TORONTO, February 21, 2007 -- York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts celebrates the next wave of outstanding young talent in the visual and performing arts with the York Fine Arts Festival, featuring more than 40 public events packed into a three-week period running March 9 – April 1, 2007. All the fine arts are represented: dance, design, film, music, theatre, visual arts and interdisciplinary fine arts cultural studies.
Building on the success of last year’s festival that launched The Accolade Project, the York Fine Arts Festival showcases the resident talent and the extraordinary scope and diversity of one of North America’s premier centres for professional training in the arts.
Highlights include:
VISUAL ARTS, DESIGN & CULTURAL STUDIES – MARCH 9-30
Kicks off with a Visual Arts Open House and a group show by 25 young artists in the Graduate Program in Visual Arts, and runs the gamut from new media installations to an art history symposium.
Mar 9: Exhibition Here is Where we Meet by Master of Fine Arts students opens and runs to March 16.
Mar 9 & 10: See Here! Visual Arts Open House featuring work in all media by emerging young artists.
The Department of Visual Arts showcases three other group exhibitions: 720 by 840 (time-based art, Mar 12-16); Print Media (Mar 19-23); and Photography (Mar 26-30).
The Graduate Program in Art History presents an international symposium on Performative Histories of Art (Mar 9).
Windows on Fine Arts Cultural Studies offers interactive exhibitions, new media presentations and intercultural performances (Mar 10 & 12).
The Department of Design presents Palette of Ideas, an exhibition of applied communication design (Mar 19-30).
MUSIC – MARCH 9-APRIL 1
Classical, contemporary, jazz and world music spanning eight centuries and five continents.
Mar 12-16: World Music Festival spotlights global musical traditions, from West African drums, Chinese orchestra and steelpan to flamenco, Celtic and Klezmer music. Eight different programs!
Mar. 20-23: The Jazz Festival turns up the heat with performances featuring the York U Jazz Orchestra led by Al Henderson, four jazz choirs, and 15 small ensembles directed by the likes of Mike Murley, Lorne Lofsky, Kelly Jefferson and Mark Eisenman.
Mar 29: The York University Symphony Orchestra directed by Mark Chambers presents a concert of soloists featuring some of Music Department’s top young talent.
Mar 30: A spirited concert by the 85-voice York U Gospel Choir led by Karen Burke, backed by a live rhythm and horn section.
April 1: Lisette Canton directs the York U Concert and Chamber Choirs in Handel’s Coronation Anthems.
The Department of Music rounds out its program with evening concerts by the Chamber Choir (Mar 19) and Women’s & Men’s Chorus (Mar 27) and a series of afternoon performances including the Brass Ensemble, Medieval & Renaissance Ensemble, Chamber Strings, Wind Symphony and Percussion Ensemble.
FILM – MARCH 15-23
Talks and screenings showcasing leading Canadian film artists as well as outstanding emerging talent.
Mar 15: Director Nettie Wild inaugurates the Jewison Speaker Series with her riveting documentary Fix: The Story of an Addicted City.
Mar 19: York Shorts – The Reel Thing! featuring award-winning student productions in fiction, documentary and alternative film.
The Department of Film also presents indie filmmaker Karen Walton with her thriller Ginger Snaps (Mar 22) and scholar William Boddy in a second Jewison Speaker Series event, a talk on The History & Future of Digital Cinema (Mar 23).
THEATRE – MARCH 18-31
The next generation of outstanding Canadian theatre artists takes centre stage in two Theatre @ York productions running in repertory.
Mar 18-29: Michel Tremblay’s landmark play Les Belles-Soeurs, directed by Miroslaw Polatynski.
Mar 21-31: The Canadian premiere of Grapes of Wrath, adapted by Frank Galati from John Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-wining epic, directed by Glen Gaston.
The Department of Theatre also presents Scenes by Design, an exhibit of original costumes, theatre props, stage drawings and maquettes (Mar 28-31).
DANCE – MARCH 21-30
Canada’s oldest and largest university dance program presents two original programs showcasing up-and-coming choreographers and performers.
Mar 21-24: Dance Illuminations, directed by Holly Small, offers a double bill of provocative works exploring the nature of dance and light.
Mar. 28-30: The Department of Dance continues its leap into the limelight with Darcey Callison’s playful new work, Reinventing John (as in Travolta!).
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York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts has been the launching pad for some of Canada’s hottest artistic talent. From Hollywood actor Rachel McAdams and Cirque du Soleil choreographer Debra Drown to saxophonist Mike Murley, photographer Larry Towell and film producers Rhombus Media, alumni of York Fine Arts have helped to shape the local, national and international cultural scene for a generation.
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York Fine Arts Festival: Meet the arts in the heart of the GTA
The Faculty of Fine Arts at York University is spotlighting its resident talent in a three-week festival packed with more than 40 exciting and entertaining events. Running March 9 to April 1, the York Fine Arts Festival features exhibitions, theatre and dance productions, film screenings, multimedia shows, and a wide variety of classical, jazz and world music concerts. Events take place in state-of-the-art facilities at York University’s Keele campus. Join us for this showcase celebrating the next wave of outstanding young talent in the visual and performing arts.
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Faculty of Fine Arts
The Faculty of Fine Arts at York University is one of North America’s leading and largest centres for fine arts education. A vibrant community of some 3,200 students and 280 faculty working at the leading edge of fine arts practice and scholarship, it offers academic studies and professional training in dance, design, film, music, theatre and visual arts as well as interdisciplinary cultural studies in the fine arts. For more than 35 years, York Fine Arts has been a premier launching pad for outstanding young talent and a major contributor to the arts and cultural scene in Toronto, Canada and beyond.
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York University
York University is the leading interdisciplinary research and teaching university in Canada. York offers a modern, academic experience at the undergraduate and graduate level in Toronto, Canada’s most international city. The third largest university in the country, York is host to a dynamic academic community of 50,000 students and 7,000 faculty and staff, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. York’s 11 faculties and 23 research centres conduct ambitious, groundbreaking research that is interdisciplinary, cutting across traditional academic boundaries. This distinctive and collaborative approach is preparing students for the future and bringing fresh insights and solutions to real-world challenges. York University is an autonomous, not-for-profit corporation.
The Faculty of Fine Arts, York University presents the
York Fine Arts Festival
March 9 - April 1, 2007
Events take place at York’s Keele campus, 4700 Keele St. Toronto
Tickets: free - $15
Fine Arts Festival Box Office: 416-736-5888
For a detailed schedule, visit
www.yorku.ca/finearts/festival
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Media Refer: Dianne Weinrib/Amy Stewart, DW Communications
416-703-5479 dw@dwcommunications.net
