Cicada Woods

After the success of their former band Solidaridad Tango’s first tango album Distancia called (“essential…in the short list of the best albums of the decade”-Paris Move) which was nominated for two Canadian Folk Music awards, four former members of Solidaridad Tango formed a new ensemble that combines all the richness, power and unity of a string quartet with the full range of tango technique including percussion, improv, extended techniques and double bass sonority. Cicada Woods was born when dear musical friends Suhashini Arulanandam (violin), Esme Allen-Creighton (viola), Sybil Shanahan (cello) and Shannon Wojewoda (double bass) spent three magical days by Pine Lake exploring how their instruments could mimic and expand upon the traditional sound world of Argentinian Tango including the bandoneon, piano and guitar.  Following this tradition, each instrument is a soloist and virtuoso as well as ensemble musician.  Cicada Woods also use their virtuosity to maintain the rich texture of traditional tango ensembles, arranging parts where instruments frequently carry multiple lines and harmonies. Their name was inspired by the tango ‘chicharra’ (Cicada) string technique where the bow scratches along the string windings as well as the forest setting where they made their first arrangements–four wooden instruments reborn from the gestation of classical and tango roots.

Cicada Woods’ work is intentionally crafted for a remarkably broad spectrum of listeners, supported by a versatile program that can be tailored to suit audiences ranging from pajama-clad toddlers experiencing live music for the first time, to late-night club crowds seeking high-energy, genre-blending performance, to classical concert halls where audiences appreciate refined artistry and boundary-pushing technique. As a small, flexible ensemble, we can comfortably fit into a living room for an intimate acoustic performance or be amplified to fill a concert hall with our dynamic, rhythmically charged sound.