Secret Salon Series


We are delighted to announce our Secret Salon Series, offering immersive cultural experiences that merge art, education, science, music, and nature in unexpected ways. Events are held at Secret Headquarters, our beautiful studio in East Vancouver, home to hundreds of enchanting lanterns as seen at our Annual Winter Solstice Festival.

The Etiquette (and rhetoric)
of Dying

Wednesday, October 16

7:00 PM - 9:00 PM PST

Composer/guitarist Ron Samworth has been a solid sonic contributor to Vancouver’s music scene for over four decades. He is a survivor of stage 4 cancer and had borne close witness to the difficult and premature death of his sister from that same disease. Out of these searing personal experiences, as well as the rueful sense of absurdity derived from the hospice handbook that he was given at his sister’s bedside, Ron evolved a 50-minute multimedia suite of music and text, The Etiquette of Dying, which will premiere at The VIFF Centre on October 27th.

As a preliminary experience, Secret Lantern Society invites you to The Etiquette (and rhetoric) of Dying, an intimate evening of musical and narrative excerpts from the larger work. Poetic, beautiful, funny, curious, and deeply personal, the evening will include extemporaneous background stories illuminating the emotional, physical, spiritual and surreal nuances of facing death. Ron and narrator Patti Wotherspoon encourage participants to linger after their presentation, enjoy a glass of wine or cup of tea, and explore our shared human relationship with mortality and continue the discourse of this most mysterious conundrum.

Event Notes / Be Prepared:

  • Tickets are available by sliding scale ($30-$50). Suggested admission: $35

  • Doors open at 6:30 PM

  • Space is limited to 25 participants

  • Complimentary tea & cookies, with additional beverages for sale.

Your donation contributes directly to supporting our programming to continue ongoing learning and cultural sharing. We thank you for your support. If you have financial barriers preventing you from purchasing a ticket, please email admin@secretlantern.org and we will do our best to accommodate.

Secret Headquarters is gratefully situated on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples.
We honor, respect, and give thanks to our hosts.

Artist Bio

RON SAMWORTH, Vancouver guitarist, composer, improviser, and bandleader Ron Samworth is probably well-known to anyone who has made a habit of attending major Canadian jazz or creative music festivals from the mid-'90s onward. As a collaborative leader and principal composer of Talking Pictures, Ron also co-lead the acclaimed NOW Orchestra. He is know to Canadian audiences for his provocative collaborations with groups such as Lunar Adventures and the 1990 CBC National Jazz Competition winners Creatures of Habit. His improvised sound explorations with poets and dancers included ongoing involvement with the EDAM Dance company, and Samworth's playing credits include Barry Guy, Marilyn Crispell, George Lewis, Wayne Horvitz, Butch Morris, Bobby Previte, Vinny Golia, Jay Clayton, Rene Lussier, and electro-acoustic composer Paul Doldern. He has composed for the Hard Rubber Orchestra, Standing Wave, the NOW Orchestra, and various film and theatre projects and was the founding co-artistic director of the creative music collective New Orchestra Workshop (NOW). He currently teaches Jazz Studies at the School of Performing Arts at Capilano University.

Getting Here: Secret Headquarters is located at 1398 East 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC. Bus # 22 is within walking distance; VCC Clark and Commercial Skytrain Stations are within 10 minutes' walk. Free parking on the street and in the large parking lot in the alley between 3rd and 4th.

Accessibility: Secret Headquarters is wheelchair and walker accessible. If you have specific accessibility needs, please get in touch with us at (778) 323-9489 or admin@secretlantern.org.

Omi, our lovely resident feline, loves to attend our gatherings. Please let us know if you have allergies and we will gently explain to him why he needs to stay home that night.