THE BAND

Myra Melford, piano • François Houle, basset clarinet • Joëlle Léandre, double bass • Gordon Grdina, oud, guitars • Gerry Hemingway, drums

Canadian clarinetist, composer, and improviser François Houle presents the world premiere of The Secret Lives of Color, a suite of new compositions and arrangements inspired by British author Kassia St. Clair’s writing on color. From ivory to obsidian, Houle explores the color spectrum and its close historical connections to music, weaving a rich and suggestive tapestry of sounds. For his Pierre Boulez Saal debut, he was joined by an international group of extraordinary musicians, including American pianist Myra Melford and French double-bassist Joëlle Léandre in the first set, and, in the concert’s second half, American percussionist Hamid Drake as well as Houle’s longtime collaborator and fellow Canadian Gordon Grdina on oud and guitar. The Canadian premiere took place at the VSO Annex, as part of Music on Main’s MODULUS Festival. Alexander Hawkins took the piano chair and Kate Gentile sat at the drums for this performance on November 4, 2022. Legendary American drummer Gerry Hemingway joined the ensemble in 2023 for the Novara Jazz Festival, followed by performances in Basel (2024) and a tour of Ontario and Quebec in 2025. In September 2026, the group was the headliner for The Guelph Jazz Festival.

Besides the current touring band, the work can be adapted to any size group, from duo to full creative orchestra, and was presented in Rimouski, Qc in 2023 with a large ensemble composed of Quebec’s finest improvisers.