The Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver Independent Music Centre announce 2022 Music in the Courtyard
The Murray Porter Band, Serenata Mexicana, Don McGlashan, Eagle Ex Machina, and more play the third season of the open-air concert series
x/o.
Curtis Clear Sky.
The Firehall Arts Centre and Vancouver Independent Music Centre present Music in the Courtyard most weekends from July 30 to September 4 at the Firehall’s outdoor courtyard
WITH SUMMER HERE at last, the Firehall Arts Centre is once again teaming up with the Vancouver Independent Music Centre, stringing up the patio lights and plugging in speakers to transform the theatre’s outdoor space into a humming urban oasis. Now in its third season, Music in the Courtyard is an open-air concert series with a diverse lineup for all ears. Here’s the lowdown for 2022.
Noodle Connection takes place July 30 at 8 pm, an event featuring songs, stories, poetry, visuals, and food. The performance reunites five members of Kokuho Rose Prohibited, which was launched in 1977 by a group of folk- and blues-loving Japanese and Chinese Canadians, including vocalists Joyce Chong and Linda Uyehara Hoffman, bassist Sean Gunn, guitarist John Endo Greenaway, and mandolin player Rick Shiomi. Shiomi coordinated the inaugural Powell Street Festival that same year. He, Uyehara Hoffman, and Gunn where among those who edited Inalienable Rice, a Chinese & Japanese Canadian Anthology, while Endo Greenaway later became the longest serving editor of The Bulletin, a Journal of Japanese Canadian Community, History and Culture. Members of the group also went on to found Katari Taiko, Canada’s first taiko group, and other taiko groups across North America.
Niho, Fito, y Marlin hit the stage on July 31 at 7:30 pm. Pianist Niho Takase, bassist Fito Garcia, and Marlin Ramazzini on vocals and percussion deliver high-energy Latin music. Takase is a Juno-nominated artist who used to play Latin Jazz Ensemble led by renowned percussionist Sal Ferreras and later by composer/trumpeter John Korsrud. Ramazzini, another Juno nominee, is a recipient of the Vancouver Inspirational Latin Awards and Guatemalan Cultural Association Award. Garcia received a Juno award his participation in El Camino Real by Ancient Cultures. He has been nominated twice for West Coast Music Awards for Best World Music Album.
Don McGlashan performs on August 5 at 7:30 pm. The vocalist-guitarist is perhaps best known as the co-founder and frontman of The Mutton Birds and as a frequent collaborator with Neil Finn/Crowded House. He has five entries in APRA’s Top 100 New Zealand Songs of All Time and two APRA Silver Scrolls for New Zealand’s top songwriter.
The Murray Porter Band appears on August 6 at 7:30 pm. A proud Mohawk man from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in southern Ontario, Porter is a Juno-winning blues artist who now lives on Squamish Nation unceded territory in North Vancouver and who has been compared to Dr. John, Joe Cocker, and Elton John. Rounding out the band are Helene Duguay (harmonies and bass), Rick Boulter
The August 7 concert, at 3 pm, features the experimental, electronic, ambient, industrial, and triphop of x/o. Veron Xio is a Vietnamese-Canadian electronic music producer, vocalist, filmmaker, and visual artist who spends their time between their native Vancouver and Berlin. They aim to disrupt gender binaries through audiovisual storytelling.
Michael Red at Lighta! 2019. Photo by Syd Woodward
On August 12 at 7:30 pm Michael Red + Tsimka bring meditative soundscapes to the stage. Red (live electronics and sound objects) is a Vancouver-based music producer, composer, curator, performer, and DJ and former collaborator and touring artist with throat singer Tanya Tagaq. Vocalist Tsimka Martin, rooted in nuučaan̓uł territories, injects oral and drumming traditions into contemporary sonic vibrations.
Curtis Clear Sky & Constellationz perform on August 13 at 7:30 pm. Hip-hop, funk, blues, and soul covey uplifting and empowering Indigenous narratives. Joining lead vocalist Clear Sky are Tia Taurere-Clear Sky (supporting vocals), Terran Eason (drums), Tai Quinn Whyte (keyboard), Peter Beach (bass), and Cass Gregg (guitar).
Serenata Mexicana, which consists of the duo of Mexican soprano Lili Nogueras and Cuban guitarist Josué Tacoronte with trombonist Jeremy Berkman, performs on August 14 at 3 pm. Nogueras and Tacoronte began their duo with the project Opera Flamenca two years ago; now, they perform a program of traditional Mexican songs, with classical and popular voice and flamenco guitar. With Berkman, they formed a trio that was featured in “Elementos” for Turning Point Ensemble’s 1+1+1 film project. Nogueras began studying music at the age of six and has performed around the world. Tacoronte has released three albums and awarded Best Concert Interpreter at the 2013 International Festival CUBADISCO Awards. Berkman currently performs with the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, Cappella Borealis, and the Vancouver Brass Orchestra and has contributed to over 30 commercial recordings.
Kutapira.
Kutapira performs Zimbabwean marimba melded with West African and Afro-Cuban percussion—along with elements of reggae, samba, Afrobeat, funk, jazz, cumbia, disco, and hip hop—on August 19 at 7:30 pm. The group’s name means “sweetness” in the Shona language of Zimbabwe. Making up the ensemble are Sangito Bigelow (marimba, percussion, drums, vocals), Theo Vincent (marimba, percussion, drums), Jeremy Bryant (marimba, percussion, drums), Kai Buchan (marimba, percussion) and JeanSe (electric bass).
The Fugitives bring modern folk music and storytelling to the courtyard on August 20 at 7:30 pm. A folk collective headed by songwriters Adrian Glynn (bass, balalaika, lead vocals) and guitarist-vocalist Brendan McLeod guitar the group also consists of Chris Suen (banjo, vocals) and Carly Frey (violin, vocals). Trench Songs, the Fugitives’ fifth record, was nominated for two Canadian Folk Music Awards and a Juno for Traditional Roots Album of the Year. Their previous album, The Promise of Strangers, won Best Folk Album of 2019 from the German Music Critics’ Association; 2013’s Everything Will Happen spent 10 weeks on the Top 10 Canadian folk charts and earned the artists a support slot across Western Canada with Buffy Sainte-Marie and an appearance at UK’s Glastonbury Festival.
Public Dreams perform on August 21 at 3 pm: “zheng and drums manifest a momentary cross-cultural conversation”, according to a release. The experimental musical group explores the convergence of different musical traditions and cultures through free improvisation, drawing on folk, rock, and jazz influences. Its members are zheng player Andrea Wong, drummer Spencer Schoening, vocalist Shruti Ramani, bassist Nikko Whitworth, and violinist Meredith Bates.
Omianan, featuring Thad Bailey-Mai, appear on August 28 at 3 pm. Made up of vocalist Sara Kim, guitarist Thomas Hoeller, bassist Nikko Whitworth, drummer Jesus Adrian Caballero, and trumpeter Thad Bailey-Mai, the Vancouver-based band was formed with the intention of playing a variety of music together, from avant-garde to pop. The group was recently nominated for Global Artist of the Year at the 2022 Western Canadian Music Awards.
The September 2 concert features Saxophilia at 7:30 pm. The program features Canadian music for a classical saxophone quartet with works by Fred Stride, David Branter, Violet Archer, and Beatrice Ferreira. All of the quartet members are active performers in Vancouver’s music community as soloists and as band members in a range of styles, from classical to jazz. It’s a chance to hear Julia Nolan (soprano saxophone), Kris Covlin (alto saxophone), David Branter (tenor saxophone), and Colin MacDonald (baritone saxophone).
Matt Cook-Contois & Eagle Ex Machina play on September 3 at 7:30 pm. Matt Cook-Contois’s musical journey started on his traditional territory of Misipawistik Cree Nation through the Frontier Fiddling Program. Through classroom learning and the mentorship of his musician grandfather, he has made back-to-back finals appearances at the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championship. Cook-Contois (who also plays guitar and sings) founded Eagle Ex Machine, an alternative rock band, as a way to combine his love of rock music with traditional fiddle. Joining Cook-Contois are vocalist and lead guitarist Erik Severinson, bassist Tom Kuzma, and drummer Mark Kerrey.
Whelming wraps the series up on September 4 at 3 pm. Guitarist-vocalist Erik Severinson and Mark Kerrey on drums and electronics offer “bohemian rock music for the overworked and under-stimulated”, with 20th-centruy rock as their jumping-off point.
Capacity is limited. Tickets, on a sliding scale from $15 to $25, and more details are here.
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