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Norman Adams Canadian cellist, and electronic musician Norman Adams is the Artistic Director of suddenlyLISTEN music and was Principal Cellist of Symphony Nova Scotia from 1991 to 2018. A student of Hans Jørgen Jensen, Bernard Greenhouse, and American new music pioneer Pauline Oliveros, Norman has been a soloist with SNS, and Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal, and has performed chamber and improvised music throughout Canada, the US, France, Italy, Czech Republic and the UK. His performances have also been heard across the country on CBC Radio. In 2010 Norman was awarded an Established Artist Award by the Nova Scotia Arts and Culture Partnership Council for his varied work. In addition to his work as a classical cellist, Norman is well known across Canada, as an exploratory musician, playing free and creative music. Norman has collaborated with many leading artists including Joelle Leandre, Gerry Hemingway, Eddie Prévost, Pauline Oliveros, Buck 65, Xavier Charles, Marilyn Crispell and Evan Parker. Since 2000 Norman has been the Artistic Director and Producer of suddenlyLISTEN Music, an organization that presents an annual series of concerts of improvised music, featuring a broad range of local, Canadian and international artists. He is dedicated to sharing music with all people, leading workshops in Halifax and across Canada. Norm also supports arts organizations across Canada, serving on the Board of Directors of The Canadian New Music Network.
Check out some of Norm’s work here: http://normanadams.ca/media-2/
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Tim Crofts (piano/keyboards: Halifax) is the Artistic Associate and Outreach Director of suddenlyLISTEN and a true 21st Century pianist. He performs a wide variety of music in concerts clubs and recordings. However, Tim’s main focus remains improvisation & new music. His musical style combines elements of 20th century classical music with free jazz improvisation and world music aesthetics. In performance, Tim explores the full sonic capabilities of the acoustic piano through extended techniques and a wide range of piano preparations. Tim has been presented regularly by suddenlyLISTEN in concerts and on tour, with the Crofts/Adams/Pearse Trio. He has performed regularly with the Upstream Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and in other concert with such creative music luminaries as Jerry Granelli, Gerry Hemingway, Graham Collier, Evan Parker and Dave Douglas. Tim has released several recordings including his solo CD 8 Ball and Doorknob, Literal Lateral with the Crofts/Adams/Pearse Trio and percussionist Gerry Hemingway and Collateral with Sam Shalabi and Adams. Tim has also made a mark as an educator. He co-directed the suddenlyLISTEN bi-weekly improvisation workshop with Norman Adams from 2006 to 2016; Tim is also a faculty member at the Fountain School for the Performing Arts at Dalhousie University.
Originally from Montréal, Julie Robert studied ballet at l’École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec and danced professionally for Le Jeune Ballet du Québec, Ballet Ouest de Montréal & Le Ballet Métropolitain de Montréal as a corps de ballet member. Seeking to expand her artistic practice, Julie completed the professional dance training program at L’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal in 2015 (formally ladmmi), where she had the opportunity to perform the works of many choreographers including Mélanie Demers, Frédérick Gravel, Darryl Tracy, Ginette Laurin, Caroline Laurin-Beaucage and Estelle Clareton. Since graduating, she has presented her own choreographic works with Tangente (Montréal), and has been a part of several Montréal and Toronto-based dance projects. Julie has been an independent dance artist since 2017, working for the commission-based company Mocean Dance (Halifax) and performing works by Heidi Strauss (Toronto), Marie-Josée Chartier (Toronto) and Sara Coffin (Halifax) among others. Julie most recently worked with Vancouver choreographer Vanessa Goodman in a new work presented by Votive Dance (Halifax).
Louis-Charles Dionne is a multidisciplinary artist and educator from the South shore of Montreal QC, now based in Halifax NS. He holds a BFA in Sculpture and Art History from Concordia University, a graduate diploma in Post-Secondary Education from the Université du Québec à Montréal, and an MFA in Fine and Media Arts from NSCAD University. His practice is anchored in sculpture, installation, and public art, and has evolved from foundry work; mostly with bronze and cast iron. Dionne repositions mundane artifacts in order to twist and question relations with everyday objects. His work reorients the material cultures around us through slight shifts in their composition, framing, and utility. 
Camille-Zoé Valcourt-Synnott is an interdisciplinary artist from Québec (QC). She graduated with a BFA from Concordia University (Montréal, QC) in 2018 and completed her MFA at NSCAD University (Halifax, NS) in 2020. Her object-oriented and text-based work uses humour as an entry point to make her practice more accessible, while constantly challenging the preciousness of art spaces. Her performance work reflects on the value of the artist’s work, perceptions of productivity and where life and art meets. More recently, she’s been developing a collaborative and curatorial practice with Louis-Charles Dionne and Jacinte Armstrong, using sculptural props, movement and performative instructions.
Ellen Gibling is a harpist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She holds a BMus in harp performance from McGill University, and an MA in Irish Traditional Music Performance from the University of Limerick. As an orchestral harpist, she has performed with Symphony Nova Scotia and the World Youth Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales, and has toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Ellen is currently part of classical flute and harp duo Conundrum, environmental improvisation ensemble New Hermitage, orchestral pop band The Heavy Blinkers, and Irish traditional trio Síle. Her Irish traditional duo with Erin Dempsey, Ragged Robin, released its debut album, Deep in the Tangled Wood, in 2016.Ellen has taught at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts, Acadia University, the University of Limerick, and the Canadian International Summer Harp Institute. She currently teaches privately at her home studio.
Brandon Auger is a sound artist and carpenter currently working out of Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia. Originally a guitarist, he started experimenting with electronics and tape in the early 90’s. Influenced by the works of Cage, Eno, and Erstwhile Records, his minimalist approach draws also from architectural blueprints, industrial design, and photography. Mainly working as an improviser, he manipulates the relationship between sound and silence, to create “temporary audio textiles”. While being an active member of the suddenlyLISTEN community in Halifax, Auger also has performed at the Halifax International Jazz, and Experimental Music Festivals. He has also presented works in various artist run galleries throughout Ontario, Nova Scotia and the US.[/toggle] [toggle title=”Geordie Haley” open=”no”]
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