The OnSTAGE Concert series will return to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Society (VDPAC) on May 9, with interdisciplinary artist Tonye Aganaba, a Black African queer and non-binary musician, artist and arts facilitator.
Their genre is a mix of soul, neo-folk, hip-hop and R&B, with roots in Nigeria and Zimbabwe, and a deep connection to their local community.
VDPAC executive director Jim Harding says Aganaba’s performances, “often leave you profoundly moved, having experienced an evening that blends musicality with storytelling and a call to collective healing.”
Their latest album Something Comfortable explores Aganaba’s ongoing journey with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Aganaba was diagnosed with MS in 2015, which brought their progress in the music industry to a halt, followed by a car crash two years later which left them bedridden for months.
Their album Something Comfortable also serves as the soundtrack to AfroScience, “a project that fuses live music, dance, visual art, digital media and storytelling to spark conversations around identity, addiction, healing and self-expression,” said Harding.
Tonye Aganabe’s performance with VDPAC’s annual SPOTLIGHT Season’s special presentations follows Ron Sexsmith, earlier in September, and has featured award-winning OnSTAGE artists, Abigail Lapell, Begonia, Caleigh Cardinal, Jenn Grant, Kim Churchill, La Force, and others.
“Our OnSTAGE Concert format seats all 120 patrons at two-person cabaret tables, right onstage with the featured artist and musicians,” said Harding.
Aganabe will take the stage at VDPAC Friday, May 9, at 7:30 p.m.
