REVIEWS

REVIEWS

“Continuing an eclectic season of adventurous programming, NUMUS’ Friday night performance entitled Murderous Little World was a mesmerizing multi-media combination of music, video, and theatre….As with the inspiration for the work, the performance experience was poetic. Intense infusions of images, words and sounds evoked any number of meanings and messages — at times tender, intimate, and humanly- connected; and at others, jarringly global, mechanical, and overwhelming.”

» Stephen Preece
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, February 13, 2011.

“Saturday evening at The Registry Theatre in Kitchener, Cellodramatic was an excellent example of what can happen when five artists arrive ready to take risks and collaborate completely in the moment….It was fascinating to discover how each participant’s skill set informed their improvisatory choices.”

» Marcia Adair
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, November 24, 2008

“Blue Memos (part of the four-day NUMUS festival Structured Improvisations/Improvising Structures) provided ample reason for why this region is becoming known as a leader in serious contemporary music in North America. The concert was devoted to the work of renowned local composer Peter Hatch, but the unique presentation was truly a co-creation by the incredibly talented, multi-disciplinary troupe Blue Rider (musicians based locally with some musicians from Montreal). …This was improvisation at its best.”

» Stephen Preece
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, January 15, 2007

“Aboriginal art, dance, music, video, and even a hip-hop/rap group were showcased as a joint venture of NUMUS concerts and Sundance Aboriginal developments projects… Many works focused on environmental issues, and the clash between traditional beliefs and practices and contemporary industrial society. Many families, including small children and teens, attended the celebratory concert.”

» Colleen Johnston
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, March 2004

“Wow! Last night’s show at the Rivoli was a standout, surely one of the best Toronto events of the year…I hope the multi talented Penderecki String Quartet/NUMUS will have the opportunity to do more such innovative events. They rock!”

» Antonio Casciano
CBC 2 new hours online review, February 2004

“Strong, intelligent, and extremely gifted, the guest artist who comprised NUMUS were of a top form not often heard in venues like the Rivoli, and in fact, not often heard in Canada.”

» Elka Yarlowe
Public Utensil, February 2004

“Waterloo’s enterprising NUMUS Inc. is enabling the emerging generation of musicians to be sensitized to the contemporary music of the wider world.”

» William Litler
The Toronto Star, March 2003

“NUMUS’ creation of Le Minotaur went all out…talk about mind blowing– this set a tone of lapel-grabbing that others throughout the evening took as a lesson.”

» Colleen Johnston
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, September 2001

“There’s a real sense of mission or purpose here: to encourage openness to fresh ideas, to enthral and delight, to challenge and provoke, and above all, to show people new ways of listening.”

» Martin De Groot
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, September 1999

“The first piece on the NUMUS concert was a fusion of Peking Opera tradition and western avant-garde… choreographed for the four dancers of the Room To Move Dance from Atlanta. The choreography was intriguing, being delicate and evocative…and performed with wonderful musicality.”

» Simon Irving
The Guelph Mercury, May 2002

“Strip Show, NUMUS’s latest production, caused a stir as comments following the concert ranged from “very exciting” to “not my thing”… Local composer Jascha Narveson provided a ‘plunder-phonic’ bump-and-grind music for a scene involving a pseudo striptease… and violinist Bell stood to the side and performed a haunting, lyrical rebuttal to the crashings of machine-made sounds, the dancers pushed their bodies through what appeared to be density and obtuseness…”

» Colleen Johnston
The Kitchener-Waterloo Record, November 2002