‘I RISE’: Calgary Philharmonic and Pink Flamingo collaborate

I RISE is an artistic collaboration bringing the Black Lives Matter Murals Project, led by Pink Flamingo, and the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, together.

Allison Dunne is the founder and director of Pink Flamingo, a Black-led advocacy organization representing queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour.

Dunne says it’s exciting to be working with an organization that represents an industry that is historically exclusive, elitist, and white.

“It’s actually quite a lot of programming when I actually have to say it all out loud,” Dunne said.

“Even though the intent of the murals was not originally for the Calgary Phil, we were approached during the infancy of request for proposals, so the collaboration actually started even before the designs were sent to us even before we picked the artists.

“For them to collaborate with a group that’s very, very, adamantly not white, and very adamantly queer, it’s really a great collision of artistic expression,” Dunne said.

Pink Flamingo’s Black Lives Matter Murals Project pieces can be seen throughout Calgary – and now they’ll accompany the performance on Saturday in a video format.

Jason Stasiuk, artistic operations manager at the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, says the musicians will exclusively be performing music from Black composers, except for one piece that was commissioned with the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus.

Stasiuk adds he recognizes he comes from a place of privilege.

“[I’m] lucky that I’m able to use that privilege to pick what the orchestra plays and doing that on this concert. To bring in Leslie B. Dunne, our conductor who has curated the entire evening. To be able to perform Florence Price’s symphony. It’s one of the first times the Calgary Phil has performed a symphony by a black composer,” Stasiuk said.

I RISE is at Jack Singer Concert Hall Saturday Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m.