About

On Saturday April 6 at 2 pm, Musique Royale invites you to a Cookie Concert featuring contemporary dancer Meredith Kalaman and composer Daniel MacNeil, where we will experience a new work which fuses their creative energies in dance and music. MacNeil combines acoustic instruments, electronics and musical elements from all around the world for the creation of a real-time soundscape which is interactive with the reflective looping movements of Kalaman, exploring the expansion of time in relation to MacNeil’s original sound score. Together, they weave a rich and textured journey through sound and sight. Join us for this one of a kind Cookie Concert on April 6th, at the Lunenburg School of the Arts!

About the Artists

Mereith Kalaman – dance

Meredith Kalaman is a two time Chrystal Dance Prize recipient, dance educator and enjoys both performing in and creating new works. She has created pieces about; giraffes, girl guiding, exploring constellations, superheroes, female identity and the impacts of gender socialization. She is originally from Vancouver and now grateful to reside on the land of the Mi’kma’ki in Nova Scotia. Past presentation highlights including sharing the stage with the Good Women Dance Collective, Dance in Vancouver 2017, Dancing on the Edge and New Works. Her first full length work Femme Fatales toured to Victoria, Edmonton and and was presented at Ufertstudios in Berlin in 2017. Along with her own creative projects Meredith is interested in shifting the context of how ballet relates to our 21st century bodies and inviting bodies to be in dynamic movement through education, sharing of knowledge and community engaged practices. She currently runs a speakeasy cabaret in the city called The Underground www.gototheunderground.com

Daniel MacNeil – guitar, composer

Daniel MacNeil is a multiple award-winning guitarist, composer, and educator who has performed across Canada and Spain as a soloist, in chamber music settings and with professional symphony orchestras. He has been featured as both a guitarist and a composer for full-length concerts with the Calgary Philharmonic, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, and he has also performed with Symphony Nova Scotia.

In addition to his background in Western classical music and improvisation, Daniel has specialized training in numerous international genres, including: Flamenco, Middle Eastern (Arabic and Turkish), Indian Classical, and Latin (to name a few), and he is equally adept in New Music, Jazz, and frequently collaborates with professional dancers.

Daniel is also recognized as an educator. As an instructor, he has been awarded the Teachers Gold Medal Award from the Royal Conservatory of Canada five consecutive years for teaching classical guitar competition winners. He is a faculty member at The Fountain School of Performing Arts, Dalhousie University and the Maritime Conservatory, he is the director of World Music ensembles, Guitar Ensembles, and has taught at Acadia University and the NSCC Ivany campus. His recordings and compositions are featured by the CBC and numerous festivals across Canada.