TD International Jazz Festival takes place June 21 - July 1, 2019 in Vancouver.
Photo: TD International Jazz Festival
In a recent Harvard study, 750 internet users from 60 different countries listened to 14-second excerpts from the same songs. The experiment was simple, but the results were astounding.
After 26,000 listens, researchers found that participants had fundamentally similar understandings and emotional responses to each song, despite what language they spoke or where they were from. This proves that many music lovers may already believe to be true; music is a universal language that we can allunderstand.
Events like the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival are guided by this same belief. Through free and ticketed live performances, workshops and residency programs, Vancouverites and visitors alike have the chance to engage with each other in the community and ultimately, feel a sense of belonging through shared musical experiences.
This gesture feels particularly important in a city like ours; despite our gorgeous public spaces, Vancouver has earned a startling reputation for social isolation. According to the Vancouver Foundation, 30% of youth between the ages of 18 to 24 in Vancouver have reported feeling lonely ‘always’ or ‘often’. When thinking about the evidence that highlights music as a tool for human connection, the idea of free public concerts seems more vital and valuable than ever, especially in a city like ours.
This year’s TD International Jazz Festival features 150 free live performances. From the Vancouver Art Gallery plazas to David Lam Park to select venues and clubs, the festival’s free concerts serve as an opportunity for people to gather, celebrate, and hopefully, foster more inclusive communities in Vancouver.
Composer, producer and traditional singer from the Lil’wat Nation, Russel Wallace (this year’s 2019 Indigenous Artist in Residence) will perform offer a free performance of Tillicum Shantile Project: Song of the People on National Aboriginal Peoples Day (June 21) at noon on the Granville Island Stage. This year’s festival offers many more opportunities to share a free, collective experience with others. You can view each of this year’s free performances HERE.
Ushering in a new era of musical experiences and programs, Coastal Jazz with support from TD, developed the Coastal Jazz Indigenous Artist Residency Program. This program celebrates innovative artists and provides opportunities for collaboration, performance and skills development for artists and opportunities for equity and access by the public. By supporting artists like Russell Wallace, TD Jazz Festival helps to create more opportunities for people to engage in their communities and bond over their shared love of music, both on-stage and in the audience.
Whether it’s dancing at a free show in David Lam Park or bonding with someone in the lobby at the Wu-Tang Clan show, the diversity of performances at this year’s Festival reminds us that we’re all connected through shared passions and ideas. Regardless of who you are, it invites all of us to a common ground, where we can reflect on different perspectives and better understand one another.
From coast to coast, TD is proud to sponsor over 80 music festivals and 100 community music programs through The Ready Commitment, TD’s corporate citizenship platform, that provide youth and emerging artists an opportunity to express themselves through music. To learn more about this year’s festival, which includes FREE indoor and outdoor performances all over Vancouver, visit coastaljazz.ca
