Looking for something decidedly un-romantic to do this Valentine's Day? If you're in Vancouver Emotional weight and societal strictures make death a fertile field for art, the medium that allows us to speak the unspeakable. A kind of "anti-Valentine", DEAD Serious tackles this most profound, yet taboo, subject – our own mortality – through a musical (and literal) procession: from fear and fascination, to acceptance and peace, with stops at murder, black humour, sex, and survivors along the way. Acclaimed musicians Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa (piano) and Heather Pawsey (soprano) dig into mirthful and macabre music in an array of works by Canadian and international composers (Leila Lustig, David McIntyre, Jeffrey Ryan, Rodney Sharman, Gabriel Fauré, John Harbison and Francis Poulenc, among others) – plus world premieres by Canadian composers Chris Sivak and Robert Ursan – in this funereal, yet funny, foray. A performance space installation by noted artist S.D. Holman will extend meditations on mortality with photo-based artwork and an interactive altar to which audience members are invited to add their own mementos of their dead.
DEAD Serious is presented as part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad as well as the Canadian Music Centre's New Music in New Places program. The concert will begin at the Vancouver Crematorium, move through Mountain View Cemetery, and finish at the Hamilton -Harron Funeral Home. Admission is free, although you'll need to reserve tickets in advance (604-325-7441), since most funeral facilities already tend to be crowded venues....
(Image Credit: Ascension by S.D. Holman)
Update: DEAD Serious, originally scheduled for February 15, has now been rescheduled for February 29th at the same venue. All tickets for the 15th will automatically be transferred to the list for the 29th.
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