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Circle poster

“a hilarious, profound and subverting evening of prose and song from among the best!” – Dave Bidini, Bidiniband, the Rheostatics, Author of 11 Books, National Post columnist, and all around great guy!

A catchy title isn’t it? It can conjure various emotions, heavily influenced by our personal experiences. Some of us will focus on ‘heroines’, and others of us the ‘sexual’ – putting ‘sexual gothic’ together is certainly provocative. What we are really exploring is how the female and the idea of the feminine is framed by social context, physical attributes that we are born with or grow into, with an author’s eye to the personal exploration of herself in relation to her characters. Add the phenomenal original scoring of the Billie Hollies and we have a presentation that is rich in discovery, drama, humour and celebration.

In Heroines of the Sexual Gothic, critically acclaimed author Susan Swan explores her relationship to some of her most intriguing characters – the giantess Anna Swan, the fiercely independent Asked For Adams and the romantically idealistic Mary “Mouse” Bradford. In traditional Gothic, the setting is a ruined castle. In Sexual Gothic, the body is the ruined castle, as each of these characters contends with physical challenges or oddities that prevent them from accepting themselves as women. Woven throughout Swan’s explorations is original music composed and performed by The Billie Hollies, Toronto’s popular woman opera noir quartet. The soulful sound of The Billie Hollies singing passages from Swan’s novels bring these characters to life, allowing the audience to powerfully connect to their own hopes and struggles. We had a debut of the idea with a 20 minute sketch at a fundraiser for the Toronto Women’s Bookstore  last June. After a winter of development kindly supported by the Canada Council, we are ready for our first presentation in London, Ontario. Thank you to The Circle, Women’s Centre, Brescia University College, UWO. Join us for this unique evening of performance – Susan Swan and The Billie Hollies have created an evening of talk and music you’ll never forget.

Directed and Produced by Louise Fagan
Assistant producer and director: Mariel Marshall

The Jeanne Adamson Memorial Event of The Sophia Series presented by The Circle Women’s Centre, Brescia University College, University of Western Ontario, London Ontario Canada

Heroines of the Sexual Gothic
Featuring Canadian Author Susan Swan and
the all-woman opera noir quartet, The Billie Hollies

Thursday 2 May 2013, 8:00 p.m.
Meet & Greet Reception with the Artists to follow the performance
Brescia Auditorium, Brescia University College, London
Tickets: $20.00; $15.00 for Circle members
Free Parking

Info & Tickets: www.thecircle.ca or circle@uwo.ca
or 519-432-8353 ext. 28288

Visit our website at http://www.heroinesofthesexualgothic.com for more info about the entire team!

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Life-ology for February 8, 2013

After last week’s Life-ology weather report I think we were all assuming things would settle but the fronts continue to push extreme cold or extreme heat – dependent upon where you live on this planet. This is serious stuff. The weather patterns are indicative of some crazy climate re-wiring taking place – which just adds to the anxiety or pressures we are already feeling the weight of. So what’s a girl to do?

Sometimes there isn’t anything to be done, but just chill. Maybe you can’t do anything to fix this problem today, or maybe your efforts are taking longer than you had hoped. Perhaps you aren’t sure what the heck to do to, after all one soul facing a raging storm can be overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. I’ve been listening to this song alot lately. It is one of my FAVES!! The blues with smokey male vocals, sparse electric guitar, fantastic female vocal line, and strings –  yes strings! Listen to how they start the piece and the resurface again midsong. Love it!

But the best part of this song is its message – when you become so focussed with your own ideology a self-righteous alienation occurs. Just chill baby, chill.  Here is my Life-ology fortune cookie* for you this week, in the form of a song by the Mighty Sam McClain** ‘Too Much Jesus (Not Enough Whiskey)‘. I wish I’d thought of it!

http://youtu.be/cz8dje4FfHY

* Yes, I realize this isn’t a fortune cookie, but honestly, when was the last time your fortune cookie actually told your fortune!

** Buy his music and read about him here: www.mightysam.com

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It is hard to believe that it has been 18 months since the inaugural Bach Music Festival of Canada! Let’s re-cap our successes:

  • sold out concerts!
  • phenomenal World Class artists
  • week long music making for Youth from across the country
  • Mass Choir, Orchestra, Soloist performance of the Mass in B Minor
  • Bach Festival at the JUNOS! Yup, we were co-presenters of the Classical Music Showcase – a most memorable experience for all of us!

We have made significant announcements this week regarding the Youth Program and  the Mass Choir, Orchestra and Soloist Final performance. Further guest artist announcements are to be made in the coming weeks. We can’t wait to share the news! 

Visit our website at http://www.bachmusicfestival.wordpress.com to see more of what the Festival staff, Board of Directors and Volunteers are planning for 2013! In a glance, here is what you need to know:

Bach Music Festival of Canada  July 14 – 20, 2013

Tickets will be on sale early in the New Year!

(HINT FROM THE EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Get your tickets early – they are inexpensive, will sell out and include THE BEST after-party! Don’t take my word for it, at the last Festival the Guest Artists were always the last to leave.Music, Summer, Party, – what could possible go wrong?!)

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What an exciting time to be in Ottawa Canada for the 2012 JUNO Awards!

Artistic Director Gerald Fagan and I arrived by VIA train, the Official Train of the JUNOs, Friday evening, in time to check into the Lord Elgin Hotel, one of the Official Hotels of the JUNOs ( are you noticing a trend here?) and the JUNO excitement is everywhere. The train ride from London to Ottawa was very exciting – Gerry studied his music for the April 6th Good Friday Concert in London. The entire trip. I’m not kidding. Except for when he took a break to eat a peanut butter sandwich. Don’t believe me? Check these photos out for proof!

Here he is waiting for the Toronto connection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And once on the train again, out comes the music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nothing like a peanut butter sandwich!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon arriving in Ottawa the JUNOs were there to welcome us!

Here is a picture of Gerry! 

After taking this picture of me, saying that I should be sure to have my picture in our JUNO diary, Gerry took this one and declared ‘perfect!’. Hmmmm…. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our fantastic Board of Directors is joining the festivities as well. Board Member Paul Ciufo arrived Friday night and met us for a late dinner at the Lord Elgin, one of the official Hotels of the JUNOs. Our waiter very kindly captured this shot.

He seemed somewhat nonplussed about our Official Status at the Junos importance. Luckily, the banana bread pudding with nutmeg ice cream by Chef Michael Smith was a balm to our hurt egos. Sigh.

Not to be upstaged, a van of the Bach Music Festival of Canada Board Members left Exeter Ontario at 4:30am to arrive in Ottawa for our Classical Music Showcase, an Official event of the JUNOs! which is at 3:30pm at the National Arts Centre.

Friedhelm Hoffmann, Heather Moffatt, Cathy Seip, Ellen Shapiro and Jean Jacobe along with Paul and Wayne Deluca and Janet Heerema are the most extraordinary Board of Directors that any organization would be so proud to be associated with. What an effort for each to make, to support the Festival as well as the efforts of Canadian contemporary classical musicians! We will miss Board members Janet Heerema and  Wayne DeLuca’s presence here – but he is cheering us from away!

This is just the beginning! More posts to come today and through the weekend. Thank you for joining us on this amazing journey! Louise Fagan, Executive Producer Bach Festival