Friday, May 27th at SVT
10:00 Benton Roark/Arkora: Songs from the Rainshadow’s Edge
10:45 Dimmer Twins

Saturday, May 28th at SVT
10:00pm Jesse Beaman of My Empty Phantom
10:45 Benton Roark/Arkora: Songs from the Rainshadow’s Edge

$10 – $15
Student/ Artist Discount $5

Songs from the Rainshadow’s Edge – a song cycle in five parts by Benton Roark – is a musical journey into a “dark and interior vision” (The Georgia Straight). Scored for the unusual compliment of soprano, narrator, electric guitar, flute, viola, double bass, percussion, and sampled sounds, this 33-minute, five-part cycle takes the listener deep into a lush soundscape populated by post-impressionistic textures, sweeping vocal lines, haunting lullabies, and fleeting clouds of microtonality. A seasoned composer and songwriter, Roark has in this work pioneered a language that merges his eclectic influences from avant-garde and folk traditions, crafting a work that shows a “deep unity of music and text” (Vital Weekly). 

The live orchestral performance is accompanied with video by Jeanne Stern, commissioned for the piece. The film features lush otherworldly landscapes comprised of miniature environments, and kaleidoscopic video of Austin, Texas and northern Portugal. 

Songs from the Rainshadow’s Edge was commissioned by Redshift Music Society and premiered at the Cultch in Vancouver in 2012 by an ensemble featuring Canadian soprano Kathleen Allan, along with Austin performers Sean Harvey, Julie Slim, Janie Cowan, Seetha Shivaswamy and more TBA.

More details at:
http://friendlyghost.org/event/songs-from-the-rainshadows-edge-by-benton-roark/

Friday tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2540297
Saturday tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2540302