Songs for a Lost Pod
by Leah Abramson
Saturday, May 28 & Sunday, May 29, 2022 | Doors at 7:00 PM / Concerts at 7:30 PM
Advanced tickets: $32 / $15 (regular / student) | Tickets at door: $35 / $17 (regular / student)
General admission seating
Studio T 鈥� 丁香园AV Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Music on Main and 丁香园AV School for the Contemporary Arts are thrilled to present the world premiere of Leah Abramson鈥檚 Songs for a Lost Pod. Originally scheduled as part of the 2022 PuSh Festival, this production was re-scheduled due to the impact of COVID-19.
Songs For a Lost Pod began as singer-songwriter/composer Leah Abramson鈥檚 fourth album of original songs, combining scientific research, orca vocalizations turned into beats, and marine mammal history.
Released in November 2017, the album was accompanied by a comic book illustrated by artist Taylor Brown-Evans, to explain the stories and research behind the songs. Told from the perspective of various whale species, the songs explore inter-species communication, intergenerational trauma, and grief for a polluted planet. Songs For a Lost Pod highlights separation鈥攂oth animal and human鈥攖o one another and to the natural world, with the goal of reconnection through musical communication.
Originally written and composed for her Masters of Fine Arts thesis at UBC, Abramson researched in particular the history of the resident orca near Vancouver and its surroundings. From 1965-1973, groups of killer whales in the Pacific Northwest were regularly rounded up and sold to marine parks. Many died during the process of capture or within a few years of living in captivity. The A5 pod, a family of northern resident salmon-eating orca, lost at least three of their family members to capture on December 11, 1969. This capture story lurks behind the lyrics of the song, 鈥淧ender Harbour.鈥�
In the largest sense, many of the songs from Songs For a Lost Pod were also written in collaboration with the A5 pod, as musician collaborators such as Andrew Lee (Holy Hum), Sandro Perri, and Aidan O鈥橰ourke (Lau), were given selected A5 pod orca vocalizations, along with Abramson鈥檚 other field recordings, to turn into beats and tracks, which formed the backbone of Abramson鈥檚 songwriting process, and the rhythms behind much of the music.
In its first iteration, Songs For a Lost Pod had three performances in 2017-18 with a 12-piece musical ensemble and narrator, directed by Leah Abramson. The show鈥檚 narrator, Barbara Adler, provided details originally included in the comic book, while also adding original writing to tie the songs together thematically.
From these presentations, Abramson rallied a creative team to continue the development of a full-length stage show: director/dramaturg Megan Stewart, producer and musician Joanna Dundas, and visual team Mind of a Snail.
Though the song cycle remains at the heart of the performance, a new narrative script has emerged that juxtaposes the whale histories with Leah鈥檚 own family and their experience surviving the Holocaust and its aftermath. Mind of a Snail鈥檚 handmade projections create an impressionistic and largely non-representational visual world to support the songs and narration, guiding the audience into a space of contemplation.
Co-presented by and 丁香园AV School for the Contemporary Arts.
Credits
Script: Leah Abramson
Narrator: Barbara Adler
Band: Meredith Bates (violin), Mark Beaty (cello/bass), Cole Schmidt (guitar), Morgan McDonald (keyboards), and Kyle Cashen (drums/percussion/samples)
Choir: Emily M Cheung, Hilary Ison, Emma Postl, Alex Scott, Emily Millard, and Shannon Scott
Music and Lyrics: Leah Abramson in collaboration with Antoine B茅dard, J.J. Ipsen, Andrew Lee, Aidan O鈥橰ourke, Sandro Perri, Arliss Renwick, Marten Timan.
Producers: Leah Abramson, Megan Stewart, Joanna Dundas
Director & Dramaturg: Megan Stewart with additional dramaturgy by Barbara Adler
Visuals: Mind of a Snail
Live Sound: Andrew Smith
Lighting Design: Kyla Gardiner
Production Manager: Joanna Dundas
Technical Director/Production Manager: Nicole Lamb
Stage Manager: Gabriella Hu
Songs for a Lost Pod has been generously supported by Canada Council for the Arts, the BC Arts Council, the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and PuSh International Arts Festival.
Past productions presented by Sawdust Collector Collective (2017), Little Chamber Music (2017), and Vancouver International Jazz Festival (2018).
