ARTS EAST

Renown Canadian jazz vocalist Emilie-Claire Barlow tours Atlantic Canada over the coming week, with stops in Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton and Halifax. Recently AE spoke with her about her latest recording Lumières d’hiver. What are your roots? I am Canadian, born in Toronto, Ontario! Where do you currently reside? I move between Montreal, Toronto, and Southern Mexico How long have you been involved with music, and what inspired you to start? I’ve been involved in music ever since I can remember. Both of my parents are musicians. My mother is a singer and my father is a drummer. In the 70’s and 80’s they were both first-call studio musicians, so I spent a lot fo my childhood in Toronto studios. I started working professionally when I was about 8 or 9 years old. Music was and is our life, so it was just a natural thing for me to do. I learned to read music at a very early age. My parents could see that I expressed interest, and had a natural musicality. A...

Audiences across Atlantic Canada are in for a boatload of belly laughs over the coming week, as the renown musical comedy weaves its way through Moncton, Halifax, Pictou, Glace Bay and Charlottetown. Recently, AE check in with the show’s producer Janet Martin. When and why did you first become interested in theatre? I've been in theatre professionally for 35 years as an actor, and as a producer since 2014. Are they the same reasons that you continue to be involved today? I don't know how to do much else, and theatre really fulfills my soul. This way, I eat, sleep and breathe theatre. I believe in the power of live performance and always have. What are the challenges of the vocation? As an actor of a certain age, one must maintain the instrument, the body, voice, health etc. As a producer, it is risky - not for the faint of heart. Never go into this business (or any other) just for the money. There must be passion too. What are the rewards? The...