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Tuesday, November 3 // Toronto – Soundstreams presents the first concert from our newest series dedicated to musical exploration, Ear Candy. Electric Messiah, running December 7 and 8 at the Drake Hotel Underground, is a new holiday tradition that takes Handel’s masterpiece apart and puts it back together again, reconnecting Toronto audiences to the music of the season in a way that is surprising, fresh, and fun.

“This type of Messiah has never been done in Toronto before,” says Kyle Brenders, Ear Candy curator and Soundstreams Artistic Associate. “Musically, we’re hoping the feel will be something like a mashup of Handel, Bjork, and Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey—but you’ll have to come to find out! We’ll also celebrate Messiah as a community experience, and are excited to push audience immersion further outside of a conventional concert hall.”

Composed in three weeks in the late summer of 1741, Messiah was originally written for modest vocals and instrumentation, only later becoming the huge annual spectacle we are familiar with today. Stripping Handel’s music back down to its barest essentials, Electric Messiah enables four singers, accompanied by guitar and electronics, to explore a selection of the work’s most popular movements through the lens of their own unique styles and cultural backgrounds. Featuring South Indian sound poet Gabriel Dharmoo, improvisation specialist and minister’s daughter Christine Duncan, Finnish-Canadian opera singer Carla Huhtanen, and Maliseet musician Jeremy Dutcher, Electric Messiah celebrates a truly Torontonian array of contemporary music talents. As a narrative through line, turntable artist SlowPitch Sound will also weave his magic throughout, mixing in Messiah old and new in humorous and poignant response to the other performers.

Staged in the intimate, cabaret-style Underground of Toronto’s iconic Drake Hotel, in collaboration with dramaturg Ashlie Corcoran (The Ugly One, Tarragon Theatre and Theatre Smash, The Gay Heritage Project, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and lighting designer Patrick Lavender (It Comes in Waves, bluemouth inc and Necessary Angel Theatre Company), Electric Messiah is an interactive, surround-sound experience that will never be the same twice.

Ear Candy is supported by NOW Magazine and Sovereign State.

Electric Messiah

December 7 and 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Drake Hotel Underground, 1150 Queen Street West

Featuring:
Gabriel Dharmoo, vocals; Christine Duncan, vocals; Jeremy Dutcher, vocals; Carla Huhtanen, vocals; John Gzowski, guitar; Doug Van Nort, electronics; Electroacoustic Orchestra of York University; SlowPitch Sound, resident DJ.

In collaboration with curator Kyle Brenders, dramaturg Ashlie Corcoran, and lighting designer Patrick Lavender.

Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door ($25 if you buy both Ear Candy concerts together), and are available at soundstreams.ca.

Make a night of it: audience members receive a 15% discount on dining at the Drake before the show (food only) with an Electric Messiah ticket.

EAR CANDY: UP NEXT

Electric Counterpoint

March 19, 2016 at 8:00 pm
The Theatre Centre Incubator, 1115 Queen Street West

Featuring: Matt Smith aka Prince Nifty; Brandon Valdivia aka Mas Aya; and Dan Morphy. Resident DJ, SlowPitch Sound.

Soundstreams also offers a Mainstage Concert Series, as well as Salon 21, a free performance and discussion series at the Gardiner Museum.

ABOUT SOUNDSTREAMS

Led by Artistic Director Lawrence Cherney and Executive Director Susan Worthington, Soundstreams showcases the work of living Canadian and international composers with a focus on innovative thematic and experiential programming. In collaboration with the finest Canadian and international artists, Soundstreams presents an annual concert series in Toronto as well as national and international tours. Soundstreams also serve the larger community through our free Salon 21 series at The Gardiner Museum, composer training activities, SoundWave program for music lovers under age 35, and digital performance space, including concert livestreams, SoundMakers website, and video content.

SOUNDSTREAMS SUPPORTERS

Soundstreams acknowledges the support of: Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund, TD Bank, BMO Financial Group, The Mary Margaret Webb Foundation, Metcalf Foundation, The Koerner Foundation, The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, SOCAN Foundation, The Catherine and Maxwell Meighen Foundation, The RBC Emerging Artists Project, The Hal Jackman Foundation, Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, Ontario Arts Foundation, Classical 96.3 FM, NOW Magazine, The Gardiner Museum, Sovereign State, Harbord Bakery and Steam Whistle Brewery.

For more information please contact:

Sarah Baumann, Director of Marketing & External Relations, 416-504-1282, ext. 102

soundstreams.ca / soundmakers.ca / Join us online on Facebook and Twitter @soundstreams