Video of Sarah covering Queen with the Art of Time Ensemble

The Art of Time's  Ensmble have posted an HD video to their facebook page of Sarah covering Queen's The Show Must Go On.  The video was recorded from the songbook of covers Sarah did with them in May of this year at Toronto's Harbourfront Theatre.

Update: The Art of Time have now posted also posted the video in HD to their YouTube account.
No details have been released if CBC will be playing this concert or a studio recording of the album will be released like some of the past concerts of the ensemble.

Free Concert on Toronto's Harbourfront - August 6th

Sarah Slean is returning to the outdoor stage at Harbourfront this summer for a free concert.  The concert takes place Saturday August 6th at 9:30 PM on the newly named West Jet stage.  Sarah played this same stage last year on Canada Day.

The headlining concert is part of an event called "What's Classical" and is curated by the Art of Time Ensemble's Andrew Burashko.

The event page sheds some more details on Sarah's new album.  The Sea album is described as having 4 original orchestrations by Sarah and 3 by Jonathan Goldsmith.

This is only the second known concert date Sarah has planned for this summer.  The first will come at the Elora Festival on July 16th.

More details can be found here:
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/summer/festivals.cfm?id=3164

Sarah's covers with the Art of Time

Sarah's songbook concert with the Art of Time Ensemble have now concluded.  The set list we posted here was fairly accurate with a few notable changes.  Covers of PJ Harvey and Cole Porter that where mentioned in early event promotions where dropped.  They were replaced with a new arrangement of Sarah's "Sound of Water" and a revisit to her Art of Time cover of Martin Tielli's "I'll Never Tear You Apart".  Another additional song added was a cover of "Smile" that was composed by Charlie Chaplin in 1934 and first sang by Nat King Cole in 1954.  This song was not listed performance program.  This was the review from the first of the two nights.

Sarah performance of Ne Me Quitte Pas by Jacques Brel has been tweeted as being divine.  It marks the second time in recent history Sarah has sang in French and the first time to a live audience.

The show was archived on a single video camera at the rear of the theater. It has been unofficially been confirmed that CBC was recording for a Concert on Demand special.  We will let you know when that recording becomes available.

It does not appear that Sarah is listed in any of next season's Art of Time concerts that where just announced.  The program did contain another event that features Sarah which I will post details about in separate post following this one.

Upcoming Sarah Slean Covers with Art of Time Ensemble Revealed

Sarah has picked 12 of her favourite songs that have been arranged for her to sing with the Art of Time Ensemble. This songbook concert is a follow up to her first songbook she performed with them that would later become the album, Black Flowers.

Below is a the songs that have been mentioned that she will be covering with some added information. Scroll past the list if you choose not to be spoiled and would like other info on the concerts.

1. Ruth Lowe (I’ll Never Smile Again)
Sarah played a cover of this song at the 2003 Inauguration of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and on CBC Play.

2. Leonard Cohen (A Thousand Kisses Deep)
Sarah has played songbooks and other shows paying tribute to Leonard Cohen but might be her first time taking on this song. In the first Canadian Songbook Sarah played with the Art of Time Ensemble she played Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye. Other Cohen covers include I'm Your Man, Dress Rehearsal Rag, Everybody Knows and Hallelujah (with Tomi Swick)

3. Joni Mitchell (Little Green)
Like covering Cohen, Sarah has covered Joni Mitchell songs on many occasions but this maybe the first time she is doing this song. In 2007 Phil Dryer who composed arrangements of Joni's songs "Both Sides Now", "Woodstock", "Free Man in Paris" and "All I Want" as part of a concert Sarah did with the CBC Radio Orchestra. Phil Dryer is doing an arrangement for this concert and had made an arrangement for Sarah's first songbook with the Art of Time too. Other covers Sarah has done of Joni include Case Of You (2000) and Magdalene Laundries (2005 with Ron Sexsmith)

4. Blue Rodeo (Bad Timing)
Sarah sang with Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo at this year's Junos and she has joined on them on the stage in years past.

5. Björk (Joga)
This was one of the first artists mentioned when this concert was announced over a year ago. This appears to be the first time Sarah has attempted a Björk cover.

6. Kurt Weill (Lost In The Stars)
Sarah played at a songbook series to Kurt Weill at the 2008 Canwest Music Festival.

7. Jacques Brel (Ne Me Quitte Pas)

8. Queen (The Show Must Go On)
Sarah is holding true to her word playing a Queen cover as it was requested on tour back in 2005 and promised to be played someday.

9. David Gray (Shine)
Sarah confirmed this song via Twitter today. She had previously tweeted about attending his concert and Royal Wood has toured opening for him. She also purchased his song Please Forgive Me.

10. Judee Sill (Kiss)
Sarah confirmed via iTunes Ping that she will be playing this song for the concert.

11. PJ Harvey (?)
Early descriptions of the concert had mentioned a PJ Harvey cover. Sarah has mentioned interviews about her collecting PJ Harvey's music and enjoying the rhythm in it.

12. Cole Porter (?)
Cole Porter was another artist mentioned in early announcements of this concert. In the 2005 film Sarah acted in, Black Flowers, she sang Cole Porter's song Love for Sale.

The first 9 songs where mentioned in a recent media release to promote the concert. There is a chance that some the songs selected may have changed and other songs could have been added.

The night also features a new instrumental suite by composer Jonathan Goldsmith who is producing the second half of Sarah's double album Land and Sea.

The Art of Time Ensemble will also be announcing their upcoming season at this show. For the last few season Sarah has been involved in at least one show with them.

Tickets for these shows is limited but seats are still available in the front rows. More information can be found here including a listing of musicians and arranges for this concert.  There has been no word yet if CBC will be recording this Art of Time concert or if the concert will be produced into an album like it has been the last 2 seasons.

Sarah's New Concerts with The Art of Time Ensemble

Sarah is set to cover the songs of Björk PJ Harvey, Kurt Weill, Jacques Brel, Cole Porter, Leonard Cohen and more in this year's Art of Time concert series, The Songbook 5. The songs will be arranged by Canadian musicians and Sarah will be joined by The Art of Time Ensemble.

This concert is May 24th and 25th 2011 and tickets are likely to sell out fast.

In 2007 Sarah played the second Songbook concert in the Art of Time's history. The group of Canadian covers was later played by the CBC, recorded as the album Black Flowers and would spur a tour.

Last fall Sarah was one of the artists to tribute The Beatles Abbey Road with the Art of Time Ensemble. That concert was also made available on demand by CBC and will have an encore performance. Sarah and the Art of Time Ensemble return to KoernerHall October 21, 2011.

Ticket and details for the concerts can be found on web site for The Art of Time Ensemble. These concerts have not been confirmed on Sarah's official site at the time of publishing.

Radio Interview - Star93.3 (mp3)

Sarah did a 10 minute interview with radio station Star 93.3 in promotion of her upcoming Art of Time concert in Peterborough.

The interview is available for download on the Star 93.3 site.

Topics covered included the songwriting process, The Art of Time Ensemble and what Sarah appreciates about her achievements over the last 10 years.

Update 2009-10-23:

Lucid Forge did a print interview that covers many of the same topics. You can read it here.

Sarah Slean's Abbey Road Beatles Tribute

The radio broadcast of CBC Radio 2's recording of Sarah Slean and the Art of Time Ensemble Abbey Road show will take place on Thursday, November 12th at 10pm. It will play on the show the Signal and is also streamed live online and in various time zones. The concert will likely be be made available at a later date in their online concert archive and as a podcast.

Sarah sang on the following three Beatles songs:

• Something
• Because
• Sun King
• Carry the Weight

The radio date was mentioned in recent Art of Time email news letters. The photo is credited to myself.

Additional Art of Time Concert - Kitchener

Although we have announced the concert dates of Art of Time Ensemble tour with Sarah Slean in support of Black Flowers back in June one date appears to be added.

The Art of Time's website indicates a show on October 21st at the Registry Theatre in Kitchener. This additional date has not been confirmed on Sarah Slean's official site at the time of publishing.

Ahead of this tour is the Art of Time's show dedicated to the Beatles Abbey Road album. Tickets for that concerts are nearly sold out but they according to their twitter page they are looking for a merchandise volunteer who can view the show for free.

Update: 2009-09-25

A few minutes ago the Kitchener show was confirmed on Sarah's offical twitter account. The Beatles Abbey Road concert with the Art of Time has now sold out.

Sarah Slean and the Art of Time Song Book Tour

Dates for Sarah Slean and the Art of Time tour together is support of Black Flowers has been posted on the website for the Collection Agency. The dates are as follows:

Oct. 22 / 09 Koerner Hall / Telus Centre Toronto, ON
Oct. 23 / 09 Empire Theatre Belleville, ON
Oct. 24 / 09 Shenkman Centre for the Performing Arts Ottawa, ON
Oct. 25 / 09 Showplace Performance Centre Peterborough, ON
Oct. 27 / 09 E.A. Rawlinson Centre Prince Albert, SK
Oct. 29 / 09 Festival Place Sherwood Park, AB

The dates for this show have not been posted on the Art of Time website or sarahslean.com at the time of publishing. Some tickets are currently on sale. Ticket on sale date has not been announced for the Toronto Koerner Hall show at this time. Thanks to Andrea for the tip and I will continue to follow up for information on this tour.

Sarah with the Art of Time Ensemble (again!)

Just as Sarah Slean and the Art of Time Ensemble released Black Flowers together, the 2009/2010 Season includes two events that feature Sarah.

The first is the weekend of September 28th with 2 nights in tribute to the Beatles Abbey Road album. Sarah did a cover of the Accross the Universe at this year's Holiday Show.

To mark the 40th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’
Abbey Road, we present the entire album—re-imagined,
re-invented, and performed by top Canadian artists from the classical, pop and jazz worlds.


Featured Singers
Kevin Hearn
Raine Maida
Andy Maize
Steven Page
Sarah Slean
John Southworth
Martin Tielli

The Arrangers
Shelly Berger
Gavin Bryars
Robert Carli
Kevin Fox
Jonathan Goldsmith
Jim McGrath
Cameron Wilson
The Musicians
Andrew Burashko Piano
Benjamin Bowman Violin
Steven Dann Viola
John Johnson Sax
Rachel Mercer Cello
Joe Phillips Bass
Rob Piltch Guitar
Rick Sacks Percussion
Stephen Sitarski Violin
Michael White Trumpet
& Others

Link to info, profiles, and tickets can be found here. Please note that tickets appear to be selling fast. I have been advised that the first 3 rows may be an extention of the stage and the row following that is reserved. Deals are still to be had on side seating and for those who have seen Sarah or the Art of Time at Enwave before should note that there are really no bad seats



The second event is that Sarah and the Art of Time Ensemble will be doing shows in support of Black Flowers again. The dates have yet to be determined, but I would pencil in October and check back here to see if your city gets a show.

Sarah in School (National Video) & Tour

CBC's The National has conducted an excellent interview with Sarah that they aired yesterday. Sandra Abma at CBC attended a class with her at the University of Toronto, talked to her about here influences and even approached Sarah on some of her personal struggles.

A rehearsal with Andrew Burashko shows Sarah singing Lenard Cohen's That's No Was To Say Goodbye with him. They point out that both Sarah and the Art of Time Ensemble will be doing a tour together in the fall to support the album.

Through the interview live footage from many past events are shown. Most of them I recognized with the exception of the one shown at 2.37. Please leave me a comment if you know anything about that performance of Get Home.

See the video here:
http://www.cbc.ca/national/blog/video/arts/sarah_slean_at_school.html

The video can also be found around 33 minutes into the Friday episode of The National.

Release Date Change, Sarah with the Art of Time

The album recorded with Sarah Slean and the Art of Time Ensemble set to release next week has now been pushed to June 2nd.

Later that eve, I had a drink with the Pheromone Recordings exec Kim Cooke, who I've known for over a decade. He'll be putting out the Art of Time record I worked on this June, which I will be telling you all about in a week's time. I'm so proud of it, it's a truly unique piece of art, which is a feat in and of itself these days.

The above was an excerpt from Sarah's Juno blog of March 27th.

In late February news letter and official myspace posting the release date of April 14th was announced and echoed over here. Songs from this album previously were available to stream from the CBC radio 2 web site.

Sarah's album with the Art of Time (Track list)

In August I revealed some details about Sarah recording songs from the 'Great Toronto Songbook' with the Art of Time Ensemble. At the time of that posting, I was able to speculate to what songs might make the album based on the song set list from the concerts.

The official track listing for the album has now been posted on Phermone Recordings who have signed the 'Art of Time Ensemble with Sarah Slean'. The on sale date of the album is still listed as 'Coming Soon'. Four songs are available to preview but did not play smoothly on my attempts to play them. They are hosting a stunning 45MB high resolution photo of both Sarah and Andrew Burashko of the Art of Time.

01 Hey That’s No Way To Say Goodbye
02 Monarch
03 Black Flowers
04 I’ll Never Tear You Apart
05 Lodestar
06 You Give Me Something To Cry About
07 Dandelion Wine
08 Eyes Are The Flowers
09 Dress Rehearsal Rag
10 No More Named Johnny

The album contains each song that Sarah performed at the concert with the exception To Cry About (Mary-Margaret O'Hara), Stride (Hayden) I Don't Need More (Katheryn Rose) and The Lonely Side of The Moon.

Update 2009-01-30:
I have been advised the samples do play fine in Internet Explorer. An unconfirmed release date is for April. I will create a new post when that can be confirmed.

Update 2009-04-07:
I have been updated that the release date has been changed to June 2, 2009.

Sarah to Play Art of Time Benefit Concert - Nov 5th

Sarah who has played 2 concerts with the Art of Time Ensemble in 2007 and recorded with in 2008 is set to play their first ever benefit concert on November 5, 2008. Tickets are priced at $250 for this unique event held at the Integral House.

A press release posted at ArtworldList provides the following details:

Top talents Sarah Slean, Ted Dykstra, Shauna Rolston, Artistic Director Andrew Burashko and others perform at Art of Time Ensemble 10th Anniversary Gala Benefit

On the occasion of Art of Time Ensemble’s 10th Anniversary Season, Artistic Director Andrew Burashko is pleased to announce the company’s first annual Art of Time Ensemble Gala Benefit. This one-of-a kind fundraising event will be held on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at Integral House, one of the most talked about homes in the city that Lisa Rochon of the Globe and Mail has described as “a sumptuous house designed to liberate music and man.”

This gala evening features an elegant cocktail and dinner reception with unsurpassed performances by top-tier artists in a private home built with a love of great architecture and music: the breathtaking surroundings of Integral House, the home of mathematician, musician and author Dr. James D. Stewart.

Performers include highly acclaimed singer-songwriter Sarah Slean, award-winning actor Ted Dykstra, lauded cellist Shauna Rolston and consummate pianist and artistic director Andrew Burashko.

The Art of Time Ensemble is one of Toronto’s most innovative and artistically resonant music ensembles. It has attracted the interest and participation of some of Canada’s best performers in creating new and exciting opportunities for collaborations between the performing arts; provoking, entertaining and breaking down barriers, revealing the vibrancy of classical music as a contemporary artistic expression and appealing to a range of audiences.

“The Art of Time seems like a game of artistic hopscotch, in which everyone is invited to jump over the notional barriers between music, dance and visual art, and between high art and low. It’s a game worth playing.” - Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail

The Art of Time Ensemble’s 10th anniversary season is sponsored by BMO Financial.

The Art of Time Ensemble Gala Benefit
Featuring performances by Sarah Slean, Ted Dykstra, Shauna Rolston
and Artistic Director Andrew Burashko
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 from 6:30 to 9:30pm
at Integral House, 194 Roxborough Drive
Tickets - $250 each (partial tax receipts issued)
Information & Tickets: 416.880.7693 or email anna(NOSPAM)@artoftimeensemble.com
Visit artoftimeensemble.com

The poster image used and further information can be found on the Art of Time website.

Sarah recordes with the Art of Time Ensemble

Sarah Slean played 2 concerts with Sarah Slean in 2007. The first show was the Schubert Source and Inspiration concert and the second show was Sarah covering her favourite Toronto song writers with the backing of the classical musicians.

When this year's similar concert was being done with Steven Page, Andrew Burashko,
the director of Art of Time was quoted in the June 20th Globe and Mail saying:

"We did it last year with Sarah Slean, which worked like a dream, and we just recorded that." - Globe and Mail

A follow up on that quote revealed that Sarah recorded the "Toronto Song Book" songs with the Art of Time Ensemble in February with the album release date for 2009.

I'm sure more information will be available closer to the release. We have seen release dates of projects come and past without releases for The Tales of The Baroness DVD, Black Widow DVD, and Sarah's score book. Keep an eye on littleslean news for more information.

Both Concerts Sarah did with the Art of Time Ensemble were commissioned by the CBC and were played on CBC Radio 2 and hosted online. The links to those concerts have been removed but here is the text for the Toronto Song Book.

1 Hey That's No Way to Say Goodbye - Leonard Cohen (songwriter), Gavin Bryars (arranger) 4:21
2 Lodestar - Sarah Harmer (songwriter), Roberto Occhipinti (arranger) 5:56
3 Dandelion Wine - Ron Sexsmith (songwriter), Aaron Davis (arranger) 6:26
4 To Cry About - Mary-Margaret O'Hara (songwriter), Bruce Cassidy (arranger) 6:13
5 Stride - Hayden (songwriter), Finn Manniche (arranger) 4:23
6 Monarch - - Leslie Feist (songwriter), Cameron Wilson (arranger) 6:07
7 Old Photographs - Christos Hatzis (composer) 10:58
8 Tango a la Burashko - Phil Dwyer (composer) 10:36
9 I Don't Need More - Kathryn Rose (songwriter), Phil Dwyer (arranger) 5:59
10 Black Flowers - Lynn Miles (songwriter), Kevin Fox (arranger) 5:16
11 Eyes Are the Flowers - John Southworth (songwriter), Michael Occhinpinti (arranger) 7:21
12 No More Named Johnny - Hawksley Workman (songwriter), Shelly Berger (arranger) 6:22
13 I'll Never Tear You Apart - Martin Tielli (songwriter), Johnathan Goldsmith (arranger) 6:22
14 Dress Rehearsal Rag - Leonard Cohen (songwriter), Jim McGrath (arranger) 9:01
15 Lonely Side of the Moon - Sarah Slean (songwriter) 5:05

Art of Time Ensemble - Music Archived on CBC Radio 2

Last week we announced CBC Radio 2's broadcast of the Art of Time Ensemble featuring Sarah Slean. For those that missed it, Normal on the SarahSlean.com forum pointed out that the show has now been archived over on the CBC Radio 2 site. Most the recordings seem to be featured from the second night of performances.

Want to hear more on this Art of Time ensemble show?
Andrew Burashko of the Art of Time Ensemble spoke and played songs with Classical 96.3 FM during the week of performances.

Sarah returns to the Enwave theatre with the Art of Time Ensemble in early May.

Sarah & The Art of Time Ensemble - CBC Tonight

Sarah's performance of two new songs inspired by Franz Schubert and played with members of the Art of Time Ensemble will be played on CBC Radio 2 tonight. The concerts were played on March 15, 2007 and March 16, 2007.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007, 8:00 p.m.
18/04/2007

Catch a pair of concerts from Toronto that break down the barriers tonight on Canada Live. First, a concert in which the Art of Time ensemble asked singer-songwriters Sarah Slean, Andy Maize (of the Skydiggers), Martin Tielli (of the late Rheostatics), Danny Michel and John Southworth riffing - in their own styles and voices - on their choice of music from Franz Schubert's iconic E flat Piano Trio. Later, Sir Andrew Davis leads the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in his own arrangements of Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor. Canada Live, with Matt Galloway, tonight at 8 p.m. (8:30 NT) on CBC Radio Two.

-CBC Radio 2

For those outside of Canada, CBC Radio 2 does broadcast online and across as Canadian time zones. CBC Radio One, had played one of Sarah's inspired new songs 'Lonely Side of the Moon' on their show Metro Morning following the first night's concert. A clip of the rehersall was also used on the CBC television show, The Hour.

John Southworth had opened for Sarah's last concert at the Harbourfront 'enwave' theatre. Sarah and Martin Tielli shared rolls together in the film Blackwidow.

Thanks to a fan for a heads up on tonight's air date.