Trading Places: Un Échange Marathon at the Hargrove

Trading Places: Un Échange Marathon
with guests (Montréal) Ari Swan and Markus Lake
a co-production with NOW Society, Suoni Per Il Popolo and Barking Sphinx

Haley Bird – oboe
Johanna Hauser – bass clarinet
Ari Swan – violin
Meredith Bates – violin
Bruce Freedman – sax
Nikita Carter – sax
Gillian Thomson – voice
Balam Axayacatl S. Antonio – guitar
Cole Schmidt – guitar
Matthew Ariaratnam – guitar
Lisa Cay Miller – piano
Nikko Whitworth – bass
Clyde Reed – bass
Markus Lake – bass
Robert Thomson – bass
Jen Yakamovich – drums
Jesus Caballero – drums
Spencer Schoening – drums

Poster created by Popolo Press
Marathon curated by Gillian Thompson and Lisa Cay Miller in Partnership

Trading Places: Un Échange

Trading Places: Un Échange is a vibrant residency program begun in 2016 that takes place in Montréal and Vancouver, two of Canada’s foremost centers of improvised music. The NOW Society, Suoni Per Il Popolo, and the Trading Places: Resident Coordinators curate in collaboration, providing support for artistic practice and cultural exchange.

Trading Places: Un Échange est un programme de résidence dynamique qui a débuté en 2016 et qui se déroule à Montréal et à Vancouver, deux des principaux centres de musique improvisée au Canada. Le NOW Society, Suoni Per Il Popolo, et les coordonnateurs résidents organisent en collaboration un soutien à la pratique artistique et le biais d’échanges culturels.

Chaque année, les artistes résidents sont choisis pour représenter leurs communautés dans ces résidences. Les artistes créent de nouvelles œuvres, assistent à des rassemblements musicaux, dirigent des ensembles, présentent des concerts, dirigent des ateliers et réalisent des enregistrements, formant de nouveaux liens avec des artistes locaux. Les échanges culturels comprennent des marathons continus d’une vingtaine de musiciens dans chaque ville, cette année à Vancouver, un partenariat avec Barking Sphinx pour présenter le marathon à The Hargrove.

Each year the resident artists are chosen to represent their communities in these residencies. The artists premiere new works, attend musical gatherings, perform in concerts, facilitate workshops and make recordings, forming new connections with local artists. Cultural exchange include expansive continuous marathon events involving as many as twenty musicians in each city. This year’s program in Vancouver we co-present the Marathon in partnership with Barking Sphinx at the Hargrove.

Resident Artists: Markus Lake and Ari Swan

Markus Lake is a Montréal/Tiotia’ke based musician and composer. Lake’s albums, live shows and soundtrack work explore themes of attention, obscurity, visibility and repetition through the use of a constantly expanding palette of digital instruments and samples. He released his juno nominated fourth LP, “Fourth Album” on Constellation Records in October 2023. He is a graduate of the Electroacoustics program at Concordia University and has played bass in the Montréal bands Elle Barbara’s Black Space, Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, and Silver Dapple.

Ari Swan is a violinist, composer and music educator. Through her work she attempts to create spaces that prioritize BIPOC and Queer voices and explores how art can cause a social reckoning/social healing. She is a founding member of Egyptian Cotton Arkestra, an all-POC free improvisation group, and has performed with a number of Montreal bands. She holds a masters in music education and has been a community educator (albeit off and on) for many years. Like many musicians she maintains a day job. In hers she is a fundraising professional.