Music: it’s one of our culture’s most expressive forms of healing and reflection, with its spectrum of emotional power and its ability to positively impact our lives at the best and worst of times. In a culture that too often struggles to communicate emotional depths, stories and experiences shared through song can lead to awareness and understanding of the internal conflicts that so many face.
On Saturday, September 10, to raise mental health awareness on World Suicide Prevention Day, Dalhousie University’s Fountain School of Performing Arts is presenting Mysterious Barricades to the Halifax community.
Mysterious Barricades is a Canada-wide concert series that aims to explore and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. The event was founded by Beth Turnbull, an Albertan opera singer, following the suicide of her husband of 27 years, Chris Kubash. The healing power of music and Chris’s love of classical music inspired the series. Mysterious Barricades strives to encourage open discussion about mental health within our communities, breaking down the barriers to support those impacted by suicide.
Thirteen free concerts — from St. John’s to Victoria — will take place on from 6 a.m. Atlantic Time Saturday morning until 12 a.m. Sunday morning, with a live stream available both online and in person in each city.
The Dalhousie Arts Centre is hosting the live stream all day in the MacAloney Room (Room 406) starting at 6 a.m. Halifax's concert takes place next door in the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium from 7:30 a.m. until 8:30 a.m. The talented lineup of artists and carefully selected repertoire is certain to instill a divine sense of joy and reflection in its audience to start the day, the weekend and the school year.
Marcia Swanston, Dalhousie voice instructor, has been organizing the Halifax concert, which includes music of First Nations origin, Western classical and jazz.
Prof. Swanston will be performing a set “in tribute to loving relationships, such as Beth and Chris, celebrating it and also reflecting on what was lost.” Her goal is to contribute towards an uninhibited dialogue about mental health within our communities, “to bring it out into the open and acknowledge that everyone struggles.”
Rob McClure, Dalhousie acting professor, will be hosting the concert, which features Fountain School of Performing Arts faculty members Lynn Stodola (piano), Kerry Kavalo (viola), Marcia Swanston (mezzo soprano), and Chris Mitchell (saxophone). Mitchell will also perform with his quartet (Dave Staples on piano, Jamie Gatti on bass and David Burton on drums).
The concert also features Elder Deb Eisen and several Dalhousie alumni: Jeremy Dutcher (tenor and composer), Mark Lee (violin) and Benjamin Marmen (cello).
The event aims to bring Canadians together while opening the doors to embrace and support World Suicide Prevention Day and all those impacted by mental health issues. For more information please visit mysteriousbarricades.org.
Author Craig Lang is a music composer, songwriter, and graduate of the Fountain School of Performing Arts.
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