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The Making of Midspace
I’ve recently emerged from a rich period of work: stacking all the kinds of music on top of each other in a mash of practice,...
Dec 7, 20234 min read


sL is Growing and Evolving!
suddenlyLISTEN is evolving. For 23 years I have run sL almost solo. I always had highly valued administrative help, but I was terrible at...
Oct 16, 20232 min read


Looking around at 22/23
This time of year seems to roll around faster and faster each year, but it is always a welcome mini-break from the busy season. And it's...
Dec 15, 20222 min read


2021/22 in Review: Whew!
Hi from PEI. We’ve settled here over the past week or so, for our usual (first time in 2 years!) summer work at the Charlottetown...
Jun 9, 20223 min read
20 Years
What a time it continues to be! We’ve all had the discussion (“what’s going to happen?” “What a world we live in”). We’ve asked the...
Sep 24, 20204 min read
Weird Times Continue
It is completely outside our experience to look out our windows into an international crisis, feeling the disruption, discomfort and...
Sep 24, 20203 min read
The Strangest Times
These are the strangest of times. By Friday, March 13 we at suddenlyLISTEN knew things were shifting quickly for us, our work, our...
Sep 24, 20203 min read


The Big Trip Italy 2
So time has flown. I'm actually back in Halifax now, in normal life, with echoes of this tour and these concerts ringing in my ears! But...
Sep 23, 20203 min read


The Big Trip - Italy
We have now been in Italy for 2 days. I've had a couple of chances to look around a bit, eaten some food, and had numerous (very small)...
Sep 23, 20201 min read


The Big Trip - Edinburgh 2
Things have been busy! So I'm bit behind on posts. Here's the final Scottish post. It's warmer here in Bologna..... I’m writing now from...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


The Big Trip - Edinburgh
Wow that was an intense 2 days! It started with an early rise, a 9am fast train that turned slow, a 3 hour late arrival, a sudden meal of...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


The Big Trip - London
I guess you don't really need to write much about The Colourscape Music Festival in London...a picture, (especially here) is worth a...
Sep 23, 20201 min read
The Big Trip #3
I'm such terrible picture taker! I apologize for this blog's freedom from photographs! I am so busy looking around, it just doesn't occur...
Sep 23, 20201 min read
The Big Trip #2
It's amazing how two cellists can travel from distant points on the globe and manage to meet up, on time, in Kings Cross Station in the...
Sep 23, 20201 min read


The Big Trip #1
Introduction: Summer ended yesterday. They say in PEI that the weather changes after the Gold Cup and Saucer Harness Race. With global...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


More Travels!
suddenlyLISTEN and I are so happy to announce that A:B, my duo with my friend Italian cellist, Nicola Baroni of Bologna, will undertake a...
Sep 23, 20201 min read


Travels
It's been a great season for suddenlyLISTEN travels, and with this exciting announcement, we can tell you about more to come! 2017/18 saw...
Sep 23, 20203 min read
Freedman Closes out 17/18
It was 2007 when suddenlyLISTEN first brought Lori Freedman to Halifax. This was by no means her first trip east, she’d been here many...
Sep 23, 20201 min read


Glasgow 3
I don’t mind getting to the airport early, it gives me a chance to reflect a bit on the trip that is ending, and people watch…. The past...
Sep 23, 20203 min read


Glasgow 2
The past two days have been fascinating. Nick and I continue to confront questions about our piece and imagine new possibilities! Each...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


Glasgow 1
I have arrived and am a couple of days into work with Nick Fells. We started with a walk around west end Glasgow, getting the lay of the...
Sep 23, 20202 min read
Lessons of the Semi-Tone Modulation
Day one of a super sweet gig in Kingston is done! I love my summer life in Charlottetown, it's true. The cycling, tearing through the...
Sep 23, 20202 min read
Sabbatical Tour Chronicles #1
It’s a stunning morning, misty and unusually warm for late-ish October. As the sun rises the beams stream in the windows of Stanfield...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


2017-18 Season Roll Out
Welcome to our new season. This year, the hard working people at sL have decided to tease you into things: announcing our season...
Sep 23, 20202 min read


The Big Trip - Biennale
Concert day: La Biennale di Venezia! The climax to this whole project, and one of Europe's biggest annual arts festivals. The concert...
Sep 23, 20202 min read
April Shows, not Showers
This post is the next in the series of suddenlyLISTEN's email reposts! Adams, Baroni, Crofts As easy as 1,2,3... 8pm, Wednesday, April 5,...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
February Update
I haven't posted here for quite a while, yet I spend hours assembling wonderful and informative suddenlyLISTEN email blasts. SO I thought...
Sep 22, 20201 min read


Listening. Listening?
Summer is a good time for thinking. For me it is the pause between the old and new year, and I often find myself pondering what I have...
Sep 22, 20203 min read


The Big Recording Project II
Well, I've been working at it. The Big Recording Project. Each day I head down to my little room at 1313 Hollis Street and commit...
Sep 22, 20202 min read


The Big Recording Project
I've been thinking about this for a while: A solo record. I don't think of myself as a soloist really, but I am definitely a person who...
Sep 22, 20202 min read


Glasgow Blog 5
I’ve jumped a day again. Each day is quite full out here! Monday morning we awoke before 7, (well I sort of opened my eyes, as I was in...
Sep 22, 20204 min read


London Blog 4
Wow I missed a day there. Yesterday was very busy, with computer work in the morning, drifting into the afternoon, and The AMM concert at...
Sep 22, 20202 min read


London Blog 3
It was a productive day yesterday, begun by dragging my jetlagged butt out of bed and soaking it in strong coffee for a good period. Then...
Sep 22, 20203 min read


London Blog 2
The flight and following daze was as disorienting as usual! I took the tube into central London as usual, and made the short walk to the...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
UK trip 2015!
Last year at this time, I was was feeling pretty burned out, by an unrelenting schedule of orchestra, administration, suddenlyLISTEN...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Bozzini +4 >> Derome
I am especially excited about presenting the music of Jean Derome on this concert. Jean is one of Canada’s most active and eclectic...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Bozzini + 4 >> Wolff
This is the second in a series of three posts outlining the composers and works featured on suddenlyLISTEN’s Bozzini + 4 concert at 8pm...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Bozzini + 4 >> Cardew
This is the first in my series of articles about the composers we are performing on suddenlyLISTEN's Bozzini + 4 concert. First:...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Bozzini Quartet +4 #1
On Tuesday, November 17, the Bozzini Quartet of Montreal and friends Suzanne Lemieux, Dominic Desautels, Susan Sayle and Norman Adams...
Sep 22, 20201 min read
Why??? Oh Lord Why?
“So what am I doing? Why do I do this? What is the &%#8@ point??” That question comes up pretty frequently with me these days. I’ve been...
Sep 22, 20204 min read
Pedersen, Dulberger and Adams Oct.4
The concert this weekend is one that’s very special to me. Mostly because I’m the biggest fan of Craig Pedersen…. Craig is a young...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Back Patting
The other day I saw a listing online, of the guest artists at the Vision Festival in New York City. The Vision Fest is celebrating the...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
A look back at suddenlyLISTEN in 2014-15
It’s nice to look back, especially in the arts and arts organization business, where we spend so much time looking forward. In fact if I...
Sep 22, 20203 min read
Hermitofthewoods: Questions and Answers
Norman Adams, AD of suddenlyLISTEN asked Hermitofthewoods (aka Michael McGuire) a few probing questions this week, and here's what he...
Sep 22, 20203 min read
And Finally
As I now sit at home in Halifax, having experienced the past week and especially the most recent two whirlwind days, the tour seems a bit...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Ontario
The Hammer. Who knew there was improvised music there? Well, I don’t think there was very much until Cem Zafir arrived last year. Cem is...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Even Further Out
Vancouver and Victoria are so fortunate to have artist-run centres that are dedicated to new music programming. Halifax had the Khyber,...
Sep 22, 20201 min read
The West Coast
One of the other temples of improvised music is The Western Front in Vancouver. It’s one of the countries oldest artist-run centres, and...
Sep 22, 20201 min read
C/A/P + GH in Montreal
Casa del Popolo on Rue St. Laurent, is one of the Canadian temples of adventurous live music, and last night was a special as we all...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
Blogging from the road
It’s quite an undertaking touring a group of musicians. In Canada at least fringe art forms need financial help. The Canada Council helps...
Sep 22, 20202 min read
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