WESTERN FRONT – Concert by Immanuel Wilkins and Lutosławski Quartet

Description:

To kick off the 2025 Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Western Front presented two concerts by American saxophonist and composer Immanuel Wilkins with the Polish classical string ensemble Lutosławski Quartet for the Canadian premiere of Wilkins’s new work, Ethnic Cleansing — An American Tradition. This composition was specifically written for the Lutosławski Quartet, commissioned by the Jazztopad Festival and the National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Poland. The piece was dedicated to those facing forced displacement, from Palestine to the United States.

Inspired by architect and researcher Sandi Hilal’s concept of al masha (a form of the commons) and the struggle for land and identity, the piece explores themes of survival and shifting voices, both musically and socially.

Each concert began with a solo by Wilkins before the performance of the commissioned piece.

Presented in partnership with Coastal Jazz, with support from the Polish Cultural Institute New York, United States; and National Forum of Music, Wrocław, Poland.

Four musicians, one playing the saxophone, and three the violin, sit next to each other on a wooden stage in spotlight, with a black curtain background. They are framed by seated audience members looking forward.

Five musicians sit in a semicircle, one plays the saxophone, three the violin and the fifth a cello, on a wooden stage draped in overhead lighting. Black curtains cover the background and the foreground shows rows of seated audience members.

Five musicians stand smiling, holding their orchestral instruments, on a wooden stage with a black curtain background, as audience members applaud them.

In the Grand Luxe Hall, a performer holding a saxophone and wearing a green and yellow striped scarf walks away from a stage through a crowd of seated, clapping audience members. Two other performers follow in the background as a camera films them on the right.

Captions:

Concert by Immanuel Wilkins and Lutosławski Quartet, video documentation, Jun 20, 2025. 51 min. 53 sec. Camera by Qiuli Wu.
Immanuel Wilkins and Roksana Kwaśnikowska, Marcin Markowicz, and Artur Rozmysłowicz of Lutosławski Quartet, photo documentation, Jun 20, 2025. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Concert by Immanuel Wilkins and Lutosławski Quartet, photo documentation, Jun 20, 2025. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Concert by Immanuel Wilkins and Lutosławski Quartet, photo documentation, Jun 20, 2025. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.
Immanuel Wilkins at Western Front, photo documentation, Jun 20, 2025. Photo by Rachel Topham Photography.

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Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.