The Chan Centre lines up a world of talent
Venue announces series of concerts that includes Angélique Kidjo and Chucho Valdés Quintet
For its 2012- 13 concert season, the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts plans to bring a world of music to Vancouver as an addition to its function as a venue for programs by partner groups such as the Vancouver Symphony and the Vancouver Recital Society.
At a Telus Studio Theatre reception Wednesday, the Chan announced details of its very own six- pack of concerts — a series that samples the work of performers from around the globe.
Joyce Hinton, co- managing director of the Chan Centre, introduced the lineup, pointing out the musical diversity and quality of the Chan Centre’s guest artists and underscoring the social and political resonances of their work. University of B. C. dean of arts Gage Averill, who has degrees in ethnomusicology, stressed how much of the excitement of the series stems from interplay of styles and idioms.
Concerts begin Oct. 13 with a performance by “Africa’s premier diva” Angélique Kidjo, recently named by the Guardian as one of the top 100 women in art, film, music and fashion. Latin jazz is the focus Nov. 2, with the Chucho Valdés Quintet. The Punch Brothers, who make their Vancouver debut Nov. 24, are a fivemember string band who marry, according to The New Yorker, “old- time music and contemporary sensibilities.”
In “Tango Meets Jazz,” Feb. 16, jazz violinist Regina Carter teams up with Pablo Ziegler, a longtime associate of tango great Astor Piazzolla, and his quartet. Lila Downs, who represents a world of musical styles from the music of Oaxaca to blues and klezmer, returns to the Chan April 21. The series ends with Simon Shaheen’s “The Call: Songs of Liberation,” a program featuring new compositions by Shaheen, as well as songs by Arab composers from the 1950s and ’ 60s.
The centre continues its “Connections” community outreach programming, which contextualizes events through talks, panels and film. Various ticket plans are available from Ticketmaster or the Chan Centre Ticket Office.