The Music Gallery is presenting new works from Lido Pimienta, Germaine Liu, New Chance and more for this year’s X Avant Festival, which runs from October 17-20 at 918 Bathurst.
The annual festival of new and experimental music is this year exploring the theme “Forward” – “artists taking, or attempting to take, the next step in their work, career or practice.” The result is a collection of new or one-off shows from a handful of singular and interesting Canadian artists.
Germaine Liu (one of our artists to watch in 2018) starts it off on October 17 with a 45-minute composition/sounding installation called Still Life. It’s a percussive piece featuring found objects from Toronto. The show will also feature the debut of the new horn ensemble from seasoned improvisers Rebecca Hennessy, Bea Labikova, Karen Ng and Heather Saumer.
On October 18, Lido Pimienta will debut her much-anticipated and long-promised follow-up to her 2017 Polaris Prize-winning album La Papessa, Miss Colombia. The world premiere will find the artist playing a one-off show with horns, brass and a six-piece choir. OKAN, who are featured on the album, will open.
Local electronic artist New Chance links up with Jamaican reggae artist Willi Williams (writer of Armigideon Time, famously covered by the Clash) on October 19. Holy Hum opens that night.
Ithaka, New York composer Sarah Hennies headlines the final night on October 20 with her cello-and-percussion work The Reinvention of Romance, featuring local cellist Nick Storring. Sound of the Mountain opens.
The festival will also feature panel discussions on the future of creative music in Toronto and how to keep a creative collection together. More info on those and all shows are available here from the Music Gallery’s website.
All shows are at the Music Gallery at 918 Bathurst. Early bird passes are $50 and available at themusicgallery.org.
