Patricia Cano was born and raised in Sudbury, ON where she began her career in the arts as a young dancer. Later, she pursued acting at the University College Drama Program at the University of Toronto where she met and began a longstanding artistic relationship with Cree playwright and composer, Tomson Highway. Since 2001, Patricia has traveled the world over with Tomson, performing songs from two of his musicals, inventing Cree Cabaret along the way… In August 2009, at Le Théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario in Sudbury, ON, with Tomson Highway on the grand piano and Jean-Yves Bégin on saxophone, Patricia performed the world premiere of a new Cree cabaret made up of 12 new songs!
In 2003, Patricia was invited to work with the world-famous theatre company Le Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, France - under the direction of the incomparable Ariane Mnouchkine. As a member of the company, Patricia studied many traditional art forms including Sri Lankan dance, Korean dance and drumming, and finally, traditional Korean folk singing. In 2005, she was sent to Seoul, South Korea for three months to study Pansori and Minyo under a Korean master, as well as to attend the Korean University of Traditional Arts. This experience not only changed Patricia’s voice, but it also changed the course of her artistic career.
In 2007, she left France and returned home to begin a career in music. She traveled to Brazil and spent six months in Rio de Janeiro, befriending exceptional musicians from the Carioca jazz, samba, and choro scene, performing and jamming with many of them all across the city! More important still, Patricia developed a musical partnership with Carlos Bernardo – Brazilian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist extraordinaire – who also worked with the same French theatre company years before, and together, Patricia and Carlos began performing and dreaming of a professional career together.
In August 2009, Patricia recorded her first album with Carlos Bernardo, produced by her friend and one of Toronto’s musical gems, Luisito Orbegoso, and it is the fruits of this collaboration that she is honored and eager to share with you now.
|
