Curatorial Statement – Mixtape with Gabriel Kahane & Timo Andres
January 22, 2014
A couple of years ago, Gabriel Kahane, Timo Andres, and I had dinner in New York to hatch plans for each of them to make music in Vancouver. Gabe had played for Music on Main twice before, and Timo had been on my radar for the past few years.
We spoke about solo project, projects with bands, projects with chamber ensembles and orchestras. It was fun to see how the two of them played off each other in conversation, mixing serious thought with hilarity, musical insight with insight on current affairs. And the conversation had to come to stop several times: the food and wine was really good.
Fast forward a few months.
I’m chatting by phone with Gabe, trying to find dates that work to bring him back to Vancouver. He tells me about a concert he’s putting together with Timo. It’s exactly the sort of music making we love at Music on Main. Really quickly after that, these two dates, in collaboration with the PuSh Festival, and all the details were sorted out.
Why am I excited about Mixtape? It’s partly because Gabe and Timo are both smart, funny, and opinionated. (They’re the sort of musicians who convey that when they play.) And it’s also because their concert gives us insight into how musicians really think about music.
Their concert shows relationships between different periods of time and different composers. The program they’ve put together shines a light on those relationships in a way that only great artists can.
And they’ve assembled it all so that we can experience music afresh: this mixed tape format juxtaposes composers and periods and ideas and moods so that we’re taken on a musical journey, a journey that feels like it also gives us insight into Gabe and Timo’s musical thinking.
It’s the sort of journey that’s at the core of what we do at Music on Main: great music, refreshing formats, casual environments. Music that brings us together.
I hope you’ll join us!
David Pay, Artistic Director
Music on Main
Photo: Sven Boecker.