Our most recent event was held on Saturday, September 30 as part of the “100 Thousand Poets for Change” global initiative. Sadly, Michael Rothenberg, co-founder of this unique organization, died late last year. However, his partner and co-founder Terri Carrion and all the support staff are carrying on. The Elora Poetry Centre and Gallery once again participated, this time with a reading by Khashyar “Kess” Mohammadi, a performance on the shakuhachi by Dr. Gerard Yun, and poetry, music, and dance presented by Choir in Motion.

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Khashayar “Kess” Mohammadi

“Kess” is an Iranian born, Toronto based queer poet, translator and writer.

They were shortlisted for the 2021 Austin Clarke poetry prize, 2022’s Arc Poem of the Year award, The Malahat Review’s 2023 Open Season awards for poetry and they are the winner of the 2021 Vallum Poetry Prize. They are the author of four poetry chapbooks and three translated poetry chapbooks. They have released two full-length collections of poetry with Gordon Hill Press. Their full-length collaborative poetry manuscript “G” is forthcoming with Palimpsest Press Fall 2023, and their full-length collection of experimental dream-poems “Daffod*ls” is forthcoming from Pamenar Press Fall 2023.

Dr Gerard Yun

Dr. Yun teaches Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, specializing in, amongst other things, the Shakuhachi.

He is an intercultural,  contemplative musician, teacher, and scholar. A native of the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California, he is a descendant of San Francisco and Jamaican Chinese with a background rooted in various musical traditions discovered and pursued alongside his formal training and professional work as a classical conductor. These include Japanese Zen Buddhist shakuhachi, Native American flute, Asian overtone singing, didgeridoo, West African kora and drumming. His scholarly interests focus on the intersections of music, spirituality and social justice through practices such as intercultural improvisation, restorative-contemplative musical forms, and performative eco-acoustics. At the juncture of emergence from the global pandemic, he seeks to reawaken awareness of relationships between humans, the natural world, and technology by combining scientific and musical modalities. Currently, assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Dr. Yun is in demand as a clinician and workshop leader. During the pandemic, he hosted the “Authentic Voice” podcast and Martin Luther University’s “Contemplative Music Pause.” An advocate of teaching innovation, he is currently producing “The Listeners” podcast to support students and researchers seeking access and primary data into the interdisciplinary theories and practices of listening and as a precursor to a new course titled “Listening: Theories and Practice.” He teaches community music, contemplative arts, and social justice courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels for the Faculty of Music and Martin Luther University College. Former director of both the University of Waterloo Choir and WLU’s Concert Choir, he is the founder of Conrad Grebel University College’s East-West Dark Horse Ensemble and Wilfrid Laurier’s Confluence Ensemble. As shakuhachi soloist and scholar, Dr. Yun performs and records with the Earth Ether Ensemble under the leadership of James Harley. He appears on Room 217 World Music series for Music Cares and various music apps, including Plant Choir’s biosonificstion app which creates generative music directly from houseplants. His latest composition projects feature seldom noticed or unhearable (with the unaided human ear) natural sounds (macroacoustics), and bio-electrical fields to generate new musical forms and structures. Dr. Yun serves as music advisor for Canada’s Plant Choir ® and president of the Community Music School of the Waterloo Region. 

Choir in Motion presents–HEARING NATURE

 Poetry, Music and Dance

Sometimes in listening we build the road to change which leads us to new places, or even back to ourselves.

Diane Chapitis─Artistic Director

Peter Skoggard—Musical Director

Ardeth Jarvis—Vocal

Tillia Kooyman—Clarinet