Monday Roundup #271

Community notes:

• Mira Riselli's Solitary Shrew Residency is coming back to The Tranzac, and there is a Call for Performers in progress, all artistic disciplines welcome. "Solitary Shrew is a monthly residency at The Tranzac that features performances led by women and/or gender non-conforming artists." Check out the instagram for information on reaching out!

• Matt Nish-Lapidus (who's been covered on this blog in several different capacities) will be presenting a workshop at the Music Gallery entitled "Exploring Code as Music/Instrument in SuperCollider". "Matt will talk about the basics of coding: how to type your code, run it, and make simple sounds. During the first part of the workshop you will follow along with Matt and replicate coding building blocks in order to create and sequence an interesting synthesized sound. [...] This workshop is tailored for beginners, but can also give experienced Supercollider users some insights into the fundamentals of the language, and an opportunity to gather with like-minded artists and community members." It's taking place at InterAccess on Thursday (March 26th), and tickets are $10-$20 on a pay-what-you-can-afford basis. More info here.

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Movietown:

• I Am the Art, Annette Mangaard's feature documentary on Nobuo Kubota lands at Hot Docs for a screening on Sunday (March 29th). Word on the street is that some familiar musicians worked on the score, and there's bound to be some important and fascinating local music history on the screen. ($15, screening at 4 p.m.).

• Meanwhile, Grace Glowicki's film Dead Lover is opening at The Revue next week, "PRESENTED IN GLORIOUS STINK-O-VISION!". The trailer looks pretty wild! Screenings on the 3rd and 4th are special events with cast & crew in attendance. This gets a special note here because the film has the first-ever score by local faves U.S. Girls, including this fab jammer:

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Concert announcements:

Harry Vetro and Friends [Harry Vetro/Harrison Argatoff/Alex Manoukas/Andrew Furlong] / The Emmet Ray 2026-03-30 (Monday). $15. [more info]

Not Dead Yet presents (feat. Milkweed / lostworldsounds) / BSMT254 2025-03-31 (Tuesday). $24.94, 19+. [tickets + more info]

Axiomatic Heresy [Jonathan Kay/Kayla Milmine/Nick Fraser/Alex Fournier] / The Rex 2026-04-01 (Wednesday – 5 p.m.). $pwyc. [more info]

Holy Oak Family Singers presents: Songs we wrote as teens (feat. Luka Kuplowsky/Thom Gill/Ella Coys/Stefana Fratila/Tiffany Wu/Sam Tudor/Heather Saumer/Ben Gunning/Mira Martin-Gray/Charles James/Kieran AdamsStephan Prickett/Caitlin Woelfe-o'Brien) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-04-01 (Wednesday – 7 p.m.). [more info]

B.A. Johnston (Sons of Butcher / Thunderkok) / The Baby G 2025-04-18 (Saturday). $21.53, 19+. [FB event]

A Horse Named Friday (Penknife / Westelaken) / St.Stephens-in-the-fields 2026-04-19 (Sunday). $20/pwyc, all-ages

Labyrinth Ontario with Efrén López / Array Space 2026-05-09 (Saturday). $50 (regular)/$45 (friends of the museum)/$37.50 (students and seniors)/$20 (limited rush tickets). [FB event]

TONE Presents (feat. Eric Chenaux & Ryan Driver / Rafael Toral / Masahiro Takahashi & Brodie West) / Standard Time 2025-05-14 (Thursday). $33.64 advance/$35 door, all-ages. [FB event]

Is your show missing from this list? Submit it via this form!

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Shows this week:

bangs!bangs!bangs! (Woolworm, Ontario / Mammalian Body Plan) / Houndstooth 2026-03-23 (Monday). $PWYC ($10 suggested/NOTAFLOF). [more info]

No Octopus Dancing [Allison Cameron/Germaine Liu/Stephen Parkinson/Mark Zurawinski] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-24 (Tuesday – early) [more info]

Today Versions presents (feat. Teething / Del Stephen) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2026-03-24 (Tuesday). $10. [more info]

Samantha Richter [Samantha Richter/Pat Lefler/Andrew O’brien/Ben Rositsan] (Elrichman [solo piano]) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-24 (Tuesday). $pwyc. [more info]

Charlotte Cornfield / Sonic Boom 2026-03-25 (Wednesday). $free, all-ages. [more info]

Rob Clutton & Josh Cole / Sellers & Newel 2025-03-25 (Wednesday). $20 minimum donation. [FB event]

Brandon Davis's Stations Quartet [Brandon Davis/Patrick O'Reilly/Luan Phung/Germaine Liu] / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-25 (Wednesday) [more info]

Karen Ng Presents: Lucky Vicky (feat. Kate Nankervis and Vic Cheong Create a Breathable Space / Nifty) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-26 (Thursday) [more info]

All-Set! Presents (feat. Molehill) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-27 (Friday – early). [more info]

GOON (Shaaane / Battle Milk) / The Tranzac (Living Room) 2026-03-27 (Friday). $10. [more info]

Exit Points #70 (feat. Vee Ray/Nuha Yousuf/Sara Rose Caplan/Christopher Whitley/Michael Palumbo / Luan Phung/Chibu Victor/Stephen Acosta/Pierre Mongeon/Kimia Farokhzad) / Array Space 2026-03-27 (Friday). $22.89 (advanve)/$28.27 (general admission). [FB event]

The Ryan Driver Sextet / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-27 (Friday). $pwyw. [FB event]

people | places | records Residency (feat. Christopher Mayo with Grace Scheele/Andrew Noseworthy/Joseph Glaser/Liam Aldous / Emmanuel Lacopo) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-28 (Saturday). $pwyc. [more info]

Imaginary North and The AMBiENT PiNG present Ambient Afternoon (feat. Ben McCarthy / Inchoate / Erica Whyte) / Society Clubhouse 2025-03-29 (Sunday – 2 p.m.). $10 at the door, NOTAFLOF. fully accessible and family friendly. [FB event]

Cosmic Homeostasis XXXI / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-29 (Sunday – 2:30 p.m.). $pwyc, all-ages/family-friendly. [FB event]

Sympathetic String Band (ARTU) / The Tranzac (Southern Cross Lounge) 2026-03-29 (Sunday – early). $pwyc. [more info]

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It happened this week...

• ...on March 23, 2015 at The Emmet Ray.

Pendrith Trio - Mem

• ...on March 26, 2015 at Church of the Holy Trinity (Songs of Resilience).

The Queer Songbook Orchestra - Don't You Pay Them No Mind

[Do remember that you can click on the tags below to go back and find the original posts (and often, more stuff) from these artists.]

Recording: The Queer Songbook Orchestra

Artist: The Queer Songbook Orchestra feat. Thom Gill

Song: Cosmic Dancer [T. Rex cover]

Recorded at The Great Hall's Black Box (Long Winter 4.5 – Night 1), March 18, 2016.

The Queer Songbook Orchestra feat. Thom Gill - Cosmic Dancer

You can't fault Long Winter for being ambitious and for wanting to close out the season by cramming in as much music and art into the Great Hall as possible, but their plan to close the year out with a two-night stand didn't entirely pay off. Giving patrons the choice of two nights (and holding them at the end of Spring Break) seemed to especially cut into the younger crowd and both nights (especially Friday) lacked that "about to burst" feeling that makes LW unique. But even if the crowd was at less than maximum strength, there was no certainly no lack of music spread throughout the building.

Crowding ten members on stage, the QSO's elaborately-arranged covers were a most-pleasing change of pace at Long Winter and one of the night's real treats. Cramming in a half-dozen songs into their set, there was less storytelling than usual, but a lot of wonderful music sung by Alex Samaras and Ghislain Aucoin — and this one by Thom Gill, delivered in his disarmingly off-the-cuff style with his own commentary following quickly on the lyrics.

[The QSO will be presenting an evening of Anthems & Icons at The Music Gallery on Sunday, April 17th.]

Recording: The Queer Songbook Orchestra

Artist: The Queer Songbook Orchestra

Songs: Telstar [The Tornados cover, arrangement by Ford Pier] + Don't You Pay Them No Mind (feat. Geordie Gordon) [Nina Simone cover, arrangement by Christian Overton]

Recorded at Church of the Holy Trinity (Songs of Resilience), March 26, 2015.

The Queer Songbook Orchestra - Telstar

The Queer Songbook Orchestra - Don't You Pay Them No Mind

Although it contains a number of fabulous musicians¹, the Queer Songbook Orchestra is more than just a band — it's as much an archival project and a community resource, "taking a look back at the history of popular music with the queer lens intact, and revealing the backstories and personal narratives behind much of the last century's popular songs". The songs are often presented with stories — stories of composers and musicians who had to encode their true meanings and stories of listeners who found empowerment through music.

The two songs here (from a phenomenal night filled with them) hint at both of those: "Telstar" shifts the song from poppy ebullience to a lament for composer/producer Joe Meek, whose queerness intensified his isolation in postwar Britain, while Geordie Gordon (of Guelph disco-rockers The Magic) sang a Nina Simone song that gave him strength. These two songs also showcase the band's musical ambition, as they've commissioned forward-looking arrangements for the songs that eschew good-time karaoke-style covers.

There's a lot of praise due to Shaun Brodie (known for his work in The Hidden Camera, Evening Hymns, plus heaps of live + session work with many Can-indie luminaries), who shepherded this project, and mention has to be made of Sean Frey and Amy Siegel, whose live projections added even more emotional heft to the music. Keep an eye out for the QSO's next presentation (June 21st at Buddies in Bad Times), which will celebrate the life and work of Duke Ellington sideman and great composer Billy Strayhorn.

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¹ On this night the band was: Sienna Dahlen (vocals), Alex Samaras (vocals), Simone Schmidt (vocals), Gary Beals (vocals), Geordie Gordon (vocals), Jennifer Burford (violin), Evan Lamberton (cello), Lief Mosbaugh (oboe/english horn/vocals), Mara Pellerin (french horn), Shaun Brodie (trumpet/flugelhorn), Ghislain Aucoin (piano/vocals), Jordan Howard (guitar), Andrew Downing (double bass), Stefan Schneider (drums).