A-side / B-side: Songs by Juliet Palmer

Songs set to a variety of Canadian poets, sitting between composed and improvised music. Oscillating between art song and improvisation, A-side features countertenor Ryan McDonald with Steven Philcox on piano, while B-side brings together vocalists Laura Swankey, Christine Duncan, and Jackson Welchner with Tania Gill (piano), Rob Clutton (double bass), and Jake Oelrichs (drums). A-side / B-side journeys from the irreverent sound poetry of Giovanna Riccio's “Barbie Sounds Out” and Mansour Noorbhakhsh's spare and contemplative “Oh, Rain!” to Luke Hathaway's rhythmic verses “tell the truth but tell it slant”, refracting ancient myths and gender identities. George Elliott Clarke's bebopping verse trips us back to 1971 and the Pilot Tavern, while Alisha Kaplan cracks open the heart of ancient prayer. Featuring poetry by Ayesha Chatterjee, George Elliott Clarke, Antonia Facciponte, Keith Garebian, Luke Hathaway, Alisha Kaplan, Al Moritz, Mansour Noorbakhsh, Corrado Paina, Giovanna Riccio, Armand Garnet Ruffo, Richard Sanger, Yeshim Ternar, Eleni Zisimatos Thanks to the CMC Residency Program and the Toronto Arts Council for supporting this project. The creation of these songs has been generously funded by the Toronto Arts Council, George Elliott Clarke, and The Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Juliet PalmerJuliet Palmer’s music has come to life under a highway off-ramp, in a swimming pool, in the plastic flotsam of a remote beach and in concert halls across North America, Europe and Oceania. Originally from Aotearoa New Zealand, Juliet makes her home in Toronto where she is artistic director of Urbanvessel, a platform for interdisciplinary collaboration. Recent works: a blur of lichens (Musikfabrik); Other Nations (Portland Contemporary); fire break (Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra); Choreography of Trauma (The Element Choir & Continuum); Oil & Water (Detroit Symphony Orchestra); Every Word Was Once An Animal (Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Oregon); Ukiyo, floating world (Urbanvessel & Thin Edge New Music). Recordings:small excesses (Atoll ) and rivers, (Barnyard Records). The feature film of her opera Sweat, libretto by Anna Chatterton and directed by Jennifer Nichols (Bicycle Opera), won Opera America’s 2024 Award for Digital Excellence in Opera. Juliet is a two-time finalist for the Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize, winner of the Detroit Symphony’s Elaine 2018 Lebenbom Award, and a Chalmers Arts Fellow (2018-19). She was an OAC Artist-in-Residence at Sunnybrook Medical Research Institute (2018) and composer-in-residence at the New Zealand School of Music and Orchestra Wellington (2011/12). Juliet holds a PhD in composition from Princeton University and an M.Mus in performance, composition and time-based art from Auckland University. www.julietpalmer.ca