Art Moves

Clara Shandler was born into a musical family amidst the multi-cultural atmosphere of Vancouver, British Columbia. From an early age she recognized music as a medium that brought people together and soothed troubled minds.

Even before completing a Bachelor of Music at UBC her cello was her ticket into rock bands, dance/theatre productions, operas, chamber ensembles and multi-cultural orchestras. She has since spent over a decade teaching, performing, recording, writing, arranging and collaborating in a multitude of different mediums from Canada to Cambodia and around the world.

Visit www.sidewalkcellist.com for more information.

Kat Single-Dain is a critically acclaimed performer and director living in Vancouver, BC, with an honors degree in Film Production from UBC, and a minor in Dance from UC Berkeley. As the Artistic Executive Director of local non profit society The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret, named one of “Vancouver’s best kept secrets” by the CBC, she leads the annual Parade of Lost Souls for thousands of community members to enjoy, and has written, directed and choreographed eight full-length, original theatre productions including the Jesse nominated Hard Times Hit Parade, and the upcoming Disco Inferno, in April 2022.

Kat is one of The Myrtle Sisters –three part harmonizing and tap dancing band who have won over festival and schools from PEI to Florida. Kat is also “world famous in parts of East Vancouver” for her over-the-top character Gloria, and the show that goes with it, Gloria's Happy Hour.

Michael Undem is an interdisciplinary artist living in Vancouver BC. Michael creates theatrical characters for public and private events engaging audiences in improvised play and random connections.

He has been a long time performer with the Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret. And he is also a clown, actor, educator and dad.

Krystle Dos Santos is a two-time Western Canadian award winning singer/songwriter and performer living on the land of the Halkomelem speaking peoples in BC. Her first self titled album was released in 2008, followed by her highly sophisticated and elevated album in 2011 titled 'Fame Fatale'. Her third studio release 'BLOOM|BURN' awarded her the WCMA for R& B artist of the year in 2020. From singing on stage with Stevie Wonder and Michael Buble to theatre performances on stages all around North America, Dos Santos brings her eclectic style, powerful vocal prowess and magnetic charm to every performance she delivers. Catch her sharing the story of Canadian civil rights icon and entrepreneur Viola Desmond in her original co-creation 'Hey Viola!' in venues across Canada.

Celebrated for his soulful and unique sound, guitarist Scott Verbeek blends funky grooves and fresh melodies that both captivate and challenge his audience. Scott can be seen with his signature red guitar playing all over Vancouver and touring extensively across Canada and the United States. Verbeek has performed/recorded with Five Alarm Funk, Warren Dean Flandez, Bazooka Picnic, Kutapira and many more.

Gavin Youngash is a Vancouver-based multi-instrumentalist performer, session musician, collaborator and composer. His catalogue includes live performance and recording both locally and internationally with notable Canadian acts including Frazey Ford, Krystle Dos Santos (two-time Western Canadian Music Award winner) and Vancouver gospel-soul powerhouse Dawn Pemberton (WCMA’s Urban Recording of the Year 2015). In addition to his collaborative freelance and session work, Youngash plays bass/keys and composes for Vancouver synth-pop group Star Captains, is a writer and guitarist with westcoast post-rock noise outfit I Think I Saw You See Me and plays guitar/composes for his own ensemble, the Gavin Youngash Trio.

Exceptional violinist, Gabriel Dubeuil, moves easily between the traditional sounds of Québécois and Celtic, to klezmer, classical, jazz, and beyond. Gabriel’s musical path is as varied as it is rich. He wears many hats as a touring bandleader in the folk music world, a musical sideman, a concert organizer and promoter, as well as a passionate educator.

Gabriel’s strong grounding in jazz, composition, arranging, and production have grown out of his studies at the Berklee College of Music where he earned a Bachelors of Music in 2016. He is lead fiddler of the trio band Collage Trad, the co-founder of Vancouver’s Early Spirit, and the Executive director for the North Shore Celtic Ensemble in North Vancouver, BC.

Visit gabrieldubreuil.com for more information.

Nishant Jain makes secret art of human activity in public spaces. Drawn in a sketchbook, SneakyArt records how we live around other people in our shared, urban environment.

Nishant is an artist, writer, and host of the SneakyArt Podcast.

As a guitarist, Chris Fraser is one of the Vancouver jazz scene’s most in-demand musicians today. An uncanny improviser, Fraser takes a modern approach to the traditional jazz idiom with influence from guitarists Jim Hall, Bill Frisell, John Scofield and Kurt Rosenwinkel.

Having cut his teeth in the heart of the Vancouver jazz scene, Fraser has been a member of the scene for over a decade and performs frequently at every major jazz venue in the city, such as Frankie’s Jazz Club, Tangent Cafe, and 2nd Floor Gastown.

Visit chrisfraser.online for more information.

Free Style Focus Group founding members Professor Prawns (Adrian Sinclair) and Count Snacky (Karlis Kalnins) are always developing their freestyle rap methodology as they host weekly invitational drop-in freestyle workshops in the studio or set out on their infamous freestyle bike missions around East Van with a custom mobile sound system.

Their activations and workshops are the praxis of their freestyle philosophy. Embracing the truth that everyone can freestyle, Professor Prawns and Count Snacky use freestyle rap as a technique for mental liberation, free expression, and an opportunity to exist in the moment where true creativity and originality can flow, building self confidence and skills that help in all aspects of life.

For Art Moves, Freestyle Focus Group is collaborating with local talent Chronfused, MC Workshop, B Dice, Arothenaught, and Missy D.

Diamonds in the Rough was founded in 2009 and is based out of Vancouver, Canada, with active members living in L.A, California. Since 2009, there has been a large family of Diamond Ladies and thirteen years later, Diamonds in the Rough is still going strong with new members alongside original members.

The Diamond Ladies have a strong presence in the choreography, industry and freestyle communities. They strive to train in multiple Street Dance styles, and contribute their individual strengths to the crew. This sisterhood of powerful women represents more than a dance crew, their chemistry and lifestyle allows them to support each other, express, create and motivate.

Phil Wizard is a Vancouver based artist who specializes in breaking. He started dancing in 2009 under the mentorship of Vancouver’s Now or Never and Soul Felons crews, and later joined the Wizards. United Rivals, and 7 Commandos crews which he continues to represent today. Phil hopes to further evolve and diversify his craft while continuing to compete and perform internationally.

Phil Wizard is the first Canadian dancer to win the Undisputed World Series and to be invited to the Red Bull BC One World Finals. He is also the only Canadian to be a part of the Redbull BC One All Star team. Over the past few years he has represented all over the world competing at the highest level. Phil has also performed in a variety of concerts, festivals, and shows, including the 2018 Takashi Murakami exhibition opening at the Vancouver Art Gallery. He currently holds four solo world championship titles, as well as multiple crew world championship titles.

Visit philkwizard.com for more information.

Born in the small town of Jeonju, South Korea, Thaiyo is a world-famous b-boy now living in Vancouver. He started dance in 1998, and in 2002 founded Last For One crew with ten other friends from Jeonju. By age 23, Thaiyo won the International Battle of the Year (BOTY) 2005 in Germany, with Last For One, and was highlighted in the feature film "Planet B-boy" which followed the 2005 BOTY story. Following his win at BOTY, Thaiyo and his crew became widely known throughout the world, and were endlessly invited to different countries for performances, battles, and workshops, most notable of which were Last For One’s performance at the Lincoln Center, in New York City, USA, and the 17th Presidential Inaugural Ceremony, in Seoul, South Korea.

In recognition of their rise to fame and international success, Thaiyo’s hometown of Jeonju named a city square after their hometown crew. At age 27, Thaiyo moved to Vancouver and joined Canada’s top breaking team, Now Or Never. Along with competing and judging, Thaiyo is a full-time Breaking & Locking instructor. His style is based off his belief that a well-rounded b-boy is a good b-boy. He combines style, power, and foundation to create his dance, and passes it on to his students with great enthusiasm.

Visit thaiyoseo.com for more information.

Jhaymee “Eloquence” Hizon is known throughout the Lower Mainland as a hip-hop dancer, teacher, choreographer, and member of the infamous Now or Never Crew. Now or Never is one of Canada’s top hip-hop/bboy crews, and highly regarded worldwide. Jhaymee’s style is a fusion of traditional break-dance and his own original movements. Driven by a “it’s not what you do, but how you do it” mentality, he infuses style into every movement.

Highly accomplished, Jhaymee has competed at Massive Monkee Day (Champions), Battle of the Year International (Germany), and IBE (2011 Europe World Battle), and has performed at the Closing Ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics at BC Place. His goal is to promote the positive side of hip-hop, while preserving this powerful art form and its strong cultural presence.

Madeleine Wynne is a painter from North Vancouver whose art focuses on whimsical, colourful depictions of everyday landscapes. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Animation from Emily Carr University in 2014, and now works in TV animation as a Set-Up and Background Artist. Her illustrations have appeared in the anthologies The Liar and The Writer’s Block.

She started painting live in 2012, when she was chosen to paint a bus at a Transit Convention. Since then she’s been painting at events through the lower mainland, include the Vancouver Art Battle, Harmony Arts Festival, The Cultch, and the Anonymous Art Show.

Visit artstation.com/madeleinewynne for more information.

For Art Moves July residency, in celebration of Vancouver's Pride Festival Month, TransLink is thrilled to feature the della kit. She is a queer Singer/ Songwriter Producer, DJ and Curator and is collaborating with a fabulously diverse group of local artists to bring a mix of Soul, Hip-Hop, Afro beat, Funk and everything in between. Her lineup includes Chelsea Johnson, Tonye Aganaba, DJ Skylar Love, Ndidi Cascade, Jojo Zolina & Alyssa Amarshi.

Visit thedellakit.com for more information.

Canadian bassist, composer, producer and educator Jodi Proznick has received many awards including the Western Canadian Music Award for Jazz Artist of the Year (2019), National Jazz Award for Bassist (2008, 2009), Album (2008) and Acoustic Group (2008) of the Year, and Galaxie Rising Star of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival (2004). Jodi was also nominated for two JUNO awards with her 2007 release, Foundations, and 2019 release, Sun Songs.

Jodi is in demand as a collaborative performer and has played with internationally recognized jazz artists such as Michael Bublé, George Coleman, Sheila Jordan, David “Fathead” Newman, Harold Mabern, Michael Feinstein, Peter Bernstein, Seamus Blake, Christine and Ingrid Jensen, Lewis Nash, Russell Malone, Ed Thigpen, Don Thompson, Dee Daniels, Phil Dwyer and Laila Biali as well as collaborators outside the jazz tradition including the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Mark Fewer with John Novacek, the Vetta Chamber Ensemble, Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson, Sal Ferreras’ Drum Heat, musica intima, Chor Leoni, Elektra Women’s Choir, Mohammed Assani, Celso Machado, Bill Henderson, and the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble. She has been featured in over 40 albums as bassist. Jodi’s quartet features her longtime partner Tilden Webb on piano and she co-leads a chamber jazz group called Triology, a jazz trio that features Miles Black on piano and Bill Coon on guitar.

A dedicated and highly respected educator, Jodi is currently the chair of the Jazz Department at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music and Artistic Director of its Summer Jazz Workshop, Painting with Sound Workshop and Sister Jazz Day. She is also the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Music Arts Collective, an online music education platform. Previously, she was part of the music faculty at Capilano University and Kwantlen Polytechnic University and during the 2019/2020 season, Jodi was the Manager of Education and Community Outreach for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Visit jodiproznick.com for more information.

Blues Man Murray Porter’s music career has taken him all over the world for the last 40 years. He’s a proud Mohawk man from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory in southern Ontario, who now lives on Squamish Nation unceded territory in North Vancouver, British Columbia.

Murray may have a blues soul to the core, but he also grew up on rock and roll, R & B and country music. Porter’s first CD since his 2012 JUNO Award for ‘Aboriginal Album of the Year’ is titled, “STAND UP!” and reflects these early musical influences. He strongly feels that this album is some of his best music to date. This album was nominated at the 2019 Native American Music Awards for ‘Best Blues Recording’ and ‘Best Male Artist of the Year’. One song, `Love Will Find A Way’, words by Elaine Bomberry and music by Murray Porter, charted at Number One, on the Indigenous Music Countdown, the week of July 18, 2020.

During this COVID-19 era, which has rocked all of our worlds, and cancelled the live music scene throughout the world, there have been ‘virtual concert series’, that Murray has performed at including: `#CanadaPerforms with the National Arts Centre’, `Tkaronto Music Fest’, ‘Assembly of First Nations Water Summit (twice)’, `Live at Mikey’s Place’, ‘Indigenous Music Awards Performance Series’, ‘Rez Bluez 25th Anniversary’, presented by the Toronto Blues Society & Elaine Bomberry. Plus, he’s performed for a number of Indigenous organizations virtually as well for Elders Gatherings and Friendship Centres.

Whether he is playing an intimate venue for local blues fans, as a solo, duo, trio or with a four-piece band, or on a festival stage to thousands of music aficionados, Porter’s love of performing comes across clear and strong. He has been compared to Dr. John, Joe Cocker and even Elton John! Robbie Robertson has called Porter “a master bluesman.” He captivates audiences wherever he performs and makes new fans…and they never leave his show disappointed.

Visit murrayporter.ca for more information.