Welcome back to The No Normal. In this episode, we are happy to welcome Canadian interdisciplinary artist Steph Patsula. The projects Steph creates are focused across a variety of processes coalescing in a union of somatic experiencing, experimental sound creation and lens based ephemera. Patsula’s work prioritizes the creation of immersive art installations and live-performance which explore bodies as beacons and receptors in relationship to each other. Her processes embrace the unpredictable dynamics of working with new materials, spaces and bodies by corresponding with them improvisationally. A technique that reflects a personal desire for reciprocity and intimacy through an attentiveness to collaboration and adaptability. New Music Edmonton was delighted to feature Steph in our 2023 festival, where she gave a live performance of her ongoing project, Sympathetic Resonance, and took a bunch of us on a lovely, if somewhat smokey, soundwalk in the river valley. Music included in this episode: - 11:01 Flexible Hours Live at The Grand, Steph Patsula and Eric Fraser - 23:33 Flexible Hours Live in Iceland - 53:14 Sympathetic Resonance - 58:30 Tailgate, Live in Chicago For more Information: - Steph Patsula, i-am-YEG - arts - Steph Patsula Facebook - https://flexiblehours.bandcamp.com/

Welcome back to The No Normal. Please note this important caution: this episode includes discussion of mental health issues experienced by the artists, and including experiences of suicidal ideation and a depressive episode. Listening to this may be triggering for some listeners. This episode is dedicated with thanks to everyone at The Canadian Mental Health Association. Back in February 2023 New Music Edmonton presented an extraordinary event, the premiere of a new composition by Mike McCormick, performed by Edmonton vocalist, and long-time friend of Mike, Jessica Wagner. The work, under: went is a powerful, very personal artistic gesture, a work and performance unlike anything I have ever experienced in a concert hall. We were honoured to have present at the show staff and volunteers from The Canadian Mental Health Association. They led us through a post-performance discussion group focused on the topic of suicide, and of the ideas brought forth by the composition. In the following conversation, we caught up with Mike and Jessica only a few days after the event, and we had a chance then to really get to the heart of the work, and also to get to know a little more about both of their backgrounds. Music included in this episode: 02:11 Underwent (excerpt) Jessica Wagner, soprano Composed and with electronics by Mike McCormack 6:11 Regnevejr (excerpt) Jessica Wagner, soprano/ Natalie Dzbik, violin Composed and with electronics by Brandon Chow 08:22 Duo 1 (excerpt) Jessica Wagner, soprano Composed and with electronics by Nico Arnáez 14:02 Rootpat (excerpt) Composed by Mike McCormack 25:40 Underwent (excerpt) 43:33 Underwent (excerpt) 58:58 Underwent (excerpt) For more Information: Jessica Wagner: https://www.jessicawagnermusic.com/ Mike McCormack: https://mccrmck.com The Canadian Mental Health Association https://cmha.ca/ https://edmonton.cmha.ca/

We are back with another episode of New Music Edmonton’s The No Normal. Today’s guest is an artist familiar to many people in many places. Composer and violinist Alissa Cheung. Her compositions have been performed often in Edmonton and for several years she was a key part of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra’s violin section. More recently, Alissa moved to Montréal to take up a position in the mighty Quatuor Bozzini, and since then has continued to build her career as a composer while also taking part in the quartet’s almost constant schedule of performing, recording, and working with emerging artists. It’s always fantastic to chat with Alissa, and we hope you enjoy sitting with us while we do so! And so here we are, in a wide-ranging conversation recorded in early spring, 2023. Compositions by Alissa Cheung Included in this episode: - 20:45 ZWISCHENTÖNE (EXCERPT 1) Performed by Alissa Cheung and Ewald Cheung, C’mon Festival Edmonton, 2022 - 25:27 ZWISCHENTÖNE (EXCERPT 2) - 38:10 CHEMINS DE FER Composed by Alissa Cheung, 2018 - 48:04 DU NORD (EXCERPT 1) Performed by Quatuor Bozzini, Montréal, 2021 - 54:15 DU NORD (EXCERPT 2) - 60:32 EUPHORIA (EXCERPT 1) Performed by Continuum Contemporary Music HATCH, 2021 - 65:02 EUPHORIA (EXCERPT 2) - 70:15 DU NORD (EXCERPT 3) For more Information: Alissa Cheung: http://www.alissacheung.com/ Quatuor Bozzini: https://quatuorbozzini.ca/en Continuum Contemporary Music: https://www.continuummusic.ca/ Continuum Contemporary Music Euphoria video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAmEW6CQsNE C’mon Festival: https://cmonfestival.ca/

This episode of The No Normal features composer and santurist Mehdi Rezania, a prolific and diverse artist, very familiar to audiences in our city. From his early teen years studying santur in Iran, and later compositional studies at York University, and current doctoral studies at The University of Alberta, Mehdi Rezania has developed a unique and compelling approach to creative music making. At home with traditional Persian music, composition, improvisation, and more, he regular performs and records as both a soloist, and as a much sought-after partner for artists from a unique array of practices. Compositions by Mehdi Rezania Included in this episode: 02:07 Gems of Radif 1: At The Gate of Dawn (clip) 16:44 Gems of Radif 1: At The Gate of Dawn 31:22 Gems of Radif 2: Shahrāshub 38:40 Gems of Radif 3: Banafsheh 44:24 Fields of Abadeh, performed by The Windermere Quartet 58:49 Ice, performed by Toloe Roushenas 68:31 Gems of Radif 4: Sāqi-Nāmeh For more Information: Mehdi Rezania: https://rezania.com Mehdi Rezania New Music Edmonton Performances: Now Hear This 2022: https://vimeo.com/732642086 Summer Solstice Series 2021, with Good Women Dance: https://vimeo.com/577714078 Baarbad Music: https://sv-se.facebook.com/Baarbad/?ref=page_internal Windermere Quartet: https://windermere.braveform.com

New Music Edmonton is happy to return with a new series of The No Normal. We have some great interviews with amazing people lined up for the coming months, and we’re looking forward to sharing their work and their words with you! To get things going, we are delighted to present composer Sointu Aalto, in conversation with Suzette Chan. Born in Helsinki, raised in Edmonton, Sointu Aalto is a composer and cellist, who has emerged as one of the most compelling emerging artists, with a formidable output of uncompromising instrumental and audio-visual works. She has studied with many eminent teachers in Edmonton and elsewhere, and has been a competition winner, and participant in festivals across Canada and abroad. In June, 2022, Aalto and her colleagues in The JAMS Quartet performed in the Now Hear This Festival in Edmonton, where they gave a rare, full-length performance of works by Aalto and other composers. Compositions by Sointu Aalto Included in this episode: 2:34 THINK THINK THINK THINK THINK (Excerpt) Audio portion of audio-visual work, commissioned by New Music Edmonton for the Summer Solstice Series, 2021. 6:09 Mass Extinction (Excerpt) Performed by The JAMS Quartet: Jessica Ortlieb, Anna Vlasova, Mora Clarke, Sointu Aalto, with Kauri Aalto, tam-tam 13:22 super(ficial) (Full Length) Performed by Bergamot Quartet at MATA Jr., Music at the Anthology Festival, NY, 2021 18:10 The Pizza Man Is Real (Full Length) Performed by The JAMS Quartet: Jessica Ortlieb, Anna Vlasova, Mora Clarke, Sointu Aalto 34:01 THINK THINK THINK THINK THINK (Full Length) Audio portion of audio-visual work, commissioned by New Music Edmonton for the Summer Solstice Series, 2021. 38:20 Yosinfonia (2020) (Full Length) Performed by Daniel Aalto, piano, Eija Aalto, soprano Text: Yösinfonia, 1, by Kirsi Kunna For more Information: Sointu Aalto: https://soundcloud.com/user-759064400 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-z7kOEcb8OZ9B2wiBmlo9A Suzette Chan: (https://suzettechan.wordpress.com)

Our city is teeming with emerging artists of all kinds, many of them classical composers. This episode of The No Normal focuses on one such artist, Mary Alice Conrad. Over the last few years, her name has appeared with increasing frequency in concert programming, workshops and commissioned works lists across the country. In this interview, you’ll get to know about this compelling artist’s background and we dig into some of her recent works, with lots of great information on the genesis of Mary Alice Conrad’s diverse and prolific compositions. Music Included in this episode: 19:44 The Mountains Rend Themselves Apart (excerpt) Artistic Director and conductor, Raymond Baril June 3, 2022, Convocation Hall, University of Alberta Recording Engineer, Mike Malone 29:30 The Peculiar Dances of Shifting Minds (excerpt 1) Allegra Chamber Orchestra, Janna Sailor, conductor, Opus. 59 Films. FestivELLE Online Concert Series, June 2021, Orpheum Annex, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 41:58 Breathing Room (excerpt) Live Mix of MacEwan University Music Department “Generations” Recording Project 2022. Conducted by Raymond Baril Recording Engineers, Paul Johnston and Padraig Buttner-Schnirer At the MacEwan University Recording Department 53:24 Twenty-Six Punctographic Preludes (excerpt) The Edmonton Saxophone Quartet Kendra Heslip, Alto Saxophone Charles Stolte, Tenor Saxophone Ben Whittier, Baritone and Bass Saxophone Allison Balcetis, Soprano Saxophone December 2021, Convocation Hall, University of Alberta Audio Engineer, Russel Baker 68:44 The Peculiar Dances of Shifting Minds (excerpt 2) For more Information: https://marialiceconrad.com/about https://edmontonwinds.com https://allegrachamberorchestra.com https://www.facebook.com/MacEwanBigBand/ http://www.edmontonsaxophonequartet.com

In this episode of The No Normal, we welcome Shawn Pinchbeck. Internationally active as a composer, performer and sound artist, Shawn Pinchbeck has, since the mid 1980s, been a key part of the experimental sonic arts scene in Edmonton. With a toolkit that includes analog and digital machinery, expertise in field recording, and wide-ranging performance experience, Shawn has worked with a striking array of artists from sound and music, dance, video, the visual arts and more! Ian Crutchley’s interview with Shawn Pinchbeck covers the artist’s story from his earliest to latest work, his first electronic gadgets, early local collaborators, mentors, and… bees! There’s lots of incredible music in this episode, including the following: 09:40 Wildcats, composition, Resonance Cassette release, 1987 23:16 Scrapes & Shapes, collaboration with Jeff Collins, Collins Gallery, 2020 (https://shawnpinchbeck.bandcamp.com/album/scapes-and-shapes) 36:35 Phantoms of Jaak, solo performance BEAMS Art’s Birthday, 2021 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kY6RrRZGR3c) 43:38 Peace of Home, composition, 2021 (https://shawnpinchbeck.bandcamp.com/album/peace-of-home) 49:24 Where the Bees Buzz, audio visual performance, Art’s Birthday, 2022 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLtXvvahR8w&t=8488s) 60:46 Moss Sermons, collaboration with Bernd Hildebrandt, Mazurka Music and Art Society, 2019 70:40 Bittersweet, song collaboration with Rose McDowall (https://open.spotify.com/album/5j9Qedfwgkl5WFMW08dKrd) For more Information: http://www.spinchbeck.com https://www.facebook.com/shawnpinchbeck/ https://shawnpinchbeck.bandcamp.com https://soundcloud.com/shawnpinchbeck https://www.facebook.com/BorealElectroacousticMusicSocietybeams/

Eminent Edmonton composer Heather Hindman is the guest for this episode of The No Normal. Over her career to date, Heather Hindman has produced a really compelling series of acoustic and electronic works, with a particular interest in the relationships between music, culture and technology. Her compositions have been performed widely throughout Canada and in many other countries. Commissioners of Heather Hindman’s music have included UltraViolet, Xenia Pestova, The East Coast Music Ensemble and many more. She is also a dedicated and innovative pedagogue, teaching piano and composition to students of all ages. In this interview by Ian Crutchley, Heather Hindman talks about her emergence as a composer, influences on her work, the tools of her trade, collaborating with performers, and about some of the gendered biases, barriers and challenges the new music world puts in the way of composers, especially those following unconventional career paths. Alongside the conversation, we’ve got lot of great examples of Heather Hindman’s music: (c. 15:36) Suite Nation, Performed by East Coast Contemporary Ensemble, Etchings Festival, France (c. 30:59) Two and a Half Miniatures for Solo Piano (#2), Performed by Ian Pace, Leuven, Belgium (c. 37:17) RRR, Performed by Xenia Pestova, Birmingham, UK (c. 48:13) Scrap, Violet Collective (cond. by Andriy Talpash), Edmonton, AB (c. 71:36) All Together Now, performed by Chenoa Anderson and Allison Balcetis, Calgary, AB For more Information: Heather Hindman: https://www.heatherhindman.com Xenia Pestova: https://xeniapestovabennett.com East Coast Contemporary Ensemble: https://www.eccearts.com Allison Balcetis: http://www.allisonbalcetis.com Chenoa Anderson: https://www.chenoaanderson.com Ian Pace: https://ianpace.com

In this episode of The No Normal, we feature local artist Parker Thiessen. A central figure in our experimental scene, Parker Thiessen has recorded and performed as a soloist and as a member of numerous duos and ensembles, including Soft Ions, Private Investigators, Zebra Pulse, and more. Parker Thiessen, along with his Private Investigators partner, Ian Rowley, runs the experimental label Pseudo Laboratories. Now nearing its 50th release, Pseudo Laboratories has, since 2014, produced cassettes and digital versions of work by dozens of artists. Ian Crutchley, New Music Edmonton Artistic Director, interviewed Parker Thiessen for this episode. They discuss the Pseudo Laboratories label, as well as the creative work of Parker Thiessen himself. The following music excerpts are included: (c. 27:00) Psychic Chamber, Cauldron Melody (forthcoming Pseudo Laboratories release) (c. 11:20) Burden, Let Vibrate https://pseudolaboratories.bandcamp.com/album/let-vibrate (c. 21:00) Kelly Ruth, Illusions from Simulacra https://pseudolaboratories.bandcamp.com/album/simulacra (c. 45:30) Parker Thiessen, excerpt from Phase Meditations (Holy Phase) (c. 52:00) Parker Thiessen and Ethan Bokma, privately recorded backyard performance For more Information: Parker Thiessen: www.parkerthiessen.com Pseudo Laboratories: www.pseudolaboratories.bandcamp.com

Welcome (or, welcome back!) to The No Normal, New Music Edmonton’s podcast featuring interviews and sonic art from some of the most innovative artists around. We were back briefly in the autumn, with a beautiful music-only episode, curated by Matthew Cardinal. Now we’re ready to move on with regular episodes, and so happy to be in our second season! This episode will include an interview of Mustafa Rafiq, by Suzette Chan, a local arts writer, and a great friend of all in the arts. In the interview, Mustafa and Suzette talk about Mustafa's background and a range of musical projects in which Mustafa has been involved lately, including a recent Pseudo Laboratories release, If I Were A Dance, (featuring Dwennimmen and Bhuyash Neupane), plus their co-operative ensemble sextet, Takleef. The second part of the show will feature a conversation between Mile Zero Dance Artistic Director Gerry Morita and New Music Edmonton Artistic Director Ian Crutchley. Their discussion focuses on how Gerry Morita became involved in contemporary dance and music practices, her work at Mile Zero Dance, and some of the interesting intersections and influences relating her practice to ideas and artists also found in the contemporary sound and music worlds. We’ll also listen to Day of Creation, from the album Mosàfer, by recent Morita collaborators, the duo of Farhad Khosravi and Daniel Stadnicki. For more Information: Suzette Chan: (https://suzettechan.wordpress.com) If I Were a Dance, featuring Mustafa Rafiq with Bhuyash Neupane and Dwennimen on the Pseudo Laboratories label: https://pseudolaboratories.bandcamp.com/album/if-i-were-a-dance Mile Zero Dance and Gerry Morita: https://milezerodance.com Dwennimmen aka Shima Robinson: https://dwennimmen.bandcamp.com Mosàfer, by Farhad Khosravi and Daniel Stadnicki: https://farhadkhosravi.bandcamp.com