Event Details
Tuesday Oct. 21
Gala Festival Launch • Co-presented with Rough Idea
THE SUN RA ARKESTRA Under the Direction of Marshall Allen and COLEMAN LEMIEUX & COMPAGNIE in “Hymn to the Universe”
A cosmic celebration of music and dance
Part of X AVANT New Music Festival III — "Space is the Place" (Oct. 21-26)
Location: Palais Royale, 1601 Lake Shore W.
Doors: 7pm, concert 8pm
Tickets on sale at Ticketweb:
VIP seating (cocktail table seating near stage): $60 — BUY NOW!
Regular seating: $40 — BUY NOW!
Member prices:
VIP seating: $50 (call 416-204-1080 x:1 to reserve)
Regular seating: $30 (call 416-204-1080 x:1 to reserve)
Rush tickets for students!
$20 each with valid I.D. — on sale at 7:45pm, night of show
Admission included in the X AVANT Festival Pass:
New Members: BUY NOW!
Existing Members: BUY NOW!
(V.I.P. seating!!)
Festival Passes and single tickets (regular price only) also on sale at Soundscapes (572 College St.) and Rotate This (801 Queen W.) in Toronto.
The Music Gallery and Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie team up to present a world premiere performance that takes the audience on a cosmic journey through the music of Sun Ra and the choreography of Bill Coleman.
Performed by the 14-piece Sun Ra Arkestra — the band led by African-American visionary Sun Ra, now under the direction of Marshall Allen — and dancers of Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie, “Hymn to the Universe” will be a memorable gala launch to the Music Gallery’s X Avant / Space is the Place Festival. Taking place in the lavish, Jazz Age ballroom of the Palais Royale, contemporary choreography will meet 1930s-style hoofing — cosmic visual creations performed to the Arkestra’s trademark mix of big-band jazz and free-form, space-age improvisation. The diverse cast of performers will form a community that celebrates humanity’s ascent towards the future. The production is supported by award-winning Métis visual artist Edward Poitras and lighting designer Christopher Dennis, with costumes by Hoax Couture design.
The Sun Ra Arkestra
Marshall Allen — alto saxophone + bandleader
Elson Nascimento — percussion
Knoell Scott — alto saxophone
Farid Abdul-Bari Barron — keyboards
Wayne Anthony Smith Jr. — drums
Junie Booth — bass
Danny Thompson — baritone saxophone
Fred Adams — trumpet
Dave Davies — trombone
Dave Hotep — guitar
Charles Davis — tenor saxophone
Cecil Brooks — trumpet
Yayah Abdul-Majid — tenor saxophone
Dancers
Bill Coleman, Laurence Lemieux, Peter Chin, Robin Poitras, Won Myeong Won, Carol Prieur, Junghm Jo, Jennifer Dahl, Robert Regala
Sun Ra Arkestra — Biography
Eclectic, outrageous, sometimes mystifying but always imbued with a powerful jazz consciousness, the music of Sun Ra has withstood its skeptics and detractors for three generations. And well it should, since Sun Ra has been both a part of, and ahead of, the jazz tradition. Like Duke Ellington and swing-era pioneer Fletcher Henderson, Sun Ra learned early on to write music in an arranged form that showcased the specific talents of his individual band members. On the other hand, Sun Ra was the first jazz musician to perform on electronic keyboards, the first to pursue full-scale collective improvisation in a big band setting, and his preoccupation with space travel as a compositional subject predated bands psychedelia by about 15 years. All this from someone who claims to have arrived from Saturn.
In the 1940's Sun Ra became the house arranger for stage shows at the famous Chicago night spot, the Club DeLisa and played for the band led by Fletcher Henderson. In the early 50's, Ra's more radical compositions and arrangements found their way into his own groups, which featured exotic costumes and unusual instruments. By 1955 while in Chicago, Herman “Sonny” Blount had become Sun Ra, leader of the Intergalactic Solar Arkestra, which has also been known by many other names, and included core members John Gilmore, Pat Patrick, and Marshall Allen. The Arkestra itself started as what was thought to be a hard-bop big band, but soon was incorporating free improvisation. As such, it was a major influence on the emerging avant-garde in Chicago.
From its inception, the Arkestra's music was infused with Sun Ra's unique philosophy, an unexpected hybrid of space-age science fiction and ancient Egyptian cosmology. This philosophy gained a visual manifestation in the colourful robes, mock-metallic capes, and space headgear worn by the band. In 1960, Sun Ra moved his earthbound base of operations to New York, then in 1968 settled in Philadelphia. In both cities, as in Chicago, the band lived and worked as a sort of collective. Throughout the following decades, Sun Ra continued to record for his own Saturn Records label, while touring widely and continuing to spread the fame of his live performances.
After suffering a stroke in 1992, Ra let his band tour without him. On May 30, 1993, Sun Ra made his ascension back to Saturn, eight days after his 79th “arrival day.” In 1995, Marshall Allen took over leadership of the Arkestra. Under his direction the band toured incessantly and made its first new recording since Ra’s death with A Song for the Sun. In 2008, they continue to tour and perform, with Allen celebrating his 84th birthday on stage at New York City's Sullivan Hall.
Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie
Founded in 2000 by husband and wife Bill Coleman and Laurence Lemieux, Coleman Lemieux & Compagnie is a professional dance organization that creates, produces and presents works on a local, national and international scale. CLC has distinguished itself as one of the most dynamic forces in the Canadian artistic milieu, thanks to the scope of its artistic vision and to the accomplishments of its founders. Coleman and Lemieux have not only been hailed among the country’s finest dancers and choreographers (Lemieux is a recipient of the Dora Mavor Moore Award and Coleman of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize), they are also producers of ground-breaking events that bring together artists at forefront of their fields with diverse communities “off the beaten track”.
Since incorporation in 2000, the company has experienced rapid growth and success both here and abroad. CLC’s 2006 performance at the Fall For Dance Festival in New York City was acclaimed the “jewel of the festival” by The New York Times. CLC’s 2007 Asia tour saw the company share the program at the Fifth International Beijing Dance Festival with Pina Bausch Tanztheater Wuppertal and Alvin Ailey Dance Co., and they became the first major company to tour Mongolia, thanks to the support of the privately funded Mongolian Arts Council. CLC has just recently returned from Western Mongolia’s famed Altai Mountains where they created and performed in and around the path of the Total Solar Eclipse.
