Sound
Beyond
Boundaries
Night & Day
Night Music is an improvisational music series held on the third Thursday of every month at The Ship Pub. It begins with an hour-long performance that serves as the anchor for the evening, after which the stage is opened up to anyone with an interest in improvising. Host Craig Squires puts together inspired groups of musicians who jam until their sonic exploration reaches a natural conclusion. Bring your instrument and join in on the fun!
Loopstitch features Kate Read (viola & pedals) and Michelle LaCour (synths, accordion & electronics), frequent collaborators since their first artistic foray together during Sound Symposium XIX (July 2018). Their shared creative practice began as a re-imagining of J.S. Bach’s violin sonata no. 3 and led to the pair exploring a sonic world comprised of amplified viola; looping, reverb, and delay pedals; synthesizers; and found sounds. In 2025, they wrote and performed the live score for Oderin, a new movement theatre work, at the Arts and Culture Centre in St. John’s.
Jan. 15 // The Ship // 9:30 // $10
Night Music is supported by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, and Recreation
Sound Arts Initiatives is pleased to present Day Music, a new monthly workshop and open jam series on the last Saturday of each month. Day Music is open to adults and youth ages 13 and up, no musical experience required. Offered in partnership with the Froude Avenue Community Centre, the space is fully accessible and parking is available. Admission is by donation.
The first Day Music facilitator is Jing Xia, presenting a workshop on intercultural improvisation: discovering how traditional roots can spark unexpected creativity and inspire new improvisational pathways.
Jing Xia is an award-winning guzheng artist, composer, producer, and ethnomusicologist based in Newfoundland, Canada. Born and raised in Hunan, China, Xia started to study the guzheng at six years old and holds degrees in music performance (B.A.), arts management (M.A.), and ethnomusicology (Ph.D.). As an educator and scholar, Xia has been teaching music for more than a decade and has given informative lectures, workshops, and performances at universities and conferences around the world. Her research focuses on the diasporic experience of professional Chinese instrumentalists and their intercultural and transnational music-making in North America.
Be sure to stick around after the workshop for an open jam facilitated by The Nova Collective. Bring your instrument, or play one of ours!
Saturday, Jan. 31st // 2:00pm // Froude Avenue Community Centre (89 Froude Ave.) // Admission by donation
Day Music is supported by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, and Recreation, and by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation: Improvising Futures.
ONSOUND IV: what is jazz?
Experimental, improvised, and original jazz – anything but the standards – July 16-19, 2025
Night Music
Calling all improvisers! Join us at The Ship Pub on the third Thursday of each month for peformances by St. John's weirdest and most wonderful, followed by the only open jam in town.
Drone Day
Every year we make a noise together that stretches around the world. Drone on Saturday, May 24th, 2025.
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