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Artist in Residence #1 October 2018

Violin workshop with Genevieve MacKay

Genevieve MacKay is a working musician, educator, arts administrator and writer living in North Vancouver. She is a regular performer and avid teacher of viola and violin, which she has played with the Lions Gate Sinfonia, Plastic Acid Orchestra, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Vancouver Film Orchestra and many other ensembles.

Genevieve holds a BA (English Literature) and an MA (Ancient Culture, Religion, and Ethnicity) from UBC, where she also performed in the UBC Symphony Orchestra and the Early Music Ensemble. Her teaching philosophy is music should be fun and everyone can learn.

Workshop Description
Students will get to know the violin in this rousing, hands-on introductory workshop. Violinist Genevieve MacKay will introduce the instrument, basic playing techniques and methods for putting together a performance. Each student will have a chance to play and explore the instrument, and the class will finish with a short student-led performance. No experience necessary.

Artist in Residence #2 November 2018

Storytelling with Jo Billows

Jo Billows is swift waters, secrets and salal berries. Northern Coast Salish from the Homalco nation, they have been living as a visitor in Vancouver, on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations since 2011.

They are a queer, mixed, urban Indigenous spoken word poet and facilitator. Jo has been invited to perform, host events, and facilitate workshops at festivals such as Talking Stick Festival, Hullabaloo & Verses Festival of Words, Growing Room Festival and Queer Arts Festival. They were a member of the 2017 Vancouver Poetry Slam team and have also performed and facilitated at school and district events in Vancouver, Burnaby and North Delta.

Workshop Description
We all have a story, roots that ground us and a journey that brought us to where we are today. Using art and storytelling we will explore themes of home, ancestry, memory and connection. We will create personal and collective reflections, contributing to Place des Arts’ holiday season festival, Reflections: A Seasonal Celebration of Arts and Heritage, taking place throughout November and December 2018.

 

Artist in Residence #3 February 2019

Intro to Classical Indian Music with Sharanjeet Singh Mand

Sharanjeet Singh Mand is a graduate of Western Classical music from Douglas College. He is a BC-based sitarist, surbahar player, western music pianist, Hindi poet, Indian Classical music teacher, composer and performer.

Sharanjeet is a profiled musician for the CBC Indian classical profile series and the  The Raga Experience launched by Nina Buddhdev for the provincial Juno program and continues as a weekly show on Shaw Multicultural Channel.

Hear CBC’s North by Northwest interview with Sharanjeet here.

Workshop Description
Raga Residency – In a traditional ‘Baithak’(floor seated) setting, students will cover key areas of Indian music: Sargam singing; the history and theory of Indian classical music; the presence of Indian music in other musical genres, ie: The Beatles, Rolling Stones, yoga music; listening to the Sur (notes) and how they relate to sounds in nature and everyday activities; Sargam or repeating notes in the traditional language of Swara; singing rhymes with the sitar (for lower grades); music and its connection to yoga, wellbeing, happiness, nature and mind management (higher grades); rhythmic exercises, clapping/counting with the sitar, and the mathematical patterns of Indian Music; Shloka recitation with Sitar music; introduction to Ragas and their melodic structures (higher grades); followed by an open question/discovery time. This cultural residency is developed by Vois Créatives.

Artist in Residence #4 April 2019

I Am Traditionally Contemporary with Christine MacKenzie

Christine MacKenzie is a First Nations artist from the Kwakuitl Nation working with traditional/contemporary design and with multiple mediums. She has been a professional artist for ten years and mentored by Anastasia Hendry. Christine has been a part of four art shows, her most recent being in May 2018, and she has illustrated/co-written two books.

A self-taught artist, Christine’s creativity and style are unique. She loves to work with pencil crayon, acrylics and charcoal; however, she has been exploring other mediums and continues to grow as an artist. Her ties to the First Nations community keep her fully occupied as she tours the province promoting native art through workshops, dramatic on-stage re-enactments and daycamps. She revels at teaching young children how to draw and paint. She is currently involved with several organizations such as Yuklaanas, Kloshe’nem and Learning Through the Arts.

Workshop Description
Students will learn about traditional Northwest Coast First Nations culture, regalia, artwork and protocol with Christine Mackenzie. In a respectful manner, students will mix traditional line-form with colour blending, contemporary graffiti and other art mediums to create individual art pieces of their name. Through this creative process, students will be encouraged to find positive attributes and strengths about themselves.

Thanks to the Province of BC, Westminster Savings and the City of Coquitlam for helping us provide accessible opportunities for local children to experience the arts by supporting our Artist-in-Residence Program.

 

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