Saturday Feb 22: O.N.C.E

The inaugural O.N.C.E. (Operations in Non-Permanent Collective Extemporization)

event will take place on February 22, 2025, at Felice Café in Edmonton. Doors open

at 7:00 PM, with the show starting at 7:30 PM.

Inspired by the late British guitarist and improviser, Derek Bailey and his Company

Week, this event promises to be an enriching opportunity for musicians to come

together and create innovative and captivating music through free improvisation.

Derek Bailey formed COMPANY in 1976, “Not only its specializations but the

increasingly diverse nature of freely improvised music came to attract me, and it

was in order to take advantage of – plunder – its expanding resources that I formed

Company.”

It’s an association of improvising players – not a fixed group but an assortment

musicians who come together in various combinations from time to time. The fir

Company Week was in 1977 and, with a couple of exceptions, was an annual event

in London until 1995. Throughout, the structure and intention of ‘Company’ had

remained the same. Everything is designed to avoid as far as possible any

preconceptions as to what the music might be and to make improvisation a

necessity.

“COMPANY is about mutual music-making and, at times, demands the sacrifice

individual preferences. It calls for musical generosity, curiosity, and sensitivity; the

ability to respond instinctively and constructively to new and unfamiliar situations.”

- Derek Bailey (Derek Bailey’s Incus Records website).

The format will feature random groupings of ten musicians who will collaborate

in the spirit reminiscent of Company Week. Below is the ensemble of musicians

for this event.

Chenoa Anderson

Flutist Chenoa Anderson is a settler artist living and practicing in

amiskwaciy-wâskahikan/Edmonton. She has commissioned and premiered dozens

of solo and ensemble pieces, and is an active improviser who has worked with

musicians, dancers, and spoken word artists. Current projects include UltraViolet - a

mixed quartet; dystonic – collaborative work exploring lived experience with chronic

injury and illness Garden – multidisciplinary works set in her permaculture garden;

Mixtur with composer Ian Crutchley (found objects); and damn magpies, a free

improvisation sextet. She holds performance degrees from the University of Toronto

and the University of British Columbia.

Allison Balcetis

As a contemporary music saxophonist, Allison Balcetis has given the world

premieres of over 100 new works solo saxophone or chamber ensemble. Also a

champion of others’ art, she served for ten years on the board of New Music

Edmonton. She has been on faculty at the University of Alberta since 2009.

Myles Bartel

Myles Bartel has been performing experimental and improvised music since 2008. In

2010, he began working under the moniker Ocra, focusing on prepared guitar, voice,

and electronics. A year later, he co-founded Pigeon Breeders with Will Scott. His

past projects include Moonbathers, a collaboration with poet Tab C.A.

Ron de Jong

Ron de Jong – Edmonton (Amiskwaciwâskahikan/ ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ, Treaty 6 Territory),

Alberta based drummer, Ron de Jong, has been creating music through free

improvisation for over 25 years. He is the founder of the improvised music unit Vertrek

Ensemble. The core of the ensemble was principally the duo of de Jong and mainstay

multi-instrumentalist, Vadim Budman. Collaborating with many musicians from around

the globe over the years, they most notably played with late British guitarist and

improvisor, Derek Bailey.

Independently, de Jong has created music on record and in concert with, among

others, Jason Lee Scott, Thom Golub, Ian Birse, Marilyn Crispell, Roger Admiral,

Cassondra Murray, Damo Suzuki, Chris Dadge, Darren Williams, Eugene Chadbourne,

Jonathon Wilcke, Cody Oliver, and the late Edmonton guitar maestro, Brian Schultz.

Thom Golub

Thom Golub has played the sideman on double bass and bass guitar, he’s composed

illegitimately for legitimate musicians and he’s written and sung songs he maybe

shouldn’t have. One thing he hasn’t done for years until recently is freely improvised

with other musicians. He looks forward to this rediscovery.

Makenna Graham

Makenna Graham is a dedicated experimental composer and flutist having work

with the Experimental Improvisation (XiME) and Symphonic Wind Ensembles at the

University of Alberta. Her acoustic and electroacoustic works have premiered in

Edmonton and Manitoba. Much of her work deals with how space is perceived in

time.

Aidan Grant

Aidan Grant is a saxophonist and composition student currently studying at the

University of Alberta. He has been fascinated with discovering unique and intriguing

mixtures of sound for most of his recent life. Between large ensemble work, solo

and collaborative performance, and compositional projects, Aidan continues to

expand his horizons.

Annie Lamarre

Annie Lamarre is a saxophonist and composer, and has been for 10 and 7 years,

respectively. She is nearing the end of her undergraduate studies at the University

of Alberta, and plans to pursue a Master’s Degree in Composition as she moves into

her future.

Will Scott

Will Scott is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound artist, music teacher, and

recording engineer residing in Edmonton, AB, Canada. He currently performs in local

experimental improvisational act Pigeon Breeders and the pretentiously titled Will

Scott Band. He also sits on the Board of Directors for Mile Zero Dance. His previous

musical credits include Brazilian Money, The Wicked Awesomes!, MS DOS, and the

University of Alberta’s improv collective XiME. He has collaborated/improvised with

many musical artists, including Scott Smallwood, Smokey, Jung People, Tim Mikula,

as well as various dancers from Mile Zero Dance, Good Women Dance Collective,

and KO Dance projects.

Jacob Tran

Jacob is a third year composition student at the University of Alberta. He has

studied saxophone with Allison Balcetis, composition with Mark Hannesson and

Heather Hindman, and has participated in the Screen Music Program with fi

composer Michael Abels. He has had pieces premiered by UltraViolet, Bok Brass, the

Windrose trio, Wildrose Wind Ensemble, and the River City Chamber Orchestra.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Felice Cafe, 10930 84 Street Northwest, Edmonton, Canada