For all Vague et Ombre tour dates, click HERE.
Swimming just beneath the surface of the St Lawrence Estuary, a baby beluga whale listens for his mother’s contact call. As he struggles to learn it for himself, her straining voice recedes, overwhelmed by a cacophony of horns and motors. Then, all at once, in the spring of 2020, the human world holds its breath. The waters quieten. The mother whale finds her calf, singing his special song over and over until he learns it by heart. For just this moment, the belugas fill the St Lawrence with their own song.
Contact was inspired by the research of Dr. Valeria Vergara on beluga whale mother-calf contact calls and underwater anthropocene noise.
“Contact, […] a “sound evocation of the underwater world of belugas […]” where the strings swarm, the energies meet and create a bewitching harmony. A captivating record. Both modern and timeless.” – Le Soir
Contact was commissioned for the concert-film Vagues et ombres (Waves and Shadows) by Collectif9, with shadow theater created by Mere Phantoms. Premiered online, December 2021. The concert film received a mention of excellence at the Prix Opus 2023. Named best album of the year by CBC Music in 2022 and Juno-nominated in 2023, the album Vagues et ombres is published under the Alpha Classics label.
Luna Pearl Woolf 