Seventy-nine years ago, Nazi thugs in brown shorts smashed into the businesses of Jews across Germany and Austria in the pogroms that began the spiral into the Final Solution. One of the businesses that was destroyed was a small record label founded by a Lithuanian Jew
Almost 40 years ago something profound began happening in this country. A generation of Indigenous writers, poets, songwriters and playwrights began to raise their voices. One of the most prominent members of that cohort was Tomson Highway. His plays The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta
Choreographers love to turn Swan Lake on its feathered ear with updated, sometimes subversive takes. But Aaron Watkin and the Semperoper Ballett Dresden have completely refreshed this most classic of classical ballets not by modernizing, but by digging up its ancient source, buried in the
We humans have separated ourselves from wildlife, as we’ve tamed many animals and, ostensibly, ourselves. Yet, what a mirror the creatures of the wilderness continue to be. We can see reflections of ourselves and our behaviour in the faces and the fates of wild animals. Do
The year 1957 was full of momentous events. In the fall, the Soviet Union started the space race with the launch of Sputnik-1, the first ever satellite. The Avro Arrow was unveiled in 1957 to the Canadian public. Leave it to Beaver debuted on CBS and
About five years ago, Ron Sexsmith, the respected Canadian singer-songwriter, woke up with an idea. But it wasn't for a song. "Sometimes you wake up and you aren't ready to get out of bed," he said in an interview, "and you lie back down and wake
The French composer and musical director Thierry Pécou has had many influences on his musical life. And most of them find their way into his work, especially with the group he founded, Ensemble Variances. This Sunday, Ensemble Variances will perform a Chamberfest concert with music by
The name Henriëtte Bosmans isn't well-known today. But in the years before the Second World War, she was a prominent female composer in The Netherlands. As a bisexual woman with a Jewish mother and Catholic father she was under threat during the Nazi occupation of Holland.
Unless it’s a special tribute or anniversary event, it’s unusual to see an entire concert dedicated to the works of a single living composer. But John Armstrong’s output has been prolific and consistent enough to allow for an afternoon program that didn’t lack for variety
The winner of this year's Siminovitch prize in theatre is the author of many scripts that investigate and celebrate difference. Marcus Youssef picked up the award for $75,000 Monday night in Ottawa at a ceremony at the National Arts Centre. The rest of the $100,000 award
