Artist Residencies are programs that provide guest artists with a period of reflection, research, collaboration, presentation and/or production. Around the world, a wide variety of Artist In-Residence programs are sponsored by universities, museums, galleries, theatres, government agencies and festivals, where artists, curators, and all manner of creative individuals are invited to spend a period time away from their usual environment and obligations.
Olivia Shortt, (they/them), Anishinaabe, Nipissing First Nation) is a storyteller and performing artist working across Turtle Island and internationally. They are a vocalist, noisemaker, improviser, composer, sound designer, video artist, drag artist, curator, administrator, and producer.
Photo credit: Jenn Collins
Shortt was featured in the 2020 Winter edition of Musicworks Magazine and was described as a “glittering, rising star in the exploratory music firmament.” They have appeared on CBC Kids ‘Gary the Unicorn and their voice has been used off-screen for Stephen King’s ‘In the Tall Grass’ and Season 3 of ‘Chucky’; they made their Lincoln Center debut in 2018 with the International Contemporary Ensemble; they made their film debut, onscreen playing saxophone, in Atom Egoyan’s 2019 film Guest of Honour; and recorded an album with their duo Stereoscope, two kilometres underground in the SnoLAB (an underground laboratory specializing in Neutrinos and dark matter physics in Northern Ontario, Canada). Shortt performed and premiered Raven Chacon’s (Diné) ‘For Olivia Shortt’ at The Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC) as part of Chacon’s series of solo works ‘For Zitkála-Šá’ during the 2022 Whitney Biennial and has performed the work at The Holland Festival (Amsterdam) and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (Washington, DC).
As Carleton Music’s Artist-in-Residence, Olivia is teaching a course entitled Music Producing 101 (MUSI 4200) and running the Performer-Composer Lab ensemble. They will also give a masterclass, present a concert at Carleton Dominion Chalmers Centre, take part in music auditions and juries, and schedule depending, can be available to speak with members of the Carleton community.