Recording: Andréa Tyniec with Terri Hron

Artist: Andréa Tyniec with Terri Hron

Song: Love Song for MAD [excerpt]

Recorded at Buddies in Bad Times Cabaret ("Soundstreams' Ear Candy: Almost Unplugged"), February 1, 2018.

Andréa Tyniec with Terri Hron - Love Song for MAD [excerpt] [composer: Terri Hron]

Soundstreams' Ear Candy series is "dedicated to musical exploration and discovery in Toronto’s hottest venues", creating intimate experiences in smaller spaces and bringing together contemporary performance practices that might be just a hair too edgy for their mainstage shows. This night featured two highly-skilled violinists approaching their instrument from different angles finding common ground. Playing a Stradivari violin, Tyniec represented the world of serious music and serious chops, displaying a deft command of delicate dynamics on pieces from Eugène Ysaÿe and Michael Oesterle. But she also showed an eagerness to embrace new musical forms on this electroacoustic collaboration with composer Terri Hron, which digs into the letters, cassettes and films of her parents and grandparents (as detailed in her companion notes to the piece).

[The Ear Candy series returns to Buddies on Tuesday May 15th with Beat It!, a percussion-based programme from Ryan Scott & co. featuring a world premieres from composers Nicole Lizée and Michael Oesterle. Meanwhile, Soundstreams' Salon 21 programme has been re-branded as Encounters and has a new home at The Gladstone. These shows are free with registration and offer adventurous programming, so they're a great way to discover something new. Performers for the next couple shows haven't been announced (keep an eye out here) but there was a note to save-the-date for April 10th (evening show) and June 3rd (afternoon show).]

Contest: Andréa Tyniec and Jesse Zubot

Almost Unplugged with Andréa Tyniec and Jesse Zubot

February 1, 2018, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

Soundstreams is one of the local heavyweights when it comes to presenting contemporary, composed music, and their main stage concerts are big events, often at Trinity-St. Paul's but occasionally expanding all the way to the likes of Massey Hall. But they also like to get their hands dirty and tear into the music's fibre in closer quarters, such as in last year's excellent Salon 21 series event featuring Germaine Liu's ceramic percussion. The Ear Candy series is dedicated to "musical exploration and discovery" in smaller venues and less formal environments, remixing and experimenting with new ways of being creative with sound (MFS fave SlowPitchSound is a frequent series collaborator).

The next show in the series mixes chamber music with improvised sounds by pairing violinists Andréa Tyniec and Jesse Zubot. The latter probably needs no introduction to readers of this blog, known as he is for his recent work with Tanya Tagaq on stage and album — and he's also worked with Destroyer, Fond of Tigers, Gordon Grdina and Peggy Lee, as well as the likes of Steve Reich, Francois Houle, Fred Firth, Mats Gustafsson and many others. Andréa Tyniec has an equally impressive background in the contemporary classical scene, and I'm looking forward to discovering her sounds at this show, including some icy cool electronic textures from Terri Hron. This show will see solo excursions from each of the performers exploring their own idiom, and then will culminate in a duet of an original piece created specifically for this performance.

TICKETS + MORE INFO

Single tickets are now available for purchase for $20 in advance (or $25 at the door).

CONTEST

Thanks to the cool folks at Soundstreams, I have a pair of tickets to the show to give away! Contest now closed, thanks for entering!

To enter, shoot me an email to mechanicalforestsound@gmail.com, with "contest" in the title and your name in the body. I'll randomly draw a winner on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 at noon.