Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, Zeb Bangash and Tia Wood will team up for the Women In Song concert that’s coming up on March 7. The three vocalists bring diverse traditions to the mix, and will be accompanied by live music and dancers.
We spoke to soprano Measha Brueggergosman-Lee about the performance and what’s in store.
The Concert
Zeb Bangash is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, originally from Lahore, Punjab. She became the first Pakistani to serve as music director of a Bollywood movie, and it went on to win 18 awards. She has often appeared on Pakistani TV, and has recorded music in multiple languages. Zeb has also performed as part of a klezmer group in Brooklyn. Her work is informed in tradition, but also incorporates innovation.
Tamar Ilana is a singer and flamenco dancer, leader of the global fusion band Ventanas, which serves as the house band for the concert, and is also co-founder and executive director of FabCollab, an organization that focuses on raising the voices of BIPOC, minority, and female-identify artists. Tamar is known for singing in several languages. With Ventanas, she’s recorded three albums, and been nominated for multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Tia Wood is a member of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation with both Cree and Salish heritage, and began singing and dancing with her family at powwows. Notably, some members of that same family are also members of the Grammy-winning ensemble Northern Cree. Tia came to the attention of Sony Music through her 2 million+ TikTok following, and recently released her first recordings to media and public acclaim.
Featured dancers:
- Indigenous fancy shawl/contemporary collaborative dancer: Cotee Harper
- Flamenco: Lia Grainger and Virginia Castro
- Hip hop: Safa Ali
- Indonesian Legong: Arma Dharma
After the concert, Toronto artist JER will perform a “fusion of psychedelic grooves with northeast Brazilian rhythms”.
Measha Brueggergosman-Lee: Women in Song
“It’s kind of an extravaganza of estrogen and power,” she says. “I’m so excited. I don’t know any of the people on the program.” The call to participate came through Tamar Ilana and her organization FabCollab. “She’s a super force. She’s an amazing woman,” she says. “I’m excited to be on this program.”
She appreciates the diversity that she and FabCollab have brought to the table. “It’s so rich for me.”
These days, Brueggergosman-Lee and her family live in rural Nova Scotia. As she notes, she lives at the end of dirt road. It’s peaceful and bucolic, but… “When we come to Toronto, we’re just like wow, what a richness,” she says. “I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to raise my babies in the remote woods and still take part in this concert.”
The concert will see Measha perform in collaboration with Tamar (as both singer and flamenco dancer) and with Tia, then a finale in what she calls a smorgasbord of song.
She mentions her 2024 double album Laureate, named after and commemorating the fact she’d received the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Award in Classical Music. The album includes a recording of her live concert at Westben, firmly establishing her eclectic brand of classical music — one that is diverse and inclusive, and incorporates any number of influences. The second CD on the album consists of remixes and features hip-hop artists, electronic musicians and DJs.
“I have an album called Laureate,” she says. “I use Laureate as an inspiration. [It’s] a snap shot of my career.” It’s about stretching the potential of what classical music can do, and where it can go. She mentions here 2021 collaboration with the National Arts Centre Orchestra, Forgotten Coast, which explores her heritage as a descendant of Black Loyalists.
Collaborations and storytelling are vital to her work. “I’ve never really left that space.” Taking up bits of jazz, Latin music, folk — it all comes from recognizing her surroundings. “It’s all within the ether of people I love and that I’m surrounded by. I create projects for people to get together. It’s really very selfish on my part,” she adds with a laugh. “It really sells itself.”
Creation can be a form of protest, as she points out.
“Bringing together elements of music that aren’t supposed to go together is a form of resistance.” Reaching out is the key to sticking together.
“A celebration of all things women, indigenous, Maritime — can that all really be together? And the answer is yes.”
In the end, it’s all about the music and its power to bring people together.
“Music is the soundtrack of wisdom, and we are the partakers of this feast,” Measha says. “The uniqueness of the medium humbles us all to be literally in harmony, and figuratively in harmony with each other.”
She’s advising people to bring their dancing shoes. “People are going to leave so fit!” she laughs.
The Spirit of Collaboration
“Share your joys. Make sure you extend across the aisle. Don’t be a jerk.”
The concert is a clear fit with her own direction as an artist. “It’s been a real joy to be able to collaborate with [Tamar],” she says. “It is magic.”
She’s also looking forward to the concert finale and working together with everyone involved.
“That’s what is jazzing me the most as a performer at this point in my career,” she says. “I’ve just embraced my versatility and made it my brand.”
Is it jazz, or is it classical music? She’ll decide. “I’ve earned the right to call things new things, and make people mad,” Brueggergosman-Lee says.
“Come to the party. It’s super fun if you can get over your labels.”
- Find out more about the March 7 performance, and get tickets, [HERE].
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