Additional Information
This production is anchored by author and performer Kaie Kellough’s bilingual poem, which evokes themes of language and belonging to a place, a culture. The program explores the styles of five exceptional multidisciplinary composers: Eliot Britton, Nicole Lizée, Derek Charke, Luna Pearl Woolf and Bret Higgins. On stage, it’s a blend of lyricism, groove and exploratory textures, and a dialogue between instrumentalists and narrator.
PAN M 360: “collectif9 and Architek Percussion reflect poetically on identity and belonging, through words and sounds”. What motivates this reflection on identity and belonging in 2025?
Andrea Stewart (collective9): When we conceived this show (from 2016 to 2018), we wanted to create a meeting space that would welcome artists, community members and music lovers of all kinds. The idea was that we’d all arrive somewhere with our own stories and experiences, and that we could all learn from them – our own and others. From 2016, when we embarked on this project, to 2025, this thinking was still relevant. Movement and migration, and the emotions that accompany them, are very human subjects. We were inspired by the sense of adventure, solitude and acceptance that accompanies our movements, and how this can be linked to both people and territory, to physical and emotional journeys. The concept is both abstract and clear, making it ripe for artistic exploration. The structure of the show reflects this: movements and sections of the different pieces are interwoven throughout the program, highlighting the different perspectives and contexts of each composer and their language. The text is the common starting point, and develops differently according to the hands that handle it.
PAN M 360: You chose to anchor this reflection in a text by bilingual author Kaie Kellough, renowned for his links with creative music?
Thibault Bertin-Maghit (collectif9): Indeed, we approached Kaie early on in the process of creating the show. We were familiar with her literary work and also with her practice as a performer in the world of creative music. The theme we wanted to explore overlapped with the subjects Kaie often tackles, so it was a natural choice. Also, the fact that he writes in both English and French was important to us so we could integrate the duality of language into the DNA of the show.
PAN M 360: How does this text become the binding force behind the performance of the works on the program?
Thibault Bertin-Maghit: The five pieces on the program were all commissioned specifically for this show, and each composer defined his or her relationship with the text for his or her piece. The text is thus treated in all sorts of ways: declaimed, sung, chanted, pre-recorded, electronically altered. We also find it on screen, integrated into video projections.
PAN M 360: How do the works chosen for this program fit in with its theme?
Thibault Bertin-Maghit: Our idea was to put each composer’s approach to our subject side by side, to appreciate their contrasting visions and languages all the more. With Woolf, for example, the theme led to the creation of worlds with invented folkloric flavours, while with Lizée, the notion of place materializes in symbols taken from popular culture, be it board games, TV shows or candy.
PAN M 360: How did you first come up with this program for two ensembles?
Andrea Stewart: Our two ensembles have existed for roughly the same period (collectif9 since 2011 and Architek Percussion since 2012), but our friendship existed even before that. We’ve always had a similar artistic approach – collectif9 being a groove-loving string ensemble and Architek being a multi-dimensional percussion quartet – and we’d already discussed a collaboration on several occasions without finding out how it could really come together. When the Canada Council for the Arts announced its New Chapter program in 2016, offering exceptional funding for major projects, it seemed like a good time to dream, and we did. If we imagine that music is a reflection of our experiences, the idea of exploring the music of five stylistically different composers seemed entirely relevant to the experience of life itself, and we were all looking out into the world, eager to see and feel the experiences of others. It was a very exciting time when our project began to really take root, and when the funding opportunity allowed us to expand the scope of our imagination.
PAN M 360: What is the history of the collaboration between Collectif9 and Architek Percussion, two ensembles on the rise in Canada?
Andrea Stewart: In a way, “my garden” is our first collaboration. The beauty of any collaboration is that it stays with you, and the idea of development is always there. It was a massive project to undertake in 2016. We learned a lot leading up to the premiere in 2018 and continued to develop our vision for the show as we took it on tour across Canada in 2018-19. Here we are in 2025, and we’re still making adjustments, clarifying ideas, and finding new paths. I hope we’ll always feel like we’re on the rise if we continue to be willing to learn and change.
PAN M 360: What are the specific strengths of each of these ensembles in the context of this program?
Thibault Bertin-Maghit: As far as collectif9 is concerned, I think our strength lies in our ability to move together, to breathe together, and this is all the more important in a context where the musical material is dense. We need that fluidity and unity to make the whole thing coherent.
Andrea Stewart: As far as our colleagues at Architek are concerned, they’re totally committed to the idea of working together. They arrive with such energy and attention to the project in hand that it becomes very inspiring to work with collaborators who are ready to immerse themselves totally in the music (and in a project), and this is so evident with Architek.
PAN M 360: How do you plan to link the two ensembles through this repertoire?
Andrea Stewart: All the repertoire was written for both ensembles, and as we commissioned the works, some composers thought specifically of us when they wrote the music. In that sense, the two ensembles are very much linked. The whole becomes a very large chamber music ensemble, and the complicity between the individuals bears witness to this.
PAN M 360: More specifically, let’s talk about these works and the orchestral configurations behind them. Could you please tell us more about the works on the program?
* Luna Pearl Woolf: But I Digress… (2018) – 19 min
* Bret Higgins: among, within, beneath, atop (2018) – 8 min
* Derek Charke: the world is itself a cargo carried (2018) – 15 min
* Eliot Britton: Backyard Blocks (2018) – 17 min
* Nicole Lizée: Folk Noir/Canadiana (2018) – 14 min
Thibault Bertin-Maghit: Luna’s piece is made up of nine very short movements. Each one is highly polished and crafted, and takes us to an imaginary geographical location.
Brett’s piece reflects his jazz universe, with a more subdued ambience and a little improvisation.
Derek’s piece is the most adrenalin-filled of the program, with the heaviest, grooviest parts of the show.
Eliot, on the other hand, has given us more open material in which each of us has zones to ornament and vary the sound textures. Here, we’re sometimes in more pop/groove spheres, with electronic cues too.
Finally, Nicole served us her now traditional cocktail of glitch, phase shifts, unusual instruments and electronic tape, all synchronized to a film of her own concoction, filled with pop references from recent decades.
I couldn’t talk about the artists behind the show without mentioning the collaboration of Myriam Boucher. She designed the video projections for the show, using her own images as well as illustrations by Melissa Di Menna and Julien Bakvis, themselves inspired by Kaie’s poem. The resulting visual universe is often aquatic and poetic, and gives pride of place to nature – the element, if there is one, that unites us all.
PAN M 360: Eliot Britton (Toronto), Nicole Lizée (Montreal), Derek Charke (Annapolis Valley), Luna Pearl Woolf (Montreal), and Bret Higgins (Toronto): all of these artists are Anglophone, including author Kaie Kellough. Should we conclude that the reflection on identity and belonging is the result of an Anglo-Canadian reflection in this case? Or is this selection of artists a coincidence?
Andrea Stewart: That’s one of the reasons it’s interesting to return to a show created so many years ago: we realize there’s always more to do to create a more complete artistic picture of how our society feels. I think we can say that this reflection is true for speakers of all languages across the country. It’s the reflection we have when we find our communities, wherever they may be, or when we connect with a particular territory.
The language of the creative team members of Quelque part, mon jardin can be seen as a snapshot of the ensemble’s state of mind at the time: as a predominantly French-speaking ensemble in 2016—when we began working on this project—collaborating with English-speaking artists felt like an important connection to make. Since 2016, our cultural, societal, and linguistic identity as an ensemble has become more complex, and this has had an impact on our artistic choices. It’s important to look back and see what we may have missed, and what we would like to see in the future.
PAN M 360: In this context of growing uncertainty about Canadian and Quebec sovereignty in the face of a very clearly imperialist American giant that wants to redraw the map of this continent, is there reason to include such a program in this context? Is it relevant to link this reflection on identity and belonging to current geopolitics?
Thibault Bertin-Maghit: I think this show highlights our desire for transversality, our need to put our differences side by side. Difference enriches us, opens our eyes to other visions of the world more than it intimidates or frightens us. The migratory realities of seven years ago are still relevant today, and the future will require our mobilization and unity to combat division and withdrawal. In this sense, this show is certainly a call to come together to face the challenges that await us.
