Annual Impact Report 2023

Welcome to Music on Main, where our mandate is “Music that brings us together.”  Since our inaugural season in 2006, we’ve produced over 706 events, featuring more than 1,800 musicians, and over 130 world premieres. Part of our annual programming includes the Modulus Festival, which “provides western Canada with one of the finest windows onto the post-classical scene” (Gramophone Magazine), and since 2020, our Summer Pop Up Concerts.

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 chats 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.

In 2022/23, Music on Main produced 36 concerts throughout the year, including the 2022 Modulus Festival, regular annual programming such as the Music for the Winter Solstice and The Kessler Academy, a presentation at the PuSh Festival, and a return to the park for the Summer Pop Up Concerts.

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s 13 Lunar Meditations: Summoning the Witches (Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Jay Clayton, DB Boyko, the Choeur Luna – Killian Benson, Viviana Caro, Laura Crema, Soressa Gardner, Mark Parlett, Carol Sawyer, Andrea Superstein & Oliver Swain, Eylem Basaldi, Meredith Bates, Aram Bajakian, Stéphane Diamantakiou, Ivan Bamford); B.C. Chinese Music Ensemble (Bruce Bai, Dailin Hsieh, Geling Jiang, Yun Song, Lan Tung, Zhongxi Wu); lobby at Roundhouse for Modulus; Morton Feldman’s Three Voices (Dory Hayley); François Houle’s The Secret Lives of Colours (Alexander Hawkins, François Houle, Kate Gentile, Hamin Honari, Gordon Grdina, Joëlle Léandre); Steven Kazuo Takasugi’s Sideshow (No Hay Banda, including Lori Freedman, Émilie Girard-Charest, Jean René). Photos taken by Jan Gates.

Artistic Highlights From 2022/23:

Season Launch with the 11^th Modulus Festival: The 2022/23 season started with a bang with a fully-loaded Modulus Festival in November. The Festival spanned five venues, and featured artists from across Canada and beyond! Music on Main was also able to welcome presenters for the International Presenters Program, in-person for the first time since 2019.

Programming included the return of a sold out run of Nancy Tam and Robyn Jacob’s “Double Happiness: Detour This Way,” which had originally run in March 2020. The Canadian premiere of François Houle’s “The Secret Lives of Colour” brought artists from across Europe to Vancouver for a fantastic exploration of the moods and spirits of colour through music. Music on Main also collaborated with Coastal Jazz to present three incredible nights of improv featuring artists from across the Festival lineup.

Also featured at the Festival were the talents of the B.C. Chinese Music Ensemble for the Free Family Concert, Dory Hayley in a powerhouse performance in Morton Feldman’s “Three Voices,” Montreal’s No Hay Banda performing the spectacular chaos of Steven Kazou Takasugi’s “Sideshow,” and the intoxicating musical poetry of Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s “13 Lunar Meditations: Summoning the Witches.”

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Standing Wave Ensemble’s In Dreams (Rebecca Whitling, Allen Stiles, Cristian Márkos, AK Coope, Christie Reside & Vern Griffiths); Music for the Winter Solstice (Jonathan Lo & Robyn Jacob; Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa & Asitha Tennekoon); A Percussionist’s Songbook (Joby Burgess); Capilano String Quartet (Timothy Steeves, Marina Thibeault, Jae-Won Bang & Jonathan Lo); Vicky Chow plays Philip Glass. Photos taken by Jan Gates.

Season Programming Highlights: In December 2022, Music on Main had sold out houses for Music for the Winter Solstice, the beloved solstice event. This year featured the beautiful music of Asitha Tennekoon (tenor), Jonathan Lo (cello), Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (piano), and Robyn Jacob (vocals & piano).

In January 2023, Music on Main was part of the return of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival with the North American premiere of Joby Burgess’ “A Percussionist’s Songbook.” This stunning concert had Joby moving through different set ups, using a wide variety of percussion instruments and electronics. It was an electrifying event!

Other highlights from the season include the debut performances of the Capilano String Quartet, featuring Timothy Steeves (violin), Jae-Won Bang (violin), Marina Thibeault (viola), and Jonathan Lo (cello), first at the Fox Cabaret, and then again with Gabriel Kahane for his “Magnificent Bird” concert. Kahane joined Music on Main as Artist in Residence in 2023.

Vicky Chow also returned to Music on Main to play Philip Glass’ “Piano Etudes, Book 1” to a sold out house at Christ Church Cathedral, and will be back in 2024 for “Piano Etudes, Book 2.”

Music on Main was very excited to finally present the live performance of Caroline Shaw and Vanessa Goodman’s “Graveyards and Gardens,” after having been originally scheduled for the PuSh Festival in 2021. As a co-commissioner of the piece, Music on Main provided space for a digital live-stream in 2021, and was thrilled to partner with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs to bring this dazzling artistry to the stage of the Fei & Milton Wong.

The Tempest Project Development: Since 2020, Music on Main has been developing a new immersive work called “The Tempest Project.”

Music on Main’s “The Tempest Project” is a poetic response to our current moment of global challenge and change. A musically and theatrically audacious production inspired by Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” this new show will premiere at the Vancouver Playhouse in 2024.

During the multi-year development process, The Tempest Project Company has explored universal themes of mercy, redemption, empathy, and the impacts of colonialism. The Company has dug into magic and sleight of hand, as well as improvised musical arrangements, danced, and become friends.

The Tempest Project Company includes:
Julia Ulehla, vocals; Paolo Bortolussi, flute; Aram Bajakian, guitar; Saina Khaledi, santour & composer; Dailin Hsieh, zheng; Julia Chien, percussion; Jonathan Lo, cello; Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, piano; Nancy Tam, composer; Alfredo Santa Ana, composer; David Pay, director; Shayna Goldberg; artistic producer; Melanie Yeats, dramaturg; Alexis Douglas, production manager.

Photo credits from top left to bottom right: Graveyards and Gardens (Caroline Shaw & Vanessa Goodman); Book of Travelers (Gabriel Kahane); Magnificent Bird (Gabriel Kahane, Capilano String Quartet – Timothy Steeves, Marina Thibeault, Jae-Won Bang & Jonathan Lo; The Kessler Academy; Music on Main’s Summer Pop-Up Concerts: The Marko-Paolo Quartet (Paolo Bortolussi, Calvin Dyck, Krystal Morrison & Mark Beaty); Raincity Quartet (Brooklyn Wood, Yiyi Hsu, Alex Beggs & Bruno Quezada); Saaz o Raaz (Saina Khaledi, Ali Sajjadi, Ali Razmi, Sharanjeet Singh Mand & Sunny Matharu); Katie Rife and Friends (Katie Rife, Nicola Everton & Jonathan Lo). Photos taken by Jan Gates.

Community Partnerships:

Music on Main’s successes are made continually possible thanks to our partnerships. Over the 2022/23 season, we struck meaningful and lasting relationships with the following organizations, among others:

Action at a Distance, the BC Chinese Music Ensemble, Vancouver Youth Choir, PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Microcosmos Quartet, Coastal Jazz, Frau Musica Nova, SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, Standing Wave Ensemble, Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Vancouver Civic Theatres, The Fox Cabaret, Collide Entertainment, Vancouver Parks Board, Queer Arts Festival, Redshift Music, Little Chamber Music, Vancouver New Music, musica intima, Hard Rubber Orchestra, and The Post at 750.