Violist Ryan Davis/Radia brings looping, electronic effects to West Vancouver concert, May 26
The boundary-breaking artist joins forces with Toronto’s Gryphon Trio for a wild musical ride
Ryan Davis/Radia. Photo by Stuart Lowe
Kay Meek Arts Centre’s Kay Meek Cabaret presents Ryan Davis/Radia at the McEwen Theatre in West Vancouver on May 26 from 7:30 to 9:30 pm
RYAN DAVIS IS a violist unlike any other. Under the moniker Radia, the Toronto-based composer-performer combines classical, folk, electronic, and hip-hop music with a loop pedal.
His compositions have been featured everywhere from Toronto’s Koerner Hall to Los Angeles’s Skid Row to ABC News LA. Then there was an appearance on How Talented Are You? on the Instagram Live channel of NBA champion and former Toronto Raptors player Serge Ibaka.
Next up is a performance in West Vancouver, where Radia will team up with triple-Juno-winning Gryphon Trio, also from Toronto. And what a match-up it is. Expect a one-of-a-kind boundary-breaking, lightly amplified concert, featuring original Radia songs that include looping and electronic-effects technology, all geared to new and established audiences and in particular to the musically curious.
Davis—who has a bachelor of music with “outstanding achievement in viola” from McGill University, a master’s from the Yale School of Music, and an artist diploma from The Colburn School—has been described by The WholeNote Magazine as “showcasing multitudes of colours and possibilities, with much skill and imagination.”
He was selected as the first ever violist in the Rebanks Family Fellowship & International Performance Residency Program in Toronto. His festival performances include Banff Centre for the Arts, McGill International String Quartet Academy, Festival Napa Valley, and Ritornello Chamber Music Festival, to name a few.
The Gryphon Trio, meanwhile, consists of violinist Annalee Patipatanakoon, cellist Roman Borys, and pianist Jamie Parker, innovators with a penchant for discovery. Together the three have commissioned more than 85 new works, and they collaborate regularly with other artists on projects that push the boundaries of classical music.
Touring regularly across North America and Europe, the ensemble has long-standing relationships with prominent arts incubators and presenters like Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Orford Music Academy, Music Toronto, Ottawa Chamberfest, and Festival del Lago International Academy of Music in Ajijic, Mexico. The trio often performs triple concerti with the world’s major symphony orchestras and smaller chamber orchestras.
The works on offer at the Kay Meek show will come alive at the intersection between tradition and innovation.
See here for more information.
