Bleep in the Dark

On Tuesday, New Hermitage played at Bleep in the Dark at Radstorm, with i.O (Victoria) and Moss Harvest (Nova Scotia)!

New Hermitage June Tour

New Hermitage has just released the dates of our upcoming June tour! We'll be in Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Dawson City, and Edmonton. (Unfortunately, I can't make it to Toronto, but I'll be at the other dates.) In Guelph and Peterborough, we'll be playing with Joyful Joyful, fresh from our week of recording a new album with them!

The Bombadils at the ECMAs

The Bombadils played a fun showcase at the Carleton on May 5 as part of the ECMAs in Halifax this year.

thanks to Edward for the photo!

Cookie Concert

Amelia McMahon and I had a great time performing at this Musique Royale Cookie Concert! We were playing a mixed program of classical, folk, jazz, and pop songs arranged for harp and voice, with a special appearance by Scott Kingsley on bass.

Fictional Music

On April 23, New Hermitage was part of Tom Richards' installation composition at the Halifax Central Libray - Fictional Music. This piece was inspired by Borges short story "The Library of Babel" and consisted of music played simultaneously on four floors by four different ensembles. The audience could walk around and explore the soundscape, mixing between the various musicians. It was very cool and will hopefully happen again!

Charlie and Ellen at the Woodshed

Last month, Charlie Wilson (flute, whistle) and I played a series of concerts in the Wood Shed, a tiny concert venue right on Petite Riviere on the South Shore. It was our debut performance as a duo, playing mostly original tunes by Charlie. Stay tuned for Charlie's upcoming album of new compositions!

Where Dance and Music Meet

Mocean Dance and 1313 Music Association co-presented this amazing show featuring 19 improvising musicians and dancers. This show represented many years of working and experimenting together, and in particular represented Susanne Chui and Jerry Granelli's long-time vision of a dance and music collaborative ensemble. It was a magical experience.

photos by Kevin MacCormack

The Sleep-In

On March 25th, New Hermitage and Blackwood co-presented a concert of deeply ambient music where the audience was welcome to sleep! Everyone was encouraged to bring a blanket and pillow and get comfortable.

St. Patrick's Day at Celtic Corner and Birch & Anchor

This St. Patrick's Day, I spent the afternoon playing tunes at Celtic Corner with Colin Carrigan, and the evening at Birch & Anchor with Michael Dalton and Donald MacLennan!

Wolfe Island Residency

New Hermitage spent seven days on Wolfe Island last week on a beautiful residency period of musical exploration with Joyful Joyful and Michael C. Duguay. Thanks to the Canada Council for funding this work and to the Hotel Wolfe Island for hosting the residency and two public performances. More to come from this collaboration later this year!

New Hermitage + Pallmer at Sourwood

On Saturday evening, New Hermitage and Pallmer played a very fun cozy show at Sourwood Cider!  

Hayley Ryerson - Natural Elements

This week, I had the pleasure of working with Hayley Ryerson for the first time on some of her beautiful original tunes. We premiered them at the Music Room in Halifax!

Sensory Accessible Concert

I had a great afternoon on Sunday with Cecilia Concerts, playing a Sensory Accessible Concert with Jennifer King! Jennifer hosted the event and joined me for some harp and piano duos. Check out future Cecilia Concert programming here: www.ceciliaconcerts.ca

Much gratitude to everyone who came out to listen and dance, to Jennifer, Anna, Greg, and Roderick, to the amazing team of music therapist facilitators, and to Halifax Central Library for hosting!

 

Conservatory End of Term

As the first term wrapped up at the Conservatory, harp students participated in a couple of performance events - a class recital, a harp/fiddle jam at Garrison Brewery!

Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming Video

The Bombadils recently released a live video for their song "Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming", filmed in a backyard in west end Halifax! This is an arrangement of a song Luke wrote from their new album "Dear Friend", created for live quartet with Scott Kingsley on bass.

Bombadils Album Launch

The Bombadils have just released a beautiful new album, "Dear Friend"! You can check it out here: https://thebombadils.com/music. I contributed some harp sounds to Bicycle, Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming, Losing Track of Time, and the title track, Dear Friend. 

This weekend, we did two lovely launch shows in Halifax and Sackville.

Riddle Song Video

I've been loving playing folk songs lately with Sarah Frank and Adrianna Ciccone! Here we are singing the Riddle Song. Thanks to Luke Fraser for making this beautiful video for us!

Christmas Performances at Bethany United and St. George's

This year I was back at Bethany United Church on Christmas Eve and St George's Round Church on Epiphany to play harp preludes for the services. It was especially a treat to accompany the St George's choir and children's choir, both conducted by Garth MacPhee. Many thanks to Garth and to Shawn Whynot at Bethany for having me!