Montreal pianist and composer Jean-Michel Blais will perform in Moncton and Halifax.
It’s never too early to add another event to your calendar, especially when that event involves one of the country’s most unique and captivating performers. In this case, we’re talking about Montreal pianist and composer Jean-Michel Blais, a musician whose rebellious approach to the classical form has helped earn him recognition on the international stage.
Blais’s 2016 debut II, a recording made up largely of experimentation over a two year period, gained international attention through streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music racking up some 50 million streams worldwide. The album also held the number one spot on Billboard’s Classical chart in Canada an astounding 14 times.
Earlier this year, Blais released his sophomore recording, Dan ma main (Arts & Crafts). Shortlisted for the 2018 Polaris Music Prize, the recording was composed largely in a single week, expanding greatly upon his established method of experimental composition and sound design. Like a soundtrack to deep mediation, Dan ma main offers the listener an endless range of fluid dynamic structures free from expectation and traditional boundaries.
On Dans ma main, tempted by a tangent first explored on Cascades, his 2017 collaborative EP with Grammy-nominated electronic producer CFCF – born from a featured performance at 2016’s Red Bull Music Academy – Blais steps out with an artistic statement that both reaffirms and refutes his post-classical stature. The disparate universes within Dans ma main are so seamlessly entwined that they appear borderless.
Jean-Michel Blais will perform at the Central United Church in Moncton on Friday, April 5 and St. Matthew’s Church in Halifax on Saturday, April 6 at 8 p.m.
Ticket information and complete tour dates: jeanmichelblais.com
