Sound Symposium

SOUND SYMPOSIUM XV  July 2 - 10, 2010

A man walks onto a stage, carrying a boom box blasting commercial FM radio, he plugs it into a system and begins banging on old shoes, turning a vintage Buick steering wheel and playing with sliders, pedals and gizmos, remaking the radio’s sound as he goes. A quiet heritage home in St. John’s is enlivened by the driving rhythms and sounds of African percussion, another transformed by the spare beauty of a voice singing old Newfoundland ballads. A world-renowned pianist improvises on a disklavier, her music creating astonishing visual images and patterns that are projected above her as she plays. Some of the finest Jazz musicians in Canada gather to play a new work that marks the 60^th anniversary of Newfoundland’s entry into Confederation.

That’s just a small portion of what awaits you at this year's Sound Symposium -- nine days and nights of concerts, workshops and art of all sorts.

Sound Symposium is astonishingly diverse: where else could you learn to write music for ship'shorns, watch an artist “perform” with archival radio tape, hear throat singing, see a percussionist improvise to kung fu video, listen to women play kitchen appliances, or join a barroom improv?

With daytime workshops, evening concerts and outdoor happenings, late night jam sessions, remarkable art installations and our daily Harbour Symphonies, every day of Sound Symposium will be brimming with sound activities — both planned and impromptu.

Since 1983, Sound Symposium has gathered some of the top innovative musicians and artists from across Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada and around the world. They congregate in St. John's to soak up the environment, interact, explore, share and collaborate. The results are magic for audiences and performers alike.

Now in its 26th year, Sound Symposium is making a considerable contribution to the cultural community in Newfoundland and Labrador and has become known world wide as a credible international music symposium known for its innovative and intriguing programming. Performances take place not only in concert halls, but on street corners, in basements, World War II bunkers, on hill sides, in the harbour, near the ocean, and sometimes in unexpected locations such as the Marine Institute's flume tank.

Throughout the city, the days and nights of each Sound Symposium are filled with extraordinary music, dance, theatre, gallery exhibitions, outdoor events, world premieres, contemporary music, electronic music, jazz, world music, drumming, improvisational music, percussion, rock, string quartets, Newfoundland traditional folk music, home-made and experimental instruments, sound inventions, interaction installations, voice experimentations, film, lectures, workshops, trail walks, special workshops and events for youth and children, whale and seabird tours, and Harbour Symphonies.