Annual Impact Report 2022

Welcome to Music on Main, where our mandate is “Music that brings us together.”  Since 2006, we’ve produced nearly 700 events, featuring more than 1,000 musicians, and over 130 world premieres. In 2010, we launched our now-annual Modulus Festival, which made a successful return in the Fall of 2021, and which “provides western Canada with one of the finest windows onto the post-classical scene” (Gramophone Magazine).

Music on Main presents top-flight musicians and classical, new, and genre-bending music in casual, welcoming, and inviting environments. At Music on Main, artists are encouraged to develop their practices through new presentation methods, new repertoire, and new ideas. Most importantly, Music on Main concerts are places where attendees can find community. Music on Main welcomes conversations between artists and their new friends, the audience, as building connection, community, and care are upheld as core values at each of our events.

Music on Main has earned a global reputation as a musical storyteller for the post-classical age. We create innovative musical experiences by deepening artists’ and audiences’ relationships to music, to each other, and to themselves. In undertaking its mission, Music on Main serves as a community curator, uniting ever-increasing and diverse audiences through new and innovative music. The 2021/22 season saw the return to a full slate of live concerts, including celebrating the 10th Modulus Festival, and the return of the beloved Music for the Winter Solstice.

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Lobby featuring Jan Gates photo exhibit at Modulus Festival 2021; Fredric Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated (Corey Hamm); Sapphire Haze’s Asphyxiation (Cindy Kao & Aysha Dulong); Keiko Devaux’s Hōrai (Mark Takeshi McGregor); Free Family Concert with Cedar Quartet (Norah Mix, Mio Nakajo, Johnny Huang, & Julian Lee De Vita) and Sequoia Quartet (Brooklyn Wood, Kai Chow, Davin Mar, David Han). Alfredo Santa Ana’s Ye elves (Julia Chien, Paolo Bortolussi, Jonathan Lo, Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, Aram Bajakian, Julia Ulehla, Saina Khaledi, Dailin Hsieh, & John Korsrud). Photos taken by Jan Gates. 

Artistic Highlights From 2021/22:

Season Launch with the 10^th Modulus Festival: The 2021/22 season came back in full swing with the return of the Modulus Festival in November 2021. Following all health and safety guidelines, Music on Main celebrated the 10^th Modulus Festival with live music, behind-the-scenes artist talks, and world premieres.

While Mark Takeshi McGregor’s full-scale concert was originally slated for 2020, Music on Main was committed to seeing the world premiere of Keiko Devaux’s “Hōrai,” along with the works of other Canadian composers Alfredo Santa Ana, James O’Callaghan, and Nicole Lizée. This concert was beautifully captured by Collide Entertainment and was released for free on Music on Main’s YouTube channel.

The Modulus Festival also showcased the premiere of Alfredo Santa Ana’s “Ye elves,” a new work created for “The Tempest Project,” and was performed by The Tempest Project Company. This company has been working together to explore the themes and topics present in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and are assisting in the creation of the immersive work being produced in 2024. The Tempest Project Company features the talents of local artists Aram Bajakian (electric guitar), Paolo Bortolussi (flute), Julia Chien (percussion), Dailin Hsieh (zheng), Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (piano), Saina Khaledi (santour), Jonathan Lo (cello), and Julia Ulehla (voice).

The return of Music for the Winter Solstice & Emerge on Main: In December 2021, Music on Main was beyond thrilled to bring back its winter season favourite event, Music for the Winter Solstice. This year, Music on Main presented this annual tradition both as a live event and as an on-demand version. Providing a safe and caring environment is one of Music on Main’s top priorities, and so we wanted to meet our audiences where they were, whether it was in our venue with the audience capacity capped at 60% of our general capacity, or from the comfort of their homes. These concerts full of inspiring music featured Veda Hille (vocals and piano), Lucien Durey (voice), Patsy Klein (voice), Nicholas Krgovich (voice), Julia Chien (percussion), and Chloe Kim (violin). Since there was no Emerge on Main in 2020/21 due to the pandemic, Music on Main decided to expand the programme for the 2021/22 season. The new emerging artists were Aysha Dulong and Cindy Kao, and their duo, Sapphire Haze. This expanded programme featured a performance at the Modulus Festival of their captivating work, “Asphyxiation,” participation in our 2022 Digital Salons and spring International Presenters Programme, individual Doc in a Box videos, and their own spotlight concert on April 12, 2022.

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Lobby featuring Jan Gates photo exhibit at Modulus Festival 2021; Fredric Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated (Corey Hamm); Sapphire Haze’s Asphyxiation (Cindy Kao & Aysha Dulong); Keiko Devaux’s Hōrai (Mark Takeshi McGregor); Free Family Concert with Cedar Quartet (Norah Mix, Mio Nakajo, Johnny Huang, & Julian Lee De Vita) and Sequoia Quartet (Brooklyn Wood, Kai Chow, Davin Mar, David Han). Alfredo Santa Ana’s Ye elves (Julia Chien, Paolo Bortolussi, Jonathan Lo, Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, Aram Bajakian, Julia Ulehla, Saina Khaledi, Dailin Hsieh, & John Korsrud). Photos taken by Jan Gates. 

Digital Storytelling Program: Since before the pandemic, Music on Main has been dedicated to producing high quality digital content for our audiences across Canada and around the world. In 2021/22, we invested in new projects including Doc in a Box, a mini-documentary series with musicians around the world sharing insight into their artistic practices. Artists receive a tech and style guide and the necessary equipment to record videos that share personal insights, including how they rehearse, the process of composing or improvising, the community with whom they make music, and anything else they want to share. In 2021/22, Music on Main featured Cindy Kao, Aysha Dulong, Dailin Hsieh, and David Kaplan.

Music on Main also experimented with a live studio filming experience when it welcomed Architek Percussion to Heritage Hall in March 2022. This immersive performance was produced specifically for film, with the live audience having a unique “live studio audience” experience. The centrepiece of the performance was the world premiere of Composer in Residence Sabrina Schroeder’s “Stircrazer I.” The live performance video of Julia Wolfe’s “Dark Full Ride” was also released to the YouTube channel.

Music on Main’s Digital Storytelling Program is led by Joanna Dundas, with filming and editing led by Mike Southworth and his team at Collide Entertainment.

Summer Pop-Up Concerts: Launched in 2020 as a way to engage audiences and support artists, the Summer Pop-Up Concert series has now become a part of Music on Main’s annual programming. In August 2022, seven concerts were presented in Mount Pleasant Park to almost 3,000 people. These concerts featured series regulars like Microcosmos Quartet and some of The Tempest Project Company in different configurations, but also first-timers like Bogdan Dulu playing a grand piano in the park, and the Vancouver Youth Choir who had over 30 youth singing and engaging with our excited audiences.

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Paolo Bortolussi (flute), Min Jee Yoon, (cello), and Lani Krantz (harp); Cedar String Quartet (Norah Mix, violin; Mio Nakajo, violin; Johnny Huang, viola; Julian Lee De Vita, cello); Bogdan Dulu (piano); Vancouver Youth Choir, Carrie Tennant, Artistic Director; BC Chinese Music Ensemble (Bruce Bai, vocals; Dailin Hsieh, zheng; Geling Jiang, liuqin/ruan/sanxian; Charlie Lui, dizi; Yun Song, erhu; Zhongxi Wu, suona/sheng); Saina Khaledi, santour; Ali Razmi, tar/setar/vocals; Kenton Loewen, drums; Ali Sajjadi, oud. Photos taken by Jan Gates. 

Community Partnerships:

Music on Main’s successes are made continually possible thanks to our partnerships. Over the 2021/22 season, we struck meaningful and lasting relationships with the following organizations, among others:

Architek Percussion, Songs for a Lost Pod Collective, Action at a Distance, the BC Chinese Music Ensemble, Vancouver Youth Choir, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Microcosmos Quartet, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Vancouver Civic Theatres, The Fox Cabaret, Collide Entertainment, Vancouver Parks Board, SFU School for the Contemporary Arts, and The Post at 750.