What Is: Soul
Concert , Panel , Workshop in What Is: Soul Series
The Music Gallery presents
What Is: Soul
June 8-12, 2021
The Music Gallery is proud to announce a new annual series to its calendar: the What Is series, which examines the threads that tie music together. As the first curation by Artistic Director, Sanjeet Takhar, What Is: Soul is a multipart workshop, talk and performance series focusing on the embodied, transcendent, dreaming parts of music that exist beyond genre. The online series will take place June 8- 12; register for a free festival pass here.
“What Is: Soul overcomes common genre-based ontology and explores the human side of music. It was curated to examine how we break down systems, reassess assumptions, and prioritize marginalized voices” states Takhar. “It explores the intangible, warm, weighty, deep down feeling that occurs when soul exists in sound and asks, in a time of bleakness, ‘how can forms of soulful music be the light in response to our unstable reality?’”
This series unfolds in five parts:
Singing on the Toilet with dreamcastmoe (Washington, DC)
June 8 at 5:30PM
A one hour vocal lesson on how to sing full from the confines of your apartment. Learn how to croon like the greats from your porcelain throne with dreamcastmoe.
Touch of Soul: A conversation with Eugene Tam & Raf Reza
June 9 at 7:00PM
A conversation with Eugene Tam, owner of Play De Record – for decades, Toronto’s most crucial beat-oriented record store – and DJ/ professional record store loiterer Raf Reza. Together they’ll explore the culture around music sharing.
Watch: Twitch
Emoting Computer Music with Byron the Aquarius (Detroit/ Birmingham)
June 10 at 5:30PM
Byron was raised on jazz piano and now a techno & house producer. This one hour workshop explores how he puts emotion into his music.
Deep City Breaths: An expansive conversation about soul and Toronto
June 11 at 7:00PM
A panel discussion curated by Anupa Mistry exploring how urban resilience, cultural exchange, and femme resourcefulness can liberate the soul of the city. ‘How can urban resilience, cultural exchange, and femme resourcefulness liberate the soul of the city?’ Join panelists Alanna Stuart, Ladan, Kamilah Apong, SATE, and moderator Anupa Mistry.
Watch: Twitch
Performance: Angel Bat Dawid + Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, in partnership with International Anthem (Chicago) and The Village (Los Angeles)
June 12 – 3:00PM
A special webcast performance & record release by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Angel Bat Dawid, one of the leading lights of Chicago’s avant-jazz, boundary-defying labels, International Anthem and The Village, the like-minded L.A.-based record label stemming from the work and legacy of the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra.
