The Quartetto Gelato ensemble mixes musical virtuosity with a theatrical flair and a performance repertoire spanning every possible genre. They have performed at many festivals, including the Luminato Arts Festival and have toured worldwide.

In this podcast we talk with Peter De Sotto (tenor, violin, mandolin) about Quartetto Gelato’s artistic sensibility, their personality-driven style, and why classical music hasn’t done itself any favors.

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Chuck and Albert Arsenault are Prince Edward Island’s preeminent musicians, committed to the Francophone communities of the region. Their debut album — energie — is a virtual tour of a land and people who have faced adversity with humor and song. Their collaboration with folklorist Georges Arsenault uncovered hundreds of hours of recordings with community elders who told jokes, sang bits of songs, and relayed centuries-old stories.

In this podcast Chuck and Albert talk about Acadian culture and music, why they decided to record this album, and illustrate the signature Acadian humor of their live performances.

Photo credit: Louise Vessey

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Acclaimed trombonist Craig Harris has performed with a veritable Who’s Who of artists, including Sun Ra, Lester Bowie, Abdullah Ibrahim and Sekou Sundiata. His own projects include Brown Butterfly, a multimedia piece based on the movements of Muhammad Ali, and Souls Within the Veil, based on W.E.B DuBois’ book The Souls of Black Folk.

In this podcast Craig talks about his early career with Sun Ra, why he is drawn to transform written work into all-encompassing performances, and details of his current project, God’s Trombones, a work based on James Weldon Johnson’s 1927 collection of poems inspired by African American preachers.

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