AUSTRA RELEASES SWAN SONG, ORIGINAL SCORE FOR BALLET FEATURE DOCUMENTARY

BUY / STREAM SWAN SONG ORIGINAL SCORE HERE
WATCH / SHARE “JURGITA’S THEME” (VISUALIZER)  HERE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY NEVE CAMPBELL, THE ALL-ACCESS PROJECT FOLLOWS BALLET LEGEND KAREN KAIN AND A GROUP OF DANCERS AS THEY MOUNT KAIN’S FAREWELL PRODUCTION OF SWAN LAKE, AND EXAMINES THE IMPACTS OF THE CULTURE OF BALLET ON THOSE WHO LIVE AND WORK INSIDE IT

WATCH SWAN SONG DOCUMENTARY TRAILER HERE

STREAM SWAN SONG DOCU-SERIES ON CBC GEM

Photo Credit: Colin Medley // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

Producer, songwriter, and creative force Austra (Katie Austra Stelmanis) has added another dimension to her talents as she composes the original score for Canadian documentary feature and docu-series SWAN SONG. Swan Song is Stelmanis’ first film score and sees her taking an entirely different approach to music making. Drawing upon her classical upbringing, the synth-based score was composed using only a Juno-106, a Mellotron and her voice, providing dissonant textures and complementary melodies that interpolate Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

SWAN SONG is executive produced by Neve Campbell, the all-access project follows ballet legend Karen Kain and a group of dancers as they mount Kain’s farewell production of Swan Lake, and examines the impacts of the culture of ballet on those who live and work inside it.

BUY / STREAM SWAN SONG ORIGINAL SCORE HERE
WATCH / SHARE “JURGITA’S THEME” (VISUALIZER) HERE

Speaking about her work, Stelmanis said: “Scoring SWAN SONG has been a dream project. My first ever experience performing was as a kid singing in the orchestra pit for the National Ballet of Canada's Nutcracker sometime in the 90s and my love for Tchaikovsky has sustained ever since. For this project, I was influenced by artists like Vangelis and Oneohtrix Point Never to compose a deep, textured, almost entirely electronic score that traverses the spectacular music of Swan Lake.”

The documentary received its world premiere at Toronto International Film Festival and its UK premiere at the BFI London Film Festival. The project was developed with CBC and in addition to the feature documentary also includes a four-episode docu-series available to stream now on CBC Gem and broadcasting on CBC TV.

WATCH SWAN SONG DOCUMENTARY TRAILER HERE
STREAM SWAN SONG DOCU-SERIES ON CBC GEM

Katie Austra Stelmanis has been better known by her middle name for four albums (most recently in 2020 for HiRUDiN), twelve years, and countless tours. The vivid music of Austra is born of the creative force that is the producer, songwriter and composer with the most powerful instrument at her disposal - her voice, one that is capable of effortlessly evoking moments of personal and universal drama,

In 2011, Austra was nominated for a JUNO Award and made the Polaris Music Prize shortlist and for her debut album, Feel It Break. In 2013, she made the Polaris Long List for her second album, Olympia. Her music has been lauded by publications like The Guardian, Pitchfork, NME, New York Magazine and Exclaim!.

SWAN SONG, a feature documentary that immerses viewers inside The National Ballet of Canada as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement. SWAN SONG is directed by Chelsea McMullan (Ever Deadly, My Prairie Home), who wrote the film with producer Sean O’Neill (Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, LIDO TV). Distributed in Canada by Blue Ice Docs, with international sales handled by Dogwoof. 

BUY / STREAM SWAN SONG ORIGINAL SCORE HERE

ALBUM ARTWORK // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

TRACK LIST
01 Karen’s Theme
02 Corps De Ballet
03 Jurgita’s Theme
04 Tights
05 Genevieve’s Theme
06 Shae’s Theme (Chandelier)
07 Rothbart
08 Shae’s Theme (Pool)
09 Siphe’s Theme
10 Move To The Theatre
11 Curtain Call
12 Bow
13 Karen’s Reflection
14 Credits (Dance Class)

AUSTRA ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM




AUSTRA COMPOSES SCORE FOR BALLET FEATURE DOCUMENTARY, SWAN SONG, SET TO WORLD PREMIERE AT TIFF

EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY NEVE CAMPBELL, THE ALL-ACCESS PROJECT FOLLOWS BALLET LEGEND KAREN KAIN AND A GROUP OF DANCERS AS THEY MOUNT KAIN’S FAREWELL PRODUCTION OF SWAN LAKE, AND EXAMINES THE IMPACTS OF THE CULTURE OF BALLET ON THOSE WHO LIVE AND WORK INSIDE IT

ORIGINAL SCORE COMPOSED BY KATIE AUSTRA STELMANIS

WATCH / SHARE THE SWAN SONG TRAILER HERE

DEVELOPED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CBC, THE FEATURE LENGTH DOCUMENTARY WILL BE EXPANDED TO A FOUR-PART SERIES AIRING ON CBC GEM AND CBC TV IN NOVEMBER

Photo Credit: Virginie Khateeb

Producer, songwriter, and creative force Austra has added another dimension to her talents as she composes the original score for Canadian documentary feature, Swan Song. Swan Song is Stelmanis’ first film score and sees her taking an entirely different approach to music making. Drawing upon her classical upbringing, the synth-based score was composed using only a Juno-106, a Mellotron and her voice, providing dissonant textures and complementary melodies that interpolate Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.

WATCH / SHARE THE SWAN SONG TRAILER HERE

Speaking about her work, Stelmanis said, “Scoring Swan Song has been a dream project. My first ever experience performing was as a kid singing in the orchestra pit for the National Ballet of Canada's Nutcracker sometime in the 90s and my love for Tchaicovsky has sustained ever since. For this project, I was influenced by artists like Vangelis and Oneohtrix Point Never to compose a deep, textured, almost entirely electronic score that traverses the spectacular music of Swan Lake.”

Katie Austra Stelmanis has been better known by her middle name for four albums, twelve years, and countless tours. The vivid music of Austra is born of the creative force that is the producer, songwriter and composer with the most powerful instrument at her disposal - her voice, one that is capable of effortlessly evoking moments of personal and universal drama.

In 2011 Austra was nominated for a JUNO Award and made the Polaris Music Prize shortlist for her debut album, Feel It Break. In 2013, she made the Polaris Long List for her second album, Olympia. Her music has been lauded by publications like Pitchfork, NME, New York Magazine and Exclaim!. 


MORE ABOUT SWAN SONG
Swan Song, a feature documentary that immerses viewers inside The National Ballet of Canada as it mounts a legacy-defining new production of Swan Lake, directed by ballet icon Karen Kain on the eve of her retirement, will make its world premiere at TIFF on Saturday, September 9th. Executive producer Neve Campbell will attend the Festival in support of the film, which will screen as part of the Gala Presentations program. 

SWAN SONG is directed by Chelsea McMullan (Ever Deadly, My Prairie Home), who wrote the film with producer Sean O’Neill (Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas, LIDO TV). Distributed in Canada by Blue Ice Docs, with international sales handled by Dogwoof, the feature documentary will be released theatrically in Canada on September 29, 2023. The project was developed with CBC and it will air as a four-part limited series on CBC Gem and CBC TV, premiering November 22, 2023.

AUSTRA ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM

AUSTRA ANNOUNCES ‘I FEEL YOU EVERYWHERE’ LIVE STREAM FROM ROY THOMSON HALL

WATCH THE LIVE STREAM OF AUSTRA PERFORMING AT ROY THOMSON HALL ON APRIL 29, 2021 AT 3PM ET

TICKETS ARE PAY WHAT YOU FEEL (WITH $5 USD MINIMUM) - AVAILABLE HERE

BUY / STREAM HiRUDiN HERE

image1.jpg

Producer, songwriter, and creative force Austra celebrates the one-year anniversary of the release of her 2020 album HiRUDiN with a livestream from the Roy Thomson Hall stage for a special solo concert on Thursday, April 29 at 3pm ET. Tickets are ‘pay what you feel’ with a minimum purchase of $5 USD and available HERE. The stream will be available for 24 hours.

HiRUDiN  features the tracks Anywayzand “Mountain Baby” and this performance marks the first time that these tracks and others from the album were performed live. 

In her own words, Austra reveals more about this intimate, virtual performance: 

“heartbreak is something that moves you
it changes your dna,
the essence of who you are,
of who you thought you were.
when everything you know to be stable,
safe, immovable,
suddenly breaks,
it’s a spiral of grief, uncertainty, and internal chaos.

in 2020 i experienced a heartbreak and
just as one might expect from
      a singer,
i recorded a live performance to help
move through it.

i hope you will join me in celebrating love,
celebrating our ability to love,
and our ability to soothe ourselves through
the resilience of our bodies,
      our voices”

  • Austra

PRAISE FOR HiRUDiN

“…a collection of brutally honest and therapeutic tales of love, loss and moving on...it’s her strongest offering to date." – BeatRoute

“Stelmanis traces a deeply personal journey of growth, queerness and toxic relationships. Named after the anticoagulant released by leeches, HiRUDiN fittingly explores the parasitic nature of toxicity and the healing that it can call forth." - Exclaim!

“...the most engaging, vital and ambitious album of her career. HiRUDiN is fuelled and defined by her recent emotional turmoil...It’s one of the most beautiful breakup albums you’ll hear this year." - Tinnitist

"Austra's most inventive album yet" Evening Standard

“Delicious” - The Independent

“Brilliant” DIY

"Revenge-pop bangers" The Line of Best Fit

"A deep dive, but a cathartic one" Sunday Times

"Her strongest cuts in some time" Uncut

"One of the most underrated pop artists working today" Beats Per Minute

AUSTRA ONLINE
WEBSITE
FACEBOOK
TWITTER
INSTAGRAM