Dorian Wood: Canto de Todes

Dorian Wood’s Canto de Todes (Song of Everyone) is a 12-hour composition and installation, making its worldwide debut at REDCAT. Inspired by a lyric of the late Chilean singer and songwriter Violeta Parra, the Creative Capital-awarded project emphasizes the urgency of folk music as a vessel for social change. A genre-defying canon of songs arriving as a long-durational spatial experience, the work is divided into three movements. The first and third movements are hourlong chamber pieces influenced by folk, popular, and experimental music. The second movement is a 10-hour prerecorded piece unfolding throughout multiple spaces within REDCAT. Canto de Todes upends the expectation of the rigidness often associated with witnessing chamber music performances by offering a welcoming space that allows for individuals to project their personal, communal joys, and traumas. It is a collaborative work with local artists who have historically been marginalized due to their nationality, race, or othered identity.