Carissa Klopoushak
I spoke with the versatile violinist, singer, and Artistic Director Carissa Klopoushak over Zoom on May 30, 2021. She shares some of her musical journey with us, and we have a wide-ranging conversation that also includes some beautiful music. She shared a couple of traditional Ukrainian tunes on both violin and voice. There’s a bonus episode, which is the little improv we did together as well. Links to Carissa's band and other projects are on her website: http://www.carissaklopoushak.com/ Carissa is a violinist based in Ottawa, Canada, where she plays with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the Ironwood Quartet. Carissa was recently appointed ,Artistic Director of Ottawa Chamberfest, continuing the leadership role she began in Interim capacity mid-August, 2020. Formerly of Saskatoon (by way of Montreal), she’s a proud Ukrainian-Canadian, a frequent traveler, vinyl enthusiast, photographer, and a coffee/whisky/music snob. Carissa wears many professional hats: violin soloist, chamber musician, orchestral musician, singer, artistic director, and even violist. Her debut album, SOUNDWORLDS, was released in 2016. Carissa currently plays on a 1851 Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin, generously on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Instrument Bank. During the conversation we talked quite a bit about the idea of “roots and wings”: her strong family connections and strength in her heritage have helped her branch out into a really interesting and active career as a musician in so many ways. I find Carissa to be very inspiring, and she has a wonderful energy about her, that I think is infectious in the best way!
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