History

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The New Orchestra Workshop Society (NOW) presents concerts and gatherings, improvisation workshops, establishes cultural space for the sharing of creative work, partners in and supports community initiatives, tours, commissions, records and publishes new works. Our events are presented in public spaces, concert halls and informal spaces. Our work engages diverse musical sources and artists. Our ensembles are drawn from Vancouver's foremost creative established and emerging musicians.

We collaborate with artists from Vancouver, Canada and from around the world, with artists such as Barry Guy, George Lewis, Butch Morris, Marilyn Crispell and Roscoe Mitchell. We have commissioned new works from Canadian artists such as François Houle, Giorgio Magnanensi, Joane Hétu and Rainer Wiens, from international artists Douglas R. Ewart, Kris Davis, Ig Henneman and George Lewis. Our guest artists have included Lori Freedman, Jean Drome, Joane Hétu, Christine Duncan (Montreal), Olivia Shortt (Takronto), Barry Guy, Anne La Berge, Jasper Stadhouders (Amsterdam), Jim Denley (Australia), Thokazani Mhlambi (South Africa), Shih Yang Lee (Taiwan), Marilyn Crispell, Luke Stewart, Douglas R. Ewart, Pauline Oliveros, Lisle Ellis and Eyvind Kang (USA).

NOW presents free workshops for individuals with varied abilities offering space for exploration and improvisation. The first NOW workshop took place at the Western Front on April 6, 1978, facilitated by Karl Berger, the founder of the Creative Music Studio in Woodstock, NY. In that same year, the NOW presented workshops by Anthony Davis, Oliver Lake, and Sam Rivers. In 1979, weekly workshops at the Western Front began (42 that year) and the NOW Society continues the tradition of yearly workshop series with facilitators such as Luke Stewart, Jaimie Branch, Ava Mendoza, Pauline Oliveros, Eyvind Kang, Kim Myhr and Kris Davis.

In 2018, the NOW Society founded the 8EAST Social Space for New Culture. 8EAST provides a gathering place for our members, artists, partners, audiences and neighbouring communities. We honor the location of 8EAST, in Chinatown and in the Downtown Eastside, with programming that includes varied perspectives and voices. 

The New Orchestra Workshop (NOW) Society, founded in 1977 by musicians Lisle Ellis, Paul Cram, Paul Plimley, Gregg Simpson and Ralph Eppel, has included leadership by Nikita Carter, Ron Samworth, Clyde Reed, Bruce Freedman and Kate Hammett Vaughan. Executive and Artistic Director since 2013, pianist and composer Dr. Lisa Cay Miller, is proud to continue upholding NOW values, which have remained true to the original 1977 purposes of the Society, some of which are:

 

  1. To cultivate, promote, foster, sponsor and develop the understanding, taste and appreciation in the community for creative music at all levels.
  2. To produce and present creative musical and related multi-media events for the community as a whole, by members of the Society and their collaborators.
  3. To increase awareness of the work being done by the members in the area of original compositions, creative improvisation and other component parts of the creative music process.
  4. To provide workshops and other educational programming in the creative musical arts for the community at large.
  5. To provide information and consultation to the community as a whole with respect to the creative musical arts.
  6. To further communication of the works being done in creative music by the members and others in the field to the media, educational institutions and related individuals.
  7. To facilitate communication and cooperation with organizations and societies whose objects are compatible with those of the Society. 

 

Mission:  Making Music NOW!

Vision: Operated and led by musicians since 1977, the New Orchestra Workshop (NOW) Society provides and shares opportunities for collective creation, through concerts, workshops, residencies, festivals, recordings, commissions, tours, community events, and publications. We balance being present in the moment with skillful preparation. We uphold diversity. Egalitarian non-hierarchical forms are vital to our practices. We encourage the expression and exchange of music, culture and ideas at our Social Space for New Culture, 8EAST, located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səlil̓wətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.

Values: The NOW Society values representation, inclusiveness, fairness and equity. We hold dear competence and respect. We embrace risk-taking, integrity, mindfulness and trust. We create safe(r) space for our members, artists, participants, staff, audience members, volunteers and neighbours.