Voice++ 2011
Alvin Curran, Nous perçons les oreilles, Pamela Z, Viviane Houle & Stefan Smulovitz
November 17 to 20, 2011

Voice++ pushes the human voice to the edge. Whether it is augmented through the use of electronics or intensified by several singers in simultaneous improvisation, Voice++ takes our voice and our ears out of the mundane and into the extraordinary. In its ninth iteration, this festival teased the boundaries of contemporary voice and challenged the way we use, explore, and understand the nuances and power of something we all use every day. As a sampling of the resplendent diversity of voice, this year’s festival featured

Alvin Curran
Thursday, November 17, 8:00 p.m. Admission by donation.

Voice++ 2011 kicked off with a big sound. Alvin Curran and volunteer voices from around Victoria presented a new choral work. Curran’s music is described as “democratic, irreverent and traditionally experimental” and his music for choir lives up to these expectations, inhabiting the cutting edge of choral experience.

Nous Perçons Les Oreilles
Friday, November 18, 8:00 p.m. Admission $15/$10 or Festival Pass

The musical duo of Joane Hétu and Jean Derome (Montreal) brought the peculiar mix of alto saxophone and voice. At the core of their music, there is a certain symmetry: two alto saxophones improvising together, sometimes slipping into singing. They lead each other down musical paths, meeting in some places, diverging in others, to the point of not knowing who is playing what. Their interactions are a duality blending into one, just like two ears sending different and complementary signals to the same brain.

Pamela Z
Saturday, November 19, 8:00 p.m. Admission $15/$10 or Festival Pass

Triggering sounds with wrist actions and looping phrases into textures, Pamela Z (San Francisco) combines voice, electronics, and gesture. Using a variety of vocal techniques and gesture-controlled instruments, she was wired up, tech savvy and performing an eclectic mix from the haunting to the frenetic.

Viviane Houle & Stefan Smulovitz
Sunday, November 20, 8:00 p.m. Admission $15/$10 or Festival Pass

The festival closed with one of our most profound local songstresses, Viviane Houle (Sunshine Coast), who was joined by laptop wizard and visual artist Stefan Smulovitz. “The height of Houle’s vocal folds are stratospheric. We get grand opera, French chanteuse, cryptic and arcane...” She is a deep and intimate contemporary vocalist who premiered her newest creations.