Hello Goodbye

Bonjour, Tristesse was an Otto Preminger film from 1958 that was inspired by a book of the same name. It was being shown at a special screening of Hollywood classics at the TIFF Bell Lightbox Tuesday night. At first glance, the film had a conventional Hollywood feel for movies of that era: the fast banter, the mid-Atlantic accent, and the slight stagey acting when viewed with modern eyes. But the story was a little darker.

17-year-old Cecile (Jean Seberg) spends care-free days on the French Riviera with her libertine and louche father Raymond (David Niven) and his latest young conquest Elsa (Mylene Demongeot). She is a bit infatuated with him, and certainly his playboy lifestyle. Into their lives Anne (Deborah Kerr), an old friend of Raymond, enters. At first, Cecile was happy to have a new mother figure in her life, but she became increasingly rebellious as Anne tries to introduce structure into the young girl's life like studying and school. In the aftermath of a tragedy, father and daughter spend their days in Paris in a funk of ennui and wearied sadness.

Godard had declared this film a spiritual ancestor to the black-and-white Breathless, and no wonder as they both revolve around Jean Seberg and an idealized French identity. I thought Seberg was captivating in the latter at the age of 23. But at 18 and filmed in colour, she was painfully luminous in Tristesse. The rest of the movie talent on display was prodigious, and she was less skillful acting wise, but her physical beauty and delicate innocence outshone everyone else when she was onscreen. It's a beauty not seen in modern Hollywood. Equally part of an Edenic past were the sun-drenched seascape of the French Riviera and the bygone 60s of Paris.

Zombie Shuffle

It was the Saturday before Halloween, 12 local bands were set to perform 20 minute sets at Silver Dollar and Comfort Zone. These two venues usually have separate entrances, but since they share a common stairwell accessible from Silver Dollar, it was possible to combine them. The alternating format allowed for quick set-up, but it required patrons to move between venues from set to set. Since you couldn't bring your booze with you, there were a lot of chugging at the exits.

In the spirit of masquerade, not only were the patrons dressed up in costumes, but each band also covered another well-known band. This allowed both the performers and crowd to rock out to some favourite tunes leading to an unusual sight at most small Toronto venues: a packed floor, with people right up against the stage, dancing and moshing. There were other strange sights: the Bride of Frankenstein and princess Leia bopping to Nirvana (Rituals); members of Kiss nodding to Lou Reed (Cut Flowers); and even the Sugar Crisp Bear head-banging to Nine Inch Nails (Hellaluya).

The night gave me a chance to enjoy not just some good local outfits but "famous" bands that were both new to me. Notably, I quite liked not only local band Gay but their excellent cover of Orange Juice.

The bands: Misfits (Halloween), Orange Juice (Gay), Lou Reed (Cut Flowers), Nine Inch Nails (Hellaluya), The Cure (Mausoleum), Nirvana (Rituals), Bad Brains (S.H.I.T.), The Damned (Ell V Gore), The Monks (Young Mother/Blonde Elvis), The Germs (The Soupcans), Guns N Roses (Vag Halen), Marilyn Manson (Dentata/Tarantula X).

Little Piggie

It has been long line-ups outside new ramen shop, Sansotei, near Dundas and University. So I took advantage of a rainy Saturday (courtesy of hurricane Sandy) to finally sample its offerings. No wonder it was hard to get a spot, this tiny restaurant doesn't even have space for bar seatings. A long, narrow hall permitted a single row of communal tables and two small booths. Ship ropes hung from the ceiling and the floor-to-ceiling mirrors along the other wall gave the illusion of a larger space.

I ordered zangie ($4.5) and a tonkotsu shoyu ramen ($8.9) with an extra order of bean sprouts ($0.50). The former was perfectly fried chicken nuggets. Toothsome and tender inside and with just a slight just-right greasy crunch outside, it smelled wonderful coming out fresh from the kitchen. This was the signature dish even if their specialty is ramen.

The ramen bowl also had a heavenly aroma. The broth was rich but not too salty or fatty. The bamboo shoot offered a nice crunch while the soft-boiled egg yielded tender bites. The pork tasted different than Sansotei's competition; the combination of fatty cartilage and slightly grilled meat reminded me strongly of Vietnamese well-done beef found in pho. It was a great bowl of ramen, except for the noodles! Although they were tasty on the first few bites, they revealed themselves to be too soft and floury on subsequent chews. It was still a great main but the rather ordinary noodles meant that Sansotei isn't quite King Ramen in Toronto.

Zangie - deep fried chicken

Tonkotsu Shoyu - pork noodle bowl

Tin Ear

Local record company Do Right Music was celebrating their 10th year anniversary at The Great Hall Friday night. A bevy of live acts and DJs was scheduled to perform. There weren't any Halloween costumes seen, except on the excitable teens at the All-Ages party in the adjacent underground space.

The second half of the evening had the reunited Movement Collective (a crew of local DJs) and legendary English DJ Gilles Peterson spinning tracks for the masses. But in the first half, two Do Right artists took to the stage.

First up was fresh-faced The Slakadeliqs, a quartet in salmon-coloured sweater vests and bow-ties. As befitting their attire, they played harmony-rich 50s/60s pop mixed with sing-rap 2012 hip-hop. But their vocals were thin and underwhelming and the odd chord changes seemed a poor fit. It wasn't until their final number, a new song closer to the driving psychedelic rock of The Who or Led Zeppelin, that they were in their best element.

The live "head-liner" was Maylee Todd, looking North African in animal prints and an orange wrap. With her full band, she laid down the groove from the melancholic "Did Everything I Could" to the shake-your-ass "Hieroglyphics". Maylee kept the energy high throughout her set: singing amid the crowd, falling down in supplication, jiving across the stage. Tonight, she even had back-up dancers on several songs. This funky singer always had the moves, but watching her doing actual choreography was another level of fun. Could we be witnessing the birth of "May-donna" (especially on 80s-sounding "Break Your Back")?

Once Upon A Time

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale book, the Lillian H. Smith library has a special exhibit that runs until Dec. 8. Thursday night, Dr. Maria Tatar of Harvard, an expert on fairy tales, gave a talk entitled "Mythical and Magical".

The first part traced the evolution of the fairy tale, even prior to the 1812 published book, as evidenced in paintings, book covers, and movie posters. It started as story-telling in front of a hearth to a multi-generational audience; evolving to a grandmother/nanny entertaining her charges, often with a cautionary finger; to today's resurgence of fairy tales in films, TV, and books. The current fight is between the anaesthesized and infantile Disney versions versus the iconoclasts (e.g., Shrek) who attempt to bring back the original intents by subverting or parodying the tropes.

The second part concentrated on two female figures: Gretel and Briar Rose. Gretel, with her lies, deceipt, and cunning, embodied the familiar Trickster figure. In a way, she represented the growing awareness of children that you need wits to make your way in this hard world. Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty)was the other face of perceived femininity: arousing yet passive, innocent but death-like. Dr. Tatar showed many illustrations that drew on this contradiction between "sarcophagus and seraglio".

The many illustrations and paintings shown were wonderful, as well as her discursive points and asides. The attempt to link fairy tales to its modern incarnations sometimes seemed force. It may make sense in an academic paper, but in a short layman's presentation the idea that Katniss (Hunger Games) was Gretel or that Ellen Page's Hard Candy was a take on Little Red Riding Hood was risible.

No Chicken Thursday

Thursday night was a good night to get some tacos from new spot Rebozos at College and Bathurst. It was the second location for this local eatery. Bright yellow paint with paintings and other Mexican knick knacks greeted me as I came through the door. The menu was small and to the point: tacos, quesadillas, pozole, etc. There were some additional items on the sandwich board.

I ordered a mix of 3 different tacos ($10 for 3) and a horchata ($2.50). The drink was sweet and had a nutty flavour. The cochinita pibil was tender, roasted pork shoulder cooked in annatto sauce. It simply melted in your mouth. The beef tongue was soft and had a slight fattiness whereas regular diced beef tends to get tough. The chorizo was also tasty, and lacked that saltiness of typical chorizo. The taco shells had a great chew and held up under the lemon squirt and chili sauces, the latter packing a nice heat.

This was a nice, cheap place to eat but sadly empty tonight. Compared to the mediocre restaurants that populate that stretch, I hope people will discover Rebozos soon.

Foul Play

A number of activities planned for Saturday fizzled. First, the local gaming festival GamerCamp, held a pop-up arcade (new games and old) at a local cafe to benefit charity. But upon arriving, there were no coin-operated machines in sight. There were some desktops showcasing locally produced games and I applaud these young developers and the burgeoning gaming development scene in Toronto. However LCD monitors and gamepads do not make up an "arcade". Gamer camp? More like lamer camp! (hyuk hyuk)

Later on, I mosied over to a small venue near College and Spadina for some electronic bands include Ark Analog. It was a long, bright space more akin to a club/lounge than the typical grungy band venue. There was a cage that surrounded the stage. This should prove interesting! But as the bands got ready, the owner and the promoter got into a heated altercation over the mandatory coat check-in. So everybody packed up and left. At least I got my cover back.

Hot Diggity

On Saturday, I went to Fancy Franks, a gourmet hot dog spot that just opened near College and Spadina. The place was pushing nostalgia hard with retro lettering and logo on the outside mural, black-and-white prints of the 50s-60s inside, and an oldie radio station playing over the speakers.

I ordered the Chi-Town Fancy ($6.75) with spicy sausage substitution ($1). This combination was stuffed with fresh tomato, pickle, relish, pickled peperoncini, mustard, and a dash of celery salt. Everything tasted fresh: a nice firm crunch to the pickles; clean chopped relish without the typical sliminess; and a strong flavour to the slightly loosely packed sausage. The only disappointment was that the sausage was insufficiently spicy for my taste buds.

In addition to the standard fries, there were also mini-burgers and mini-donuts for sale.

Bloorcourt Style

Originally heading to Uptown for some Korean noodles at Mot Na Sen on Friday, I was invited to sample some home-cooked Korean food instead. The dishes were familar from Korean restaurants, but there were a few surprises.

The mashed potato was made from sweet potato and was a little too sweet for me as a side-dish. The kalbi beef didn't have a slight smokiness from grilling, but it was tender and toothsome. The Korean maki made a nice appetizer, and was even better the next day. The fried korean pancakes were a bit bland and could have used some hot spices. My favourite dish was myulchi bokkeum, dried anchovies stir-fried with honey and walnuts. This version had tiny anchovies resembling plant roots. What a delicious combination of salty, fishy, and sweet. Add some pickled bean sprout and roasted peanuts, and it had a great mouth-feel. The other tasty food item was a sweet rice drink called Sikhye that contained pine nuts.

I also learned that to reheat leftover Korean maki without the dryness of microwaved food, coat the maki with beaten egg and pan fry the rolls.

The Big Sheep

At the Bluma Appel Theatre Thursday night, Electric Company presented a "multimedia" stage production called Tear The Curtain! Set in 1930 Vancouver, it used the conventions of film noire including a Girl Friday, a femme fatale, gruff newspaper editor, cynical journalists, and cagey mobsters to explore the competition between venerable theatre and the emerging upstart cinema.

Instead of being a gumshoe detective, Alex Braithwaite (Jonathon Young) was a theatre critic who lamented the "dumbing down" of audiences with the imminent arrival of talkies, or movies with sound. He accidentally ran into a man who resembled Stanley Lee (James Fagan Tait), a playwright long presumed dead, leading to an increasingly wild investigation into the stranger's identity. Meanwhile, theatre actress Mila Brook (Laura Mennell) was torn between the theatre and the newer "moving picture", as well as Patrick Dugan (Gerard Plunkett) and Max Plamponi (Tom McBeath), two mob bosses who were fighting a turf war over the construction of a new arts venue. Alex began to doubt his senses and sanity as he and his secretary Mavis (Dawn Petten) tried to solve the mystery of Stanley Lee and his connection with a shadowy 3rd group, with mysterious ties to Mila, who were also keenly interested in the new space.

The play transitioned between live theatre and the same actors acting out scenes on film. These were projected either on a front scrim or directly onto the set. Sometimes the actors acted or spoke the same lines along with the cinematic close-ups. The set, an outline of a building, was the inside of the newsroom, the homes of Dugan and Plamponi, and the exterior to Braithwaite's apartment. He was often seen on the second floor in his lit apartment, with the rest of the 2nd floor exterior being often lifted away, revealing a cutaway of the building's hallway where our "good guy" would received troubling calls on the shared phone.

The scrim and film clips allowed for a dizzying number of scene changes, unlike a typical play, and more reminiscent of a movie. Other movies were also seen including scenes from the mainstream Gillian Gish talkie "The Swan" and the avant-garde Le Sang d'un Poete by Jean Cocteau. From a technical viewpoint, Tear The Curtain! was spectacular.

As a play, it engaged intellect more than emotion, partly from its mystery-puzzle premise and partly from its philosophical arguments regarding art, memory, and the unconscious. Its implicit stance for the intimacy of live theatre, because we were in fact watching a play, was gently undermined by, as previously mentioned, the full embrace of the language of cinema in its art direction and plotting.

Being For The Benefit of Mr. Jensen

Aaron Jensen, artistic director of Sing! Toronto Vocal Arts Festival, held a benefit for the 2nd year of the festival at Lula Lounge. The Dundas St. W venue was thus filled with vocal geeks Monday night. In addition to the performances, there were also a raffle and a silent auction.

Retrocity amped up the energy performing I Feel For You, Synchronicity II, and Easy Lover in full 80s regalia. Suba Sankaran and Dylan Bell from that band also wowed as Freeplay Duo with layered vocal tracks on Sankofa, a Speak Softly Love/Tu Vuò Fà L'Americano/ Hit The Road Jack mash-up, Michael Jackson's Butterflies, and Owl City's Fireflies. Aaron Jensen, also of Retrocity, humorously led the crowd in a call-and-response involving increasingly hard imitations of musical instruments. Both Gavin Hope (The Nylons) and Michael Burgess showed off their powerful and nuanced voice on God Bless The Child and Anthem (Chess) respectively.

The rest of the night's entertainers included: Rob Missen (Come All You Bold Canadians) in winking honour of the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, Patti Jannetta (Gin House Blues), Stacey Kay (People Get Ready), a capella group Countermeasure (Pure Imagination, Signed Sealed Delivered, D'Angelo's Spanish Joint) and Cadence (Hit That Jive Jack, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, Just A Gigolo).

Chilli-ng Out

After listening to dance-pop at Rancho, it was time for some late night nosh in Chinatown. I stopped just around the corner at College and Spadina, because despite the moniker "Canton Chilli", the restaurant promised chinese and indian. This variant of Chinese cooking, sometimes also known as Hakka, is sadly not much represented in downtown Toronto. So this late-night eatery looked promising.

A good choice it was, too. The deep fried jumbo shrimp with spicy salt ($12.95) were huge, perfectly tender and chewy, with a nice kick of spice. According to the waiter, these were imported from India, not China, so they were bigger than the other restos in the area. The chili chicken ($8.95) had a crunchy fried exterior and a soft toothsome interior. Finally, the moo shoo pork ($10.95) came with 8 thin pancakes. Add some sweet hoisin-based sauce and you have a wonderful wrap. This restaurant was a winner, though outside of chicken pakora I didn't see any typical Hakka dishes.

Chili Chicken

Spicy Shrimp (some already eaten in feeding frenzy)

Hipster Don't Lie

Upstairs at Rancho Relaxo on College St., a number of dance-pop bands were putting on a show Saturday night. Santah from Chicago made their Canadian debut at the early 9:45 slot. Their older songs had the typical indie sound and didn't make much of an impression. But numbers from their new EP had a groovy R&B feel driven by bass, drum, and synth. Combined with more prominent harmony from siblings Stanton and Vivian McConnell, songs like Springfield and Northcoast were a fun start to the evening.

Unfortunately, local band The Black Fever didn't fare as well. This trio also played tunes with a dance feel, but they didn't have enough layers to their music to give it some volume. Furthermore, the bare instrumentation didn't help the singer's thin reedy voice.

Savoir Adore from Brooklyn had much more success. The adobe-style dive had filled up with fans of this band. With backing tracks, and a propulsive drummer and bass guitarist, the crowd was dancing to the singing duo of Paul Hammer and Deidre Muro. They traded lyrics and harmonies on such numbers as Dreamers and Loveliest Creature. There were even choreographic arm movements from the entire band on 2 songs. If only this tiny venue had strobes and lights to complement their catchy music. By the time the guitars were harmonizing on closer Regalia, people were chanting for an encore.

Not Too Shabb-hy

With Indie week happening and numerous other bands playing Friday night,  I had planned on checking out at least one show. But after a delicious Shabbat dinner, I was stuffed to overfull and fell asleep after getting home. The appetizer was avocado dip. It was fresh and rich, but a bit under-salted. This would have been taking care of by the corn taco chips. But these were healthy, organic low-salt ones! Sometimes you need to eat a bit unhealthy for more flavour.

Dinner started with an apple challah. It was freshly baked but the apple slices made the interior slightly soggy. I went back for several tasty bites though my reaction cycled through "Ew ... wet ... yum ... apple" (and repeat). The vegetarian chile had surprisingly meaty content. This was achieve by bulking up the dish with bulgur, mushrooms, and grounded pecans. I got a second delicious helping. In retrospect, I should have passed on the second bowl and added those chips instead. For dessert, we had home-made pumpkin cheesecake. It was good but I'm not a big fan of cheesecake's denseness.

That's One Hot Momo

The Parkdale neighbourhood, in addition to the gentrification, has also seen an influx of Tibetan immigrants around the Queen and Jameson area. As such, Tibetan and Tibetan/Nepalese/Indian restaurants have been springing up. Sunday night, I went to check out Tibet Kitchen.

First to arrive was a traditional tea called Bhod-jha ($1.99). This took some getting used to: the butter made it an extremely muscular version of the Indian chai, and the salt left an odd aftertaste. The dairy taste was less overwhelming after the tea has cooled down. The gyuma ($5.99) appetizer was slices of beef sausage with a hint of spiciness. However, you can crank up the hotness by eating the bed of "green salad", which turns out to be chopped chili peppers. This is good beer-drinking food, but so-so as a dish.

Gyuma

Steamed chicken momo

I ordered the Tibetan specialty of steamed momo ($5.99), a variation on the pot-sticker. The chicken inside was well-chopped and chewy. The dough was soft, though some were a bit too rubbery at the corners. It came with a soya-sauce vinaigrette and hot sauce. Overall, a good dish though the fried version looked amazing too.

The mains batted .500. The Tsey Tofu ($8.99) was a gloopy mess. The oily sauce drowned the ingredients especially the firm tofu. But the Jasha Khatsa ($.8.99) was a stand-out: battered chicken sauteed in chili sauce. Crunchy on the outside, toothsome on the inside, with a nice kick of spice, it was a great dish.

Tsey Tofu

Jasha Khatsa

This was cheap, flavourful food but you need to pick the right dishes as they are hit and miss. Be forewarned that most dishes are spicy, so any aversion to heat probably means this cuisine is not for you.

Prana

Friday night at the Fleck Dance Theatre, ProArteDanza opened its 2012 season with a 4 piece show. Decorum (2005) had the most classical repertoire with its en pointe and spins. But unlike your usual pas de deux, the abusive domestic relationship on stage manifested in violent lifts and turns, with Kristen Dennis trying to escape Tyler Gledhill's controlling embrace. It was a harrowing piece; I almost expected to see bruise marks on her arms at the end.

Expire had its world premiere. The piece was a meditation on breathing and death, or its smaller cousins stress and suffering. The stage was strewn with crumpled paper bags, which seemed rather hazardous to the performers' movements. A series of vignettes occurred, illustrating aspects of this essential act of life. My favourites included a second movement where yoga-like flows then led to broad arm sweeps of air into the dancers' mouths; the third in which pas-de-deux and trois had dancers kicked and jumped while their partners menacingly clamped their hands over his or her nose and mouth; and the fifth where they all fought against a billowing sheet wielded by 2 dancers which stormed back and forth across the stage. It was an interesting piece but reducing the number of disparate vignettes would yield a more cohesive vision.

We will ... (2008) returned us to a more convivial pas-de-deux relationship. To mostly silence which finally ended with excerpts from Lascia Ch'io Pianga, the couple playfully teased each other with sly and witty interactions. The older age of Mami Hata and Robert Glumbek enhanced the sense of familiarity and comfort of an established relationship.

The night ended with choreography set to Beethoven's 9th - 1st Movement. This was powerful music but luckily this dance troupe is known for its athletic and physical movements. Most striking were the male pas-de-trois with its jumps and lifts. The female dancers were sexy, strong, and tough.

Quadraphonic

Henri Faberge and the Adorables

Thursday night, I wandered onto University of Toronto campus to catch a short set of music in the Arbor room at Hart House. Maylee Todd was there as Maloo, laying down 4 electronica songs with her Tenori-on and a small array of effects and samplers. I've heard these tunes before but it was interesting to note their evolution: the tempo has increased, and there was more layering of beeps and squawks. As always, her sweet voice anchored the music.

She was also there as a back-up singer for her old band, Henri Faberge and The Adorables, who was active on the local scene in the mid aughts. With a rotating cast, the alums who showed tonight was Henri himself, Maylee Todd, Dana Snell (Sheezer), Juliann Wilding, and Drew Smith (The Bicycles). They book-ended the show, singing multi-part pop with a cabaret feel. Given the casual atmosphere, it was a loosey-goosey performance that nevertheless was more fun than a lot of local acts. Having missed them at their height, I'm surprised their catchy songs didn't garner them more success.

Throughout the evening, there were comedy skits involving an "arts coordinator" who was supposedly in charge of booking musical acts for the University and her stoner "security guard" son. A recurring joke for the night was that since peaking about 8 years ago, this band is now a has-been. Yet outside of the older crowd who came to enjoy the music, the college kids who stuck around probably did think we were all weird geezers, as they had just started junior high school back then.

Birthday Eats

It's always fun to go to a birthday party. You can sample lots of tasty dishes that may not be available in a restaurant. So I stuffed myself Sunday night before staggering home in a stupor. The chicken wings were good, but their crispiness has faded a bit waiting for the guests to arrive. The veggie maki were tasty, but you needed to be selective in your choices and picked the ones that had the most filling.

Chicken wings

Veggie maki

Some of the fresh rolls were a bit soggy, but they made up for it by having delicious and non-standard ingredients including dried shrimp and pork. The fresh mint is always a nice touch. My two favourite dishes were banh khot: golden deep-fried slight sweet dough with shrimp and green onions and banh bot loc: a stickier, chewier cousin to ha gow. These were sublime with fish sauce.

Fresh roll

Banh khot

The main dish was Mi Quang (Quang-style noodles). Quang is a central province in Viet Nam that also gives rise to Bun Bo Hue (spicy beef noodles). This milder cousin is a mixture of noodles, shrimp, pork, peanuts, and rice crisps. But unlike pho, its curry-like broth just covers the bottom of the bowl, enough to keep the noodles soft. After a long rest, it was time to finish off the evening with various rice puddings, tapioca drinks, and a strawberry short-cake.

Banh bot loc

Mi quang

So We Beat On

Saturday night, I saw two installations during Nuit Blanche that made quite an impression. First was Christian Marclay's The Clock, an acclaimed video "mash-up" that is currently running at The Power Plant until November 15. Comprising of thousands of movie clips synched to the current time, it was a neat commentary on how we modern humans have sliced our daily experiences into ever smaller intervals.

The first thing you notice are the presence of all the clocks and watches on screen. It made the piece seemed gimmicky: 24 hours of this? No doubt a herculean effort, but it seems tiresome. Then you find some commonalities. Since I watched it from 7:15 pm to 7:45 pm, a lot of people were either sitting down to dinner, getting ready to go out, or waiting for a companion to show. But perhaps that's just a natural outcome of "typical" scenarios on film. Then you realize that some sounds or music bleed from one scene to the next so that you are not quite sure if the audio belong to the current shot or not. And furthermore, some scenes don't have any time pieces at all but serve as establishing shot connecting disparate clips. For example, a record needle being lowered taken from a grainy black-and-white leading to Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman preparing to leave their place while their stereo played. Or amusingly, Arsenio Hall and his co-star from a Spike Lee production remarking on the arrival of a car, only to have Inspector Clouseau getting out of his Citroen and engaging in a farcical gag about syncing watches. So in fact, careful consideration had been made in its hypnotic construction from its many parts.

The second installation was equally immersive, but in the audio dimension. Janet Cardiff's Forty Part Motet installation at Trinity-St.Paul Church was a circle of 40 speakers. Standing in the centre allows you to hear wonderful polyphonic singing. As such, many people stood or sat, with eyes closed, to experience a soothing envelope of sound that seemed timeless. But music, with its metronome and bars, also divide the world into intervals. And if you stood close to each speaker, you will hear each single voice, 40 individual parts that combine into a larger whole.

Note that Trinity-St. Paul will have a live concert of the piece sung in the installation, Spem In Alium, by the Toronto Consort on October 19 and 20.