A new travelling music and arts festival dubbed New Constellations will bring some of Canada's finest performers across the country this fall.
The event is composed of three components — a tour, a mentorship program and a documentary — and each part will be present at the 13 festival stops across Canada. The shows start off on November 23 in Saskatoon and will wrap up on December 20 in Toronto. See the full list of dates down below.
Bringing together music and literature, performers at the events include Feist, A Tribe Called Red, July Talk, Lido Pimienta, Weaves, Naomi Klein, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Narcy, Mob Bounce, George Elliott Clarke, Miriam Toews, Jordan Abel, Rich Aucoin, Heather O'Neill and La Force. See the complete list of artist and speakers involved here.
The mentorship program, meanwhile, has enlisted artists like DJ NDN, Narcy, Pimienta, IsKwé and Weaves' Jasmyn Burke as leaders to help Indigenous youth hone their creative writing, songwriting, music creation, and DJ/production skills.
The project will culminate with a tour documentary, produced by Antica Productions (who worked on Gord Downie's Secret Path project) and directed by Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer.
New Constellations is a joint effort by the Basement Revue (co-founded by Jason Collett and Damian Rogers) and Indigenous music platform/record label/artist collective Revolutions Per Minute.
"Besides being a rotating roster of festival-style performances, New Constellations is an intimate opportunity to listen to voices of resurgence — of what is clearly an Indigenous next wave," said Collett said in a statement. "The momentum is palpable, and it's inspiring to be a part of such a special celebration."
RPM co-founder Jarrett Martineau added, "The power of New Constellations is in the new relationships and creative connections that are being made. Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists rarely perform or create together, so this is an amazing opportunity to see what happens when they do. With where we are in this country's history, that collaboration is more important than ever."
Find full information about the upcoming events at the New Constellations website.
Tour dates:
11/23 Saskatoon, SK –The Broadway Theatre
11/24 Calgary, AB – The Gateway
11/25 Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room
11/26 Prince Albert, SK – E. A. Rawlinson Centre
11/27 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre
11/28 Thunder Bay, ON – Port Arthur Polish Hall
11/29 Wiikwemkoong, ON – Debajehmujig Creation Centre
12/06 Halifax, NS – Spatz Theatre
12/07 Fredericton, NB – Playhouse Theatre
12/08 Montreal, ON – L'Astral
12/09 Ottawa, ON – Bronson Centre
12/10 Kitigan Zibi, QC – Community Hall
12/20 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
The event is composed of three components — a tour, a mentorship program and a documentary — and each part will be present at the 13 festival stops across Canada. The shows start off on November 23 in Saskatoon and will wrap up on December 20 in Toronto. See the full list of dates down below.
Bringing together music and literature, performers at the events include Feist, A Tribe Called Red, July Talk, Lido Pimienta, Weaves, Naomi Klein, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Narcy, Mob Bounce, George Elliott Clarke, Miriam Toews, Jordan Abel, Rich Aucoin, Heather O'Neill and La Force. See the complete list of artist and speakers involved here.
The mentorship program, meanwhile, has enlisted artists like DJ NDN, Narcy, Pimienta, IsKwé and Weaves' Jasmyn Burke as leaders to help Indigenous youth hone their creative writing, songwriting, music creation, and DJ/production skills.
The project will culminate with a tour documentary, produced by Antica Productions (who worked on Gord Downie's Secret Path project) and directed by Mohawk filmmaker Tracey Deer.
New Constellations is a joint effort by the Basement Revue (co-founded by Jason Collett and Damian Rogers) and Indigenous music platform/record label/artist collective Revolutions Per Minute.
"Besides being a rotating roster of festival-style performances, New Constellations is an intimate opportunity to listen to voices of resurgence — of what is clearly an Indigenous next wave," said Collett said in a statement. "The momentum is palpable, and it's inspiring to be a part of such a special celebration."
RPM co-founder Jarrett Martineau added, "The power of New Constellations is in the new relationships and creative connections that are being made. Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists rarely perform or create together, so this is an amazing opportunity to see what happens when they do. With where we are in this country's history, that collaboration is more important than ever."
Find full information about the upcoming events at the New Constellations website.
Tour dates:
11/23 Saskatoon, SK –The Broadway Theatre
11/24 Calgary, AB – The Gateway
11/25 Edmonton, AB – The Starlite Room
11/26 Prince Albert, SK – E. A. Rawlinson Centre
11/27 Winnipeg, MB – West End Cultural Centre
11/28 Thunder Bay, ON – Port Arthur Polish Hall
11/29 Wiikwemkoong, ON – Debajehmujig Creation Centre
12/06 Halifax, NS – Spatz Theatre
12/07 Fredericton, NB – Playhouse Theatre
12/08 Montreal, ON – L'Astral
12/09 Ottawa, ON – Bronson Centre
12/10 Kitigan Zibi, QC – Community Hall
12/20 Toronto, ON – The Opera House
