Artist Residency

Jyn-Ting Ying

Above: Artist Portrait by Jordon Hon provided by Jyn-Ting Ying

Jyn-Ting Ying is heading home to Edmonton tomorrow, and held a composition workshop at the historic Church in Markerville on August 2, 2024. This was rounding out a week spent in the Buttermaker’s House, part of the Artist Residency program, focusing on a first album release they have scheduled for the fall.

Inspiration for this music project has come from “Unearthings” by Wendy Chen, a poetry collection that’s “unafraid to confront the complexities of cultural, ancestral, and familial inheritance…[e]xploring her identity as an Asian American woman.” This is a personal topic dear to Jyn-Ting. They spent the week in our quiet hamlet working on one of the last songs for the album; even recording the sounds of the Buttermaker’s House, some of which will be incorporated into the music.

Jyn-Ting played some music live on piano that will be on the album, and also played partial recordings of the more complex pieces that have multiple instruments and vocals that couldn’t be performed during a one-person presentation.

The workshop portion of the presentation delved into examples of the role musical composition can play in affective experience; the important part it can play in conveying how an audience should feel.

This was an entertaining and thoughtful afternoon well spent!

About the Artist: Besides working on the album project, Jyn-Ting has also done sound and songs interpreting other people’s projects: movie soundtrack work, music for game apps, and a composition for a photography gallery display. They are also part of an improv group that will be performing at the Edmonton Fringe this summer.

Buttermaker’s House Artist Residency is supported by Red Deer County and Alberta Foundation for the Arts. An award is available to qualified applicants, sponsored by INLNA (Icelandic National League of North America).

https://www.historicmarkerville.com/buttermaker-house.html

Jim Martin

Jim Martin and Blair Thorson booked the Buttermaker’s House for July 19 to 21, 2024 to display their artwork and perform demonstrations of cottonwood bark carving for the public.

Jim decided he would take the opportunity to present “Stories with a Smile”, introducing and promoting the art of oral storytelling for adults through his affiliation with Storytellingalberta.com which has Chapters throughout Canada. It’s existed for 40 years, is a nonprofit, and its goal is to promote the art of oral storytelling. There’s a chapter in Calgary, in Edmonton, another one in Strathcona, and just recently one was formed in Red Deer.

From Jim’s presentation, which took place over two days, July 20 & 21, 2024:

“And what is a story? Well… It can be anything you want it to be.

“Usually people start with personal stories, things in their life or events that other people might be interested in, and it gives an advantage in that you already know the story. You lived it; so you don’t have to study up on it much.

“It could also be a folktale. There’s a lot of folktales that’ve gone through hundreds of years and the poor ones have been edited out. They’re a great source of stories, and they really give you a message at the end as well.

“You can have an epic story about history; or a poem, which is just a story that rhymes. It could be a song, because songs are a story with music. A story can be anything you like, and you can either write it yourself, or you use an existing one from a book or online. Out of respect for the author, you usually acknowledge the author of the story. And if you’re telling for profit, you should really contact the author and get their permission to tell the story.

“So stories have three elements: The story, the teller, and the audience.

“The story has got to be relevant to the audience; have some meaning for them and be memorable.

“The story teller, if he hasn’t written that story himself or herself, can take that story and manipulate it and make it fit their presentation style. And they present it to the audience.

“The role of the audience is first to be attentive to the teller, because unlike music where there’s lots of noise, if somebody is talking over top of the teller or using cell phones or the like, it really disturbs him. The second roll is to give reactions to the story. A good story teller is always watching the audience to see how they’re reacting. He may find that they aren’t reacting the way he thought they would. So next time he tells the story a bit differently.”