Earlier this week I attended a music night at my local public library. The night featured a couple of local musicians as well as Tenpenny Bit a traditional music group from out of town. The evening was free to attend (but a number of people did give small donations), included a couple of hours of … Continue reading Community Conversations and Libraries
Archives Music
When you think of music you probably don't instantly think of archive themed songs. Yet, there are a surprising number of lyrics that mention archives. For your listening pleasure on this snowy Monday: John K. Sampson's "When I Write My Master's Thesis"contains a great reference to archives: "Oh the hours I spent in the archives … Continue reading Archives Music
Cultural Heritage and Traditional Ukrainian Dance
Last weekend I had the privilege of attending a Ukrainian dance recital put on by the Zorya Ukrainian Dance Association in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The recital depicted history from numerous distinct regions of the Ukraine. The dances, costumes, and music all reflected particular events in Ukrainian culture from various different regions.Until attending this recital the … Continue reading Cultural Heritage and Traditional Ukrainian Dance
Canadian History via Ian Tamblyn
Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Canadian folk musician Ian Tamblyn in concert. Ian's music has a distinctly Canadian feel to it and a number of his songs recount moments in Canadian history. Some of the historical topics he touched on last night were the CPR, the Franklin expedition, First Nation/Settler tensions, and … Continue reading Canadian History via Ian Tamblyn
Emily Howell: A Digital Composer
A recent Spark program on CBC radio focused on David Cope and his exploration of the role of artificial intelligence in the creation of music. Cope began working on a similar program Experiments in Music Intelligence(EMI) in the 1980s. This program took existing styles of music and created music based on those styles. For example, … Continue reading Emily Howell: A Digital Composer