Randy Raine-Reusch receives WOMAD award for “extraordinary vision and artistry”
The multifaceted Vancouver-based musician and composer has worked with everyone from Aerosmith and Raffi to Pauline Oliveros and the Cranberries
Left to right: Randy Raine-Reusch; WOMAD South Africa Festival artistic director Dan Chiorboli with Raine-Reusch on September 21 (photo by Simon Shiffman)
ONE OF CANADA’S most accomplished global-music visionaries has received what is arguably long-overdue recognition. During the WOMAD South Africa Festival in Cape Town on September 21, Vancouver’s Randy Raine-Reusch accepted a WOMAD Lifetime Achievement Award.
Performing on and composing for an astonishing range of rare and endangered instruments from all over the planet, Raine-Reusch is the founder of the acoustic world-music ensemble ASZA and the executive director of the Red Chamber Cultural Society. He also performs in a duo with his wife, the Chinese zheng virtuoso and scholar Mei Han. Raine-Reusch and Han often perform as part of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra.
Presenting Raine-Reusch with the award, WOMAD’s Dan Chiorboli said:
“Randy Raine-Reusch is celebrated with this award for his extraordinary vision and artistry as a Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist with over 1000 instruments, and collaborations across genres that have expanded the boundaries of global music. From studying with National Treasures in Korea and Japan, to founding the Rainforest World Music Festival in Borneo, his work has preserved indigenous traditions while fostering intercultural dialogue and innovation. By uniting diverse voices and bridging continents, Randy embodies both ancient wisdom and modern creativity, making him a true ambassador of music without borders.”
Raine-Reusch has performed or recorded with a wide array of artists across various genres, including Raffi, the Cranberries, Aerosmith, Pauline Oliveros, Barry Guy, and Henry Kaiser. He has been nominated for two Juno Awards.
Rock icon Peter Gabriel cofounded WOMAD (World of Music, Arts and Dance) in 1980. The international organization has presented festivals in more than 30 countries. According to its website, WOMAD aims “to excite, to create, to inform and to highlight awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society”. 
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