NUMUS Concerts

"...where it can continue to educate people about the impact of brain injuries and can continue to give a voice to survivors." - Kathryn Ladano, outgoing NUMUS Artistic Director #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #WaterlooRegion

Happy New Year! Thanks for following along with the #10DaysofNUMUS! Our final feature is from last summer: Anatomy of the Recovering Brain. "The most recent of all of my highlight concerts, this one holds a very special place in my heart..." #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic

"...and the most important artistic work of my life. I'm so happy that NUMUS got the world premiere of this piece and now I look forward to recording this work and bringing it to new communities..."

"...I paired up with composer Frank Horvat to create a new 60-minute work for solo bass clarinet with fixed electronics and 4 cameo musicians. This concert will most likely remain as the most important production I've ever created or presented for NUMUS..."

"As a brain injury survivor who has struggled in silence for years, I felt very strongly about using my music and platform to create something that would not only help me in my own recovery, but would also give a voice to others who like me had suffered a life-altering injury..."

"...The visuals were created live and were projected with a high definition projector - I remember them being both beautiful and absolutely mesmerizing." - Kathryn Ladano, NUMUS Artistic Director #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #WaterlooRegion

The feature for day 8 of #10DaysofNUMUS is from our 2019-2020 concert season, Ishikawa / Yamasaki / Nakayama. "This concert was part of our Mini-Festival of International Creative Music and featured Japanese artists Ko Ishikawa, Ami Yamasaki, and Akiko Nakayama..."

"...The artists took advantage of the large church they were performing in and moved around, creating sound all around the audience..."

"...These particular artists were in Canada to collaborate with the Thin Edge New Music Collective, and they reached out to see if NUMUS could present them as well, so I jumped at that opportunity. The mix of sounds and visuals for this concert were absolutely immersive..."

"...I thought these two artists would make a very cool double bill. A couple of years after this performance, Mark Korven went on to compose the soundtrack to "The Lighthouse", with the Apprehension Engine providing the ultimate soundscape for the film." - Kathryn Ladano

Due to some technical difficulties, today will be both day 7 and day 8 of #10DaysofNUMUS! Our first feature of the day is The Attar Project & The Apprehension Engine concert from 2019. #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #WaterlooRegion

"...I knew I had to bring this sound to NUMUS. I had an idea of pairing this sound with something complimentary but also very contrasting. I'd wanted to bring Parmela Attariwala in for a long time since I was very interested in her work with improvisation and movement..."

"A couple of years before this concert took place, composer Mark Korven reached out to me about doing a solo show on his new instrument, The Apprehension Engine. Mark sent me some videos to check it out and I couldn't get over how cool it sounded..."

@colin_stetson "...They were huge fans of the music and I remember them posing for photos with Colin. It was so cool to see them so involved in and so enthusiastic about the local arts scene." - Kathryn Ladano, NUMUS Artistic Director #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #WaterlooRegion

It's day 4 of #10DaysofNUMUS and the feature is @colin_stetson's performance from 2017! "This concert was a really special one for me. I'd first seen Colin Stetson perform when Peter Hatch programmed him at the Perimeter Institute a number of years earlier..." #NUMUS #NewMusic

@colin_stetson "...One of the really special moments was to see so many people gather after the show to get photos and autographs. I recall several people from the MT Space being there, including some refugees from Syria that were involved in the festival..."

@colin_stetson "...I became a big fan after that and had it in the back of my mind that I'd love to bring him back to town to perform for NUMUS. I think this one was the most successful (in terms of box office) of my entire tenure as Artistic Director..."

"...somehow it ended up being one of my favourite concerts during my time at NUMUS." - Kathryn Ladano, NUMUS Artistic Director #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #WaterlooRegion

Guess what? It's day 3 of #10DaysofNUMUS! Our feature today is Duel of the Duos from 2017. "My friend and fellow bass clarinetist Jeff Reilly and I had been in talks for a number of years about doing a concert together for NUMUS..." #NUMUS #NewMusic #ContemporaryMusic #KWRegion

"...I was emotionally destroyed, but I had to pull it together to make this concert happen. The musical and emotional support of my fellow artists helped me make it through, and even though this was one of the worst days for me..."

"...The group was comprised of Laurier music students, and they helped us bring Jeff Reilly's piece, "To Dream of Silence" to life. This concert was very bitter sweet for me. Few people were aware that my dog Laci passed away the morning of this concert..."