Kavanah is made up of Kate and Martin St-Pierre.
Kate St-Pierre is most recognized for her versatility, be it in her voice or her
character work. Vocally she is renowned for her ethnic qualities, her throaty
grunge-like belt into a pure operatic tone and her passionate phrasing.
Kate has recorded works for multiple film scores and soundtracks. Original show
recordings include the soundtrack by Benoit Jutras (Cirque du Soleil, "Journey
of Man") for Franco Dragone's (Cirque du Soleil, Celine's "New Day") show, "Le
Rêve" at the Wynn hotel; featured vocal soloist for the Middle Eastern and World
Music group Solace 2006 release "Nagari" and 2005 release "Balance"; guest
soloist on Jon Anderson's (Yes) highly anticipated album project, "In Elven
Lands."
Kate's Balkan belting and Middle Eastern expressions have been used in multiple
film scores and television projects and can also be heard on the soundtrack for
acts of many former Cirque du Soleil artists.
Kate is the soloist for director Michael Manzanet's Cirque Montage score and
original soundtrack. Kate's voice was also featured on the 2004 New York Drama
Desk Award Nominated Music for the theatrical show, "Ramayana 2K3."
Kate has worked with many projects. Prominent groups are: Shamans Dream
World Groove Ensemble, an eclectic group of world class musicians from diverse
musical backgrounds; Cat on the Roof, Romany (Gypsy) jazz - violin, dijeridoo,
percussion, and voice; Healer, heavy/industrial/tribal band with White Zombie
drummer Ivan De Prune; The Los Angeles Opera as Assist. Director and Character /
Singer for the 2004 - 2005 Outreach Program.
Kate has also coached character development to many professional actors,
gymnasts, aerialists and dancers. While at "Le Rêve" Kate developed a program to
encourage new arriving artists to incorporate their vocal expression with their
aerial, gymnastic and dance performance. Kate also developed a program for
Cirque du Soleil to assist newly cast singers in their adapting to in-ear
monitor use and finding their personal mixes.
Kate studied North Indian voice with Lakshmi Shankar, Opera Studies with Dr.
Kevin St. Clair, USC and Joselyn Fleury, Concordia University, Montreal. Opera,
Balkan, Tuvan and Tibetan Throat Chanting with Dennis Parnel. Acting and
Improvisation Studies with Larry Pellegrini (Artificial Intelligence) and Jay
Legget (I.O. and In Living Color). West African Dance with Nzingha Camara (Les
Ballet Africains, Dance Collective, Le Ballet de Kouman Kele), Fire Dance and
Poi with Indra Yoga and Dance, Cerceau with Marie-Therese (Trapezium).
After singing in Cirque Du Soleil's,"Ka" at the MGM in Las Vegas Kate performed
with her band Kavanah at the Coachella Music Festival to 60,000 people and then
went on to tour Europe with the band Solace. Kate recently recorded again for
Benoit Jutras and often records for legendary film trailer composer Thomas J.
Bergersen of Two Steps From Hell Productions (Avatar, Star Trek, Pirates of the
Caribbean.) In June of 2011 Thomas Bergersen released his first solo work,
Illusions, which immediately jumped to the #2 position on itunes' classical
chart. Kate's voice can be heard on several tracks including the title,
Illusions and Hurt. Kate is proud to be a licensed Music Together Teacher and
loves working with children and their parents at City Lights Music Together.
After completing his North American Tour of "Quidam" in 1997, which he
originated with Cirque du Soleil in 1996, Martin St-Pierre has continued to be
recognized as a front man for improvised violin in the Classical, World Music,
and Jazz communities. Martin has extensive knowledge of North Indian Classical
Music and traditional Chinese Music. Martin collects and plays many Ethnic
stringed instruments and his playing has been recorded for use in several sound
libraries. Martin can also be regularly heard playing many of his ethnic
instruments for the score to the new Sci-Fi series, "Battlestar Galactica."
Martin received his Bachelor and Master degrees in Music Performance from
Montreal University. Martin is also a full scholarship Conducting Alumnus of the
prestigious Pierre Monteux School for Orchestra Conducting in Maine. As a
violinist, Martin has performed and recorded with multiple orchestras including
the world renowned "Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne," "I Musici," and "The Hollywood
Orchestra" for the film score, "Spiderman 3."
As a Composer and Orchestrator, Martin has a vast array of styles and influences
that he draws upon for each of his projects. Cirque du Soleil commissioned
Martin to orchestrate for full orchestra, a performance, which he then also
conducted for Canada's prestigious Governor General's Awards. Martin worked on
the Orchestral Programming and Additional Orchestration for the new
multi-million dollar show, "Le Rêve" at the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, Dir. by Franco
Dragone. Martin has assisted composer Christopher Young as an Arranger,
Orchestrator and Score Coordinator on multiple projects including, "The Grudge,"
"Beauty Shop," "The Exorcism of Emily Rose," "The Grudge 2," "Ghost Rider" which
Martin was also the score Co-Producer and most recently, "Spiderman 3."
Martin was selected for the 2006 Sundance Film Institute's Composer's Lab. While
in Sundance Martin worked under the mentorship of composers Terence Blanchard,
George S. Clinton, Laura Karpman, Thomas Newman and Alex Werman.
In 2006 Martin was sought out to arrange 6 songs specifically selected by and to
be performed for Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. An all star band
performed the pieces in a private performance for the legends. Soon after Trent
Reznor asked Martin to arrange 8 of his NIN songs for an all-acoustic
performance at Neil Young's Bridge School Benefit Concerts, at which Martin also
performed along side Trent. Neil Young and Trent were very impressed with
Martin's arrangements and the performance. Trent then decided to bring Martin
into the studio to record the whole project. In 2007 Martin was named Music
Director for the Theatrical Vaudeville group, "LucEnt DosSieR." Martin composed
40 minutes of original music, which he then performed live with his group of
notable musicians at Coachella. The music festival, which sold out at over
60,000 attendees that year included performers Bjork, Red Hot Chili Peppers and
Rage Against the Machine.
Martin composed the score for Dir. Seth Resnik, 2005 Academy (AMPAS) Nicholl
Fellowship's award recipient and nominee for 2006 Academy's Student Awards,
latest film, "The Wish." In 2004 Martin St-Pierre was nominated for a Drama Desk
Award for Music, for the show, "Ramayana 2k3."
Martin composed the music score for director Michael Manzanet's beautiful Cirque
Montage stage show, which is currently touring the US and often in Europe and
Asia. He often works with dir. Michael Manzanet on his productions. Martin has
also composed music for the largest permanent circus in the world in Guangzhou
China. Currently Martin is Violinist and Assist Conductor at Cirque du Soleil's
Mystere in Las Vegas.
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![Cirque Montage by Kavanah [Cirque Montage by Kavanah]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Kavanah/Cirque%20Montage/cover_200.jpg)
Cirque Montage
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