TORONTO, March 20, 2006 -- York University and the Faculty of Fine Arts is celebrating the official opening of The Accolade Project, York’s outstanding new $107.5 million, state-of-the-art teaching, exhibition and performance complex with a week-long Fine Arts Festival running March 20-26.
Featuring both established and emerging artists and spanning all the fine arts disciplines, the festival showcases the scope and diversity of the programs in the Faculty of Fine Arts, and the creative talents of its faculty, students and alumni. 
Festival highlights include:
Gala Concert
Monday, March 20, 7:30pm – The Recital Hall, Accolade East
The Department of Music kicks off the Fine Arts Festival with a Gala Concert celebrating its move into The Accolade Project and the inauguration of its new 325-seat recital hall.
Right: The Recital Hall
The program features classical, contemporary, jazz and world music spanning two centuries and three continents. It includes the world premiere of a concerto composed especially for the occasion by York Professor David Mott for solo pianist Christina Petrowska Quilico and a chamber ensemble of non-western and non-orchestral instruments. Performers include percussionist Trichy Sankaran, saxophonist Sundar Viswanathan, and multi-instrumentalist Rob Simms on kora. Other program highlights include the York University Jazz Quartet led by Barry Elmes, flamenco and Chinese music ensembles, and a choral work composed by department Chair Michael Coghlan, sung by the York University Choir under the baton of Lisette Canton. This special concert is presented one night only on March 20.
Additional festival music events are the four-day York University Jazz Festival, presenting dynamic midday and evening performances March 21-24, and concerts by the York University Wind Symphony and York U Concert Choir on March 26.
Not Wanted on the Voyage
Opening Tuesday, March 21, 7:30pm – Burton Auditorium
Theatre @ York brings to life the acclaimed novel Not Wanted on the Voyage by Canadian literary icon Timothy Findley, adapted for the stage by York theatre alumni Richard Rose and D.D. Kugler. Findley’s bold reinvention of the story of Noah’s Ark is directed by DVxT Artistic Director Vikki Anderson and stars talented young performers from the theatre department’s Acting Conservatory. Not Wanted on the Voyage previews March 19 and 20, opens March 21 and runs nightly to March 25 at 7:30pm, with matinees March 22 and 24 at 1pm.
Also on view: Scenes by Design, an exhibition of stage design running March 22-24.
The 3rd Annual Goldfarb Lecture in Visual Arts
Wednesday, March 22, 2:30 pm 005 Accolade West
Visiting scholar, writer and critic Brian Massumi (Department of Communication, University of Montreal) will deliver a special lecture titled, "Going Kinetic: Moving beyond Biopower".
Random Thought Generator
March 20 - 24, 9:30am - 4:30pm – Student Gallery, 105 Accolade West
March 22, 9:30am - 9pm. Opening Reception & tours 4 - 6pm.
The Department of Visual Arts celebrates the inauguration of its new Student Gallery with a group exhibition by 12 young artists in the Graduate Program in Visual Arts.
Currents
Wednesday, March 22, 4 - 9pm Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts
Open house group show featuring works in a wide range of media by fourth-year students, on display throughout the studios of the Visual Arts Department. Artists will be on hand to introduce their work.
Also on view: Pressed for Time, a student exhibition of print media work, running in the Goldfarb Centre Gallery March 13-24, and Fiona Tan, an exhibition of photo and video works by the internationally-acclaimed artist, curated by Philip Monk, running to March 26 in the Art Gallery of York University’s outstanding new home in Accolade East.
Windows on Fine Arts Cultural Studies
Wednesday, March 22, 102 & 103 Accolade West
Interactive exhibitions, public talks and performances by students, faculty and guest artists inaugurate the program’s new project rooms. 
Left: The Performance Lobby
4 - 5pm Luis Jacob & Adrian Blackwell in Conversation
Toronto artists Luis Jacob and Adrian Blackwell hold an open public dialogue exploring social and cultural issues that shape urban space and cultural production. Audience participation is encouraged.
5 - 7pm New media installations, live audio/video presentations and interactive, interdisciplinary and trans-cultural performances.
York Dance Ensemble Showcase
Opening Thursday, March 23, 8 pm The Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East
The Department of Dance celebrates its new home and the dedication of The Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre in The Accolade Project with a showcase performance by the York Dance Ensemble. Now in its 16th season, this spirited company features outstanding young dancers on the brink of their professional careers. Under the artistic direction of Susan Cash, the showcase spotlights homegrown repertoire by faculty and alumni choreographers. Highlights include a world premiere merging movement and live gamelan performance, created by York Professor Holly Small in collaboration with the dancers and music instructor Intan Murtadza; Ever Falling Home by Graduate Program Director Darcey Callison; a new work commissioned from alumna Yvonne Ng; and graduate student Jack Clark’s reconstruction of the early 20th-century dance Soaring by Doris Humphrey and Ruth St. Denis.
The York Dance Ensemble performs nightly March 23 – 25, 8 pm, in repertory with "Dancing Worlds", a second program from the dance department, running at 6 pm. "Dancing Worlds" presents choreography with an international flavour, including original pieces by York dance Professors Modesto Amegago and Sashar Zarif inspired by Ghanaian and Central Asian dance traditions, and an entertaining Holly Small and Don Sinclair collaboration set to pop music.
A Toast to York Film
Friday, March 24, 7pm – The Cinema, Accolade East
The Department of Film celebrates the inauguration of its high-tech cinema in The Accolade Project with a showcase screening of award-winning productions by past and present students who are making waves on the national and international festival circuit. 
Right: The Cinema
York film Professor Seth Feldman and alumnus Larry Weinstein, director/producer with Rhombus Media, co-host the program. Featured titles include the dark fable, The School by Matthew Miller and Ezra Krybus; Tess Girard’s meditative experimental documentary, Benediction; Hugh Gibson’s dramatic short, Hogtown Blues; and Ryan Redford’s picture-book melodrama, The Unstrung Ear. Weinstein’s Burnt Toast, a suite of eight comic mini-operas, and his 6-minute cult classic, Toothpaste, round out the program.
To be launched at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 20, The Accolade Project is an initiative that offers Canada’s future artists, scholars and educators a striking new home in which to learn, create and innovate. It provides 358,000 sq. ft. of exceptional facilities in two new buildings – Accolade East and Accolade West. Framing the existing fine arts complex at the heart of York’s Keele campus, Accolade is the new home of York’s vibrant Music and Dance Departments, and the acclaimed Art Gallery of York University. Flagship facilities include a 325-seat recital hall with integrated recording studio, 325-seat proscenium theatre, 500-seat cinema, two art galleries, and dozens of cutting-edge classrooms, labs and studios.
For more information about The Accolade Project, click here.
