Toronto: March 10 2007, 6:30 pm Concert / Fundraiser @ NCCT (at the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto)

Red Cultural Arts

 

Saturday March 10^th, 2007

6:30pm

 

Fundraiser Concert

 

Performances by:

Brock StoneFish, Marion Newman, Cheri Maracle, Ramses Calderon, Mark Nadjiwan, Meghan Meisters, Aztec Dancing and More!

 

$7 in Advance

$10 at the Door

Further Donations Welcomed

 

 

Food, Beverage, Craft

And Merchandise SALE

 

Native Canadian Centre of Toronto

16 Spadina Rd (just north of Bloor)

 

 

Contact:

 Ramses Calderon 416-925-4804

 Ligia Segura 416-888-2358

 

 

Red Cultural Arts is a not for profit organization interested in the acknowledgement, preservation and diffusion of the knowledge and arts from North, Central and South America.

 

 

Musician Bios:

Marion Newman – First Nations (Kwagiulth/Salish) mezzo-soprano Marion Newman has quickly established herself as a “jewel in Canada’s impressive performing arts crown”. She has just returned from tour in Ireland. Having previously played the title role of Carmen, with Opera 2005 in Cork, Ireland where the Irish Examiner review noted her “superbly sinuous sexuality” and marked her as a “very exciting new talent”. She has also appeared as Margret in Wozzeck and Juno in the The Tempest with Pacific Opera Victoria, Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Meg Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, and the White Cat, Dragonfly and Squirrel in L’Enfant et les Sortilège. Recently released is a Naxos recording of the Aradia Ensemble performing Handel’s Rinaldo with Marion singing the role of Goffredo. Upcoming roles include Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Vancouver Opera, a Naxos recording of Vivaldi’s opera La Griselda, with Marion in the title role, and a return to Cork, Ireland for the role of Rosina.

Ms. Newman has toured internationally, performing in the Czech Republic and in Germany as Don Ramiro in Mozart’s Die Gärtnerin Aus Liebe and Ericlea in Il Ritorno di Ulisse. Marion also sang the roles of Zita and La Zia Principessa in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica in Italy. As part of the Banff Centre new music programme, Marion toured France with Richard Dubelski’s What’s Goin’ On and in 2004 she traveled to Lithuania with the ERGO ensemble to perform at the Is Arti New Music Festival.

Marion has also demonstrated her “luscious mezzo soprano voice and captivating vivacity” on television, having been featured four times as a soloist on CBC’s National Aboriginal Achievement Awards, and opening the 2002 Royal Golden Jubilee Gala at Roy Thompson Hall, where she performed the National Anthem with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir before Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

On the concert stage, Marion has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Portland Baroque Orchestra, CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, Kingston Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Elora Festival Singers, Talisker Players, Bell’Arte, Aradia Ensemble, Toronto Philharmonia, Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, St Lawrence Choir and Sooke Philharmonic. Her extensive repertoire includes Handel’s Messiah, the Mozart Requiem, Coronation Mass and Davidde Penitente, Copland’s In The Beginning, Bach’s St. John Passion, Magnificat, and Cantata no. 4, recorded with the CapriCCio Vocal Ensemble, as well as Charpentier’s Messe de Minuit, Vivaldi’s Stabat Mater, and Clarae Stellae Scintillate, which are both recorded with the Aradia Ensemble for the Naxos Label.

Ms. Newman made her orchestral debut at the age of sixteen with the Victoria Symphony, performing Mozart’s Piano Concerto K. 488 in A Major. She holds a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from the University of Victoria and a Master of Music with Distinction in vocal performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has recently been awarded a Career Development Grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.

 

Mark Nadjiwan – Born in northern Manitoba and raised in the untamed beauty of Northwestern Ontario, Marc knew from an early age he would perform music. As a youngster, Marc was raised on a steady diet of both traditional Native music as well as Canadian singer/songwriters. Later in his teens, Marc continued attending pow-wows in order to feed his tastes for traditional storytelling and his Ojibway roots. At the same time he began opening his ears to the world of pop music. After spending several years performing with various groups and graduating from the Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College in Southern Ontario, Marc returned to Thunder Bay where he began collaborating with other First Nations musicians. The first NADJIWAN compact disc titled Brother, released in 1995 went on to achieve much success in both Canada and the United States and was also nominated for a Native American Music Award for Best Pop/Rock Album of 2002. In 2000, Marc released the album Awake, featuring many well-known guest musicians such as Andy Stochansky, Maury Lafoy (Starling, The Supers, Ron Sexsmith) Arlene Bishop, Chris Gartner (Kevin Hearn band) and Todd Lumley (The Waltons). The album quickly generated great reviews and was nominated for a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award as well as a Native American Music Award in the United States. The album found its way onto many radio play lists on both sides of the border and made it on to many University/College radio top 40 charts. Several songs were also selected to be a part of the musical soundtrack for the theatre production New World Brave. In November 2005, Marc was nominated for BEST MALE ARTIST at the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards for his latest album “Begin”. Marc has performed at various music festivals including: Mariposa Folk Festival (Orillia, ON); Folk On The Rocks Music Festival (Yellowknife, NWT); Hillside Festival (Guelph, ON); and Frostbite Music Festival (Whitehorse, YK) to name a few. Marc has performed south of the border at festivals in New Mexico and Wisconsin. He also opened for Blue Rodeo in Ottawa, Ontario for a special benefit performance. Although Marc has left the humble and untamed beauty of Northwestern Ontario for the steel and glass castles of Toronto, he will never forget his roots. The deepening red skies, flourishing forests and fresh running rivers will always remain in his heart, soul and music.

 

Brock StoneFish – a member of the Delaware First Nation, he has opened for B.B. King, which anyone would agree is a pretty good stepping stone on the way to establishing a career singing the blues and has performed with Billy Joe Green and can be seen playing on ”REZ BLUES”.  Playing rhythm and slide guitar, Brock started in music as a Powwow singer before noticing the similarity between Native and Blues Music. Currently pursuing a solo career as a Performing Singer/Songwriter his main foundation was built by playing 4 times a week in Boston’s Blues scene, Playing lead and rythme guitar on Shor-ty and The Fox Band’s album entitled Shor-ty’s Got The Blues, as well as performing with Boston RnB hero and Doo-Op Hall of Fame inductee “Little Joe Cook”. Coming soon, having laid down 13 sample tracks, will be his debut album.

 

Cheri Maracle – Cheri has been performing across Canada and abroad for over a decade. Cheri has a theatre trained background from Capilano College in Vacouver, and Spirit Song Native Indian Theatre School, also from Vancouver. She has numerous stage/t.v. credits to her name, and her music career is fast catching up with her acting successes. Inspired by her Mohawk/Irish culture and nomadic upbringing across Canada, actor/singer/songwriter Cheri Maracle brings fresh and original music to her debut cd, Closer to Home. Cheri Maracle’s acoustic, percussion-driven original music is influenced by timeless, jazzy ballads and smokey blues standards, infused with contemporary Indie rock sounds. Additionally, Maracle’s traditional Aboriginal music roots with women’s vocal ensembles such as Tiyoweh and Posawawajek, is grounding foundation reflective in her song creations. With encouragement of musician/mentor/producer, Marc Nadjiwan, Maracle has been building a solid song repertoire and fan base these past few years. She is an engaging, soulful singer whose performances are described as sultry with an edge. Closer to Home is a deep reflection rooted in a challenging life that threads stories about identity, pride, family, Aboriginal issues, love and the human spirit.

 

Ramses Calderon - Ramses was born in San Salvador, El Salvador of Mayan heritage. His musical career began at the age of 11, playing the marimba and performing in recitals, adopting further instruments of Andean origin like the zampona, quena and the charango as well as the popular guitar. He has been living, working, studying and performing in Canada since 2000. Ramses graduated from the National Centre of the Arts College in El Salvador in 1994 where he studied music. He began intense study in classical guitar, harmony and music theory from 1993-2000 under Masters Jose Candido Morales and Cecilio Orellana, disciples of famous classical guitar composer Agustin Barrios Mangore (1885-1944) at the Nitsuga Mangore Academy. He also took Master classes with David Russel. Ramses has since participated in Master classes with Master Jorge Cardoso at the Guitar Symposium held by the Guitar Society of Toronto. He composes his own music for classical guitar, popular music and orchestra.

He founded folkloric musical group ‘Tecutunal’ in 1990, performing with them for 3 years at which point he became a member of the group ‘Tohill’, and subsequently ‘Xolotl’ in 1993 as their charango player for 7 years. He has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with performers Luis Enrique, Mejia Godoy, Los Guaranguau and Yolocamba Ita. Since 2000 Ramses has been performing solo at several cultural events at  the Royal Ontario Museum and the Columbus Centre. He has also played with various musicians in Toronto and surrounding areas such as ‘Surco’, ‘Imbayacunas’, David West and Billy Joe Green Band. Ramses’ distinguished musical achievements have enabled him to participate in many cultural events in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Cuba and Canada. Successor to the Nitsuga Mangore Academy, Ramses is also the director of Red Musical (www.redmusical.org), formerly the Escolastico Andrino Foundation which he co-founded with his Masters. Red Musical is dedicated to the research, study and preservation of music and manuscripts from El Salvador and Centro America from the 17^th to 20th centuries. Since the age of 16, Ramses has dedicated his time to this investigation and research. He has also drafted 3 original books with his Master Candido Morales regarding the history of guitar in El Salvador, issues of morality and most importantly the first documentation of Agustin Barrios Mangore’s technique for guitar.

 

Meghan Meisters - Proud of her Irish and Dene heritage, she spent her early years in Winnipeg, Manitoba and moved to Toronto almost 3 years ago. She is a pow wow dancer and a singer of RnB/Acoustic Soul, working on her first album.