The Anvil Centre is opening up opportunities for artists and community members alike with its new artist in residence program.
The downtown centre is currently hosting its first ever artist-in-residence, Sam Davidson.
Davidson is the inaugural artist to take part in the self-directed residency program that gives artists a chance to focus on work in a creative environment, with dedicated studio time.
More than 30 artists and art groups from around the Lower Mainland applied for the 2017 program, and the Anvil Centre selected 14 projects to host throughout the year.
Davidson will be working on site at the Anvil Centre until Saturday, Feb. 4.
He has a bachelor’s degree in music and is a specialist in the EWI, a breath-controlled synthesizer that he features in his recordings and performances. He’s a member of the Canadian band Brasstronaut, which has toured Europe and North America extensively, and he also performs as a sideman to Toronto violinist Jaron Freeman-Fox and The Opposite of Everything.
During his residency, Davidson has been working on building new repertoire and developing his compositional techniques, using early music (circa 1620-1720) as his source material. He’s been taking baroque melodies and extracting their themes to recycle into his own innovative new works, across various genres and instruments.
The Anvil Centre has been hosting pop-up performances by Davidson leading up to the end of his tenure as artist in residence.
The next one is coming up on Thursday, Jan. 26 from 11 a.m. to noon on the fourth floor.
Davidson will then be doing a final performance on Saturday, Feb. 4 from 3 to 4 p.m.
You can find out more about Davidson at his website, www.skimmilk.ca.
