Famous Korean Percussionist to Appear at Guelph Symposium

Do not miss the chance to see internationally renowned improvising percussionist Dong- Won Kim appearing as part of a symposium on creative improvisation held in Guelph this coming week. Entitled “The Improvising Eye,” the symposium will be held in a number of downtown Guelph venues on Friday 17th December, from 1pm-10pm, and will include talks, interviews, film showings, and performances.

Dong-Won Kim (Music, Wonkwang Digital University, Korea) is well-known for his pioneering work with the Silk Road Ensemble, and for his collaborations with award-winning cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. He also appears in the Australian documentary film Intangible Asset No.82, directed by Emma Franz (2009), which has won a number of coveted prizes at film festivals across the world. He will be interviewed live on stage by Joshua Pilzer (Faculty of Music, University of Toronto), as part of the afternoon program of events. He will also be performing later in the evening in a very special evening concert.

“The Improvising Eye” symposium starts at 1PM at 10 Carden Street, Guelph. The first event is an interview with Guelph improvising film-makers Mauricio Martinez and Nicholas Loess (University of Guelph), followed by a film showing of Martinez’s experimental film The Improvising Eye. The Dong-Won Kim interview will take place at 3PM.

At 4 PM, the symposium will reconvene at the Guelph Public Library, starting with a free afternoon tea. The afternoon session from 4-5:30 PM features Dr Sara Villa (Centre de recherche en éthique, Université de Montréal), speaking on “Jazz and Beat Poetry at the Dawn of the New American Cinema.”

At 8 PM, at Norfolk United Church, Dong-Won Kim will be performing as a very special guest in the last event of the program, a concert with local Guelph favourites The Vertical Squirrels. The music of the Vertical Squirrels is group-improvised, live in the moment, and draws on a unique mixture of free jazz and post rock sensibilities with nods to Indian ragas, jazz-inflected minimalism, Zappa-esque bouts of sonic anarchy, and 70s German rock music. Their new recording, Hold True, has recently been released on the prestigious Ambiances Magnétiques label and was recently the #1 release on the Top 30 Independent Radio Charts on CFRU-FM in Guelph. The group features Ajay Heble (piano), Daniel Fischlin (guitars), Lewis Melville (bass), and Ted Warren (drums).

All events at “The Improvising Eye” are free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Rebecca Caines. Email rcaines@uoguelph.ca or telephone 519-824-4120 Ext. 52316.