Civic Engagement Artist Residency
2022 | 23
Monday
Oct 31, 2022
1:00pm
Venue Online
Cost Free
Bringing Music to Life
Witness the transformation from singer to creator as Pacific Opera’s resident citizen artists are mentored by industry professionals from across Canada.
You are invited to follow along here, where we’ll share photos and videos showcasing the artists’ journey as they delve into their own creative potential throughout this artist residency. The year culminates in a series of four video recitals as well as an in-person event focused on the connection between art and place.
Soprano Natalya Gennadi, soprano Jaclyn Grossman, baritone Luka Kawabata, and tenor Pierre Luc Houde are the Civic Engagement Artist Residency Cohort for 2022|23, the third year of the program. The four singers will be mentored by artists accomplished in a variety of performing arts disciplines through a process of creation, storytelling with voice, and authentic personal connection to song.
Through artist-led learning, fostering creativity, and cultivating community, our artists bring music to life.
“As we transition to becoming singing professionals, we need to explore what makes us special as artists and what we have to say as people. We need to find ways to reach our communities and make a positive impact on our art and our surroundings. One of the most impactful ways to do this is to embrace and share who we are and where we come from. To explore how that directly colours the way we make music and relates to text and experience. I would like to explore these different possibilities in our work together and encourage these wonderful singers to step outside what is accepted as traditional classical repertoire and expectations and to explore what might be already in their back pocket but not yet viewed as valid or enough.” – Miriam Khalil, Music Alive Mentor
2022|23 Cohort
Mentors
- Denise Ball
- Mercedes Bátiz-Benét
- Isaiah Bell
- Nicholas Borg
- Bradley Dick
- Rich Coburn
- Rebecca Hass
- Miriam Khalil
- Mackenzie Lawrence
- Shawn Macdonald
- Johnathan McCullough
- Lisa Mercure
- Jessica Sault
- Chris Sibbald
- Dylan Toombs
- Aria Umezawa
- Stephanie Wong
What is a “citizen artist”?
Yo-Yo Ma defines citizen artists as those who “transcend technique in order to seek out the truth in our world in a way that gives meaning and sustenance to individuals and communities.”
It is a bridging of “high art” and “community art” that both serves artistic excellence and discourse, and uses artistic innovation to create social or civic impact.
While participating in this residency, the artists will work in collaboration with Pacific Opera’s civic partners, including the Inter Cultural Association of Greater Victoria, the Victoria Public Library, the Victoria Native Friendship Centre, and local educators to bring music to life for our community in new, meaningful ways.
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Past Years
Blond Zosia Call for Materials
Contribute to the Civic Engagement Artist Residency!
One of the digital projects Blond Zosia is calling for materials about extraordinary women! Send in celebrations of the women in your life, historical changemakers, and present-day activists.
Submit here!