CALGARY PERFORMERS ARDEN, TEGAN AND SARA SHARE THEIR TALENTS
There is nothing quite like a good storyteller. And when said story is about Alberta’s rich cultural history — told through the lens of music, unique and interesting are the result.
Trust the innovative folks at the National Music Centre (NMC) and ATB Financial to understand the cache of this unique pairing. Its inaugural instalment, ATB Storytellers Series, premiered to rave reviews Oct 6 in the fabulous Studio Bell performance hall and featured an interview and performance with Calgary-born synth-pop act Tegan and Sara. Award-winning Calgary-based singer-songwriter Jann Arden did a superb job as host and interviewer.
“We are proud of our Alberta roots and look forward to visiting Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre, for the first time,” said Tegan and Sara.
The ATB Storytellers Exhibi- tion, sponsored by ATB Financial, is a new temporary exhibition that showcases Alberta’s rich music story. The exhibition is free and accessible to the public through January 8, 2017.
The exhibit features a collection of artifacts and recorded oral histories with iconic Albertans, including Jann Arden, noted journalist Holger Petersen, jazz pianist Tommy Banks, Royalty Records Founder R. Harlan Smith, blues artist Amos Garrett, and France Levasseur- Ouimet, Franco-Albertan historian and professor emeritus, among others.
Centring on four themes — Music Through the Times, Music in Alberta’s Communities, Cultural Influences on Music, and Prairie Scramble — the exhibition also features digital stories made in collaboration with several elementary schools, highlighting the next generation of Albertans.
“In a lot of ways the history of music in Alberta is the history of Alberta, with its diverse voices and huge impact on our dayto-day lives,” said Dave Mowat, president and CEO, ATB Financial. “We’re thrilled that the ATB Storytellers Exhibition at Studio Bell will retell some of the madein-Alberta stories that many may have never heard.”
Among the guests in attendance at the terrific event were: National Music Centre president and CEO Andrew Mosker and colleague Jeni Piepgrass; CampFYREfly’s Hilary Mutch, Ariana Roper, Levin Ifko and Andy Rubio; Holt Renfrew’s Tracy Logan; Lifford Wines & Spirits’ Ellen Brawn and her husband, Brawn Family Foundation’s Dean Brawn; MLA Jessica Littlewood; ATB board member Colette Miller; Calgary Sexual Health Centre president and CEO Pam Krause; Karen Ball; ATB’s Kathie Arychuk and Sandra Huculak; Avnish and Bijal Mehta; Kim Trim; and Forward Level Marketing’s Amish Morjaria.