Performers

Joane Hétu’s Filature (Québec)

Joane Hétu has long played a key role in the creative music community in Montréal not only as a composer, vocalist, and saxophonist, but also as the artistic and administrative energy behind Ambiences Magnétiques, the most important creative music record label in Canada. However, in a former life, Hétu worked as a weaver, and Filature, a ‘sound theatre’ in three acts, draws on this experience for both its concept and source material. In the weaver’s vernacular, the warp (strong, supportive, fundamental strands) is interlaced with the weft (light, silken, ornamental strands) to create the pattern, a creative combination of these essential components.

For Filature, Hétu has surrounded herself with Ensemble SuperMusique – ten musicians, comprised half by men and half by women – along with two dancers and four stage designers whose contributions, in sound and space, embody these weavers’ materials and techniques: “The Warp,” “The Weft,” and “The Pattern” are the titles as well as the conceptual points of departure for the work’s three acts.

What results is the shimmer of constantly changing and deftly juxtaposed textures through music, dance, video art, and lighting – an extension of the tradition of québecois musique actuelle to multi-media grandeur. No matter the scope of the project, however, since Filature celebrates tiny details – a hallmark of Hétu’s work as a composer and performer in general – as readily as composite textures and overall concepts.

Website:
www.actuellecd.com/en/bio/hetu_jo