The Guest List
Thursday June 20th, 2024 with Joe Reilly
Interviews with aja monet (at the Jazz Festival June 29th) and Louis Pierre Bergeron who is the Fourth Horn with the National Arts Centre Orchestra

Two weeks ago I was awestruck by the poems and music of aja monet, when Petr Cancura - Artistic Director of the Ottawa Jazz Festival - introduced me to her on this program. So I was thrilled when aja monet agreed to be on the show this week. She is a poet, writer, political activist and community organizer who creates stunning art combining her poems with jazz . She is bringing a stellar group of musicians to the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Saturday, June 29th to perform in the Azrieli Studio of the National Arts Centre - a perfect, intimate setting for this concert. In conversation aja tells us about the inspiration of her stunning piece for the kids ... and about the voice of the Palestinian boy from Gaza at the end of it. She talks about how her poetry is motivated by both personal and political values and how she works with musicians to create the beautiful and thought-provoking pieces on her album 'when the poems do what they do.' This is an exceptional interview. For information about aja monet's concert at the Ottawa Jazz Festival use this link: https://program.ottawajazzfestival.com/item/12448-aja-monet For more information about aja monet use these links: https://ajamonet.bandcamp.com/album/when-the-poems-do-what-they-do https://ajamonet.com/ For more information about all the great concerts happening as part of the Ottawa Jazz Festival: https://ottawajazzfestival.com/ Then we reconnect with Louis Pierre Bergeron, who is the Fourth Horn with the National Arts Centre Orchestra. He will be performing a horn solo during the third movement of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at the National Arts Centre on Wednesday, June 20 and Thursday, June 21. He tells us about the significance of this horn solo and how the contemplative third movement is a significant part of Beethoven's masterpiece symphony. We also talk about how this has been a fantastic season for the National Arts Centre Orchestra with sold out performances and engaged audiences. He also identifies a couple of works that he is looking forward to performing as part of the recently announced 2024-2025 season. For more information about the National Arts Centre Orchestra and other upcoming performances use this link: https://nac-cna.ca/en/orchestra For more information about Louis Pierre Bergeron: https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/louis-pierre-bergeron Thanks for listening to the Guest List today. Get out and see some live music this week and support independent music in any way that you can.