Ludwig van Toronto

PREVIEW | The Canadian Music Centre Presents Cellist India Gailey — Problematica

India Gailey (Photos courtesy of the artist)
India Gailey (Photos courtesy of the artist)

The Canadian Music Centre will present cellist India Gailey in performance on January 31. She’ll be playing pieces from her upcoming release Problematica, available on February 23.

Problematica will include a series of pieces that were written for Gailey by Canadian composers. India performs on the cello solo as well as sings on some of the tracks.

India Gailey

American-Canadian cellist India Gailey is also a composer and multidisciplinary artist whose work generally falls into the classical or experimental genres. Her influences are drawn from centuries of repertoire. She is equally at home with composed and improvised music, setting her apart from the vast majority of Western classical musicians.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, she has toured North America and Europe as a solo artist and collaborator, and is a member of the New Hermitage improvisational quartet. Together, the ensemble has released several well received albums.

India has worked with  Philip Glass, Yaz Lancaster, and Nicole Lizée, among many other composers.

Problematica is her third solo recording. Available on February 23, 2024 on People Places Records, it’s a collection of pieces that were written for India by Canadian composers. They include:

And, I long by Sarah Rossy, performed by India Gailey, which you can sample from the upcoming album Problematica below:

Problematica by India Gailey

India and her work have won awards and recognition from Arts Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, the Canada Council for the Arts, and Acadia and McGill Universities, among others.

As a composer in her own right, India often explores themes revolving around environmentalism and magical realism. She is the 2023 recipient of the Paul Cram Creation Award from Upstream Music Association. That funding will go towards the premiere of Butterfly Lightning Shakes the Earth, her new concerto for cello, with Symphony Nova Scotia in 2024.

Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.

#LUDWIGVAN

Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.

Sign up for the Ludwig Van Toronto e-Blast! — local classical music and opera news straight to your inbox HERE.