My Backyard, Somewhere
A poetic fresco about people and their places.
In their first collaboration, collectif9 and Architek Percussion come together to present My Backyard, Somewhere, a multimedia creation combining new music for amplified strings and percussion, video, and words... spoken, sung, and pre-recorded.
My Backyard, Somewhere is a reflection of our sense of connection between people and places. The bilingual poem across/virage, commissioned from Montreal’s Kaie Kellough, is the central and integrating element bringing the themes of the evening to the forefront – the sea, movement, language, belonging to a place, a culture – and is a poetic “migration” through words and places.
The music is a journey through the styles of five multidisciplinary and multi-genre composers from across Canada. Whether with lyricism, groove, exploratory textures, or pop culture technologies, the voices of the composers communicate with each other, with the performers, and with the audience throughout the concert experience.
This project is one of 200 outstanding projects supported by the Canada Council for the Arts' New Chapter program. It premiered in June 2018 at Usine C following a residency at the Conservatoire de Rimouski. During the 2018-2019 season, the show was presented on tour in 3 Canadian provinces, including a performance at the New Music Festival in Winnipeg (Manitoba).
“this piece is a migration, through words, through waves, to a place this piece is traveling through. this piece is/is not about the past, and is/is not about the future, but it is/is not about a stasis all waves syncopate [...]”
Excerpt from text used in the show - Kaie Kellough.
Music program
Luna Pearl Woolf - But I Digress...
Bret Higgins - The Cargo of Consonants / among, within, beneath, atop
Derek Charke - the world is itself a cargo carried
Eliot Britton - Backyard Blocks
Nicole Lizée - Folk Noir/Canadiana
All pieces were commissioned by collectif9 and Architek Percussion.
Creative team
Concept and artistic direction: Thibault Bertin Maghit et Andrea Stewart
Text from Across/Virage by Kaie Kellough.
Music by Derek Charke, Luna Pearl Woolf, Bret Higgins, Eliot Britton and Nicole Lizée.
Lighting design and scenography by Martin Sirois.
Video creation by Myriam Boucher and Nicole Lizée.
Illustrations by Julien Bakvis and Melissa Di Menna.
Interpreted by collectif9 and Architek Percussion.
What they said
“My Backyard, Somewhere ... arrives just in time (and at last!) to immerse us fully - in a both positive and creative way - in something of a hot topic.”
- Ludwig van Montreal
