Jessica McMann brings Incandescent Tales to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, August 5
Haunting flute sets the mood for Indigenous classical music
re:Naissance Opera copresents Jessica McMann’s Incandescent Tales at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden on August 5 at 6:30 pm as part of Awaken Chinatown: Enchanted Evenings Concert series
JESSICA MCMANN’S Incandescent Tales, performed in the atmospheric Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, should be incandescent indeed.
The Calgary-based Cree musician and multidisciplinary artist’s album tour is full of mesmerizing Indigenous classical music, with work by Indigenous composers, all with her haunting cedar, alto, and classical flute setting the mood.
The artist, who plays the traditional instrument as well as its alto and cedar incarnations, is joined here by Anishinaabe artist Beverley McKiver on piano and Nehiyaw musician Karen Shepherd on violin and viola.
A classically trained flutist, with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Calgary and an MFA in Contemporary Arts from Simon Fraser University, McMann interweaves land, Indigenous identity, history, and language throughout her creations, whether they’re music or dance. She is also a celebrated hoop dancer,
Incandescent Tales grew out of an artist-in-residence stint at the Banff Centre in 2019. As well as her own works, there are compositions by McKiver and Sonny-Ray Day Rider, plus pieces by a few of McMann’s favourite classical composers, such as Dmitri Shostakovich and William Lloyd Webber.
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