Soundstreams presents ELECTRIC MESSIAH December 7 and 8 2015 at Drake Hotel Toronto

From a media release:

Soundstreams presents 
ELECTRIC MESSIAH
Part of the Ear Candy series
December 7 and 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm, Drake Hotel Underground

Handel goes Underground: A stripped down, surround-sound electro-improv Messiah for today’s Toronto.

• Get tickets

Tuesday, November 3 // Toronto – Soundstreams presents the first concert from our newest series dedicated to musical exploration, Ear Candy. Electric Messiah, running December 7 and 8 at the Drake Hotel Underground, is a new holiday tradition that takes Handel’s masterpiece apart and puts it back together again, reconnecting Toronto audiences to the music of the season in a way that is surprising, fresh, and fun.

“This type of Messiah has never been done in Toronto before,” says Kyle Brenders, Ear Candy curator and Soundstreams Artistic Associate. “Musically, we’re hoping the feel will be something like a mashup of Handel, Bjork, and Kubrick’s 2001 Space Odyssey—but you’ll have to come to find out! We’ll also celebrate Messiah as a community experience, and are excited to push audience immersion further outside of a conventional concert hall.”

Composed in three weeks in the late summer of 1741, Messiah was originally written for modest vocals and instrumentation, only later becoming the huge annual spectacle we are familiar with today. Stripping Handel’s music back down to its barest essentials, Electric Messiah enables four singers, accompanied by guitar and electronics, to explore a selection of the work’s most popular movements through the lens of their own unique styles and cultural backgrounds. Featuring South Indian sound poet Gabriel Dharmoo, improvisation specialist and minister’s daughter Christine Duncan, Finnish-Canadian opera singer Carla Huhtanen, and Maliseet musician Jeremy Dutcher, Electric Messiah celebrates a truly Torontonian array of contemporary music talents. As a narrative through line, turntable artist SlowPitch Sound will also weave his magic throughout, mixing in Messiah old and new in humorous and poignant response to the other performers.

Staged in the intimate, cabaret-style Underground of Toronto’s iconic Drake Hotel, in collaboration with dramaturg Ashlie Corcoran (The Ugly One, Tarragon Theatre and Theatre Smash, The Gay Heritage Project, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and lighting designer Patrick Lavender (It Comes in Waves, bluemouth inc and Necessary Angel Theatre Company), Electric Messiah is an interactive, surround-sound experience that will never be the same twice.

Ear Candy is supported by NOW Magazine and Sovereign State.


Electric Messiah
December 7 and 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm
Drake Hotel Underground, 1150 Queen Street West

Featuring: 
Gabriel Dharmoo, vocals; Christine Duncan, vocals; Jeremy Dutcher, vocals; Carla Huhtanen, vocals; John Gzowski, guitar; Doug Van Nort, electronics; Electroacoustic Orchestra of York University; SlowPitch Sound, resident DJ.
In collaboration with curator Kyle Brenders, dramaturg Ashlie Corcoran, and lighting designer Patrick Lavender.

• Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door ($25 if you buy both Ear Candy concerts together), and are available at soundstreams.ca.
• Make a night of it: audience members receive a 15% discount on dining at the Drake before the show (food only) with an Electric Messiah ticket.

EAR CANDY: UP NEXT
Electric Counterpoint
March 19, 2016 at 8:00 pm
The Theatre Centre Incubator, 1115 Queen Street West
Featuring: Matt Smith aka Prince Nifty; Brandon Valdivia aka Mas Aya; and Dan Morphy. Resident DJ, SlowPitch Sound.

Soundstreams also offers a Mainstage Concert Series, as well as Salon 21, a free performance and discussion series at the Gardiner Museum.