ON THE ROAD

PHOTO: The Noorderzon festival site in Noorderplantsoen park, Groningen.

The Accelerator Lab International Fellowship cohort has just returned from The Netherlands, where we attended the Noorderzon 2024 Festival in Groningen. Over the week, we attended over 12 shows, had the chance to speak with artists in the festival and meet up with members of the Noorderzon team. Highlights included Ant Hampton’s Borderline Visible, Guillermo Cacace’s Gaviota/Seagull, Yang Zhen/RED VIRGO’s Hommage and Guillermo Calderon’s VACA. Other delights included a visit to the incredible Forum Building, which made us all super envious, as well as being in town for the festivities marking the ‘Relief of Groningen,’ which looked like marching bands dressed up in old-timey 1672 outfits traveling down the cobblestone streets. We developed our own way of critiquing and talking about the work we were seeing, and took many opportunities to wander through the festival grounds and take in the different programming areas of Noorderzon, from the beer gardens, to the container shows, to the food trucks and public artworks.

We’ve come away with lots to think about, and the next few months will include more meet ups with the cohort, writing for both group and individual processing as well as ongoing sessions between the 4 artists and their international mentors. We’ll be sharing more as the program continues.

Accelerator Lab is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts Sector Innovation and Development and the City of Vancouver through the Cultural Learning and Sharing program. A big thanks also to the Noorderzon Festival!

LIVE

Veda Hille Sisterhood

PHOTO: Veda Hille Sisterhood – by Jennilee Marigomen

Veda Hille Sisterhood has 2 shows, September 14th & 15th at The Cultch!

VHS is Veda Hille’s new 6-piece ensemble, featuring Veda on voice and piano, Julia Chien on vibraphone and percussion, Lucien Durey on voice and sundry noisemakers, Thom Gill on voice and guitar, Patsy Klein on voice and flute and Nicholas Krgovich on voice and keyboards. VHS began in 2022, born in the wake of quarantie when the need to sing together was a true imperative. The beautiful Historic Theatre at The Cultch has been their home base, where they recorded their EP, Veda Hille Sisterhood Alive.

VHS will be joined by early aughts legends p:ano, who are releasing their first new album in 17 years! p:ano was formed in 1999 by Nick Krgovich and Larissa Loyva. Joined by Julia Chirka and Justin Kellam, p:ano has made 4 albums together. The new LP is called ba ba ba.

Many of these musicians in VHS and p:ano have overlapped as friends and players since the late 90s, and some are new to the gang. This combo of old and new suits this special evening perfectly—expect fresh songs played in old ways and old songs freshened up!

Veda is one of TR’s longtime Associate Artists, and has worked on numerous productions, including all of our East Van Pantos. Currently she’s collaborating with TR’s AD Maiko Yamamoto on a new show, End of Greatness, premiering 2025/26.

COMMUNITY NEWS

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TR friends in The Fringe

Looking to Vancouver Fringe? A few TR friends have shows you may want to check out!

Bitches with Baggage by Roomie Productions, co-written and performed by Hikari Terasawa, a member of our Studio 58 student ensemble from East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast (and featuring other Beauty and the Beast fam!).

Cardboard Boxes and Other Ways to Travel by Ethan DeHoog, one of our amazing Kid Wranglers/Production Assistants on East Van Panto: Beauty and the Beast.

God's a Drag by Jessica Lemes da Silva, dramaturged by our Accelerator Lab cohort artist, Davey Samuel Calderon, through PTC.

Click the button below for more info and to see the full line up!

Thanks for reading this. And pls enjoy our new look!

Maiko, Chelsea, Katie and JK
Team TR