The Guest List
Thursday June 26th, 2025 with Joe Reilly
Interviews with Magi Merlin and Thanya Iyer who are appearing at the Ottawa Jazz Festival and Conductor Benoit Gauthier who is working with the National Arts Centre Orchestra

Today the show features conversations with two artists based in Montreal, who create richly textured music with sensorial arrangements. And they are both at the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Saturday night (June 28th.) First up is Magi Merlin. Her latest EP is titled A Weird Little Dog and it features some intriguing rhythms and lyrics. Magi talks about the collaborative process of creating these songs with engaging melodies and rhythms in the studio and the process of bringing them to life during a concert performance. We also talk about the role of music and songs in a challenging world full of stress and anxiety, and how Magi hopes her more positive approach will empower her audience. Magi Merlin is appearing on the OLG Stage (Marion Dewar Plaza/City Hall) as part of the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. For more information about Magi, and her upcoming performance at the Jazz Festival, use these links: https://program.ottawajazzfestival.com/item/13918-Magi-Merlin https://magimerlin.bandcamp.com/ https://www.bonsound.com/en/artist/magi-merlin/ Next we talk to Thanya Iyer, who recently released the expansive sounding album Tide/Tied. It covers broad themes from the deeply personal to powerful, environmental ideas in songs that are intricate, sonic landscapes. Thanya tells us how her musical friends contributed a lot of ideas to this project and how she will be bringing a large group to the Ottawa Jazz Festival on Saturday at 6:30 to bring this music to life on the Mainstage. Thanya was talking to us while waiting for a flight to the west coast, so a few times you need to listen closely to hear her words. And they are well worth listening to - just like her textured songs. For more information about Thanya's concert at the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and about her music, use these links: https://program.ottawajazzfestival.com/item/13917-Thanya-Iyer https://thanyaiyer.bandcamp.com/album/tide-tied http://www.thanyaiyer.com/ If you want some general information about the Ottawa Jazz Festival, use this link: https://ottawajazzfestival.com/ Finally we talk to a young, Canadian Conductor, Benoit Gauthier. He is participating in the National Arts Centre Orchestra's Mentorship Program and he will be conducting one of the pieces being presented by the NACO during its free afternoon performance on Canada Day. We talk about his role in this broad, far-reaching musical program designed to celebrate Canada's birthday. We also talk about his early start conducting symphonic music and how he is dedicated to opening up classical music to new audiences. For more information about the NACO's program for Canada Day and how to book tickets for this FREE event, use this link: https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/39259 And for more information about Benoit Gauthier: https://nac-cna.ca/en/bio/benoit-gauthier 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. And don't forget that The Guest List is sponsored by Spaceman Music, located at 388 Gladstone Avenue, just west of Bank. Visit Spaceman for all of your music making needs and don't forget they have a great repair shop and offer music lessons. Check out Spaceman online at: https://www.spacemanmusic.com/