Welcome, (art) Song Lab 2026 Participants.
This is your go-to location for important information. Please bookmark this page so you can refer back here often.
If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact your CoDirector, or email artsonglab@gmail.com.
CONTACT
For any questions you have during the program, the fastest ways to get in touch are:
EMAIL: artsonglab@gmail.com
Phone/Text/Whatsapp: 1-778-866-5638 (Michael Park)
To connect with other participants, If you know of any great hotel/airbnb deals or have a room to offer up, or you’re looking for a roommate, the Whatsapp community is the place to do it!
Planning your Trip
Our home base for the program will be St. Mary’s Kerrisdale. We’ll also be using some other locations in the neighbourhood, but everything should be within a short walk.
Click the location point on the map below to access the full Google Map which you can use to search for transit directions and other wayfinding.
Bus routes that are particularly convenient:
2 and 16 provide access to downtown.
41 and the R4 Rapid Bus run West/East providing access to UBC, skytrain, and more!
Google Calendar (Bookmark/Subscribe/Add)
As we finalize the schedule, everything will be added to the Google Calendar. It will have all the details about rehearsal and event locations, so be sure to subscribe closer to the program.
A Note on Participation: The more you participate, the better! We also understand that life gets in the way and most people will have to miss at least something during the program. The absolute top priorities for composer/writer attendance (that you should not miss) are the first few rehearsals of your piece (Monday especially), and the SongSparks at which your piece will be performed. The Guest-Artist Workshops and drop-ins are things you really won’t want to miss, but the rest of the activities are aimed at group participation, so no individual’s absence will be a hindrance to an overall valuable experience for those in attendance.
The Process for 2026
Each pair of participants will collaborate closely on creating one new song for the program. Because of the faculty's limited availability before the program, participant singers will be able to provide feedback on the piece as it is being written.
Tidbits and Helpful Info
Extended Piano Techniques
Safe Practice of Extended Piano Techniques, by Rachel Iwaasa
What to expect from the process
Rehearsals
Once the performers have their scores, we need to honour their time to prepare the version that was prepared for their deadline. In addition to learning the notes, our faculty will come in with questions and suggestions based on their experience with the final score. It is very common for pieces to go through big and many changes during the week, so please come with an open mind, ready to work together to bring the piece to life in a way that honours all the collaborators in the process!
For those composers who keep finding edits in their score they’d to make, I'd suggest pre-making those changes in your score, and be ready to implement any additional edits after the first rehearsal. Please don't show up with an edited score to give the performers before you've even heard the work they've put into the original version they've received.
Group Class on Monday, June 29th
This event is intended for everyone. The welcomes and introductions are really important to setting a group vibe for the week. Every year, the group dynamic is very different, so it's important we have everyone there to set expectations and intentionalities.
Participant Show & Tell
Each participant will have 5 minutes to present whatever they like to the group. This INCLUDES talking, setup, loading, playback, etc. This is an intentionally short period of time, so plan (and practice) your presentation. If you'd like to play audio/video, the clip should be no longer than 4 minutes.
SongSparks
These are informal workshop-concerts organized by voice-types. This is a great chance for everyone to hear each other's works. The audience can ask questions, and often the performers will use the opportunity of having an astute audience to test out different approaches/interpretations. These are open and free to the public.