"Salome" in Therapy Atom Egoyan and the COC deliver a Dance of the Seven Veils fit for our times WORDS BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK | Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts FEB 08, 2023 | COMMUNITY Ambur Braid as Salome (front) and Karita Mattila as Herodias (back) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Salome, 2023, Photo by Michael Cooper ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Atom Egoyan by Kalya Ramu for smART Magazine - Issue 4 & Ambur Braid by Jeremy Lewis for smART Magazine - Issue 1 Ambur Braid as Salome (top left), Michael Kupfer-Radecky as Jochanaan (below), and Frédéric Antoun as Narraboth (top right) in the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Salome, 2023, Photo by Michael Cooper It’s been almost 30 years since Atom Egoyan’s vision of Salome debuted at the Canadian Opera Company (COC), and while that is but a blip in opera time, 30 years is a long time by the metrics of this burgeoning multimedia approach to reimagining the operatic canon. Speak to most members of the emerging generation of opera directors and they’d be happy to tell you how mixing video and projections into an otherwise static mise-en-scène is soooo mid 2000’s . I concur. The trend of interlacing the on-stage action with contrasting (read: distracting ) material pasted upon an antiquated plot had its peak about a decade ago, thanks in part to visionaries like Egoyan. These days, jaded as we are by all manners of screens large and small, the milieu is trending back towards what has always made opera work: damn good singing served on the platter of a cohesive directorial vision. I’ll get to the singing shortly, but Egoyan’s vision of a cerebral Salome under contemporary scrutiny is the rising tide that lifts every boat on stage. It seems the energy and attention that otherwise should have gone into revitalizing the slightly dated video projections that appear intermittently throughout the production, went towards a psychological investigation of the titular character’s traumatic childhood. Despite the yesteryear-hued cinematography, this production is a masterclass in how to comprehensively and artfully interrogate the often fatal demise of opera’s femme fatales. When, in 1891, Oscar Wilde wrote the one-act play which Richard Strauss later adapted to an opera, the public consciousness was at a far less critical distance to Freudian psychoanalysis than we are now. While several generations of psychological theories and revisions of Freudianism seem to have relegated his ideas to little more than gross simplifications of complex mechanisms of the psyche, our current collective understanding of mental health — and the profound influence of childhood trauma — is arguably Freudian. Instead of the usual conception of Salome as a protracted set-up to the infamous climax of the “Dance of the Seven Veils”, this production — set in what looks like a bespoke psychiatric sanatorium where the patients are in charge — opted to unveil the grotesque gaze of the audience to this dance. As a psychological investigation, Egoyan and crew managed to deliver a hair-raising spectacle — dancer Miyeko Ferfuson is a compelling force — while simultaneously undermining the presupposed innocence and neutrality of the spectator. Through the use of silhouettes, forced perspectives in the shadow work that make the dancer shift from gargantuan to childlike proportions in a flash, and projections of an adolescent girl returning the gaze of the audience, this “Dance of the Seven Veils” is less about seduction than it is a sort of exorcism of childhood trauma. King Herod — voiced and embodied flawlessly by tenor Michael Schade — is implicated as the main source of this trauma, but so too is every member of this psychiatric-ward-cum-palace. The production’s consistent fixation on childhood, on the helpless girl rather than the seductive woman, rescued it from the femme fatale trope and made it wholly digestible by our increasing appetite to nurture the child that is nested in every adult. Salome at the COC continues till February 24th. If anything, Egoyan has not gone far enough in this psychological investigation. Inasmuch as Salome is a vivisection of the drooling male gaze, and this production is a multimedia finger in the eye of our voyeuristic culture of anonymous observers, then the concept behind this production is more relevant now than it was in 1996. In 2019, OnlyFans — a used platform primarily for the dissemination of semi-pornographic content — generated a revenue of 270 million US dollars from its mostly-male and wholly anonymous subscription base. That number was 4.8 billion US dollars in 2021. Nothing wrong, of course, with consenting adults creating content for paying customers, but we can’t deny what an unprecedented dynamic platforms like these have introduced into the long and intractable history of the male gaze. Even the boiler plate of Oscar Wilde’s Salome is already incredibly relevant to our modern landscape, add to that plate Egoyan’s insinuations of this obsession with looking, and you’ve got an opera that is more relevant now than before the ink dried on Strauss’s scores. There is ample space, in the next iteration of this uniquely Egoyan Salome , to bring this production’s concept into closer proximity with our rapidly evolving contemporary situation. A scene from the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Salome, 2023, Photo by Michael Cooper With so much of this production resting on the churning of the title character’s internal gears, so much in turn falls on the shoulders of soprano Ambur Braid’s Salome, along with the more than stellar supporting cast. In short: at least for the foreseeable future, Salome belongs to Braid. Her Salome is captivating not merely because it meets and returns the aforementioned gaze, but because she so completely embodies the multidimensional character that is demanded by a feminist revision of opera’s famously ill-fated women. Add to that the challenge that this particular set poses for the singer: there’s nowhere to hide on the raked and austere stage, no significant scene changes, and very little movement aside from the wheeling of a gurney from which Michael Kupfer-Radecky’s Jochanaan emerges and some oranges bumbling down the incline. It’s the same raked stage that Director James Robinson used for the COC’s Elektra (also Strauss) in 2018. Like Christine Goerke’s Elektra, Braid’s Salome is an electrifying study in vocal virtuosity and meticulously detailed acting fit for a close-up. Next to her, Kupfer-Radecky is a relentless force as a tortured sage, while Karita Matilla’s Herodia echoes Salome’s longingness at a soulfully jaded frequency. Somehow, Michael Schade chizels out a humorous side to his Herod, building pathos for a character that is scheduled for none─neither on paper nor in the specific context of Egoyan’s critical vision. ​ For all its music, opera is an incredibly visual art form; so it actually works out quite well when a film director looks after this visual realm, and a stalwart cast onstage — undergirded by a surgically precise orchestra in the pit — cultivates the soundscape. That is exactly what this creative marriage of Egoyan and Braid delivers. smART Magazine ’s journey towards this production began in September 2020 when Braid joined us in our very first issue, to discuss a nascent project ( Starry Opera Night ) with Lighthouse Immersive which featured an immersive multimedia adaptation of the “Dance of the Seven Veils” (you can find that conversation in our first print issue ). Even during a bare-bones rehearsal for the project — working with just a floor mat as a stage, a piano in place of an orchestra, with a small audience scattered around in foldable chairs — Braid still managed to deliver a chilling rendition of that final act. Likewise, we caught up with Egoyan early in the pandemic — when he nor anyone in the industry couldn’t fathom a complete return to operatic stages — to discuss some of the projects he’d like to bring to the COC’s stage as soon as it was legal to do so again. Seeing these two trajectories come together is a beautiful cadence in and of itself, especially so when the immersive experience that Braid’s pandemic experiments was searching for found its match in the full mast of Egoyan’s multimedia approach to a 100-minute therapy session for the titular character. ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Randell Adjei Ontario's Poet Laureate WORDS BY MADELEINE KANE | TORONTO | PERFORMANCE APR 11, 2023 | ISSUE 6 Randell Adjei by Ella Mazur ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ In April of 2021, Ontario legislature appointed orator, performer, artist, and Scarborough native, Randell Adjei , as the first Poet Laureate of Ontario. Growing out of a childhood of adversity, Adjei immersed himself into the world of expressive writing and spoken-word poetry, and was driven to motivate others towards the enlightening liberation of art in all of its forms. As the founder of the R.I.S.E. (Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere) initiative, Adjei extends the limitless power of poetry, dance, music, and expressive art to Ontario’s youth. His approach to poetry is to break free of learned convention and emphasize the healing benefits of connection and vulnerability, while nurturing a safe space for communities to embrace artistic expression. In a Zoom call from his home in Toronto, sat in front of an enviable collection of books, Adjei speaks out on accessibility to the arts, the importance of representation for young Black artists, and the courage it takes to create authentic poetry. sM | What does “Poet Laureate” mean to you and how does this title validate young Black artists in their Canadian identity? RA — What it means to me is it’s really this opportunity to recognize the power of the arts, the power of poetry, to capture moments in time, to document, to recognize the opportunity that we have to use art as a way to cathartically heal. There’s something really special about this point in time, as there is and has been a lot going on. And just the opportunity to utilize this platform to speak up about what’s happening in the world and what’s happened. To raise awareness, to advocate for, and on behalf of, and to inspire. And I think for young Black artists, there’s something really special about seeing someone that looks like you in positions like this. Representation is something that I didn’t see much of growing up, and when I did, it wasn’t in a very positive light. This is an opportunity for young people—Black artists, Black youth—to see themselves not in the stereotypes in which we’ve been placed, but in different spaces, and in different opportunities. I hope the next Randell coming up sees this and says, “I can do it, too,” because that’s what someone did for me. I see it inspiring those that I’ve performed for. I think about the community I came from, in Toronto Housing. Those young people, and the lack of opportunities and spaces that we had and the lack there still is, is exactly why this is important and exactly why I do the work that I do. To let them know, no matter where you start from, this doesn’t have to be your finish line. There’s still so much more ahead. So for those who I speak to, I definitely hope that it is a way to inspire, and remind them of that. sM | What has poetry revealed to you about storytelling that makes it unique as a genre? RA — In the education system, our first introduction to poetry is often Shakespeare. There’s so much more to poetry than just Shakespeare. It’s changed a lot. It’s good to have as a reference, but I’m not quite sure if it’s the thing to study, because that’s all I studied when I was coming up in school. To make it more accessible is to help young people recognize that the thoughts they have are poetic. All of us have poetic words and ways in which we express ourselves. Poetry is one of the most accessible art forms. You grab a pen and paper and put your thoughts down. You can do freeform, you can freestyle, you don’t have to have a structure when it comes to poetry. It doesn’t even have to rhyme! A lot of folks don’t recognize that. Poetry plays such a huge role in many people’s lives. People often come to poetry because there comes a time when you just need to release. You need to speak up about what’s been happening and unearth some of the traumas that folks have gone through, and poetry really allows space to do that. There’s nothing wrong with form or structure either, it can help bring something different out of the writing process. Poetry is in songs. Poetry is in storytelling, but often with less words. The audience gets to create their own narrative around the lack of words. Poetry is beautiful because of that. There’s something special about letting the few words speak for themselves, and being concise. sM | What is the current state of artistic spaces for BIPOC youth in Ontario? RA — We look at vulnerability in our society as a weakness, when vulnerability takes a huge amount of bravery and courage. It takes a lot of courage to be yourself and shed your skin, shed your mask, and show up as yourself. Poetry allows us to do that when we come to the page because you can’t fake poetry. You can , but even to the writer, it doesn’t feel right. You just have to sit and be with yourself, your thoughts, your feelings, your emotions, and your perspective. Along with making it accessible, we shed the definition of vulnerability that it is a matter in how we choose to express and how we choose to show up in this world. It’s also about meeting people where they’re at. Poetry doesn’t always have to have a theme about something serious. If you’re someone that likes to make jokes, then write about something funny. If you like shoes, write about shoes. If you like fashion, write about fashion. Poetry doesn't have to be confined or restricted to any form or theme. It’s important to extrapolate from that and step away from poetry needing to be a particular way. Understand that poetry is in everything. It’s in song, it’s in movies, I think it’s in basketball, personally. It’s everywhere. Spoken word is really where I gravitate toward, mainly because of hip-hop culture and that I’m an orator. I just love to speak. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Jiggy Puzzles - Kaylin Marcotte NEW YORK — AiR TOUR — Issue 8 Jiggy Puzzles Kaylin Marcotte sM | What inspired the creation of Jiggy puzzles? KM ── Five years ago, I was working around the clock at an early startup and fell in love with jigsaw puzzles as my nightly meditation. I was doing one every week and the stress relief was great, but the designs were outdated and uninspired. I started dreaming up a puzzle that would be beautiful for both the doing and the decorating, that would look good before, during and after completion. Conceived as a way to elevate the classic jigsaw, JIGGY features art by female artists around the world (who get a percentage of every sale), chic packaging, and puzzle glue to Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. preserve your masterpiece for framing. I hope JIGGY inspires people to unplug and experience art in a whole new way, in pieces. sM | What do you hope to accomplish in your residency? KM ── We are so excited to bring some of our local JIGGY artists into the incredible Immersive Van Gogh space to create art on such a unique vehicle—a puzzle! We are both so aligned in our missions of inspiring people to experience art in a whole new way, and to empower artists, so this is a very organic partnership for us. We hope to honor the work of van Gogh with our artists creating original pieces inspired by him, bringing an interactive and modern touch to the experience, and giving emerging artists a platform to showcase their work. sM | How would you describe the therapeutic experience of putting together a puzzle? KM ── Putting together a puzzle is completely consuming for me; I get lost in it, in the best way. It makes me forget the urge to check my phone, quiets all the loud, busy distractions we’re all surrounded by, and really centers me. There’s something about the analog, tactile nature of building something with your hands, piece by piece, that feels both relaxing and rewarding. There are also studies connecting puzzles with improved memory, sleep, decreased chances of dementia and more, so I think everyone can benefit from making them a habit! PREVIOUS NEXT

Craig Blackmoore DETROIT — AiR TOUR — Issue 10 "Aries Garden" by Craig Blackmoore Craig Blackmoore sM | What’s the inspiration behind blending the 3D and 2D, digital and physical mediums, and real versus fictive elements in your work? CB ── When I first started making art as a kid, it was drawing random doodles, characters, and comics. I’d also make short stories. I would watch cartoons and movies while I drew, and I always found it amazing that people were able to turn their drawings and stories into seemingly alive characters and scenarios. After I learned how to make these kinds of things myself, the ideas and possibilities for my art became seemingly endless. I could create a print that implies a scenario and accompany it Continue the AiR tour in print: ISSUE 9 | ISSUE 10 Sign Up to K eep Up! Our newsletter brings you the best in the visual and performing arts. Exclusive interviews. Global coverage. Local perspectves. with a short animation that plays out that scenario. And then, as technology advanced, I became able to pull people deeper into my physical artworks with Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and interactive experiences. It’s one thing to see something cool in the physical realm, but to then be immersed by it or to become able to interact with it takes the work to a whole new level. sM | What’s the biggest challenge you face in translating the fantastical into the tangible? CB ── Fundraising, having an overactive imagination, and lack of opportunities to reach a good audience are my main challenges. I often have really big ideas and can't afford to fulfill them fully. So I'll work on them slowly, piece by piece. Then my overactive imagination kicks in, and new ideas emerge. I end up putting big ideas on hold to knock out small ideas. Unfortunately, many of the big ideas end up on hold permanently. But there are always new big ideas hitting me. And then, once these ideas are done and ready for eyes and ears, the audience is really difficult to gather. Social media is an illusionary tool and doesn't really do what the average person wants it to do when they want it to work. Creating that dedicated audience is a long and slow process, but it becomes even slower when you have a hard time finding solid exhibitions and good physical audiences. sM | How has the arts scene in Detroit encouraged you to explore and take risks in your work? CB ── Detroit’s gritty, rough, beautiful, and real. You see and meet literally all kinds of people here, and they’re able to indiscriminately be themselves here. That usually breeds a vibrant art and music scene, and that is definitely what Detroit has. While there are many of the “nose in the air” events and experiences with gatekeepers that only focus on art that they consider to be valuable, there are tons of events and opportunities for artists that may not be a part of some inner circle or a certain financial class. An artist can actually make ideas happen in Detroit. When I first got started showing my art in exhibitions around 2015, I had already been throwing events of my own for about a year with no money and no connections to popular venues. It was because Detroit is a place where you can throw a party somewhere obscure and weird, and people will show up to the experience. When I was ready to show my art elsewhere, there were already annual art events of all kinds that had growing attendance, and submission fees are affordable (usually under $20 USD). If you did dark or gothic art, there were exhibitions for you. If you did nude or erotic art, there were exhibitions for you. Digital art, performance art, glass art, light art all have exhibitions at some point in Metro Detroit. PREVIOUS NEXT

Tegan and Sara Celebrates No.10 20 years in the Industry and More Relevant than Ever WORDS BY AMELIA JOHANNSEN | VANCOUVER | MUSIC HOMEGROWN MAR 16, 2023 | ISSUE 10 Tegan and Sara by Pamela Littky ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Still from "Yellow" Tegan and Sara by Kalya Ramu Canadian duo Tegan and Sara embark on new and exciting facets of the entertainment industry by influencing everything they touch with generosity and style. After a popular release of their new music video paying homage to Coldplay, this month, we’ll see the release of their 10th studio album, Crybaby . Not to mention the highly anticipated show High School . A new Amazon series based on their acclaimed 2019 memoir. We sat down with Tegan Quin to ask about the creative process behind their latest projects and what it’s like to be a successful queer artist in an ever-changing, competitive music scene. Beyond their creative work, Tegan and Sara run a foundation providing financial support to the LGBTQ+ community. Tegan describes how they manage a nimble and flexible organization that’s better able to provide support to those who need it most and how they have become “ambassadors from within the system,” on a mission to contribute to a much-needed change in the music industry and society at large. With over twenty years in the entertainment business and more than six years helping to improve the lives of others, Tegan has important insights to share with us all. sM | The video for “Yellow” that came out in July is a massive nod to Coldplay’s “Yellow,” one of the truly great music videos in the folk-pop space in the last 20 years. Did you have that Coldplay video in mind while you were writing this song, or was it more so you wrote it and realized, “Oh shit, we have to record a music video for this?” TQ ─ It’s a bit of both. Sara and I joked that if the song made the record, we should do some sort of nod to Coldplay to acknowledge the greatest “Yellow” of all time. We threw ideas around with the director, Mark Myers. He’s a visual master—he likes coming up with really interesting but simple concepts. Coldplay’s video is actually very complex and challenging because it’s one take; capturing Chris Martin in slow motion while singing really fast. So we got up at 3 a.m., went down to the beach and it started raining—it couldn’t have been better. Our twist was that Sara and I sang and moved at different speeds. But it was really hard to get a single take of us singing perfectly while we were singing fast. If you watch the video, you’ll see we mess up a few times, which I think makes the video even better. sM | The Tegan and Sara Foundation was born from a tour you went on in 2016 for your 8th studio album and the larger dialogues you were having across North America. What connected with you and Sara the most from those conversations, and how did you want to channel that connection into action? TQ ─ As members of the queer community, we’ve always had queer issues and organizations on our radar. In 2016 we became a big enough band that many people were looking to us to raise money for their organizations. So we started exploring the idea of setting up our own foundation, traveling across the country for months talking about the major issues with both grassroots and large organizations. One of our takeaways was that there weren’t a lot of large organizations that were centering women specifically. So that became our focus. A lot of our funding goes to organizations that center trans people, women of color and same-sex partnerships that have domestic abuse, for example. Our organization needs to be really nimble and flexible, so each time a big issue hits the news, we’re able to get money out the door quickly. I think that makes us different from other organizations. We see ourselves as finding and vetting great organizations within the LGBTQ+ community so people can trust us. We’re really trying to listen to what the grassroots organizations are looking for and get them money quickly with less red tape, administrative costs, and paperwork. sM | The foundation has an incredibly stellar board of directors. A truly pan-Canadian roster of activist, artists – from Elliot page to Vivek Shraya in Calgary to a Toronto powerhouse Syrus Marcus Ware – what were some of your priorities in building this team and how much are they able to enact their visions? TQ ─ Ethically, morally, I am committed to racial justice and giving back to the parts of the LGBTQ community that have been overlooked, so we wanted to make sure that our board reflected academics, healthcare professionals, the corporate world, but also the social justice and more anti-establishment world. Sarah and I see ourselves as ambassadors from within the system. We understand we’re not big enough to act outside the system, but that doesn’t mean we can’t load up our board with people who are working outside the system to make sure that our compass is aligned properly with what we believe. We’re trying to take money from inside the corporate world and distribute it to grassroots, political, and social justice organizations. We definitely don’t want to be a celebrity foundation that’s just paying lip service and looking for attention so we can feel good about ourselves. We really want to help people. Tegan and Sara by Eluvier Acosta sM | How can we support the foundation? TQ ─ Visit the Tegan and Sara Foundation [www.teganandsarafoundation.org], where you will find a list of amazing organizations to contribute to. What’s even better is to set up a monthly donation (for as little as $5) because knowing how much money is coming in each month really helps with planning. sM | The Canadian music industry has changed a lot since you guys started out; and going back to what inspired your mission with the Tegan & Sarah foundation, how have you seen the music industry change for queer artists of all colours and stripes, for better or worse over the last 20 years? TQ ─ As queer women, of course, we had our struggles over the last 20 years and could point to dozens of misogynous, sexist, homophobic press that we had to slalom through for more than half of our career. A lot has changed since we started, but the same problems still apply. More record labels need to sign and invest in diverse artists, more radio stations should take chances on different kinds of artists, and more media have to cover those artists—that's how we get underrepresented artists where they need to be. I think the Canadian industry works really hard to change. We’re lucky to have institutions like FACTOR and Starmaker giving millions of dollars per year. We were directly impacted by funds like these during the first 10 years of our career. It’s what sets our industry and music scene apart, specifically from the United States. The amount of support that goes towards Canadian artists from Canadian tax dollars is absolutely legendary. It’s what makes our scene so vibrant. We just need to keep taking care of our artists, because it’s tough out there. ​ sM | For all the young, queer, women, and trans artists coming up early in their career – some of whom will be in this Homegrown interview series – what’s your message to the unique challenges they’re facing now? What would you have liked someone to say to you and Sara when you started? TQ ─ Nobody wants to hear this, but you gotta put your head down and work hard. It never gets easier. It’s hard for us now. They’re just different problems. Basically, you’re running a small business, so put your business hat on. Try to be as involved and invested in the business as you can—keep an eye on your budget and on your team. It’s important to understand how hard the work is in order to respect the people who are helping you. The worst thing that you can do is become entitled. There is no I deserve in this business. You work hard and just have to keep working hard, and nothing is guaranteed. But if you love what you do, that should be the fuel that you need. Remember that engine inside of you. You get to make things for a living—so just keep making. ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Ross Gay On Inciting Joy (and Gratitude) The celebrated poet on his latest collection, and holding space for gratitude WORDS BY MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK & REBECCA LASHMAR | ILLUSTRATIONS BY BRANDON HICKS | INDIANA | ARTS & LETTERS NOV 07, 2022 | ISSUE 10 ROSS GAY BY ELLA MAZUR If you began to make a list of all the things you’re grateful for, how long would it run? Would you be grateful for the last green light that spared you just a few more seconds of traffic? Or for your first love from so many years ago that broke the ground you’re still tilling till today? Or perhaps gratitude for the relief on your doctor’s face when the results of your bloodwork came back negative? Or even for the polyp that’s slowly gathering somewhere in the rough engine of your bowels as you’re reading this? Yes , we are tempted to be grateful too for those difficult and unwanted objects that we find in the valleys and hills of our lives. This list could go on forever, and soon enough you’d be grateful for this list itself. So it is no small feat when an artist, in this case an internationally celebrated wordsmith, is able to sit still long enough to catalogue the strange and beautiful creatures in the wild garden of gratitude. That’s exactly what the poet Ross Gay did with his epic “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude”. Published in a poetry collection of the same name in 2015, the poem has been enjoying a new lease on life since the band Bon Iver set it to music in 2021, with Gay’s voice lifting each word high above the low-flowing soundtrack. In his latest book of essays, Inciting Joy , Gay returns to this garden, to the soil of this garden, and sift through it with the higher resolution of detail afforded by the essay format. This collection of essays is composed of 14 “incitements”, each of them is a chapter-length exploration of the joys we can inspire in one another. These loosely arranged incitements touch on everything from “Death” (the second incitement), to The Garden (the third), to “Pickup Basketball” (the ninth) and, finally, in the fourteenth incitement: “Gratitude”. While Inciting Joy exists independently of the aforementioned poem, it seems we’ve been primed to arrive at these essays through a path cleared by “Catalog”. Like gratitude, joy is a fragile skiff in the current of current events, and all too often they are both drowned in the latest meanest reason for despair. And so these essays occasionally read as if they are search-and-rescue missions for the joys we’ve forgotten, or are yet to discover. With various literary awards to his name – the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, to name a few – his latest release will be met with both high anticipation and expectations. We are grateful to Gay for joining us in a conversation about this collection of essays, and its corollary in poetry. Grateful also to the University of Pittsburgh Press for their permission to print “Catalog” in its entirety. Here, he reminds us of all the playful things that can be done with an essay, the depths it can plumb and the joyful heights it can scale. Here, too, he reminds us that poetry is not just a sullen art, an elegy only for the crestfallen—it can also be a colourful hymnal, flowing warmly out of the business end of French horns and sousaphones. Catalog of Unbashed Gratitude - Ross Gay ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ Ross Gay - Photo by Natasha Komoda THE BRICK HOUSE MZC | At the core of this conversation is the different modes of thinking that exist between composing poetry and composing essays—and the bridge that exists between the two. You open the 14th incitement with the following quotation: “I am a brick in a house that is being built around your house.” from “Gratitude” by Cornelius Eady I looked through and found that “brick” was used eight times in Inciting Joy , and couldn’t help but think of each of these 14 incitements as a giant brick in a house that’s being built around “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude”. To what extent are these two works in communication with one another? RG ── I love that. I love that question and the observation that it’s totally corresponding with that poem. It’s absolutely the case, and that poem is also in conversation with poems of mine earlier. It’s interesting to think of it as a theme or a through line to the work, but I love what you’re saying about this. I think this book is like 14 walls being built around the Catalog book, to house it, in a certain kind of way. And I think that’s right. One of the things that this book is trying so hard to do is to study, contemplate the ways and the practices that help us become aware of tending to one another. I have this working definition of joy: which is the way that we carry each other. With Catalog, which again comes from all kinds of writers and teachers, I think I was trying to contemplate what is wondrous, what is beautiful and lovely and astonishing. And, also, what is heartbreaking. To disentangle them means to disentangle ourselves from life, from being among the living. So, that means when I’m texting my friends, “Yo, you got to get the long beans and the okra and the tomatoes, it’s all coming on right now. You got to get over there,” they do the same for me. And it’s great to witness the ways that we’re constantly in those sorts of networks. And that feels very much like the kind of wall that those essays are making. Like a holding wall, not a “‘I’m bigger than you” wall. Or more significant, but a holding wall of gratitude. I think that’s right. THE WOMAN FROM CALIFORNIA MZC | I’m physiologically unable to read or listen to “Catalog” without tearing up, and so many of the folks that I’ve shared it with are similarly unable to finish it without crying. In the first incitement, you briefly describe an encounter that reflects this typical reaction to the poem: “I’ll never forget a woman at a reading in a public library in April of 2016 in Claremont, California—one of those weird, beautifully ugly sixties California buildings; it was a rancher of a library, maybe with some faux stone on the front, maybe white brick—I suspect she was in her late sixties or early seventies. And as she asked me to inscribe Catalog , she was crying, just a little, not very able to talk. And she said, quietly, wiping her face, ‘I didn’t know you could write about joy’.” What other types of emotional responses have you received regarding this poem? RG ── Laughter. I think the poem is very self-conscious, and it’s aware of itself, like all my poems I write with love. So, I’m reading them to people who are trusted readers and my buddy, Patrick, a beautiful poet, suggested “reaching out” to the audience. And you see that in places where I was like, “And thank you, dear reader, for staying with me...” After that one Pat was like, “You might actually need kind of a pattern, to make it into a structure.” Like a brick in the building actually. But to also make it a kind of pattern that allows for the humour, despite the seriousness, the gravity of it. So you have places where I’m like, “I know that my gratitude is immense, and I want to rub it all over you, which is awkward, I know.” So, people will laugh. People will cry. I love it when people are like, “Yeah, I don’t really think of myself like that, but I listened or I heard that poem, or I heard you read, and I was noticing more of the trees.” That. That makes me glad. ON SINCERITY MZC | Like that lady in California, I, too, “didn’t know you could write about joy.” I’m curious about the difference between joy and gratitude. “Catalog” is a poem about gratitude, but it’s also a poem about how much life can suck sometimes. But what makes the tears start to flow is realising that you can feel gratitude for how much life sucks, and for joy. So in a way it might be easier to write sincerely about gratitude than about joy. Why is it so hard to write sincerely about joy? RG ── I think it’s hard. It’s hard for people to write sincerely about joy because they have an idea of joy that I don’t. And I think it makes sense too, because we think of joy as something you achieve, or an accomplishment, or you can buy it. If you get your clothes straightened up, you’ll have more joy in your life. Or if you declutter. If you get the right shoes. It’s kind of a sorrow to me actually, because when I think of joy, it is a profoundly grave emotion. And I say grave because it implies that we’re dying and it’s serious. It’s the way that you dance with people when you know that they are dying. The way that you share food, when you’re like, We will not do this again. And it’s the way that you are in community. I try to make it a point now when I give readings or I get to visit classes, to be like, This group will never again be together. And it’s to me a kind of adultness actually. It’s a kind of adultness that I think we’re often counselled out of, but it’s just being an adult. We know it’s heartbreaking. "CATALOGUE" BY BRANDON HICKS #1 RAGE, RAGE MZC | In the sixth incitement, a friend of yours, Dave, says about you, “Sometimes when you laugh you look like you’re dying.” Later on you quote from one of Dave’s poems, “Laughter is our way of letting the universe know we agree with the passage of time.” In a footnote for this section, you incite the reader to “argue,” “refuse,” “tango” with this passage of time. You add that we should also “rage, rage” against this passage, which of course calls to mind a stanza from the famous Dylan Thomas poem: “Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” from “Do not go gentle into that good night” How do you see laughter as a different kind of animal from joy, especially when it comes to contemplating growing older and death? RG ── I feel like it’s a symptom of joy actually. Joy is the evidence of our connection. But in a culture that demands alienation from one another and our alienation from the earth, laughter is evidence of our connection. It’s evidence of our bodies in time and space. We make each other laugh. It’s often a symptom of joy. I wonder if that’s partly why laughter is often policed, because when we laugh together, we know that we’re in on something together. In the book, I start talking about when you’re in school and you hear kids laughing. “Oh, they’re up to something.” Yeah. They’re being together. They’re being connected. And I love that. I love that line from my buddy Dave’s poem. A lot of these footnotes in this book are a way for me to engage and argue in an inviting way with a reader, to be like, You might not agree with it… "CATALOGUE" BY BRANDON HICKS #2 RICHARD AND EMILY MZC | You end the aforementioned footnote with: “now go write your poem.” And in a later footnote in this section, you compare Richard Pryor’s ability to make a sudden turn in a joke to Emily Dickinson’s definition of poetry: “If I feel physically as if the top of my head is taken off, I know that is poetry.” As a person who looks like they’re dying when they laugh, why do you think laughter makes it easier to write a poem? RG ── ( Laughs ) I think of poems as being maybe the most bodily of the literary arts, because the line is evidence of the breath. So, each line is a breath. Each poem is a series of breaths. It implies an end of breath and a beginning of breath, and implies a relationship between breaths, and an accrual of breaths that constitute whatever we call “poem.” Laughter is itself, all about breath. I was writing about people, and I find myself trying to describe the ways that they breathe at that moment, and so that’s one way that laughter and poetry are alike. "CATALOGUE" BY BRANDON HICKS #3 “HOW CAN A BLACK MAN WRITE ABOUT FLOWERS AT A TIME LIKE THIS?” MZC | Joy might just be the last thing that comes to mind these days when we dive into the news. Currently on Merriam Webster Dictionary, the word “incite” is in the top 1% of the most searched words. Most likely because that word frequently comes up regarding the previous American president’s incitement of a riot on the Capitol—so this book is a much needed reminder that you can also incite joy. In the liner notes for the poem “testify” by Eve L Ewing, she writes: “In times of grief, it’s easy to take account of the world’s many hurts; poets like Ross Gay have taught me never to do so at the expense of its delights. I wrote this poem at the home of my dear friend Hanif Abdurraqib. It calls upon me to think of friendship and upon the reader to count the blessings of a day. It’s a nod to the Black church practice of testifying—of standing before a listener to bear witness to the ways you have been saved, blessed, and protected.” Coincidentally, the poet Hanif Abdurraqib shows up twice in Inciting Joy —the second time it’s in reference to his poem, “How can a Black man write about flowers at a time like this?” You go on to talk about a response to that question in the book, so I won’t ask you to do so here. What I will ask is why do you think black men need poems about flowers?. RG ── I think we need poems about anything we care about. That’s what I would say. Yeah. Hanif was at a reading that I was giving in Boston somewhere. He heard a white woman say, “How could a black man write about flowers at a time like this?” And I’m like, Who the fuck are you to tell me what to write about, first of all? Secondly, you think the only subject for black people is death? That’s not our subject. Our subject is life. Life is the bounty. It’s wonder. It’s delight. It’s sorrow. It’s devastation. It’s refusal. I would refuse that we constrain our imaginations in any way. I would refuse someone else determining the capacity or bounds of my imagination, which is determining the capacity and bounds of my life. Determining the balance and capacity of my love. If you love flowers, study flowers. Study what you love and let us help each other find out what that is. Let us help each other expand the purview of what it is that we might love. "CATALOGUE" BY BRANDON HICKS #4 A NEW ODE MZC | As a black man, the closest thing I had to a catalogue of gratitude before you wrote this poem was Wordsworth’s Ode to Intimations . For me, your poem is a new ode of sorts, a blacker ode, an ode for us “inner city” folks. How much did you have that Wordsworth poem in the rearview mirror as you were writing “Catalog”? RG ── I surely did have Whitman unconsciously in the rear-view mirror and I have Gerald Stern in the rear-view mirror. In Catalog, actually, Virgil is important. Though I’m not like a deep Wordsworth person, he is absolutely in the rearview somewhere because who I love has loved Wordsworth. Reading Wordsworth, we’re probably far apart in many ways, but it is also evidence of how we’re close. Yeah. Inciting Joy is published by Algonquin. www.rossgay.net . ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Static Channel The Audio-Visual Collective on Building Immersive Cymatic Landscapes WORDS BY MILES FORRESTER | VALENCIA / ESPOO | MUSIC ALT.ITUDE NOV 14, 2022 | ISSUE 9 Static Channel by Talia Ricci ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Static Channel by Talia Ricci ​ Joining smART Magazine from Espoo, Finland, and Valencia, Spain, Monika Hauck and Alex Ricci are the two halves of the performing duo Static Channel. I first experienced them playing shows in makeshift venues across Toronto. Using cymatics (visual representations of sound waves) induced by Alex’s groove-heavy bass, Monika would manipulate and project a swirling vat of pigments, immersing the room in rumbling colour. They are an act a fan can follow, adding new sounds and visual implements to each performance and installation. Over the pandemic, they’ve taken time to develop their upcoming multimedia project Levadas , a meditation over distance, memory, and place. sM | What new forms of expression do you find interesting in this trend towards combining visual art and music in performance? AR ─ I mean, some people even talk about what venues should smell like. The stuff that I’m into is exploring the convergence of these two fields in such a way that it doesn’t even necessarily seem like music anymore; it seems like something that you can’t quite define. One thing that’s really inspired me here [in Valencia] is this festival called Volumens, which a few of my professors are involved in. In particular, Professor Marta Verde had a really cool collaboration with another artist, José Venditti, called Omen . He was playing saxophone over his modular synth music and she was doing modular visuals—affecting it with gestures and video feedback. That element of the human — making little mistakes, little variations, little choices in the moment — I think that’s what other humans want to see in a performance. MH ─ Since we started our project in 2015, there’s been increasing demand for musical artists to have visual components. During the pandemic, seeing how artists and promoters are adapting performances has been really inspiring. Particularly in Toronto, Wavelength Music has been doing variety shows, increasing the potential for audience interaction. Right now, there are so many tools available for artists. It’s also a supersaturated time for people’s attention. There’s higher tolerance for watching performances in alternative formats. By the same token, not every performer can conform to a virtual format. We took our time during the pandemic to focus on other things, thinking about what it means to be in a room with people performing. I’ve always been interested in bringing forward installation elements and thinking about shows more as sharing space and creating an atmosphere, as opposed to a performer-and-audience dynamic. sM | As the digital is becoming more dominant in our lives and artmaking, what kinds of effect are you exploring with Levadas ? MH ─ We developed a really good thrice-weekly ritual of going into our studio—we had it all set up to multitrack-record whatever we would come up with on the spot and really open the floodgates. A lot of these compositions are more extended, cinematic pieces—often spanning or going over 10 minutes, kind of more like journeys that we’re really excited to share with everyone. AR ─ We've been really focusing on building this surreal digital world that Levadas is based on—somewhere between a real place that we visited and a daydream of that place. We went travelling to some Portuguese islands in 2017. Not knowing that we were starting a project, we documented and captured a lot of images, footage, and sounds that became the inspiration for this album. Monika’s been cutting up and reconstructing the material into these impossible structures and landscapes—these images that seem almost like they could be real, but there’s something uncanny. The visuals all sort of explore this narrative of us returning to this place through a digital reconstruction or distorted memory of it. MH ─ I’m trying to remember the initial sparks … Madeira and the Azores are right in the middle of the ocean, far from the Portuguese coast. But it’s a mountainous area, and the levadas are these really ancient stone aqueducts we were hiking along. From the top of a mountain, the entire way to the bottom, there would be this stone shaft carrying water and you’d see fish in them. Over the course of the development of our album, we related to this idea of water-transfer over landscapes. It’s been a very healthy escape from reality, making this world ( Laughs ) and definitely a little bit of a coping mechanism. At least it has been for me. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

IVG Producer Corey Ross Founder of Starvox Entertainment & co-founder of Lighthouse Immersive WORDS BY MILES FORRESTER | TORONTO | VISUAL ARTS NOV 11, 2022 | ISSUE 8 Corey Ross by Kalya Ramu ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Immersive Van Gogh Minneapolis, Photo by Lucas Wells Immersive Van Gogh Minneapolis, Photo by Lucas Wells The once-tentative tiptoe towards the re-emergence of the arts is gaining speed, and Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit C0-Producer, Corey Ross, has been at the forefront of the race to return. As founder of Starvox Entertainment and co-founder of Lighthouse Immersive, Ross strives to reinvent theatre, art, magic, music, and the performing arts in ways never before seen. Navigating the wild waters of the entertainment world, he has found freedom and fun in blurring the lines between performer and viewer to present something truly unique. When the pandemic storm pressed in, that wide ocean of possibilities became turbulent and unpredictable, forcing entertainment companies across the globe to moor up and take stock of what was indeed possible, and where they stood. In conversation with smART Magazine , Ross describes how Starvox Entertainment and Lighthouse Immersive weathered the changes in circumstance to make Immersive Van Gogh even greater than they had thought possible. sM | When you started on IVG, did you foresee it getting this big? How has the success of the exhibit surprised you personally? CR — I think this has absolutely exceeded what we’d dreamed of. I mean, I didn't get here by not being ambitious! But there have been a set of circumstances that have driven us to push further, and faster than we ever would have otherwise, and maybe we're lucky that those circumstances presented themselves. One of these was COVID, which allowed us to shift focus away from our other live theatrical events. My entire team was able to focus strictly on the Immersive show because it was the only kind of show that we could put on. Because it’s the only thing that was working, we've had several parties attempting to knock off what we're doing. So, we've had competitors, and those competitors forced us to make a choice; do we want them to get into all these cities, or do we want to get there first? Maybe it's my competitive nature, but I chose all the cities that I thought were good bets, and we moved quickly to put the shows on sale. It was a high level of “blitz-scaling”, as I call it. We never anticipated that our focus would be exclusively on this, that we would have the great partners that we have in the different cities, like Maria Shclover, Irina Shabshis and the rest of the Lighthouse troop. But moreover, we certainly never anticipated that we would wake up one morning and find some guy down in Florida advertising with our graphics for his own exhibit! Or that the day after we announced New York, someone else would announce New York, and that all of a sudden there would be an explosion of people running to put on some version of what we do. All of this really is part of what drove the growth to be this fast. sM | Speaking of these “Immersive” Van Gogh exhibits that seem to be copying IVG—how is IVG maintaining its creative ownership of the concept? CR — The core of this really goes back to Massimiliano and his work in Europe, because the copycat shows started from there. They already existed in the market, and we were aware of them at a certain level before we jumped into North America. So why is this possible? It’s possible because van Gogh's been dead for 130 years and his works are public domain, so there's no copyright on his works or on the concept. The idea of using a projector to display a piece of van Gogh’s art on the wall is not something that's easily protected. However, there is copyright on the way in which Massimiliano executes this concept, and certainly on our images of Massimiliano's work, so we immediately got the party that was using our images to cease. When asked what we have that sets us apart, we can say we have the best guy in the world doing this show. We haven't seen a single competitor who, in our own opinion and from a qualitative perspective, comes anywhere near what we're doing. We also have a very different approach to our installations because most of what we're rolling out is permanent. We're not doing pop-ups, so it's very expensive for us but it also delivers a higher quality experience for the customers because we are investing in the venues. The competition forced us to up our game, which is why David Korins has joined us to design the physical spaces that we're projecting into. Now, it's not only Massimiliano's art; we have started reflecting on the physical space of the exhibit too. It has increased our investment, but it has also increased what the public gets to see when they come into these shows. At the end of the day, this is an artistic endeavor and so it's really about how these three artists (Massimiliano, Korins, and van Gogh) refract off each other, and what that creates. I think that's the reason why we have the most interesting project. sM | Are there any genres of entertainment that you haven’t yet explored that you are interested in? CR — There are tons I haven't done yet! It's been a while since I was in the concert business, and I've never done anything in sports entertainment. I was eyeing a Mexican wrestling project for a while that looked like great fun. I really like to chase new ideas, I like to try different things and that's part of what drives me as a Producer. ​ sM | The NYC Exhibit has been a real meeting of minds, in what order were the different aspects developed, and what were some of the challenges of collaborating creatively during a pandemic? CR — In terms of the order of events, the Massimiliano-Lombardi team was already established when we came to New York. They had created the core elements of Immersive Van Gogh , which are the same core elements in every city. So, after that point, it became about the localization of the exhibit, which is typically an adaptation to the architecture of the building. It also becomes about figuring out how we become rooted locally in some form in every city we go to, which is typically something we have brought to the table. Bringing in David Korins as our Creative Director, the guy who designed the sets for several Broadway hits, is a very New York thing to do. That was a creative way of localizing this exhibit to New York and, additionally, it meant that the Creative Director was physically present in New York. Finally, we weren't solely dealing with artists who were stuck in Italy and trying to do everything by Zoom. So that was a really good thing; around the site, he could say, “Let's move this thing 10 feet to the right, let’s throw that out, that didn't work, this idea worked.” And that's been wonderful. Meanwhile we still have the same challenge that we've had on every one of the exhibits, which is that the Italian team, two-thirds of our creative team, were not able to come. They are dealing with us over Zoom, which is always a challenge. sM | How do you plan on replicating what you’ve learned with IVG in future exhibits? CR — Artistically and in terms of execution, each exhibit is an individual project . There's certainly been a lot of learning on the marketing side of things, having done as much as we've done for Van Gogh . It has allowed us to learn about where to market, how to market, and how to use Facebook in a new way. We've gone from being a group that maybe spends $5000 a month on Facebook to a group that spends a million dollars on Facebook! So there have been a lot of marketing lessons along the way that will certainly be rolled out across all our shows, and the team's gotten better and stronger at ticketing too. That’s the business side. The other side is learning about where the public meets the art, which is the thing that's always fascinated me and driven me as a Producer; that moment when the public finally sees what you've prepared for them, and you see their reaction. There is a very special meeting that's happening right now between the public and the arts as people come out of COVID. It has a different gravitas and a different meaning for people, to come out and finally be able to begin to do things. To be the Producer that instigates that, being the midwife or doula of it all, that’s really rewarding and interesting. As for Illusionarium —the bottom line is that I think we have a show that's been fascinating with regards to how it's developed. We've added more and more magic into the show, including an entire extra room where you can see Houdini’s great escape closer than ever before. We've taken full advantage of seven months of lockdown, and I hope that people are looking forward to it. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Camille Thomas The cellist on the roof: finding hope in high-up places WORDS BY SAM HAWKINS & MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK | PARIS | MUSIC THE smART Ensemble NOV 16, 2022 | ISSUE 7 Camille Thomas by Christian Meuwly ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Camille Thomas by Sonia Sieff Camille Thomas by Christian Meuwly Eighteen months after starting her world-famous rooftop performances in Paris, cellist Camille Thomas takes a moment to reflect before her upcoming international tour. Having endured the isolation and anxiety of two national lockdowns, Thomas is unmistakably cheery. Her city, it seems, is returning to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, as both artists and audiences take their seats on either side of the stage. Since her rooftop videos went viral, Thomas has been busy: performing in a number of Paris’s cultural landmarks—the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, and the Museum of Natural History, amongst others—as well as planning her upcoming tour. A true believer in art’s power to bring people together, she is known for her optimism, vitality, and joyful exuberance. With a fourth studio album under her belt—the first classical project recorded in partnership with UNICEF—she’s shown that her altruistic attitude isn’t just lip service. As life in Paris picks up where it left off, Camille reminds us that music is more than just melody and rhythm. It’s hope and beauty—something good for the soul. sM | What inspired your original rooftop performance and when did you know that it was connecting with viewers? CT — I was born in an apartment in Paris so I have been on the roof all my life. It’s a part of my DNA. Now, I have my own place with access to the roof. Last March, I was spending so much time on it because of the lockdown. In Paris, the lockdown was very strict, it was also very difficult. The atmosphere was so tense and full of anxiety, and I was feeling quite depressed as a musician because I was playing alone at home. I felt that playing without sharing it to someone didn’t make any sense. At the time, I saw two things: first, this spot on the roof. I felt good there and I wanted to share this feeling and I was hoping I could also bring happiness; something good for the soul. And then, of course, my way to share empathy is through music. So I took my cello and at first I played for my neighbours. During the lockdown, every night at 8:00 PM, people would come to the windows and applaud the nurses and doctors who were on the front lines. That first time, I wanted to play for them—my way of saying thank you. Afterwards, I posted a video on the internet and I immediately received messages from all around the world. I was so touched to see that the music, that this view of Paris which was close enough to the sky to be a little bit above the troubles of the world, could bring people so much joy. People were writing to me, to tell me that it was giving them hope. So that’s why I continued. I felt that, at that moment, it was the only way I could share the music and share my heart. sM | What were you hoping to achieve, artistically, with your latest album, Voice of Hope ? CT — I think it takes time to trust yourself, to really tell your story. And with this album, I did it completely—I wouldn’t say alone—but everything came from myself. It’s maybe my most personal album. The first thing I wanted to record was a concerto by Fazil Say, called “Never Give Up,” that he wrote for me—I premiered the piece in Paris in 2017. The concerto is a response to the terrorist attacks in Paris and in Turkey, and it carries the message that we should never give up on hope, we should never give up on mankind, and never give up on beauty. Every time I play this piece, people are in tears. Camille Thomas by Sonia Sieff They are moved, deeply moved, because it’s a piece that is really speaking directly to the heart of the audience. It’s an orchestral work that really speaks about our lives and about what we experienced. That’s why I wanted to record this and share its powerful message of hope. As a musician, as an artist, I deeply believe that music is the highest form of hope. I also believe that music is the highest form of love because it can express things that are beyond words. It’s a universal language that everybody can understand—from different cultures, to different backgrounds, to different languages—because it speaks directly to the heart. The medium is extremely powerful. I thought about all the pieces I wanted to use to surround Fazil Say’s Concerto, and approached it as I would write a novel. Elaborating an album program is the only time where an interpreter can also be a composer. When you compose an album, you can pick the pieces and try to make your own story out of all of it. I wanted to make a journey through the music, from darkness to hope, it became a spiritual journey. And, of course, it’s spiritual. So I chose a lot of things that just make you want to look to the light, that make you feel larger, like a better human being. sM | What inspired your dedication of this album to UNICEF? CT — From the beginning, I always wanted to connect my music with real-life initiatives. That’s what I love about performing in the U.S. Concerts are often connected with the community or some kind of charitable organization. Every time I was there, I played in schools, hospitals and in different places where people are really in need of music. It’s something I wish we did more of in Europe. I was always very committed to bringing this hope in music to as many people as possible. For me, hope is education. Hope is a part of childhood. So I got in contact with UNICEF and explained the project. Since then, we’ve worked very closely and will continue our partnership in the future. In a way, Voice of Hope is not just one album. It’s a life project for me. Camille Thomas by Christian Meuwly sM | What’s the current atmosphere in Paris and how are audiences embracing the re-emergence of the arts post-pandemic? CT — Everything is happening and reopening step by step. In the beginning, I played in empty halls and for streamed concerts. Later, I performed in fields where only 20 people could attend. Now, those same places are full—masked, but full. And this feeling is incredible because music is meant to be shared in person. The biggest emotions arise when you feel in communion with thousands of people in the same hall, at the same time—it’s these magical moments of life when time stops. I feel that the people have missed it and they are so moved and they are so thankful. And, of course, for me, as a musician and as an artist, it’s extremely moving too because I missed playing for the public so much. Now is actually a very beautiful moment for experiencing and understanding how much we need music and how much we need to experience live concerts in our lives. But, yes, in Paris, the city is full of life again. People want to live, they have this urge to embrace life. And I think it’s especially very strong in France and in Paris. For example, this winter, all the cafés were closed; we had a curfew at 6:00 PM, the streets were empty and the city was dead. So, as soon as the restaurants, bars, and cinemas reopened, all the Parisians were outside, enjoying life and all those simple marvellous little things that make Paris a dream—like drinking coffee on a terrace, going to a show, and eating at restaurants with friends. Actually, I was a bit sad to go on holiday, because Parisian summers are the best...Paris est une fête! ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Lighthouse Chicago A conversation with Irina Shabshis and Maria Shclover WORDS BY AMBER SOLBERG | CALGARY | VISUAL ARTS MAR 03, 2023 | ISSUE 10 Immersive Van Gogh Chicago by Michael Brosilow ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Maria Shclover Irina Shabshis In the heart of the Near North Side Chicago neighbourhood, Lighthouse Immersive planted new roots in a 130-year-old architectural marvel. The Germania Club Building is already an art piece of its own, and now the building hosts the newest, most cutting-edge immersive exhibit: Immersive Van Gogh . Originating in Toronto, this expansion to the Windy City was made possible by the collaboration between Irina Shabshis and Maria Shclover of Maestro Artist Management, and Lighthouse Immersive. Maestro Artist Management Inc. (MAM) has been operating since 2004 as a production company and has been working alongside Svetlana Dvoretsky—Founder, President & Producer of Show One Productions and Co-Founder of Lighthouse Immersive—to bring artistic productions to North America. “We always do something creative to introduce people to different varieties of art,” says Shabshis. Shclover, who had the pleasure of seeing the Atelier des Lumières’s van Gogh exhibit in Paris, recalls how she “fell in love with it in Paris,” and has “been looking for an opportunity to bring it to North America.” Alongside Lighthouse Immersive, and against the odds of a global pandemic, Immersive Van Gogh continues to thrive in Chicago. For Shclover and Shabshis, Chicago was the perfect fit for Immersive Van Gogh . “Chicago was always a market where we, as a company, worked for many years; I enjoy the city myself. Chicago is cultural, vibrant, and artistic,” says Shclover. “So many successful projects started here.” Indeed, whether it's museums, galleries, or the architecture of the city itself, you can find art everywhere. “Chicago on its own is its own art exhibit,” Shabshis continues, “so for a creative exhibit like Immersive Van Gogh , it’s the perfect city to start with.” The Germania Club Building is a five-story structure nestled within the Chicago arts community, and is known for its large limestone base and housing a giant ceramic tableau that reads “The Glory of Germania.” Constructed in the 19th century, the Germania Clubhouse Building is a Victorian-style architectural landmark. Shabshis explains that the beauty of the building cannot be ignored, and Immersive Van Gogh highlights the architecture of the space as part of the experience. Immersive Van Gogh Chicago by Michael Brosilow Lighthouse Immersive takes up 90% of the building across four floors. Entering from the heart of the Golden Coast, near Old Town Chicago, the first floor is reserved for the lobby area and coat check, while the second floor contains the merchandise shop, café, a seating area, and a lounge space with a bar. The experience begins on the third floor, and the layout spreads out across four other rooms, allowing different viewpoints on the experience. As patrons make their way through these rooms, ending up in the ballroom, they will then make their way up to the fourth floor that leads them to a balcony where they can see the entire ballroom from above—examining the art from a completely different vantage point. Adapting an immersive installation like Immersive Van Gogh to a completely different architecture is always a challenge. After all, the Golden Age Victorian-style building is quite different from the venue that hosts the original Toronto exhibit. “Germania Club has a completely different character,” says Shabshis. “Our Italian designers adjusted the exhibit to the sheer volume and elegance of this classic space.” She stresses the importance of making sure the exhibit naturally fits the space. “When you go with the flow, you don’t just stay still. You look at the beautiful pictures and drawings, but you actually go, and the images will move with you. So it will bring a different perspective and view.” ​ Over two million Chicagoans have already enjoyed passing through the 40-minute exhibit experience, finding something new around each corner. Despite the new restrictions on occupancy for Chicago due to COVID-19, the exhibit is still one of the biggest events in the area. Carefully-placed, projected circles help patrons keep six feet apart, masks are mandatory, and hand sanitizing stations are readily available. “I think it’s important to create a safe environment,” says Shclover. “So people will feel welcome, people would feel like they can return, or tell their family and friends to return and they would feel safe.” There are many plans for the future of the Germania Club Building, as it recently sold for $15 million to an undisclosed buyer. As of now, Lighthouse Immersive has a five-year lease on the building, but they are aiming for five more in order to create an all-purpose art space. “This building is so versatile, we want to create an experience that makes people want to come back,” says Shclover. The goal, in the end, is to have rights to the whole building, to not only have this exhibit, but also events such as live music, theatrical performances, movie screenings, artist talks, dance performances, and many more. The possibilities will be endless. To welcome and expand to a larger audience of people, they have opened up the exhibit to host lifestyle classes, such as yoga. “This makes people feel like they are a part of the neighbourhood,” says Shclover. COVID-19 has slowed things down for many industries, but Immersive Van Gogh is moving on strong with tickets still selling out. “People are enthusiastic and hopeful,” says Shclover. “We were not wrong to bring something positive here.” ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Bells Larsen and Georgia Harmer “Our friendship is embedded with a shared love of each other’s music” WORDS BY HELEN CHEN | TORONTO & MONTRÉAL | MUSIC HOMEGROWN MAR 14, 2023 | ISSUE 10 Bells Larsen by Howard Bilerman, Georgia Harmer by Gemma Warren ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Bells Larsen by Monse Muro Album Cover for "Good Grief" Bells Larsen and Georgia Harmer met in the foyer of their high school in Toronto. Since then, they have become close friends and musical confidants, sending voice memos of their songs to each other back and forth over the years. Some of which have made their way onto their debut albums Good Grief and Stay in Touch , both released this year. Larsen has lived in Toronto, Montréal, and Halifax, embedding inspiration from each city into his music. Good Grief was weaved from the threads of a period of tremendous loss and transformation. Following the death of his first love, Larsen sought to create an album that was both a record of this transformation and guiding rail throughout. In her own words, Georgia Harmer’s debut album Stay in Touch was created through a “hodgepodge of DIY situations.” The record is the product of four 13-hour days at ArtHaus, a garage turned recording studio in downtown Toronto, followed by recording sessions at Harmer’s home as well as her aunt’s farmhouse. The result is an intimate collection of memories sieved through various genres including folk, country, jazz, and rock. Likewise tackling themes of loss and remembering, Harmer invites listeners to reconnect with their inner selves by staying in touch with the people and experiences that have shaped them. As two emerging Canadian artists, Larsen and Harmer have relied on the people in the artistic communities around them to help navigate the industry. From Harmer’s harmonies on Good Grief to songs expressing empathy for Larsen’s loss on Stay in Touch , the two albums are bridged together through years of artistic collaboration and genuine friendship. Larsen and Harmer join smART Magazine to talk about their new albums, their friendship, and finding the good in grief. BELLS LARSEN sM | You did two album release parties for Good Grief —one in Toronto and Montréal. How has each city shaped this album? BL ─ I have a friend who is a dancer and they once talked about how the city choreographed them. I thought that was really beautiful. In between living in Toronto and living in Montréal, I also lived in Halifax. So I consider myself a maritime-coded artist, just based on how much I talk about water in a lot of my songs. I’ve also always felt so at home in Montréal. I love the speed of Montréal. I love the culture, the vibe, everything. So I feel very Montréal-y in theory. But I think in practice, my heart will always be very Torontonian. sM | What’s the story behind the album cover? BL ─ I’m very close with my grandmother. She is one of my best friends. She makes really beautiful quilts, such as the one on the cover. I picked a whole bunch of cool-looking old pictures of little me that either my mom or dad had taken and then dumped them into a folder, gave it to the designer that I was working with, and he picked out the picture. This quilt for me does represent a welcome-into-the-world present from my grandmother. So in a lot of ways, releasing Good Grief is welcoming myself into the world of music. sM | As a young Canadian artist coming up, what was your experience navigating the music industry to record your debut album? BL ─ In my first year of university, I experienced a pretty huge loss. My first love died by suicide. I lived under a rock for a while in terms of not making any music. I was making music, but just not putting it out, not playing gigs. When I recorded Good Grief , I was very much not active and unknown and figuring out how I was going to take these songs that I really believed in and really liked and bring them to a wider audience with very minimal resources. Ultimately, the answer to that question has been looking at the people who have been around me for years and years. Georgia and I have been exchanging voice memos back and forth for years and years. Our friendship is embedded with a shared love of each other’s music. And that’s just one musical friendship. What has gotten me through navigating the Canadian music industry as a young person, with not that much experience, is just looking at the people around me who are really kind, who are really good, who love music, who love me, and just going from there. sM | What did this album help you process? BL ─ The record is taking my grief and my anger and my sadness and my heartbreak and my relief and making it good through songwriting and asking questions. I took my own grief and then brought it to people like Georgia, with whom I can collaborate, who understands where I’m coming from, is also so healing. The process of making this record has been how I have healed. It’s been so cathartic for me to do this. It’s really strange now, getting myself back in the mindset of how I was when I wrote all of these songs when I was first grieving the person I lost. But my grief has made me more thoughtful. It’s made me more aware of how the people are around me. It made me more aware of what to look out for. Should I have had to go through what I’ve gone through to be a thoughtful, kind, caring person? No, not at all, but I love that I am. I feel at the point now in my own process where I’m able to look at the things that it has brought me rather than the things that it’s taken away from me. GEORGIA HARMER Georgia Harmer by Gemma Warren sM | How did you get involved in Good Grief ? GH ─ Bells just asked me to sing on their songs and I love singing harmonies. We’ve sung harmonies since we met so it felt really natural to get to do that on these songs. I’ve known these songs for a while from their early stages from sending voice memos back and forth. I’ve sung on a couple of my other friends’ songs and anytime anyone asks me, I feel so seen. I love making up harmony arrangements and singing on other people’s songs. I get to listen to them and think about what they could possibly need, because they don’t need much. sM | Where did you record your debut album, Stay in Touch ? GH ─ I recorded it at ArtHaus in Toronto. We spent 13 hours there each day and banged out all 11 songs in four days. After that, I did the overdubs at home with my band and I did the lead vocals at my aunt’s farmhouse. It was a hodgepodge of DIY situations. Album cover for "Stay in Touch" sM | What’s the story behind the album cover? GH ─ When I was thinking about the cover of my album, I just had this mental image of me sitting in the sky. One of my oldest friends, Ella Hough, is this brilliant painter. I described this idea to her and she made this huge oil painting of a super realistic drawing of me in a sunset. The reason why I’m sitting is because the title of my album Stay in Touch is something that my friends and I said to each other all the time. Then my friends started saying “SIT” because that’s the acronym for “stay in touch.” And then the symbolism became a chair. sM | Loss and leaving seem to precipitate the songs on Stay in Touch —how has writing songs about these experiences allowed you to move on? GH ─ Often when I’m asked what my album is about, I say I don’t know. I just wrote these songs to process what I was going through as a teenager. Every time I write a song, it’s usually about a particular person or a particular theme that multiple people I know are experiencing. It’s my way of expressing empathy but also communicating what I’m experiencing. Loss in so many ways is embodied in my album. One of the songs is about watching somebody experience intense grief. And although it is an undercurrent of my album in terms of having all these vivid memories with my closest friends and having to let go of a time when we were all in the same place, I also use music as a way to preserve those moments, and as a way to stay in touch with what I, and everyone else, was going through. ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

Gustavo Gimeno The TSO’s new director is looking up to the downbeat WORDS BY TASH COWLEY & MICHAEL ZARATHUS-COOK | PERFORMING ARTS MAR 07, 2023 | ISSUE 7 Gustavo Gimeno by Ella Mazur ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Gustavo Gimeno conducts the TSO - Photo by Jag Gundu Gustavo Gimeno conducts Firebird - Photo by Stuart Lowe In the music world, the role of the conductor is not to be underestimated. From the velvet seats to the orchestra pit, eyes and ears are tightly attuned to their every move. The spirit, energy, and atmosphere of a piece can live and die with its conductor, who must walk the tightrope of tension and release while allowing musicians freedom within the structures of the sheet music. It is a highly delicate art, bringing moving parts together in harmony, and world-renowned conductor Gustavo Gimeno has mastered it, not only on stage, but in every role he has played during his fascinating musical career. Gimeno routinely leads the finest ensembles in venues around the world, and when he is not in the studio, he serves as Music Director of the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO). Since his tenure with the TSO began in 2020, Gimeno has committed his time and energy in equal measure to developing exciting new programs, designed to resonate with people from all walks of life. The TSO will be celebrating its centenary in 2022. In conversation with smART Magazine , Gimeno discusses the prioritization of newer artists in the TSO’s programming, and his vision to roundly represent the cultural richness of Toronto by a blending of the “old and new.” sM | What are some of the features in programming that you’d like to implement to expand the orchestra’s global appeal? And what creative opportunities does this city present that you perhaps won’t find elsewhere? GG — While we can’t yet discuss the exact details of our programming, I believe that next season’s artistic schedule will speak for itself. We have been planning within the confines of existing restrictions, and in a sense have been programming our 2022/23 season hypothetically, imagining how the structure would work best. I feel familiar with the history of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and I know how active the orchestra has been in commissioning new works, so those elements have been incorporated into both the 2021/22 and 2022/23 seasons. Programming core repertoire and well-known works for our audience is obviously important, but I also believe that we are living in a time where integration and togetherness are especially interesting and significant. Within many of the programs, the chosen pieces contrast strongly with each other in terms of style, era, and aesthetics. I think including fresh, new voices is really important, not only new music but also music by living composers who have perhaps had their work premiered by the TSO. By fusing innovation with core works of the classical symphonic repertoire, we are varying the programming, which is a challenge for us—for me, but also for the musicians! However, we knew that this was the journey we wanted to take our audience on. I’m aware of the fact that orchestras in Europe are funded in a different way, which in certain situations can make the process of blending established works with newer artists more stable. But that’s part of why it was important for us to combine these newer voices with the music and musicians that people know so well. I find that Torontonians have a sophisticated and adventurous appreciation for music, and Toronto is such a culturally vivid city. My belief is that we have a responsibility in two directions, both to honour what people know and love and to challenge ourselves and our audiences. Finding a position in Ontario and in Toronto, being a part of those communities, is crucial for us; however, touring and playing globally is also very important, and we are looking to find a place in the wider world of performance. Clearly, everyone is still navigating the difficulties associated with the pandemic, but our minds are now working towards the future. We fully expect to perform outside of Toronto, and outside of Canada; touring and finding new destinations is one of the central challenges and goals for our future. Gustavo Gimeno and the Toronto Symphony - Photo by Jag Gundu sM | With the upcoming vacancy in the CEO’s chair, what are some of the priorities and qualities that you’re hoping the incoming leader brings to the position? GG — One thing I have discovered in the last few years is just how many talented people exist within the TSO, not only in the orchestra itself but in the artistic and administrative teams. It’s so motivating to feel this support, to feel that I’m in the right place and working within a solid structure. It’s clearly disappointing that the current CEO, Matthew Loden, is stepping away from the TSO because I have enjoyed working with Matthew hugely, despite the unexpected difficulties we’ve faced as a team. We went through an extraordinary phase together, one which neither of us could have anticipated, as you can imagine. But I am truly grateful for everything he has done at the TSO and, looking forward, I believe we have new opportunities ahead of us. I am viewing it as an opportunity for change. As I always say, never look too much into the past, only do so to gather information and to reflect. It’s very much part of my nature to look forward instead of backward, and this is a chance to look forward. The fact that the orchestra has such a strong reputation as an organization is a real positive and should greatly benefit the TSO in its search for a new CEO. I believe that the history and the quality of the TSO is incredibly appealing, and the search committee is already seeking out candidates. Logic dictates that they will need to have strong skills in both business and finance, but I also strongly believe that the top priority should be maintaining the artistic excellence of the orchestra. The search committee is already working on it, and soon we will be moving into the next phase and chapter of our search. I am confident that we will have a new CEO sooner rather than later! I am hugely thankful to Matthew Loden, and I enjoyed working with him very much; but reality is where it is, and we are looking forward, with confidence, to the future. Yo-Yo Ma and Gustavo Gimeno - Photo by Jag Gundu, Toronto Symphony Orchestra sM | The diversity of Toronto’s population presents unique challenges for inclusive programming, so looking at the next five years, what transformations are on your wishlist to make the TSO better reflect the city’s multicultural tapestry? GG — You can’t imagine how much I’ve learned—and am continuing to learn—about the cultural diversity of Toronto over the last few years, and how enriching and inspiring that has been. It has been truly transformative and has become a crucial and very exciting element of programming. I’m constantly discovering exciting composers, younger generations who represent different backgrounds and origins, and I strongly believe that the more we can feature individuals who reflect our diverse community, the better. We should strive toward building connections between people throughout Toronto, connections through which different communities can engage with and enjoy the power of music and music making. One thing I have realized about the recent past of the TSO—which may or may not have been right for the time—is that different series of works were previously separated, according to the style, background, or aesthetics of the compositions. Now, we are prioritizing integration and bringing original, fresh voices which represent the different parts of society, different origin stories within Toronto, and the very many different versions of Toronto that we have. I’ve discovered, and am still learning, that there is not just one Toronto; there are many Torontos. I think that is crucial, and a very important fact to keep in mind. And it’s not only myself who is working to highlight and celebrate this; I’m especially proud that everyone in the organization and the orchestra is on the same page. Orchestral music is an enriching experience, and when we present and support a wider variety of ethnicities, our Indigenous artists, and female artists on stage, it benefits Toronto’s artistic scene immeasurably. Personally, I’ve hugely enjoyed this journey of discovery. Even with the restrictions and limitations of the pandemic, and despite the difficulties we have faced in looking forward when the future is uncertain, I think our programming for the 2021/22 season is already reflecting a commitment to increased diversity and inclusivity. To give just one example, we have become involved in Tapestry Opera’s Women in Musical Leadership program, which is very exciting! So, there are lots of things going on, all at the same time, and every single program is another opportunity to create something utterly fresh and unique. ​ sM | What is one book that informs your leadership style? GG — I think a lot about a book called Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society , by Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said. In this book, they discuss music, politics, different cultures, and the contrasts within those cultures, and they also discuss the concept of home and what it means to us. And, of course, they talk about composers! It’s especially interesting for me to realize how all these different topics connect to and inform each other. I find the conversations and reflections between these two people particularly inspiring. When I find something that stirs me in this way, whether it’s directly linked to music, the arts, or general life, it reinforces what I understand about leadership. I never think of leadership from an external perspective, or from outside, superficial layers. I believe it stems from knowledge, from increased appreciation of art or music, from influences that shape the inner life. That which inspires and motivates me will inform aspects of my personality, including my leadership style. ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

MIKHAIL LAXTON ON MIKHAIL LAXTON The singer-songwriter returns to his roots after finding a new home in Canadian music smART MAGAZINE | OTTAWA | HOMEGROWN HOMEGROWN JUN 27, 2023 | ISSUE 12 Mikhail Laxton You’d need a compelling reason to leave paradise on your own accord. In creating distance from his upbringing in a sparsely populated sugarcane town in northeast Australia, country and soul troubadour Mikhail Laxton’s decision has seemingly been validated. No one’s ever mistaken the Ottawa area for a tropical utopia, but that’s where Laxton, flanked by his wife and young son, has anchored his musical career for the past seven years. That push and pull between where Laxton’s been, and the life he’s built, lies at the heart of his self-titled debut album. Even as he moves forward — as an artist, husband, and father — he can’t help but stare back at the rear-view. On “Mossman,” Laxton reminisces about ocean breezes, sugarcane fields and sunsets with his childhood pals. It’s “the kind of place you never want to leave; Lord knows she’s been calling me,” he sings over electric country rock chords. “I’m talking ‘bout paradise. … That’s where I want to be.” Yes, there are feel-good reveries about beachside bonfires and summer love─the sort of tunes that sound best while cruising up a one-lane highway for a long weekend at the lake. But Laxton also never shies away from the painful and confusing moments of his young adulthood. He revisits his relationship with his father, a man whose addiction subsumed his own musical talents — and, ultimately, his life — in “Dying to Let You Go” and “Four String Cowboy.” Bad breakups and personal betrayals take centre-stage on other tracks, demonstrating that even Australian cowboys get the blues. At a new stage of his life and career, and thousands of miles from the world he left behind, Laxton possesses the degree of removal necessary to process and appreciate his highs and lows. There’s a nostalgia for all of it. www.mikhaillaxton.com | @mikhail.laxton Mikhail Laxton Cover Art ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE ​ ​ REINVENTION sM | How do the songs on your self-titled album reflect the influences of your sound? ML ─ The album is very influenced by country music, but it's equally soul, with a bit of R & B and blues in there. I'm a country boy through and through, from the bush in far north Queensland in Australia. As a bit of background, my grandfather is a German man that came to Australia back in the early fifties and learned how to farm from reading books, and he raised his kids and his grandkids that way. I was fortunate that I got to grow up on the farm and learn all about it. He married an Indigenous woman, so I'm an Indigenous Australian as well. I remember somebody once asked me why someone like me was doing country music, I looked at him and said: I'm probably the most country person you’ll ever meet. I grew up with mud, trucks, hunting and fishing. So yeah this album is about me getting back to my roots. PANORAMA-ERA sM | The pandemic changed people in so many ways - both as a collective and individually - how did that period redirect the kind of connections you want to make in the music you make? ML ─ During the pandemic I think all of us had to face some crap that was within us that we hadn't had the time to deal with. My writing and singing has always been a therapy for me and it felt like the world had basically ended at that point. I picked up my guitar one day and I wrote this song called “Naked”, it was the first song where I didn't filter anything out. I kept writing and writing and writing after that. There was music inside of me that had just been sitting there, I hadn't allowed myself to let it come out. FAMILY BUSINESS sM | “Dying to Let You Go” is both a memory and a conversation with your late father, told from his perspective. He was also a musician, what do you remember about the last time you played together? ML ─ The last time I saw him play was in my apartment when I was about 17 or 18 years old, he just popped up at my house out of the blue. I was making spaghetti and he just sat there and I was like, can you play this song, can you play that song? Can you play Gary Moore? Can you play this? He was a bass player but he was an amazing guitarist as well, really blew my mind. Two weeks after that, he was in the hospital and I didn't see him conscious ever again. ​ KUKU YALANJI sM | “Mossman” is a song about your hometown in Australia; how does this sense of belonging define your identity? ML ─ My tribe is the Kuku Yalanji people of far North Queensland, specifically from the town of Mossman. My tribe comes from the Daintree Rainforest, which is the oldest living rainforest in the world. It’s a really small town, everyone's all up in your business 24/7, but, at the end of the day, people will help you when shit goes down. I've been in Canada for seven years and this song was a way for me to reconnect with home. As much as I love my hometown, I'm probably not going to ever live there again but I can go back there in my mind. I'm very proud of where I came from, it's such a different world with the big Indigenous community there. You can kind of do anything there as long as you're not hurting anybody. It was a good place to grow up if you're a wild little Black fellow like me. CANADIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY sM | What is it about the Canadian music scene that inspired you to make the long journey over? ML ─ It sounds weird but when I was 18 I knew that I was going to be living in Canada someday. I didn’t even try to make it happen, I just eventually ended up here, I was doing quite well in Australia, booking some good festival gigs. I ended up on The Voice in Australia, this was actually what drew that line in the sand for me. I got in for two or three episodes before I got the boot. It aired in July of 2015, I was in Canada by February 2016. But one of the other bigger reasons why I left Australia is that the Australian music industry is so unkind to the singer-songwriter, they don’t care about original music. I had festivals hitting me up, willing to pay thousands and thousands of dollars to have me come play. And they would say in a contract: “could you make the set 60% covers and 40% original?” The first couple of times I played at open mics here in Canada, it was the complete opposite. The audience was like, “Oh man, those covers you did were really cool, but man, your original stuff, that's fantastic.” ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture

National Ballet’s "MADDADDAM" It may not entirely reinvent the wheel, but it certainly ruptures conventions WORDS BY ERIN BALDWIN | Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts | Toronto NOV 23, 2022 | COMMUNITY Siphesihle November and Jason Ferro in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada. ​ ​ Arooj Aftab, Vijay Iyer & Shahzad Ismaily LISTEN NOW https://loveinexile.lnk.to/preorder Cody Fry LISTEN NOW www.codyfry.com Víkingur Ólafsson ON TOUR NOW www.vikingurolafsson.com Samara Joy LISTEN NOW www.samarajoy.com Bruce Liu ON TOUR NOW www.bruce-liu.com Disney Animation: Immersive Experience TICKETS ON SALE NOW CLICK HERE Christopher Gerty and Tanya Howard in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Bruce Zinger. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada. Artists of the Ballet in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada. Distorted computer-generated voiceovers and an orchestral score that frequently collapses into static and reverb. A sparse black stage scattered with dancers under piercing spotlights. Video projections that juxtapose wolves gnawing at a carcass with the familiar, brightly coloured images of commodity culture. Welcome to the apocalyptic world of MADDADDAM , the jarring full-length ballet spectacle inspired by legendary Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s speculative fiction, engineered by the visionary choreographer Wayne McGregor, and brought to life by a daring ensemble cast from the National Ballet of Canada (NBoC). MADDADDAM , the NBoC’s third co-production with London’s The Royal Ballet, features an all-star lineup: McGregor is a ballet darling known for his innovative shorter works – Chroma and Genus – while his frequent collaborator, the composer Max Richter, is to classical music what McGregor is to dance, acclaimed globally for his eclectic contemporary scores. Mix in source material from Atwood’s dystopian MaddAddam trilogy, and you’d expect to have a masterpiece. Indeed, partnering with the Royal Ballet to gain access to new work by McGregor — their resident choreographer — and Richter, was a brilliant business move, as was securing the world premiere for Canadian audiences in Toronto. But anyone who has seen a movie cast with Hollywood legends fizzle at the box office knows that nothing is guaranteed. The disparate parts need to be assembled into a cohesive whole and a reputation for greatness doesn't necessarily equate to execution. Fortunately, for both dance enthusiasts and general audiences, everyone more than showed up here, delivering what will undoubtedly emerge as one of NBoC’s landmark productions for years to come. Ben Rudisin, Christopher Gerty and Jenna Savella in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada Split into three distinctive acts, MADDADDAM is an abstract adaptation of Atwood’s novels, less plot-driven and more focused on broadly exploring her central themes of technological innovation gone awry, the relentless and destructive pursuit of power, and ecological catastrophe. Act I begins with a montage video of societal collapse projected onto a semi-transparent screen covering the entirety of the stage: buildings crumble to the ground and anarchists move through a battle zone as an eclectically-dressed assortment of dancers behind move languidly to the rising, elegiac strains of Richter’s score. Harrison James and Koto Ishihara in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada No knowledge of the novels is necessary to grasp that something has gone terribly wrong, and an abrupt halt takes us to the aftermath of catastrophe, marked by Siphesihle November’s Jimmy lying alone, curled up on stage in what is intended to be a forest clearing, marked by an image of treetops on the stage’s backdrop. With his red hat, worn graphic t-shirt and plaid shorts, Jimmy is a centre-point tethering the various threads of the ballet together. And, as always, November’s powerful physicality, marked by fluid extensions and bordering on the edge of control leaps and turns, makes him an arresting force. The rest of Act I introduces us to the main cast: Koto Ishihara’s delicate and ethereal Oryx who mesmerises Jimmy; Harrison James’s domineering Crake – an engineer who intends to destroy all humans and replace them with a new species – who looms over Oryx and Jimmy’s romance; Heather Ogden’s spirited Toby who, clad in a utilitarian jumpsuit, finds joy dancing in solitude before using a shotgun to kill off a grotesque new animal threat; and Tanya Howard’s Ren, who battles a flamboyant A Clockwork Orange -esque gang of assaulters. A memorable pas de trois with November, Ishihara and James – equal parts sinuous lines and abrupt, disjointed movements – closes out the first act. Genevieve Penn Nabity and Isaac Wright in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada Act II moves us back in time to a sterile lab-like environment flooded with white light – think Westworld ’s artificial intelligence headquarters – pre-apocalypse where Crake aims to engineer his new race. The transparent screen covering the stage is back and now sporadically displays green command prompts with phrases like, “Mode: Survival” and “Player Extinct.” With a minimal set design that features little more than an operating table and metal scaffolding, alongside dancers in sparse white leotards, McGregor’s choreography is front and centre, filled with snaking torsos, brusque extensions, bent-leg pirouettes and frenzied bourrés that build alongside Richter’s booming, bass-heavy electronic composition that shares more with industrial techno and Daft Punk than classical music. If Act I queries how to create a life in the aftermath of destruction, Act II puts on full-blast the hubris that led there in the first place. Isaac Wright, Genevieve Penn Nabity and Artists of the Ballet in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada After the claustrophobic atmosphere of Act II, however, McGregor leaves us with the sense that the future is not entirely foreclosed. Act III is decidedly colourful in contrast to the first two parts – dancers are clothed in bluish leotards and an expansive canopy hanging over the stage is speckled with various lush, tropical colours. Richter returns to an orchestral score characterised by uplifting piano and violin alongside faint strains of choral music, and a golden hue envelops the stage as formations assemble and disassemble. Dancers run on and off stage hunched over before erupting into sweeping port de bras ; a mass of bodies come together and move in undulating unison, evoking the sense that humanity might just comprise a singular organism; and various pas de deux emerge – Ogden and Christopher Gerty, along with James and November, now in nude-coloured leotards, are particularly engaging. Yet McGregor resists a grand, triumphant finale and instead concludes with the parting image of a child finding Jimmy’s red hat as everyone else departs, offering up a startling reminder that amidst catastrophe, violence and destruction, it is our children who will ultimately inherit the earth. Heather Ogden in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada MADDADDAM is a stunning visual work, but more importantly it brings full-length ballet into the twenty-first century, using a classical art form to interrogate our contemporary moment. McGregor is known for his defamiliarizing style, brimming with distorted lines and interchangeably aggressive and fragile gestures, and his choreography becomes an ideal visual medium for capturing Atwood’s disturbing but prescient thematic concerns. But perhaps it is in conveying this post-apocalyptic world that MADDADDAM finds the freedom to push back against balletic conventions. McGregor provides as much space for male-male pas de deux in his choreography as he does for the traditional male-female partnerships, and the overall production incorporates an unusual barrage of cacophonous sound effects, cinematic footage, and bold lighting to draw spectators into its mesmerising and terrifying world. There’s little doubt it worked – the premiere elicited a loud, fervent standing ovation before the curtain call even began. Siphesihle November in Wayne McGregor’s MADDADDAM. Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada Undoubtedly, much of the contemporary dance showcased here will be familiar to those well-versed in the works of William Forsythe and Crystal Pite, amongst others. But it’s bringing such movement into a full-length ballet alongside brilliant and effective multimedia use that makes MADDADDAM particularly innovative and memorable. FIND US IN PRINT 2-ISSUE PACKAGE | 3-ISSUE PACKAGE | 5-ISSUE PACKAGE Supported by Nominated for Best Magazine: Art, Literary, & Culture