Northey to perform in Taos

Courtesy photo Morag Northey tells her life journey as a multi-genre fusion of cello, story, and song.

TAOS, N.M. — The Taos Center for the Arts is proud is announce the American premiere production of “17” by Canadian artist Morag Northey for a single performance at 7 p.m. on Friday, November 30, at the Taos Community Auditorium. Price is $20 at the door, $15 if purchased in advance from TCA office, 133 Paseo del Pueblo Norte.

Northey performed the world premiere of “17” earlier this year as part of the Sunset Theatre 2017 Exploration Series in Wells, B.C., Canada.

So… what exactly is this piece like? Is it theatre? Is it music? Is it performance art? Is it a text-based musical recital? It’s all of these, and more. At its heart, it is Morag’s life journey told as a multi-genre fusion of cello, story, and song and takes its audience on one whale of a ride through her profound experiences as an artist, woman, mother, and indomitable spirit.

She will be accompanied onstage by award-winning author and playwright Eugene Stickland.

Throughout this groundbreaking work, we get a glimpse into the magnitude and depth of this prolific artist. One thing is certain: the honesty of Morag’s story and the force of her vocal and virtuosic cello performance has profoundly touched and moved audiences. It’s a night in the theatre quite unlike anything you have ever seen – or heard – before.  During “17”s final refrain, having traversed a raw and challenging landscape, the audience is brought to a place of universal understanding, that in our troubles, none of us are ever alone.

Morag Northey is one of Canada’s preeminent cellists. Over the span of her 35-year career, she has played in numerous orchestras, chamber ensembles, musical theatre productions, and with stellar musicians which include Tony Bennett, Linda Ronstadt, and Lyle Lovett.

Northey is also an award-winning composer, writer, producer, singer, teacher, and now playwright. As a soloist, she has played exclusive engagements for the 2010 Olympics, Governor General of Canada Michaëlle Jean, and the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

At the same time, she has always been a restless explorer of further musical possibilities. She has performed several series of improvised concerts, guided only by her musical intuition and instinctive and soulful attraction to the great library of song: Bach, baleen whales, a golden eagle, Brahms, the song of a babbling brook – all embraced in her immense repertoire of music and song.

As a way to give back to her community, Morag created a series of solo concerts called “Together Calgary,” which offered healing release and sound therapy through uninterrupted hours of improvised cello and voice. She performed a year cycle of “Full Moon Walks” in Calgary’s Fish Creek Park, encouraging audiences to reconnect with Nature through guided tours accompanied by cello, song, and motivational discussions.  Together Calgary and the Full Moon Series led to Morag’s decision to walk the 720-kilometre Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage across France and Spain in 2014, carrying her cello and playing and singing as invited.  With her first Camino step she spawned a “Walk On” project, encouraging those in any way troubled to move healthfully through and out of difficulties. 

“A distinguished virtuoso, her playing enraptures our mind with an artistry that brings blissful pleasures to the soul.”

— The Right Honorable Michaëlle Jean

“One of the most passionate, unique, sensitive and expressive musicians I have ever encountered in all my years. I came to her to study the cello and my eyes were opened up to new worlds of possibilities in music practice and performance born first from inner peace. When you hear her cello voice, you will be truly touched.”

— Bruce Hildesheim, B. Mus., Juilliard School

Eugene Stickland came to Calgary in 1994 and began what would become a ten-year residency at Alberta Theatre Projects, establishing his reputation as one of western Canada’s most prominent playwrights. All in all, he has written 15 plays, some of which have been produced many times across North America and beyond. His play Queen Lear, for example, had a two-year run in Istanbul in Turkish translation and is currently running in Russia in Russian translation. While at ATP, he began writing a feature column for the Calgary Herald ‘s Entertainment Section with a weekly audience of half a million people. At the same time, he has a strong commitment to mentoring the next generation, teaching or holding residencies at a number of institutions, including the National Theatre School of Canada, the University of Lethbridge, Mount Royal University, York University, and the University of Regina. He is currently writer-in-residence at St. Mary’s University in Calgary, where he teaches creative writing. For a number of years he was the Canadian delegate to the World Interplay Festival in Australia and in that capacity worked with and mentored young playwrights from around the world. In 2015 he published his first novel, The Piano Teacher, which was awarded the 2016 W. O. Mitchell Award.

He was engaged by Morag Northey to refine her script and bring to life this performance of 17, and became part of the cast in the process! ?

Morag will join internationally renowned violinist Odin Rathnam -- who returns to Taos after playing a sold-out concert of solo violin at the Harwood Museum one year ago -- for an ensemble concert “Odin Rathnam & Friends” the very next evening, Saturday, December 1, 7 pm, at First Presbyterian Church of Taos, 215 Paseo del Pueblo Norte. Tickets are $15, with children under 12 and students free; sold at the door only. The program will include works for violin, cello, viola, and piano, including Piazzolla, Bach, Mozart, Gliere, and Saint-Saens.