Nani Vazana – Thursday, September 24th – Making It New
Acadia University is an essential partner in the continuing success of the Deep Roots Music Festival.
Thanks to them, we can present concerts in world-class venues, comparable to those in large cities, right here in our rural paradise. Since our founding year, Acadia has recognized and valued the contribution our Festival artists and teachers can offer to the university student population. ‘Artists at Acadia’ is a joint initiative with Acadia, featuring Festival artists doing free seminars, on the Acadia campus. Non-students are also welcome to participate in these engaging learning opportunities at Acadia Thursday afternoon of Festival weekend.
This year our Artist at Acadia is Nani Vazana – Her presentation: Making It New will be at Festival Theatre on Thursday, September 24th as part of Acadia School of Music’s Concert Credit Series. This is free, and members of the general public are welcome!
What does it mean to create within a living tradition – to honour the past without being imprisoned by it? In this lecture-performance, Nani Vazana will trace her creative process as one of the world’s few artists composing original music in Ladino, the endangered Judeo-Spanish language carried across centuries and continents by the Sephardic diaspora. She’ll explore how she brings that ancient tradition into dialogue with contemporary jazz, flamenco, and North African rhythms – and where she draws the line between innovation and preservation. Featuring live performance on piano and trombone, the presentation will also offer a first look at material she will further develop during her Deep Roots Artist in Residence week at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts, following the Festival.