Breaking News: February 2010

Tiresias is pleased to announce preparations for a new CD, Halos of the Moon, to be released on Redshift Records. This new project celebrates the cultural ties between Canada and Japan. Being both descended from Japanese-European ancestry, Iwaasa and McGregor have been fascinated with the concept of cultural hybridity since they began collaborating together. This CD will feature works that define Japanese-Canadian music from different angles: the album will feature works by Canadian composers Elliot Weisgarber, Hiroki Tsurumoto, Kara Gibbs, Anthony Genge, and Derek Charke, as well as Japanese composers Toru Takemitsu and Jo Kondo. This project was the recipient of generous funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
 
Hailed by the Globe and Mail for their “tremendous flair and intensity,” the flute/piano duo Tiresias was formed by flutist Mark Takeshi McGregor and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa in 2002.
Joomla! LogoA blind seer from Greek mythology, Tiresias was transformed from man to woman and back again by supernatural means. S/he symbolizes what Iwaasa and McGregor have set out to accomplish: to speak from two very different perspectives with a single voice, to provide fresh perspectives and insights into conventional chamber music programmes, and to anticipate the future trajectories of the chamber music genre through working with composers and artists from various disciplines.

Tiresias has performed extensively throughout Western Canada; they have been featured at New Works Calgary, Powell Street Festival (Vancouver), the University of Victoria’s Adaskin Series, Sonic Boom, and the Vancouver Pride in Art Festival. Recently Tiresias was selected to perform for the Governor General of Canada, Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, at a gala concert at the Banff Centre for the Arts. In 2007 Tiresias released its first CD, Delicate Fires, which features the music of Canadian composers Barbara Pentland and Murray Adaskin, as well as new commissions by Rodney Sharman, Jennifer Butler and Jocelyn Morlock.