Christina Courtin’s Running Kicks EP Release and Bell Orchestre November 16, 2006

“Onstage, [Christina Courtin] lunges into her music with a spasmodic fearlessness that most vocalists reserve for the shower, recalling performers as diverse as Janis Joplin and Antony.”--Time Out New York

“Bell Orchestre dazzles by finesse, not force. Call it blank slate music--oceans of negative space awaiting colonization-by-imagination.”--pitchforkmedia.com

Although she’s a classically trained violinist, it’s for her vocal talents that 23-year old phenom Christina Courtin is causing a stir in the New York music scene. As an instrument, Courtin’s elastic voice stretches and contorts into seemingly impossible sonic shapes, drawing comparisons to ‘60s icons like Terry Reid and Robert Plant. In live performance, Courtin can deliver utterly beautiful ballads one moment and invoke Janis Joplin the next, segueing seamlessly from one to the other. Together with her equally masterful band The Running Kicks—guitarist Kyle Sanna and percussionist Mathias Kunzli—Courtin, who attended New York’s prestigious Juilliard School on full scholarship, blends blues, soul and rock with elements of jazz and classical music to produce a mesmerizing live experience.

Celebrated Montreal-based Bell Orchestre features Arcade Fire's multi-instrumentalist Richard Reed Parry and arranger/violinist Sarah Neufeld. They perform orchestral pop rock with strings, bells, horns, drums, stethoscopes, samples and quiet noise. The Bell Orchestre seems always to be criss-crossing one continent or another, altering the perception of what instrumental pop music is capable of.

Official Website: http://www.myspace.com/christinacourtin