Recording: Charles Spearin

Artist: Charles Spearin

Song: unknown [last section]^*

Recorded in the CNE Bandshell (Ministry of Phonic Services' Back to School Field Trip — Waterfront), September 23, 2025.

Charles Spearin - unknown [last section]

This "waterfront" night out at the Field Trip festival was originally slated for Marilyn Bell Park, right on the shores of Lake Ontario. Rainy weather kept that from happening, but some organizational ingenuity meant the event still took place outside, and still lake-adjacent. Moving to the CNE Bandshell gave the night its own flavour, with performers and audience alike staying dry under the circular overhang, framing the performances from the opposite perspective one might expect. (And as an aside, let's note that this lovely heritage structure sits empty for most of the year, and ponder on what it would be like to live in a city where a really small allocation of resources could activate it in all kinds of inneresting ways.)

Showing off what can be accomplished with modern battery-powered speakers, Charles Spearin performed this piece for processed nyckelharpa through a four-channel surround sound system, echoes and sweeps of the strings moving across the space. (The set also lead off with a different sort of spacialization in a stripped-down version of his piece "Music For 32 Phones Played Simultaneously", creating a very cool participatory circle on the big stage.)

^* Does anyone know the title to this one? Please leave a comment!