Pallmer are Banff Bound

Fredericton indie/classical duo are heading to the Banff Arts Centre for a three week residency.

Matt Carter

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Pallmer are heading to Banff in just over a week, but they’re not going for the winter tourist attractions. The indie/classical duo have been accepted to participate in an artist residency program at the Banff Arts Centre.

“We’ll be attending a residency called Concert in the 21st Century that runs from February 11 to March 1,” said cellist Emily Kennedy. “The purpose of the residency is to examine how classical music is programmed today, and to try to find new and interesting ways to present it. It’s great for us, because our project kind of straddles the line between classical music and songwriting, so it will give us a chance to workshop a concert idea that we’ve had for a while that interweaves our songs with some of the classical repertoire we’ve been learning.”

Kennedy and violist Mark Kleyn started the project last year as a way to merge their own compositions and songs with the work of other living composers in the classical idiom. The pair released their debut EP, Blocking Time, last October.

The residency will provide opportunities for artists to write, create and explore new ideas in performance. Select participants will even have the chance to work with dancers, actors and light designers all in an effort to push musicians beyond the traditional concert model.

“We’re planning on writing some new material while we’re there,” said Kennedy. “It will also be a real luxury to take three weeks to really just dive in and focus on playing and writing. So far they seem to be fairly open to how we spend our time while there, but we’re hoping we’ll be able to perform a bit and work with some of the other program participants.”