Guelph venue presents music set to unpublished poetry of author Thomas King
GUELPH — A cosy little cinder block music venue in Guelph has come up with some interesting programming in its five years, but this week the musicians collective is trying something new.
Silence on Essex Street will present a concert, “When You Were Gone: A Journey through Sound and Word.” The new work will feature the previously unpublished poetry of celebrated Canadian author Thomas King, set to music and performed by the house band, Silence Collective.
“It really originated with Tom. He’s connected to this space and he’s a devoted musician,” said Daniel Fischlin, one of seven musicians in Silence Collective and one of the venue’s founders. “I heard that Tom had all these lyrics (poems) that were unpublished.”
Bringing these works into the public eye at Silence seemed ideal.
“This space was created for all musicians of all levels to experiment, to try new instruments,” said Fischlin. “He’s very serious and really got drawn into the whole improvisation that we do.”
Fischlin said everyone at Silence knows King for his music, whereas the outside world doesn’t often get to see the acclaimed writer exploring his other passion.
Silence was able to commission this new work with the help of a Canadian Council for the Arts grant plus support from the University of Guelph’s International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation.
“When You Were Here” runs Thursday and Friday evening, with time before the performance to meet and chat with King, one of Canada’s most celebrated Indigenous writers.
“I think it’s so neat to meld Tom’s words to music,” said Fischlin.
Though known as a writer, King has been dabbling in music for a long time, more recently learning to master the flugelhorn. Rebecca Hennessy, a Toronto-based trumpet player, bandleader and composer, was chosen to turn King’s words into music. The composer has recorded with and performed alongside Adele, Ron Sexsmith, Andy Kim and Feist among other musical luminaries.
“She and Tom got together,” said Fischlin. “One of the issues was being sensitive to the cultural context, where the lyrics come from.”
The new composition will feature musicians Jeff Bird, Matt Brubeck, Colin Couch, Gary Diggins, Lewis Melville, Joe Sobara and Fischlin.
“We’re really excited to do this,” Fischlin said. “It’s in the spirit of what we do here at Silence.”