Chan Centre Celebrates 25th Anniversary Season with Bold, Global Icons

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia is proud to announce a slate of eight innovative and exceptional artists from around the world as part of its highly anticipated 25th anniversary season. The 2022/23 season is an ambitious return to form for Chan Presents with highlights including living legend, Oscar-winning Cree singer and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie who kicks off the season on September 18. Makaya McCraven, a creative visionary and “beat scientist” shaping the future of jazz presents the Vancouver premiere of his forthcoming soon-to-be announced album on October 15, while Grammy-winning ‘Songbird of Wassoulou’ Oumou Sangaré, one of Africa’s most venerated international stars, performs on October 23. The joyful, exuberant and political music of Afropop superstar Fatoumata Diawara will take over the Chan on April 14.

“Our Chan Presents series celebrates some of the most dynamic artists of our time. It lifts up the voices of women, Black and Indigenous artists, and space-shifting storytellers that reimagine where music can go, what it can do, and who it can reach. I’m proud that we’ll be interweaving luminous voices from the past, present and future. These iconic voices draw on ancient traditions and reimagine them into new futures, representing the music of a world to come.”

Jarrett Martineau, curator-in-residence

Martineau, the award-winning, Indigenous multimedia storyteller, and host and producer of CBC Music’s Reclaimed, is charged with programming the bulk of the season. Two guest curators also lend their expertise. The renowned conductor, composer, and pianist Dinuk Wijeratne oversees two concerts: the lauded tabla player Sandeep Das on February 18, and The Journeyed Compass featuring the curator himself performing with friends including the Syrian clarinetist Kinan Azmeh on May 5. The acclaimed pianist David Fung, newly appointed as Associate Professor of Piano at the UBC School of Music, leads the programming for the Chan Centre’s newly acquired Steinway Spirio piano and selected the enthralling piano duo Anderson & Roe to perform on March 4.

Buffy Sainte-Marie’s concert will be presented as part of a larger two-day festival in September, presented ahead of this year’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The festival will celebrate Indigenous culture and community and will feature performances by artists from the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, as well as Indigenous musicians and dance groups from across Turtle Island. Details and lineup for this collaborative and joyous, Indigenous-centred festival will be announced in the coming weeks.

Martineau is also programming an innovative new series for the anniversary season that will mark a departure from the main Chan Presents programming. An announcement for this slate of programming is coming soon.

View the full line up here, and learn about purchasing subscriptions here.