QUEBECITE - A Stunning new Canadian Opera - SEPT. 5 - GUELPH, ON

[Nadine Sivak]

DON'T MISS THIS ONE!
For those within driving distance of Guelph.....(or LOTS of Air Miles!)

I attended a workshop of Québécité in June and I am not prone to
over-the-top statements, but so far, this is the most exciting live
performance event I've experienced - EVER. If there is any justice, this
work will have a very long life beyond this single performance (SEPT. 5, 8
PM, RIVER RUN CENTRE) and will hopefully represent Canada at the 2005 World
Exposition in Aichi, Japan.
(Note: For those in and around Vancouver, a scaled down version of this
opera will be at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre on Oct. 17 & 18. More
details to come.)

Please see the Press Release below and COME TO GUELPH on SEPT. 5! You'll
experience something truly extraordinary.

Nadine Sivak
Toronto

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Guelph Jazz Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Québécité !
Internationally acclaimed festival’s 2003 edition promises to be most
memorable ever.

Heralded by The Globe and Mail as “one of the most visionary” musical events
in Canada, and a three-time recipient of the prestigious Lieutenant
Governor’s Award for the Arts, the Guelph Jazz Festival & Colloquium is
thrilled to present its 10th anniversary program on September 3-7, 2003,
which promises to be the festival’s most ambitious yet. Guided by the vision
of its Artistic Director, Ajay Heble, the GJF has come to be known worldwide
as an exceptionally inclusive meeting of innovative musicians and an
enthusiastic listening community. A review of the 2002 edition of the
Festival in Down Beat—undoubtedly the world’s most widely read jazz
magazine—says that Guelph’s “smart, progressive programming has few peers”
on the international jazz scene and calls our festival “a remarkable
achievement.”

The centerpiece of our 10th anniversary program is a specially commissioned
jazz opera entitled Québécité. This landmark performance will feature music
by Canadian-born/New York-based pianist and composer D.D. Jackson (Jazz
Report Composer of the Year in both 2000 and 1996, Juno Award winner, and
winner of the SOCAN Award for Best Jazz Composition) and a libretto by
Governor General’s Award winning African-Canadian poet/librettist George
Elliott Clarke (author of Beatrice Chancy and Whylah Falls).

In Québécité, the drama revolves around two interracial couples who live,
love, break up and make up—in Quebec city. In a recent article in the
Montreal Gazette, Clarke explains how he incorporated elements of the true
love story of Jackson’s parents into the script. Jackson’s mother was
Chinese, his father Afro-American. They met in the U.S. south, but moved to
Ottawa to escape the disapproval of her family. According to Clarke,
however, Québécité is not a didactic rant. Expect lots of passion,
heartbreak, and laid-back rhythms and a bit of literary name-dropping
involving Quebec visible minority writers like Nigel Thomas, Neil
Bissoondath, Ying Chen and Lorena Gale. Don’t look for arguments about
separatism to loom large. “In a way, it’s a silly love song, but
deliberately involving people of colour, in a city that’s not associated
with people of colour,” said Clarke. “When we look at the history, we know
that there was always a coloured population in that city because of the fact
there was slavery. It’s something that nobody ever wants to remember. But I
choose to remember that; it’s part of the context.”

Clarke’s vision has already generated great excitement, with media outlets
such as Maclean’s magazine publishing a preview, and CBC Radio programs
scheduled to document this historic moment in Canada’s arts community.
Director Colin Taylor takes the reins of this production, which will feature
a stellar lineup of musicians from across Canada: West coast avant-garde
musicians Peggy Lee and Brad Turner on cello and trumpet respectively, the
exciting Toronto drummer Jean Martin, virtuoso Ottawa bassist John Geggie
(both Jean and John, incidentally, performed at the 1st edition of the GJF),
and composer D.D. Jackson on piano. The featured vocalists for the opera
include longtime Guelph resident Haydain Neale (the dynamic young leader of
the hugely popular R&B/acid jazz group jacksoul), acclaimed Toronto-based
Indian vocalist Kiran Ahluwalia, gospel sensation Dean Bowman, and the
remarkable New York-based experimental jazz vocalist Yoon Choi. The
production represents an explicit broadening of the cultural scope of (and
subject matter for) new Canadian opera and, like the GJF itself, we hope
that it will function as a potent socio-cultural and artistic agent of
change.

Look for updates and full schedule details at www.guelphjazzfestival.com.
The GJF is a not-for-profit group powered by a dedicated core of volunteers.
Our mandate is to celebrate innovative world-class jazz and creative
improvised music in a festive community atmosphere!

For more information about The Guelph Jazz Festival and the 2003 program, or
to co-ordinate interviews with artists participating in this year’s
festival, please contact Executive Director Julie Hastings at the Festival’s
office:

The Guelph Jazz Festival E-mail: info at guelphjazzfestival.com
123 Woolwich Street, 2nd Floor Phone: (519) 763-4952
Guelph, ON Canada N1H 3V1 Fax: (519) 763-3155

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