless.
As music programmer for City of Toronto Special Events I’m always on the look-out for hot new Canadian talent and this year’s CMF is loaded with rising stars. Here are my Top 10, must-see shows in chronological order . . .
Come on Canada, Design the Future!
Electrolux, one of the world’s leading appliance manufacturers, is recruiting Canadian industrial design students to put their talent to work designing the future. Design Lab: The 2nd Space Age is looking for ideas for thoughtfully designed home appliances “that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash their clothes or do dishes in the homes of 2050.”
Last year’s winners came from Sweden, France and China but the judges recognized the top 25 ideas and that’s a pretty nice plaudit to add to your resume. Pictured above left is last year’s winner, Cocoon, by Rickard Hederstierna of the Lund Institute of Technology in Sweden. Similar to a microwave, Cocoon “prepares genetically-engineered and pre-packaged meat and fish dishes by heating muscle cells identified by RFID (radio frequency identification) signals. The signals detect the specific dish and then suggest the required cooking time.”
Electrolux invites Canadian undergraduate and graduate industrial design students to compete for a paid internship and prize money by submitting ideas that consider the shrinking domestic spaces of tomorrow. Visit the Electrolux Design Lab website for contest details.
Toronto Museum Project Unveiled
A sizeable crowd converged on Fort York National Historic Site yesterday afternoon for the official launch of the Toronto Museum Project, a virtual home for 100 artifacts and stories (so far) told by a range of Torontonians from every corner of the city. Politicians, city museums staff and TMP storytellers were on hand to introduce the project and help create some buzz about this impressive new site, which was built with support from Canadian Heritage’s Canadian Culture Online Strategy.
Mayor Miller told those assembled, “We’re just scratching the surface of the knowledge that we share collectively . . . the Museum Project gives us a chance to share the true richness of our city with each other. And what better way to start than online? I think this project is terrific. I look forward to even more stories being told and I look forward, a few years from now, to seeing the Toronto Museum established in Old City Hall so that all of us can share those stories in person.”
Joining the officials were four of the people whose stories are captured on the site. Shakil A. (above from left) talked about a prayer rug he brought with him from Pakistan and spoke of feeling welcome to practice his religion in Toronto’s mosques; Evelyn S. told a story about working as a junior bank teller in one of Toronto’s Chinatown’s and how a 1923 bank loan document for a Chinese Canadian resonated with her own family history; former Toronto Mayor David Crombie spoke about William Jarvis’s Queen’s Rangers Uniform Jacket from 1791 making a connection between Toronto’s past and its present: “Toronto’s history is always at work whether we’re paying attention or not,” he said; and Anna B. spoke to a 1960 photograph of the corner of Jane Street and Finch Avenue West, expounding on this community where she grew up, was educated and found her strength and voice. “This street corner has talent, aspirations and skills, this street corner shaped who I am today.”
Variety Spices Up The Artist Project
No matter what your taste in visual art, you’ll find something to gush over at The Artist Project, a weekend-long show and sale that kicked off last night at the Queen Elizabeth Building in Exhibition Place (until March 7). With 175 artists taking part, the show ranges from commercial, Canadian landscapes to edgy digital art, sculpture, glass work, photography, printmaking, even conceptual and installation art.
Talking to the artists about their work was one of the highlights of last night’s launch party. Print maker Rose Hirano (above from left), took the time to explain how she executes her vaguely abstract, multi-coloured, reductive woodblock prints: starting with the lightest colours, Rose carves away more and more of the printable area with each pass of ink as she progresses towards the darkest parts of her composition. Next to Rose, is digital artist Ron Wild who assembles his science-inspired “smart maps” entirely in Photoshop, then outputs them on Fuji Crystal Archive paper. Photographer Russel Bohier, above right, specializes in images of architecture with a preference for crumbling, decaying structures. His large-scale works are finished with a super-high gloss epoxy resin. All three artists are based here in Toronto.
Michael Brennan’s Casual Country Sundays
This week, singer/songwriter Michael Brennan, front right, celebrates 10 years of casual Sunday afternoon gigs at Graffiti’s Bar in Kensington Market. Last weekend, I dropped into the club and I have to say, it was one of the most authentic and satisfying live music experiences I’ve had in years!
As is their custom, Brennan and company occupied seats just inside the front door, no stage or barrier between them and the audience. The core duo of Brennan and guitarist Steve Briggs, front left, is augmented by whoever happens to be on hand that afternoon; last week it was mandolin player John Davis, back right, guitarist Colin Bradley, back left, and singer/percussionist Helen Stewart, who kept time on a beer box squeezed tightly between her knees.
