I recently read that eighty percent of the world’s population has never seen the Milky Way. It makes me awful glad to be able to stand on my front stoop and see the Pleiades on any of the few nights when this part of British Columbia isn’t covered in clouds.

And I’m extra glad to be spending a few weeks as an artist-in-residence at Grasslands National Park in southwestern Saskatchewan this summer, which has been designated as a dark sky preserve. And the darkest dark sky in Canada, at that! If you’re in that part of the world, be sure to stop by. I’ll be putting on a couple performances and installing a new sound piece that will address the idea of dark skies.

In other news, I’ve been really lucky to have received some fabulous performances of my music this spring. The JunctQin Keyboard Collective just performed “Tweets”  (the only piece I’ve ever written for toy piano and melodica) and Ashlee Bickley sang “Ride Along East Hastings” at the Manchester New Music Festival, giving the piece its International Premiere. Later this month, the Erato Ensemble will premiere “What a Dream,” which gives three singers Google-translated Shakespeare lyrics mixed with harp, piano, flute, and cello.

Also, the new album is nearly ready for the world. It’s been mixed and mastered, and now Laurel Terlesky is putting together some beautiful album artwork. Stay tuned for a preview track and expect to hear the whole album this summer…