Sarah's Concert with Orchestra at Harbroufront

Last night Sarah sat down with a 21 member orchestra at busy Harbourfront stage with new arrangements of past songs and unveiling many new songs from her classical album, "Sea."

In the hot and humid afternoon they rehearsed on stage with a tweet from Sarah indicating they didn't have the music for the bass section that wouldn't print.

Following a comedic set by the Joe Trio, Sarah took to the stage at 9:30pm.  All songs where played with the orchestra with the exception of her new song Attention Archers played during the encore.  In total they would play 5 new songs from her new album for the first time.  Like in Elora, Sarah confirmed that Everything By The Gallon that was recorded on the b-side album for Beauty Lives has now been composed by Jonathan Goldsmith  for the Sea album.  Concluding the set each member of the orchestra was thanked by name.

The Setlist with all new songs in bold.

Modern Man I & II
Lonely Side of the Moon
Duncan
Everything by the Gallon
Cosmic Ballet
The One True Love
Elitot
The Right Words
The Rose
Napoleon
Parasol
-encore-
Attention Archers
You're Not Alone

Sarah sings with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra

This Fall Sarah has 2 concert dates performing with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra.  The first date October 6th at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto.  This concert was advertised on a flyer in the program at the Art of Time concerts.

The second concert is the following day in Kitchener.  This concert is listed in the PDF program for the NUMUS 2011/2012 Season.  An excerpt of that program is posted below.

"Sarah Slean performs my own Red Sea, a tragic cycle of songs depicting our suffering earth" - Glenn Buhr 

SONG OF EARTH with the NUMUS Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Pulford
featuring Sarah Slean, mezzo-soprano
Adam Luther, tenor
Kimberly Barber, mezzo-soprano
The Penderecki String Quartet

Friday, October 7, 2011 - 8pm
Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, Wilfrid Laurier University NUMUS - in association with the Faculty of Music at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Penderecki String Quartet - celebrates Gustav Mahler 100 years after his death.  The turn-of-the-century progressives adored Mahler's music, and 12-tone pioneer Arnold Schönberg created this colourful arrangement of Mahler's masterpiece Das Lied von der Erde for a performance in his own concert series. Glenn Buhr's new work was written to complement Mahler's Song of the Earth, but it takes a different twist. It's a tragic work about our suffering earth. The libretto was written by Margaret Sweatman in 2010 when oil was spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. Many said that the earth was 'bleeding', hence the title of the new work: Red Sea (Song of the Earth). Pop singer Sarah Slean is the soloist.
Tickets:
$38 general / $32 senior / $24 (for patrons under 29) / $10 Student (rush only)

Sarah worked with Glenn Buhr in 2008 when she sang with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.


Update: 2011-07-13
Tickets are now available for the October 6th concert.
http://www.cbc.ca/glenngould/2011/07/song-of-the-earth---music-by-mahler-and-buhr-featuring-vocalist-sarah-slean.html

Sarah to play with Symphony NS in 2012

On Friday April 13, 2012 Sarah returns to the Rebecca Cohn in Halifax for her debut performance with Symphony Nova Scotia.  The concert is part of their Maritime Fusion Concerts and tickets are currently available to season ticket holders.  General ticket sale starts on August 2nd of this year according to their program that got released today.

Symphony Nova Scotia's collaborations with other song writers in the past including Buck65 and Jenn Grant have been recorded by the CBC and the same might hold true for this concert.

At the time of the concert Sarah's double album 'Land and Sea' will be out and feature orchestrated arrangements for the Sea portion.  Not much else is known about this show at this time but I will post updates closer to key dates as the information comes available.

Sarah has had a history of playing with Orchestras across the country.  In 2004  she played a few of her songs from Day One with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.  Months later she would play the song The Score with National Arts Centre Orchestra at the Govenor General Awards.  In 2007 Sarah payed tribute to Joni Mitchell's music with the CBC Radio Orchestra and a year later she would play with Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra.  Over the last few years Sarah has played a multiple of different shows and put out an album with The Art of Time Ensemble.  In May this year she will play with them again and in June she will do a live recording for album 'Sea' with Orchestra London (ON).

Sarah's article on Arranging Strings

Sarah wrote an article for Canadian Musicians on arranging strings. The full page goes into great detail relating what she hears in the scores of others and in her own work. I am uncertain of the date of this article but recently Sarah was in Paris scoring strings for a Paris Orchestra.

Strings, glorious, strings. Who can

resist them? In my view, their

power to manipulate emotion is

unsurpassed. The timbre of the

violin is closest to that of the human

voice – and perhaps this is why we find

it so irresistibly, painfully beautiful...

- Sarah Slean, Canadian Musician

An image of this article is posted on Sarah's official site here, but you can view the entire PDF on Canadian Musician. The file also contains articles from fellow artists Sarah has shared the stage with like Ron Sexsmith and Emm Gryner.

Sheet Music and Paris string orchestra

As this year comes to a close, Sarah already has her hands tied into projects that will take her into the new year. This summer, Skipster aka Scott did a great interview with Sarah that touched on some projects new and old.

There are a few points that I have been following and wish to highlight.

We might be seeing the long awaited sheet music of Sarah's made available at this week's holiday shows. Fans had submitted requests for what sheet music they would like to see in 2007. The entries touched on all of Sarah's work prior to The Baroness. Since it has not been confirmed outside this interview, this item may not yet be available. Other merchandise to look out for are upcycled items from the Resession-ista tour of this year and limited copies of The Baroness Redecorates.

Another large announcement that has only been mentioned so far in this interview is Sarah receiving a Canadian Council 2010 grant to score strings for Paris orchestra. Not much else is known about this project at this time. Sarah has not played any concerts in Paris since the recording of The Baroness.

Updates on these projects and others will be fourth coming. If you still plan on participating in this year's Passioneer Holiday Project, please do so ASAP. The full interview with Sarah can be read here:

http://www.skipster.us/2009/07/interview-sarah-slean/

Hear Sarah Cover Joni on CBC Radio 2 (Online)

Update: The Great Candian Songbook concert is now featured on the CBC Radio 2 website:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/singleConcert.html?20070502cndsb

Archive:
Earlier this month Sarah took the stage with CBC Radio Orchestra to where she played four songs in tribute to Joni Mitchell. CBC Radio 2 has the show set to broadcast on May 2, 2007 as part of Canada Live.

"The Great Canadian Songbook

April 15, 2007
Chan Centre at UBC

Alain Trudel, conductor
Veda Hille, vocalist
Sarah Slean, vocalist
Ron Sexsmith, vocalist
Marc Déry, vocalist

Four Great Canadian Songwriters: Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Buffy St. Marie and Serge Fiori. Four Great Canadian Singers: Sarah Slean, Ron Sexsmith, Veda Hille and Marc Déry. Four Great Canadian Composer/Arrangers: Phil Dwyer, Glenn Buhr, Giorgio Magnanensi and Alain Trudel."

source: CBC Onstage

The CBC Radio 2 blog posted the songs Sarah covered for the night:

Joni Mitchell sung by Sarah Slean arranged by Phil Dwyer:
"Both Sides Now", "Woodstock", "Free Man in Paris", "All I Want"

Phil Dwyer who did the arranging appears to be also working on Sarah's upcoming tribute to Canadian artists with the May 10/11, 2007 Art of Time Ensemble concerts.