Bio
New Phone, Who dis?
Andrew MacKelvie is an improviser, saxophonist, composer, and educator from Halifax, Nova Scotia. As a settler on this land who's artwork is influenced by the natural world, he would like you to know that Halifax was originally known as Kjipuktuk, and it is the unceded ancestral home and territory of the Mi’kmaq.
Mackelvie is the leader of the ambient improvised music ensemble, New Hermitage. New Hermitage has released five records including the award winning New Hermitage + Jeff Reilly. Their latest recording, Unearth, has received critical acclaim in publications such as Musicworks (Can), Salt Peanuts (Norway), The Quietus (UK), and Free Jazz Blog (US). Expect a new release from the ensemble this August.
He also leads the 8-piece minimalist-groove ensemble Many Worlds, the joyous quartet Borrowers, and is half of the duo Thoughts & Feelings with guitarist Ross Burns.
Outside of the creative music realm Andrew is a freelance saxophonist. Artists he has performed or recorded with artists that include Angel Bat Dawid, Lido Pimienta, Aquakultre, Erin Costelo, Michael C. Duguay, Major Funk, Roxy & the Underground Soul Sound, Bethany Fulde, the 6 Star Review, and many others.
MacKelvie can be heard on ECMA winning albums by Erin Costelo and Jerry Granelli. He has garnered multiple Music Nova Scotia awards for his work as a session musician with a variety of Halifax artists across genres, including his own in the Classical Music Recording of the Year category for the record, New Hermitage + Jeff Reilly. He is also on the Juno nominated Jerry Granelli record, What I Hear Now, which featured Canadian saxophonist Mike Murley.
In January 2020, he was the inaugural recipient of Upstream Music Association’s Paul Cram Creation Award. The award came with a commission to write for Symphony Nova Scotia. MacKelvie's piece Treize Treize, debuted in 2023 and was a concerto for improvising saxophone and drum kit.
During the day, Andrew teaches primary to grade 12 music at the Shambhala School in North End Halifax. An independent school with a focus on mindfulness and experiential learning.
MacKelvie has a B.Ed in Music Education from Memorial University and a B.A. in jazz studies from another institution. He studied for over a decade with his mentor, Jerry Granelli. He has been involved with the Creative Music Workshop since he first attended in 2008 as volunteer, coordinator, and recently, as faculty.
You can read more about Andrew in Musicworks Magazine, issue # 147, Winter 2023-2024 edition.