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Sultans of String: The Refuge Project screening is set for the Burlington Performing Arts Centre / BURLINGTONTODAY.com

Posted: May 30, 2023

BURLINGTONTODAY's Chris Arnold writes….If it has strings, Chris McKhool can probably play a tune on it.

McKhool is the violin player for the band Sultans of String, a world music group that has been playing together since 2004, winning three Canadian Folk Music Awards, and being nominated for three Junos.

Sultans released their seventh album, Refuge, in August 2020. Recording for the album started in March, just as the COVID pandemic started. The band had a massive U.S. tour scheduled, which was, of course, cancelled. So they found a new way to rehearse and write new music.

“We created what we called the Zoom Room,” McKhool says. “It was a space where we could be together safely, spread out, with an isolated vocal booth and ventilation systems over our heads. We created a safe working environment so we could keep playing, performing and recording over the pandemic.”

The group invited other musicians, many being refugees themselves, to join them on Zoom performances for fans. Refugee and immigrant performers from Tibet, Columbia, England, Turkey, Iran and Syria joined the streams.

Together with those musicians from around the world, Sultans started work on the follow up album, Sanctuary: The Refuge Project.

Sanctuary is paired with a visual album that is playing this week at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre. The film follows the musicians who worked with Sultans on the album, and celebrates the accomplishments of immigrants and refugees who come to Canada. The film was even an official selection at the Cannes World Film Festival in 2022.

“All the while as we were live streaming and recording with these artists, we had begun recording interviews with them,” McKhool says. “We had hours and hours of footage, and we had the idea to produce a movie.”

For Sultans of String, music has always been the main focus, but they are aware there is an element of responsibility that comes with having an audience.

Being able to get messages to groups of people provides a unique opportunity to do some good.

“Music is not just about playing music, but there’s a component of social work involved,” McKhool says. “It’s a tool to connect people and bridge worlds. It shows us that people from vastly different backgrounds can come together to make a beautiful statement.”

The film is showing around the Greater Toronto Area for free (registration is required) thanks to sponsorship from various organizations. In Burlington, the Halton Newcomer Strategy and the City of Burlington are helping provide tickets.

“It’s wonderful, the entire project is wonderful,” Rick Chester, executive producer of the film, says. “When you incorporate all of these different cultures together in a cornucopia of music, it’s enchanting to the ear.”

The film Sultans of String: The Refuge Project - Visual Album, will be shown June 8 at 7 p.m. at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre.

Other dates include:

June 15 -  Waterloo @ Princess Theatre
June 16 - Hamilton Arts Week @ The Westdale
June 17 - Luminato Music Weekend, Toronto @ David Pecaut Square
June 20 - St Catherines @ First Ontario Performing Arts Centre

All dates for both performances and screenings of the film can be found on the band’s website. 

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